DipitySkillful
an ambitious but ultimately ineffective debut endeavor.
Tayyab Torres
Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.
Abegail Noëlle
While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.
MartinHafer
One of the more pleasant surprises I had watching movies was watching "Oceans Eleven" with the Rat Pack plus several others. I had just assumed it was a vanity project and nothing more. To my surprise, it was a heck of a good film with a heck of a good story. Because of this, I was much more inclined to watch a film by these folks in the future...and sadly, I saw "Robin and the 7 Hoods" next...a rather dull little film that seemed to go on and on and on!One of the big reasons I wasn't so taken by "Robin" was that it was a musical and never at all took itself seriously...very much unlike "Oceans Eleven". To me, "Oceans Eleven" was entertaining to the audience..."Robin and the 7 Hoods" was mostly entertaining to Robin and his 7 hoods! In other words, these old friends may have enjoyed getting back together but that alone isn't the reason to make a film.Perhaps some of my boredom with this movie is that I am not a huge Rat Pack fan. I don't have an overwhelming need to see Dean, Frank and Sammy...so to get my attention they need a film that would excite anyone, not just devoted fans. And, sadly, it's just for the devoted fans...period.While I must admit some of the songs were nice, the story just seemed very lightweight and skippable. And, many times the film seemed to come to a dramatic climax...yet it then continued. I call this poor writing and these actors deserved better.
Tad Pole
Is this some lame attempt to melt GOING MY WAY onto GUYS & DOLLS? The drama kids at my high school could have written a script more plausible than this mishmash. Half the characters end in in building cornerstones?! Is that supposed to be funny? Maybe Jimmy Hoffa is laughing somewhere in the foundations of a freeway overpass, but he's about the only one. And the bimbo who's trying to seduce all the guys? I wouldn't touch her with a 10-foot pole. She's like, "oh, you just whacked my dead old dad, so let's do it - - now!" Mata Hari would be more fun. The songs here are really forgettable; this might have been excuse if offered with a B cast in the 1930s, but what a waste of Rat Pack time. In you add some crappy songs to Expendables 2, you would have a much better flick than Robin and the 7 Hoods.
ma-cortes
Like we've taken the Robin Hood legend and changed the bows and arrows to machine guns! ... Like with songs yet! ... Like WILD! . In prohibition-era from 1920s Chicago, the racketeer marshal (Victor Buono) along with a mobster named Guy Gisborne , a corrupt(Peter Falk) who controls the south side , knock off the ringleader Big Jim (Edward G Robinson). Everyone falls in line behind Guy except the do-good gangster Robbo (Frank Sinatra) who rules north side in his last go-round . Robbo wishes to keep his own territory with a ¨Robbo project foundation¨ and his particular business . A pool-playing man from Indiana named Little John (Dean Martin)and the director of a boys' orphanage named Alen Dale (Bing Crosby) unite forces with Robbo and Will (Sammy Davis Jr). When he gives some money to the orphanage, he turns the toast of the town as a hood like Robin Hood and people shout ¨Chicago loves Robin¨. As Robbo along with his friends creates the ¨Robin Hood foundation¨ and a ¨Free soup kitchen¨ . Meanwhile, Guy schemes to get rid of Robbo, and Big Jim's heretofore unknown daughter named Marian (Barbara Rush) turns up and goes after from dudes attempting to encounter an ally in her quest to run the whole show. Later on , Robbo is detained and newspapers publicize : Robbo held for sheriff murder¨ .This is an amusing musical comedy with some Hollywood major stars reunited by Frank ¨Robbo¨ Sinatra and incarnating Robin and his merry men in modern times , including usual names as Little John , Will Scarlett , Marian and Guy Gisborne . It's a ¨Rat Pack¨ version of 1920's Chicago with Frank Sinatra and his boys as do-good mobsters in their last outing . Fine musical numbers with beautiful songs by Nelson Riddle as ¨Bang, Bang¨ , ¨Mister Booze¨, ¨Don't be a do-baddler¨ and ¨My kind of town¨ with Dean Martin, Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra singing and dancing and dressed in smoking , besides another sensational show including Crosby dancing with children . This is a typical Rat Pack vehicle such as ¨ Ocean's eleven(1960) ¨, ¨ Four for Texas (63)¨ and finally ¨Cannoball run II (1984)¨ with the sympathetic trio Frank Sinatra-Sammy Davis Jr-Dean Martin . The motion picture is professionally constructed by Gordon Douglas. This is one of various and mediocre works of his long career as filmmaker. He was a Hollywood veteran director, directing early movies (Little rascals, Spanky), expert on Western (Chuka,Rio Conchos, Yellowstone Kelly, Only the valiant ), and usually worked for Frank Sinatra in various films (Lady in Cement, Tony Rome,The detective, Robin and the 7 Hoods). Rating : Passable and acceptable , 5,5 . This is a nice musical entertainment and to be liked for Frank Sinatra fans.
Jay Raskin
This is a mixed bag. At times it seems a Chicago version of "Guys and Dolls" and at times it seems to be channeling "Some Like it Hot." Yet, only about 1/3rd of the scenes match the quality of those two films. Too much of the time, we seem to be watching a gangster movie skit from a 1960's television variety show.Frank Sinatra could be very good in movies (e.g. "Man With a Golden Arm,") but he could also sleepwalk through a role, which he does here. He does wake up long enough to do a great number "Chicago: My Kind of Town," which was nominated for an Academy Award and should have won, "Chim Chim Cher-ee" from "Mary Poppins" won.Fortunately, the comedy is provided in small, but delicious doses by Peter Falk, Sammy Davis Jr., Victor Buono, and Dean Martin. Martin's singing of "A Man Who Loves His Mother" is one of the softest and funniest ballads in any movie and Martin does it delightfully. Coincidentally, all of them would find their major successes in television in the 60's and 70's.This was Bing Crosby's penultimate movie. He did do a remake of "Stagecoach" and continued on television for seven more years. While he is charming as usual and does a wonderful number with Martin and Sinatra, the movie changes mood with him. He's involved in a subplot with orphans and it suddenly seems as if twenty minutes of "Going My Way" was inserted.Barbara Rush starred in a lot of big movies in the 1950's with top stars like Rock Hudson, Montgomery Cliff and Paul Newman. By 1960, she switched to doing mostly television and continued steadily in television for the next 47 years. She does her best with a poorly written part, but comes across a bit too serious for a light musical like this one.This is not as good as "Ocean's 11," but much better than "Marriage on the Rocks," which Martin and Sinatra did the following year.It is a must for Sinatra and Martin fans. Movie fans will find about an hour quite amusing and an hour tolerable.
