There's so much good and bad jumbled up in the Sinatra clan's pastiche of gangster films of the 1930s that it's hard to know where to begin. Probably best just to sit back and wait for the good bits: such as the beginning, with Big Jim (Edward G Robinson) presented to an enormous birthday cake by his associates. Then they shoot him. And then there's Frank Sinatra's gambling joint, which turns into a mission hall in a matter of moments on the arrival of the cops. And the delightful idea of popping the sheriff's body into the cornerstone of the new police station. Sinatra's on confident form, although Dean Martin looks uneasy as Little John, except for a pool game where he clears the table while singing about his mother. And yet, after a while, you really could do with a shoot-out or two in the old fashioned manner. Even the tuneful songs can't disguise the lack of action for ever. Best of the numbers is Mister Booze, sung by Bing Crosby (as Allen A Dale) and a choir of gangsters, which really hits the target. But it was another song from the film, My Kind of Town, that took an Oscar that year. Best of the performances comes from Peter Falk, who truly does conjure up the aura of Thirties gangsters.


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