Ocean's Eleven: the most stylish eleven ever assembled

In 1960 Ocean’s 11 was made by the Rat Pack, as Frank Sinatra and his circle of entertainer friends were known, among them Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Peter Lawford and Joey Bishop, who performed together in Las Vegas casinos and made films together. While Ocean’s 11 was being shot, they were also doing two shows a night in Las Vegas, at 8 pm and at midnight, so much of the filming happened between 3 am and dawn.

In the film, Danny Ocean and ten old comrades from the 82nd Airborne rob five Las Vegas casinos at midnight on New Year’s Eve, a crew of exactly eleven. Peter Lawford first heard the idea from a director, who had it from a filling-station attendant. When Lawford told Sinatra, Sinatra joked: “Forget the movie, let’s pull the job!”

The film has an eleven beyond the head count. Sammy Davis Jr. sings “Eee-O Eleven”, named after a call from the craps tables. There eleven is called “yo” or “yo-leven”, so that nobody mishears it as “seven”, and on the first roll of the dice it wins.

In 2001 Steven Soderbergh remade it as Ocean’s Eleven, with George Clooney, Brad Pitt and Matt Damon, and again a crew of eleven, this time after the vault under the Bellagio.