1960 Sands, Las Vegas, Nevada (Jan. 20 - Feb. 16)
Frank, Dean, Sammy, Joey and Peter.
Once Upon a Ring-a-Ding-Ding
Rat Pack
On the 60th anniversary of Ocean’s 11, the film that introduced Sin City’s fizz
to the world, a trip back in time
“The Sands was built in 1952, but 1960 was the year Las Vegas popped.”
Would this fly today?
Dino sings the opening bars of “Did You Ever See a Dream Walking,” the word
“walking” pole-vaulting up several notes, per the beloved standard’s melody.
Sorta.
“Did you ever see a Jew JITSU? ...” Dino sings.
Frank’s hand shoots up: “Well, I did!”
Enter faux-furious (and genuinely Jewish) Sammy, faux-restrained by Frank.
Sammy yells: “Be fair, that’s all I ask! Would you like it if I came out here
and said, ‘Did you ever see a Wap-SICLE? Well, I did!”
Frank attempts to croon an Al Jolson classic. “I’m Alabam-y-bound ...”
Sammy interrupts: “You’ll go there by yourself! Leader or no leader, I ain’t
goin’ wit’cha, baby! They gonna have to come up here to get me!”
When the world was younger than today — with all the playful innocence that
implies, blissfully unaware of the tortured social/cultural growing pains yet
to come — six words turned Las Vegas into Vegas, baby!: “The Rat Pack at the
Sands.”
Otherwise known as Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Peter Lawford,
and Joey Bishop at the Sands.
That was six decades ago. And that was their shtick — Jewish, Italian, Black,
and redneck jokes (plus a song snippet immortalized by a white-man-in-blackface
superstar of his era) in about 90 seconds, just to start.
Audiences screamed (yes, in laughter).
In August 1960, their Rat Packedness (and the sights and sounds of classic
Vegas) was immortalized with the release of Ocean’s 11 — the original that
inspired four later films and became our global calling card. Crowds (including
prez-to-be John F. Kennedy, Lawford’s bro-in-law) streamed into the Sands’ Copa
Room every time the gang (or some combination of them) came to town.
With due respect to Elvis, Liberace, and countless other superstars, it was
these guys who turned this town into THE TOWN. And when they arrived for the
January/February 1960 filming of the Vegas portions of Ocean’s 11 — while
simultaneously wowing the Copa crowds nightly — they were elevated to legendary
status in our collective memory.
Yes, they were of their time — imagine Frank’s “Swing, baby, swing!” ethos
running smack into #MeToo today — but they were magic. As we grapple now with
poisoned politics, racial strife, demonstrations, and a pandemic that crippled
America and the globe, including our vaunted Strip, we could use their
bursting-at-the-seams spirit — minus the cultural flaws and anachronisms — to
reignite our own Vegas Vibe, hopefully soon.
So, through the magic of time-trippin’, we return you to the sunset of
Eisenhower’s America and the sunrise of JFK’s Camelot — that historical sweet
spot that launched the Rat Pack rocket to fame.
