Sergeants 3

"Sergeants 3" is a 1962 remake of "Gunga Din" (1939) set in the American West, featuring Rat Pack icons Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr., Peter Lawford, and Joey Bishop. Directed by John Sturges and produced by Frank Sinatra, the movie featured Sinatra in the Victor McLaglen role, Martin in the Cary Grant role, Lawford in the Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. role, and Davis in the Sam Jaffe role and was filmed in Kanab, Utah. Sinatra wanted to use the title "Soldiers Three" but couldn't get the rights.

Other Rat Pack Movies

There were three other Rat Pack movies: "Ocean's Eleven" (1960) "Robin and the 7 Hoods" (1964) with Joey Bishop missing and Bing Crosby replacing Peter Lawford and "4 for Texas" With Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Anita Ekberg and Ursula Andress as the Four and Charles Bronson as the villain. Sinatra, himself, said of the Rat Pack films "Of course they're not great movies, no-one could claim that... but every movie I've made through my own company has made money."

Sergeants 3 was produced by Sinatra - the only Rat Pack film not produced by Sinatra was Ocean's 11 - and earned $4.3 million in rentals at the North American box office, being ranked by Variety as the 14th highest-earning film of 1962.

The Lost Sinatra Film

Seldom seen after its initial run in cinemas, and never granted a release on home video, it seemed as though only a major event could bring Sergeants 3 to DVD, and such seems to have been the case, an announcement being made in February 2008 that the film would be released on DVD as a single disc and as part of a new Rat Pack box set to commemorate the 10th anniversary of Frank Sinatra's death on May 13th 2008.

Critical Reception

Sergeants 3 was met with middling reviews on release, Variety noting that "Sergeants 3 is warmed-over Gunga Din a westernized version of that screen epic, with American-style Indians and Vegas-style soldiers of fortune. The essential differences between the two pictures, other than the obvious one of setting, is that the emphasis in Gunga was serious, with tongue-in-cheek overtone, whereas the emphasis in Sergeants is tongue-in-cheek, with serious overtones."

Links

Variety's Review: http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117794755.html?categoryid=31&cs=1&p=0