Ocean's 11...Then and Now!

Then	Now
The original Ocean's Eleven, released in August 1960, was shot largely on location in Las Vegas when the Rat Pack was appearing on stage at the Sands at night. It still plays like a "morning after" movie that was filmed whenever the actors could make it onto the set.	The new version, shorter on booze and balloons, is getting the kind of prime-time December treatment reserved for more prestigious projects. Looking for imilarities? Well, Frank Sinatra and George Clooney both play guys named Danny Ocean, while their respective romantic co-stars — Angie Dickinson and Julia Roberts — are their fair-haired exes.
Don Cheadle, who played Sammy Davis Jr. in HBO'S The Rat Pack, doesn't quite have a parallel role. Davis' character performs some grunt work helping to set the charge that knocks out power in 1960 Vegas, but that caper's key electrician is played by Richard Conte. In the new version, Cheadle is a munitions whiz who puts out the lights all by himself. Despite the O Brother, Where Art Thou? precedent, there are no Clooney vocals in the new film. But in the original, Dean Martin pre-dated Dirty Dancing with "dirty singing." He introduced the now-constantly revived Ain't That a Kick in the Head, a song some radio stations reportedly wouldn't play at the time because they found it off-color. Because he saw the original Ocean's Eleven in 1960, USA TODAY's Mike Clark is flush with knowledge as to how the new version stacks up
The Eleven
Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Peter Lawford, Joey Bishop, Richard Conte, Henry Silva, Buddy Lester, Norman Fell, Clem Harvey, Richard Benedict	George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Don Cheadle, Bernie Mac, Casey Affleck, Scott Caan, Shaobo Qin, Carl Reiner, Elliott Gould, Eddie Jemison
The Woman
Angie Dickinson as Sinatra's ex, though Frank also has a vindictive Patrice Wymore on the side.	Julia Roberts as Clooney's ex

The Directors
An over-the-hill , best known for his 1930 Oscar-winning All Quiet on the Western Front, one of the most socially conscious movies ever made.	Steven Soderbergh, coming off 2000's Traffic, one of the most socially conscious movies of its era
The Robbed Casinos
The Sahara, Flamingo, Riviera, Desert Inn and Sands	The Bellagio, the Mirage, the MGM Grand
The Studio
Warner Bros.	Warner Bros., which proves that some studios can outlast even casinos
Caper Camouflage
New Year's Eve revelry	A Lennox Lewis-Wladimir Klitschko heavyweight championship boxing match
Cameos
Red Skelton and George Raft (billed) and Shirley MacLaine (unbilled). The great vibrophonist Red Norvo (billed) backs up Dean Martin's singing at the Sahara.	Angie Dickinson and Henry Silva, who are seen standing together for a split second at the fight; and perhaps trying to inspire a hip, new "Phat Pack," you also see Topher Grace, Shane West, Holly Marie Combs , Joshua Jackson and Barry Watson
Box Office Competition
Psycho, The Time Machine and Sex Kittens Go to College	Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
Most Memorable Dialogue
Caper participant Richard Conte's camp classic to the physician examining his faulty heart condition: "Give it to me straight, doc; is it the Big Casino?	Clooney quips about Brad Pitt's loud shirt: "Ted Nugent wants his shirt back."
Most Bizarre Scene
Dean Martin tells Sammy Davis Jr. that if elected to office, he'll repeal the 14th and 20th amendments (sic) and turn women into slaves	Nothing is that bizarre in movies anymore!
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