Robin and the 7 Hoods note is a 1964 Warner Bros. musical film inspired by the Robin Hood legends, directed by Gordon Douglas and featuring three members of the Rat Pack.
In 1920s Chicago, Robbo (Frank Sinatra) goes against a rival crime boss and deals with Marian (Barbara Rush) as he tries to gain control of the city's rackets.
The movie also stars Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Bing Crosby, Peter Falk, Victor Buono, Hank Henry, Robert Foulk, Allen Jenkins, Jack LaRue, Joseph Ruskin, Phil Arnold, and Bernard Fein. Edward G. Robinson and Tony Randall appear in uncredited cameos.
It was released on June 24, 1964.
Tropes for the film:
- Anthropomorphic Vice: The musical features the "Mr. Booze" number which takes place at a phony temperance meeting where the participants testify to the evils caused by the title character of the song. (This scene was later paid homage to in an episode of Family Guy).
- Bad Habits: Allan A. Dale poses as a minister when Robbo and his gang disguise their speakeasy as a revival meeting just before it is raided by Gisborne and Deputy Potts.
- Bottomless Magazines: When Will (Sammy Davis Jr..) is shooting up the casino during the "Bang, Bang" number, he fires more shots than either gun holds (12 from one, 11 from the other).
- Character Name and the Noun Phrase
- Constructive Body Disposal: The crooked sheriff, the Big Bad end up with in the foundations of new buildings and Robbo speculates that the second crooked sheriff may have met the same fate due to his absence in the final scene.
- Dirty Cop: Sheriff Glick and his replacement (and cousin) Deputy Sheriff Potts who conspire with Guy Gisborne to help him sieze control of the chicago underworld.
- Femme Fatale: Marian Stevens who, in turn, seduces or attempts to seduce Robbo, Little John, Guy Gisborne, Deputy Potts and finally Allan A. Dale in order to control the Chicago mobs from behind the scenes.
- Frame-Up: Robbo is framed for Glick's murder when Gisborne's men plant Glick's badge,gun and wallet on him.
- Gun Nut: Willnote seems to be one, if his number, "Bang Bang", and his totally demolishing large parts of Gisbourne's speakeasy with pistols and a Tommy Gun are any indication.
- Hustling the Mark: Little John plays the part of a rube to lull Robbo into overconfidence over a game of pool. Then
proceeds to totally own Robbo effortlessly. While singing a beautiful little ballad as he does it! - I Take Offense to That Last One:Foreman: For four weeks, this jury has listened to the testimony. The defendant not only supposedly killed the sheriff...he started the Chicago Fire and killed Cock Robin.
I've been a house detective for years and I've seen good ringers. I think the prosecution deserves congratulations for having the best collection of shifty-eyed, double-crossing two-faced liars.
This jury declares the defendant innocent.
Guy Gisborne: Who mentioned Cock Robin? - Just Like Robin Hood: The story is loosely adapted from the legends.
- Nasty Party: Gisborne has Big Jim gunned down by the assembled gangsters of Chicago at his own birthday party.
- Pain Tothe Ass: One of the orphans shoots Allan A. Dale in the butt with an arrow as he is leaving the room.
- Popcultural Osmosis Failure: The foreman of the jury makes a statement beginning "For four weeks, this jury has listened to the testimony. The defendant not only supposedly killed the sheriff...he started the Chicago Fire and killed Cock Robin" before going on to find Robbo not guilty. Guy Gisborne's infuriated response is:Who mentioned Cock Robin?
- Real Men Wear Pink: One of Robbo's hoods knits, even going back to retrieve his knitting when the gambling joint is being invaded by the Women's League for Better Government.
- Running Gag:
- Any time Allan A. Dale engages in Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness, a character will inevitably muse that "something's wrong with his throat", including one of his own wards at the orphanage he manages.
- "I move a motion that somebody open a window."
- Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness: The elderly and respectable Alan A. Dale speaks this way, contrasting with the causal speech of Robbo and his gang.Dale: Am I correct in my assumption that you gentlemen find my habiliments reprehensible?note
Little John: I think there's something wrong with his throat. - Straight Edge Evil: Dirty Cop Deputy Potts only ever drinks cocoa, despite the film being awash in bootleg booze.
- Super Multi-Purpose Room: The movie, set in the 1920s Prohibition era, features a bar/casino that can transform into a temperance church meeting for when the police show up.
- Table Space: Robbo is invited to dinner by the wealthy heiress Marian. They are the only two people seated at her lengthy dining table, and they are seated at opposite ends.
- Thrown from the Zeppelin: After the gangsters murder Big Jim (The Don) in the opening scene, they hold a meeting to pick his successor. One man suggests just drawing names from a hat. Gisborne (who organized the murder of Big Jim) makes it clear that the meeting is just a formality to declare that he's the new boss and threatens to kill the man who suggested drawing names (although he ultimately doesn't).
