Assault on a Queen (1966)

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Assault on a Queen is a complex, exciting crime-caper film in which a gang of clever mercenaries try to rob the famous luxury liner, the Queen Mary. Mark Brittain (Frank Sinatra) is hired by wealthy Italian adventuress Rosa Lucchesi (Verna Lisi) and her German partner-in-crime, Eric Laufftiauer (Alf… More Assault on a Queen is a complex, exciting crime-caper film in which a gang of clever mercenaries try to rob the famous luxury liner, the Queen Mary. Mark Brittain (Frank Sinatra) is hired by wealthy Italian adventuress Rosa Lucchesi (Verna Lisi) and her German partner-in-crime, Eric Laufftiauer (Alf Kjellin) to refurbish a WWII German U-Boat and use it to hold the entire ship hostage while it is robbed. Scriptwriter Rod Serling does his best with an interesting, but rather implausible premise, and director Jack Donohue gets above-average performances from his cast of veteran character actors, including Richard Conte and Reginald Denny, but Frank Sinatra is not particularly believable as an action hero. The true star of the show is the terrific color photography of the magnificent ocean liner by William Daniels and a musical score by Duke Ellington. While Assault on a Queen fails to generate much suspense, fans of Frank Sinatra should enjoy this, although it fails to reach the level of fun and excitement of his excellent Ocean's 11. ~ Linda Rasmussen, Rovi