The Rat Pack Appeal
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The Rat Pack were an old fashioned but timeless men’s men club with style and talent to admire and aspire to. They were handsome, wore flashy suits, chain-smoked, drank swank martinis like there was no tomorrow, gambled, cavorted with crime bosses and politicians alike, had a slew of fleeting paramours, said and did as they pleased, feared no one, and ruled the entertainment world with their formidable talents. The Rat Pack embodied Hollywood's most elemental myth, its deepest unspoken appeal - a life without rules, without the constraints of fidelity, monogamy, sobriety, with the new “gang” of showbiz buddies drawing international press attention due to this fact. Their love lives were front-page news: Sinatra's messy divorce from Nancy Barbato, and tumultuous marriage and on-again/off-again relationship with actress Ava Gardner, and Sammy Davis, Jr.'s ground-breaking marriage to white actress May Britt, were household gossip. Actor Peter Lawford marrying into the Kennedy clan.

They injected not only their songs into the 1950-1960s, but a lifestyle everyone wanted – the ability to drink, have sex with a multitude of women and push people around all night – which is what is known as the height of 'masculine' glamour personifying every naughty little vice that the American male desired. The audience that panted with envy at their lifestyle where the same people forking out money to behold it, to continue to see these men publically thumbing their noses at conventional morality, whilst giving cool a whole new attitude. They were lavish and slick, accurately imparting the feel of Vegas at the time with its still fairly-stylish hotels and casinos, whilst living under the Italian motto of “Menefreghista” – one who does not give a f***.

The Rat Pack brought a better class of sin to Las Vegas or Sin City. The Rat Pack did everything in style. They dressed well, told the best jokes, were the greatest singers the world knew at the time, danced up a storm and put on a gasser show night after night always pulling them off with utter perfection. One of the reasons the summit shows were so popular was that audiences sensed they were seeing the Rat Pack as they really were, a group of men all on the same wave length. The audience had the priviledge of being privy to how these men behaved with each other offstage. They existed together in a constant state of clowning, drinking and hip banter, displaying the joking style they epitomized as a force of inexhaustible energy. These were men in there 30's and 40's behaving like teenagers, yet they always turned out impeccably in clean crisp white shirts, suits immaculately tailored, hair smoothed back, and smelling of the finest cologne, and all had the faces of angels.

If any of their group were performing (and even if they weren't) they took over stages and dazzled audiences with their hipster cool. Whatever hotel they showed up at was the hottest place in Vegas, and they revelled in their ability to requisition shows, dance floors, nightclubs, hotel suites and any woman they saw at a moment's whim. They reportedly carried on parties that never stopped, womanising - as hordes of women were willing to have sex with anyone remotely associated with the top swingers if not the swingers themselves, drinking, burning the candle at both ends and wenching until sunrise.

The serious friendship between the members, aside from the practical joking, was also part of the appeal. Every night, after the second show, the Pack would meet in the Sands lounge. Dean would always attend the post show get togethers, but never stayed long, he’d have one drink, two, tops then lie to Frank and say, 'I’ve got a girl in my room.' It was never that big of a secret between the pack members that Dean wasn’t a heavy drinker, or one for late nights and extreme womanising – somewhat distinguishing the myth of him as a heavy drinking, womanising casasnova. Once, as a practical joke, Frank gave a woman $1,000 to wait naked in Dean’s bed. Dean gave her $2,000 to go back and tell Frank he was fabulous. Sinatra played a crucial role in helping Sammy Davis, Jr. get his start, and it's an established fact that Davis' success broke barriers for a slew of other African-African entertainers, mainly because of his inclusion in the Rat Pack. Such was their love and mutual understanding.

Not only was the group a fixture at the Sands Hotel and Casino but they starred in their own motion pictures; “Oceans 11”, "Robin and the Seven Hoods," “4 For Texas” and “Sergeants 3”. During the filming of “Oceans 11”, the boys managed to squeeze 2 shows, commitments to the Kennedy campaign, partying and boozing in amongst the movie schedule.