FRANK SINATRA IN THE NEO NOIR 'TONY ROME' WITH SUE LYON

Sue Lyon and Frank Sinatra in the 1960's Neo Noir of TONY ROME Year: 1967

Frank Sinatra's daughter Nancy's bouncy title song for TONY ROME misleadingly promises a character causing mothers to lock up their daughters — when in fact the only dame in danger is heart of gold "slut" Jill St. John, one of the most contrived femme fatale types in the history of Film Noir, or in this case, Neo Noir cinema...

Seeming like a sexy daydreamed wraith created solely to share parenthetical scenes with — and pretending to be only somewhat interested in when she's really wildly crazy about — our smug anti-hero private dick, whose gambling addiction is as idle and secondhand as the gumshoe plot with its mazy ups-and-downs while prominently featuring the gorgeous Miami, Florida in its groovy 1960's heyday...

Frank Sinatra notices that a sleeping Sue Lyon has it all going on in TONY ROME Rates: **1/2

A lavish land-to-sea locale enveloped within a strange (yet still safe and mainstream) odyssey that includes lesbians, lowlifes, junkies and before that, "poor little rich girl" Sue Lyon as our White Rabbit who leads contented boat-cruising bachelor Rome into a Wrong Man pickle — only in place of murder is the theft of a diamond pin (i.e. McGuffin) brought up almost as much as the last name of a game-changing character we'd hardly gotten to know in the first place...

Yet at one point this 11th hour human-twist means pretty much everything before the plot shapes into another Film Noir device: a surprisingly simple conclusion despite all the daedal dust kicked up the process.

 Frank Sinatra and Richard Conte in the 1960's Neo Noir of TONY ROME

In the title role, Sinatra works alright but seems half-asleep in a vehicle that belongs more to Richard Conte as his good friend — an honest family man cop hanging around as if this were his very own crime flick that Frank edged in on before dazedly shrugging from one situation/location to the next...

And yet, with dependable KISS TOMORROW GOODBYE director Gordon Douglas at the helm, and given the elaborate, shapeshifting, byzantine genre, TONY ROME gets a little better/clearer after several viewings.

Frank Sinatra and Richard Conte kick back in the Gordon Douglas gumshoe vessle TONY ROME

Sue Lyon and Frank Sinatra in the 1960's Neo Noir of TONY ROME

Sue Lyon and Frank Sinatra in the 1960's Neo Noir of TONY ROME

Sue Lyon and Frank Sinatra in the 1960's Neo Noir of TONY ROME

Jill St. John and Frank Sinatra in the 1960's Neo Noir of TONY ROME

Sue Lyon and Frank Sinatra in the 1960's Neo Noir of TONY ROME

Sue Lyon and Frank Sinatra in the 1960's Neo Noir of TONY ROME

Sue Lyon and Frank Sinatra in the 1960's Neo Noir of TONY ROME

Jill St. John in the 1960's Neo Noir of TONY ROME

Middle Age Blue Eyes Frank Sinatra in the 1960's Neo Noir of TONY ROME

Middle Age Blue Eyes Frank Sinatra in the 1960's Neo Noir of TONY ROME

Frank Sinatra chase on the Florida Miami Beach in the 1960's Neo Noir Gumshoe TONY ROME

Frank Sinatra starring in the 1960's Neo Noir Gumshoe TONY ROME

Frank Sinatra with Richard Conte in the 1960's Neo Noir Gumshoe TONY ROME

Frank Sinatra with Gena Rowlands in the 1960's Neo Noir Gumshoe TONY ROME

Frank Sinatra with Sue Lyon in the 1960's Neo Noir Gumshoe TONY ROME

Frank Sinatra with Sue Lyon in the 1960's Neo Noir Gumshoe TONY ROME

Lesbian stripper Deanna Lund with her fat ugly lover and Frank Sinatra as TONY ROME

Gena Rowlands and Frank Sinatra in the 1960's Neo Noir Gumshoe TONY ROME

Frank Sinatra as gumshoe Tony Rome in Gordon Douglas's Neo Noir TONY ROME

Frank Sinatra and Jill St. John enjoy the Florida sunshine in TONY ROME

Literally THE END of the Neo Noir set in Miama Beach titled TONY ROME with Tony's boat