The Grandeur That was Rome

I'm glad I watched Tony Rome. After seeing the sequel, Lady in Cement, I wasn't too enthusiastic. The first one is better.

Tony Rome is Frank Sinatra, playing a Miami detective suspiciously similar Travis McGee. Example: McGee won his boat, the Busted Flush, in a poker game. Rome's boat, the Straight Pass, was won in a craps game. Never mind. It's just a coincidence.

In this episode, Rome takes a drunk heiress home and gets involved with drunk wives, ex-wives, future wives (or "sluts"), a diamond pin, some junkies, some hoods, and so forth. There is some cute patter, some fights, some dames, and so it goes.

Back in the 50's, Sinatra had a radio show called Rocky Fortune. He played a footloose and fancy-free guy who worked oddjobs, solved crimes, and cracked wise. This was prime Sinatra. He started every show with his trademarked greeting, "Hi" - but when he said it, it sounded cool. This Tony Rome is much closer to the Rocky Fortune version than I'd expected.

OK, I still fell asleep before it was over. But I was really tired. This is better than the sequel. Although the sequel has Raquel Welch and Dan Blocker. Maybe it's a draw.