Word: clan
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...studied for entrance into the corps of Inspecteurs des Finances, a superelite brain trust that admits only a handful of men to its ranks each year and produces some of France's top administrative talent. Its veterans form an old-boy network that makes Britain's Oxbridge clan seem about as selective as the crowd at Auteuil...
...Texas, in which Martin shares star billing with Sinatra, is one of those pictures that are known in Hollywood as Clanbakes. They are made by Frankie and his friends, a collection of show business characters who are pleased to call themselves The Clan, and if showbuzz-buzz can be believed really are a lot of fun to film. Unfortunately, they are not much...
Ocean's 11 was a slightly amusing remake of Rififi that instituted a custom: every Clan picture carries a number in its title. Sergeants 3 was a feeble remake of Gunga Din. 4 for Texas, apparently intended as a jestern, or horselaugh opera, isn't really funny. It isn't really funny to see two overage destroyers (Martin and Sinatra) wallowing in floods of booze. It isn't really funny to see two top-heavy tootsies (Anita Ekberg and Ursula Andress) involved in a tasteless chest contest. And it isn't really funny to hear...
What's mainly wrong with Texas, though, is what's wrong with all Clan pictures: the attitude of the people on the screen. They constitute an ingroup, and they seem bored with the outside world. Sometimes, perish the thought, they even seem bored with each other. They scratch, they mumble, they hack around. They appear less concerned to entertain the public than to indulge their private fantasies. Maybe they ought to call their next picture...
...there were rumors that it was all a publicity stunt or some other sort of hoax, and indeed that was one of the first avenues of investigation probed by the FBI. Then, too, there was the matter of Frank Sr.'s genial flirtation with a kind of shadow Clan of his own, consisting of high-echelon hoods. No one figured out the connection, if any, but many were prepared to view the kidnaping as something less than the real thing. They were wrong...