The Desert Inn, Sahara, Riviera, Flamingo and Sands (of which Sinatra was part-owner) all signed off on the project, which shot on location in January and February of 1960. The plot, which involved the detonation of an electrical tower, had casino operators nervous - might that actually work? - but the publicity proved irresistible. Sinatra cast the movie with members of his hard-drinking entourage who billed themselves then not as the Rat Pack but “The Summit.” Sinatra caught wind of it and brought it to Jack Warner, who liked it enough to order a script and offer the singer-actor a salary of $700,000 ($6 million today) to star.
