Tagged: Dean Martin
Marriage on the Rocks: Dino’s Red Sweater and Green Slacks
Dean Martin in Marriage on the Rocks (1965)
Vitals
Dean Martin as Ernie Brewer, playboy advertising executive
Los Angeles, Fall 1965
Film: Marriage on the Rocks
Release Date: September 24, 1965
Director: Jack Donohue
Costume Designer: Walter Plunkett
Background
As we’re gliding through December, my playlist is increasingly loaded with Christmas classics—often sung by the great mid-century entertainers like Ella Fitzgerald, Nat King Cole, and Rat Pack icons Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin.
After the Rat Pack’s heyday in the early ’60s had all but ended, the latter two pallies co-starred in Marriage on the Rocks, released sixty years ago in September 1965 amidst their career highs that included Sinatra recording September of My Years and appearing in an Emmy-winning documentary about his life and career, while Martin had just debuted his long-running variety show on NBC after knocking the Beatles from the top of the charts with “Everybody Loves Somebody”. Continue reading
Dean Martin’s Matching Cabana Set in Artists and Models
Dean Martin and Dorothy Malone in Artists and Models (1955)
Vitals
Dean Martin as Rick Todd, struggling but smooth-talking painter
New York City, Summer 1955
Film: Artists and Models
Release Date: November 7, 1955
Director: Frank Tashlin
Costume Designer: Edith Head
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Iconic entertainer Dean Martin was born 108 years ago today on June 7, 1917 in Steubenville, Ohio. Born Dino Crocetti, the singer and actor remains well-known for his joint acts like the Rat Pack and a decade-long partnership with comedian Jerry Lewis.
After debuting together in Atlantic City in 1946, Martin and Lewis made a total of 16 movies together. Their 14th feature, Artists and Models, was released 70 years ago on November 7, 1955—five months to the day after Martin’s 38th birthday. Though the team would make two more movies before the dissolution of their partnership the following year, Artists and Models foreshadowed the future directions of their respective solo careers as the first of eight collaborations between Lewis and Looney Tunes director Frank Tashlin and the first of seven times that Martin would star with Shirley MacLaine.
Martin and Lewis brought their usual personas to Artists and Models as the romantic painter Rick Todd and goofy children’s author Eugene Fullstack, respectively. In her second film appearance, MacLaine co-stars as Lewis’ love interest Bessie Sparrowbush, who also helps Rick woo her friend, professional artist Abigail Parker (Dorothy Malone). Continue reading
Dean Martin in Kiss Me, Stupid
Dean Martin in Kiss Me, Stupid (1964)
Vitals
Dean Martin as Dino, smooth crooner with a passion for booze, golf, and women
Between Las Vegas and Los Angeles, Fall 1964
Film: Kiss Me, Stupid
Release Date: December 22, 1964
Director: Billy Wilder
Wardrobe Credit: Irene Caine & Wesley Jeffries
Tailor: Sy Devore
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
To celebrate the legendary Dean Martin, born on this day in 1917 in Steubenville, Ohio, today’s post explores when the chsaismatic Italian-American entertainer played… himself! Continue reading
Matt Helm’s Light Blue Knitwear in Murderers’ Row
Dean Martin as Matt Helm in Murderers’ Row (1966)
Vitals
Dean Martin as Matt Helm, smooth secret agent
New Mexico, Summer 1966
Film: Murderers’ Row
Release Date: December 20, 1966
Director: Henry Levin
Costume Designer: Moss Mabry
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Happy birthday, Dean Martin! The charismatic entertainer known for his laidback charm and boozy, breezy persona was born June 7, 1917, in Steubenville, Ohio. Having established himself as a singer and actor, first in his partnership with Jerry Lewis and then among the swingers of the Rat Pack, Dino set out on his own direction in the mid-1960s, first with his variety series The Dean Martin Show on NBC and then his starring role as easygoing counter-agent Matt Helm in a multi-film franchise based on Donald Hamilton’s espionage novels. Unlike their more straightforward and serious source material, Martin’s Matt Helm movies followed the decade’s zeitgeist for spy parodies in the spirit of Carry On Spying and Our Man Flint. If you thought James Bond was a womanizer, lounge lizard Matt Helm proves that you ain’t seen nothin’ yet.
Matt Helm’s Coral Red Jacket in Murderers’ Row
Dean Martin as Matt Helm in Murderers’ Row (1966)
Vitals
Dean Martin as Matt Helm, smooth secret agent
New Mexico to French Riviera, Summer 1966
Film: Murderers’ Row
Release Date: December 20, 1966
Director: Henry Levin
Costume Designer: Moss Mabry
Tailor: Sy Devore
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Today is National Wear Red Day, observed the first Friday of February to raise awareness of the dangers of the heart disease. In recognition, I wanted to feature an example of a movie or TV character prominently wearing red beyond just the usual red shirts, sweaters, or ties. Enter Matt Helm.
Matt Helm’s Blue Blazer in Murderers’ Row
Dean Martin as Matt Helm in Murderers’ Row (1966)
Vitals
Dean Martin as Matt Helm, smooth secret agent
French Riviera, Summer 1966
Film: Murderers’ Row
Release Date: December 20, 1966
Director: Henry Levin
Costume Designer: Moss Mabry
Tailor: Sy Devore
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Happy birthday to Dean Martin, born Dino Paul Crocetti on June 7, 1917, in Steubenville, Ohio! After a successful singing and acting career that included partnerships with Jerry Lewis and the Rat Pack as well as his own TV show, Dino was tapped for the role of Matt Helm, the American counter-agent at the center of author Donald Hamilton’s espionage novels.
While Hamilton wrote his Matt Helm novels with a serious tone, Dino’s characterization parodied the character as more of a playboy lounge lizard, the American satirical answer to his contemporary womanizer James Bond. Thus, the four Matt Helm movies produced in the late ’60s often starred the popular singer opposite many of the most attractive leading ladies of the decade. Continue reading
Matt Helm’s Pink Silk Sport Jacket in The Silencers
Dean Martin as Matt Helm in The Silencers (1966)
Vitals
Dean Martin as Matt Helm, smooth secret agent and photographer
New Mexico to Phoenix, August 1965
Film: The Silencers
Release Date: February 18, 1966
Director: Phil Karlson
Costume Designer: Moss Mabry
Tailor: Sy Devore
Background
Dean Martin infused his lounge lizard persona into a James Bond-like spy for his four-film portrayal of Matt Helm, a playboy whose love for turtlenecks, womanizing, and drinking above actual spying may make him more of an antecedent for the character of Sterling Archer than of 007 himself.
With a bossa nova score by Elmer Bernstein and a hip mid-sixties sartorialism styled by costume designer Moss Mabry and the Rat Pack’s go-to tailor Sy Devore, the Matt Helm series serves as a swingin’ time capsule to the waning heyday of hi-fis and hedonism. Though it may be dated, the series—particularly this first film, The Silencers—seems perfectly content with that and, in fact, it may be an intentional way for the 1966 zeitgeist to remain intact for modern audiences. Never taking itself too seriously, packed with decent talent, and sticking to a tight, quick-paced plot, The Silencers differentiates itself from its contemporary spy spoofs like Casino Royale in that it can still entertain 50 years later.
Dean Martin Turns 100: Dino’s Iconic Tuxedo
Dean Martin on the set of The Dean Martin Show, circa 1965
Vitals
Dean Martin, smooth and multi-talented entertainer
Burbank, California, 1965 to 1974
Series: The Dean Martin Show
Air Dates: September 16, 1965 – April 5, 1974
Director: Greg Garrison
Tailor: Sy Devore
Background
On June 7, 1917, Dino Paul Crocetti was born in Steubenville, Ohio, to Angela and Gaetano Crocetti, the latter a barber from the Abruzzo region in Italy where much of my own family hails. One hundred years later, the world remembers him as Dean Martin, the charming crooner whose legendary career spanned half a century as a major headliner from nightclubs and casinos to movies and TV shows.
Effortlessly charismatic and unflappable, Dino brought his smooth star power to his popular comedy act with Jerry Lewis and later as a leader of the Rat Pack alongside Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr. Continue reading
Dean Martin’s Gray Suit in Ocean’s Eleven
Dean Martin as Sam Harmon in Ocean’s Eleven (1960).
Vitals
Dean Martin as Sam Harmon, lounge singer, war veteran, and casino heister
Beverly Hills to Las Vegas, December 1959 through January 1960
Film: Ocean’s Eleven
Release Date: August 10, 1960
Director: Lewis Milestone
Costume Designer: Howard Shoup
Tailor: Sy Devore
Background
The height of the Rat Pack’s heyday was 1960. Frank’s buddy Jack was elected into the White House, Marilyn was still alive, and the whole gang was living it up in Vegas while filming Ocean’s Eleven. The movie began after Peter Lawford heard the story from Gilbert Kay, who had heard it from a gas station attendant. Once Frank Sinatra was on board, there was no doubt that his famous pals Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr. would fill out the rest of the top billing.
It was while filming the movie’s finale, an irony-laden funereal march in front of The Sands, that one of the most iconic of Rat Pack images was captured: the five main performers—Sinatra, Dino, Sammy, Lawford, and Joey Bishop—in front of their names on the Sands’ marquee. Suited up by the legendary Sy Devore, the five men look like they could run the world. And in Las Vegas, they did. Continue reading
Dean Martin’s Blue Striped Sport Coat in Ocean’s Eleven
Dean Martin as Sam Harmon in Ocean’s Eleven (1960).
Vitals
Dean Martin as Sam Harmon, lounge singer and part-time casino heister
Las Vegas, January 1960
Film: Ocean’s Eleven
Release Date: August 10, 1960
Director: Lewis Milestone
Costume Designer: Howard Shoup
Tailor: Sy Devore
Background
Tomorrow would’ve been the 97th birthday of a true icon from a past era… Dean Martin.
In the film that helped cement the Rat Pack’s place in history, Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin play two old army pals who team up with nine fellow ex-commandos to take down five Las Vegas casinos on New Year’s Eve. Ocean’s Eleven is mostly an excuse for these actors to get together to drink, smoke, chase dames, and sing, but that’s all we really want to see them do anyway. Continue reading
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