Saturday, October 31, 2015

Get Scared Stiff This Dino-ween



Hey pallies, likes Happy Dino-ween all you Dino-dudes.  Likes it has been a deeply dependable Dino-tradition here at ilovedinomartin to celebrate this Dino-holi-day by sharin' this stunnin'ly stellar Dino-lantern that likes puts the awesomeist of awesome accent on our Dino's amazin' Dino-buddahgrin!

And likes, for your total total Dino-viewin' pleasure back 'gain this Dino-ween is  that ultra ubber delightfully delightful Dino-dramady, "Scared Stiff" where our great man goes likes spookin' 'round with his greatest of great pallie Mr. Jerry Lewis. "Stiff" is such an absolute gas and our ever lovin' Dino and his ever funny partner have never ever had better chemistry then in this coolest of cool caper of scare!

So, likes Happy Dino-ween dudes and always, ever, and only keeps the lovin' focus on our most beloved Dino! Dino-spookin', DMP




Friday, October 30, 2015

Dino and Jerry Celebratin' Dino-ween


Hey pallies, likes here's just a bit more Dino-fun, and likes 'nother Dino-tradition here at ilovedinomartin to gets all us Dino-philes into the mood for Dino-ween.  Below, from the powerfully provocative blog "THIS IS NOT PORN" comes the extremely evocative pose of our most beloved Dino and his most beloved partner Mr. Jerry Lewis in a very very Dino-ween state of mind.

Donnin' pointy hats and leanin' on some great pumpkins Dino and Jerry create the coolest cool Dino-ween atmosphere.....looks at our Dino lookin' at Jerry makin' with facial and hand motions.

ilovedinomartin thanks the pallies at "THIS IS NOT PORN" for sharin' this most classic of classic Dino-ween pose!  As usual, to checks this out in it's original source, simply clicks on the tag of this here Dino-gram.  Dino-weenin', DMP

Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis

Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis celebrating halloween | Rare and beautiful celebrity photos

Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis celebrating halloween



Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis celebrating halloween

Thursday, October 29, 2015

Sends Some Dino-ween Wishes


Hey pallies, likes Dino-ween ain't far off now pallies, likes just a few 'way on this very Saturday.  So, likes as in years past we thoughts we woulda  'gain sends all youse Dino-addicted pallies likes a reminder 'bout the delightful  Dino-resource that ilovedinomartin discovered several Dino-weens ago for all us Dino-philes to use to send Dino-ween wishes to fellow Dino-holics.

From the "Dean Martin Informationscenter Deutschland"... www.dean-martin.de," comes a completely cool collection of Dino-ecards, likes just waitin' for youse to share with all your Dino-diggin'  pallies on this special Dino-holi-day!

And, likes dudes likes besides sendin' to all the Dino-philes on your list, likes how 'bout sendin' to some of your pallies who are yet to be sold-out to our Dino...certainly a great way to encourage 'em in growin' in their personal Dino-devotion!!!!!  We've included some of the coolest of the cool Dino-ecards with this post, but to view 'em all and make your Dino-selections, just click on the tag of this Dino-report to goes to the original site.

Happy Dino-ween to all our ilovedinomartin Dino-homagers ...and as ever, keeps lovin' our most beloved Dino! Dino-weenin', DMP








Wednesday, October 28, 2015

Felice Garcia - Dean Martin


Hey pallies, likes when we opened up our email this  mornin' we were wondrously whisked 'way to youtube by our pallies at google Dino-'lerts where we were directed to the newest of new, coolest of cool croon tagged "Dean Martin" sung by Las Vegas singin' sensation Miss Felice Garcia.  Accordin' to her bio, Miss Garcia  "in March 2015, completed a two year run in the Tony Award-Winning Musical Million Dollar Quartet at Harrah’s in Las Vegas.  Before graduating from UNLV, Felice landed the much coveted role as the principal singer in the longest running show on the Las Vegas Strip, Les Folies Bergere, at the Tropicana Hotel and Casino."

This hugest of huge homage to our Dino is one of the songs on Felice's  al-b-um tagged "Spy."  Likes we searched the internet far and wide to try and track down the lyrics with no success.
So likes we have done our best to share 'em below as we heard them while listenin' to the youtube vid.  We ain't sure that we got 'em completely accurate, but we thinks we have captured most of 'em.

Miss Garcia sings the most evocative of evocative  two main stanzas with the chorus simply bein' Where's Dean Martin? Where's Dean Martin?  In the background are the coolest of cool thoughts...  Dino Forever. Everybody loves you.  Where's that man when you really need him?  If any of you dudes can get the lyrics more accurately, please send 'em off to us.

It appears that Felice's al-b-um was released just yesterday and we are hopin' that she has the hugest of huge success  with it.    We here at ilovedinomartin finds if radically refreshin' to find 'nother of today's nouveau hipster vocalists proclaimin' there deepest of deep devotion to our most beloved Dino.

We are completely confident that this swingin' song devoted to our swingin' Dino will be of great assistance in bringin' just a ton of today's modsters into the Dino-fold!To checks out more on Felice, simply clicks on the tag of this Dino-gram to goes to her home pad.      Dino-pumped, DMP







Published on Oct 27, 2015
Provided to YouTube by CDBaby

Dean Martin · Felice Garcia

Pour me a dirty martini.
Sitting port side at the Sands.
Wearing the perfect bikini.
Looking for just the right man.

Where's Dean Martin?
Where's Dean Martin?


Please light me up in Las Vegas.
Give in to all my demands.
His kind of cool is contageous.
Something this girl understands.

Where's Dean Martin?
Where's Dean Martin?

Dino Forever
Everybody loves you.
Where's that man when you really need him?


Tuesday, October 27, 2015

Dean Martin lived here


Hey pallies, likes there's a  ol' ol' sayin' that goes "variety is the spice of life" and here at ilovedinomartin we does our very best to tries and gives all youse Dino-holics very very vibrant variety when it comes to our most beloved Dino.  And, likes we couldn't do this without the huge huge help of pallies from all over the Dino-universe that most the most wondrous Dino-related stuff all over the world wide web.

Likes today we share with you a short youtube vid created by a dude tagged "Underground LA" who
made the effort to goes to our Dino's final residence at  511 North Maple Drive in Beverly Hills, Cali to shoot footage to share with Dino-philes everwhere where our Dino hung his hat.  We likes deeply deeply digs how devotion takes all shapes and forms and how never know what new way some Dino-phile will find to lift up our beloved Dino through the magic of the internet.

In addition to the brief half minute vid, "Underground LA" a very short 'n sweet bio of our main man so that anyone who might stop by and peruse the vid woulda be able to get a iconic intro to our King of Cool....his life, his times, his teachin's.  Likes, who knows how many many more pallies will come to know, love, and honor our Dino through this humble Dino-effort?!?!?!?!?!

ilovedinomartin salutes "Underground LA" for his cool contribution to spreadin' the Dino-message ever farther and wider....drawin' more and more pallies into the Dino-way!  Dino-delightedly, DMP




Dean Martin lived here

Dean Martin (born Dino Paul Crocetti; June 7, 1917 – December 25, 1995) was an American singer, actor, comedian, and film producer.
One of the most popular and enduring American entertainers of the mid-20th century, Martin was nicknamed the "King of Cool" for his seemingly effortless charisma and self-assurance. [1][2] He and Jerry Lewis were partners in the immensely popular comedy team "Martin and Lewis". He was a member of the "Rat Pack" and a star in concert stage/nightclubs, recordings, motion pictures, and television. He was the host of the television variety program The Dean Martin Show (1965–1974) and The Dean Martin Celebrity Roast (1974–1985).
Martin's relaxed, warbling crooning voice earned him dozens of hit singles including his signature songs "Memories Are Made of This", "That's Amore", "Everybody Loves Somebody", "You're Nobody till Somebody Loves You", "Sway", "Volare", and "Ain't That a Kick in the Head?".

Monday, October 26, 2015

Martin channels his considerable charm and vulnerability into the part, visibly brightening the gloomy old house with his arrival.


Hey pallies, likes it is always our purest of pure pleasure to share more Dino-devotion from pallies who have been previously featured on the pages of our humble little ilovedinomartin blog.  It is so remarkably  reassurin' to know that cyberspace is chocked full of scribers who can't way to spread more awesome adulation of our Dino through the vehicle of the written word.

Today is a cool case in point dudes.   Our pallies at goggle Dino-'lerts most recently send us to the media pad "The A.V. Club" where Miss Gwen Ihnat recently reviewed that silver screen dramatic Dino-classic "Toys In The Attic."  Well, if memory served us correct, we thoughts that we had posted some Dino-reviews from that stunnin' source below.  When we plugged "The A.V. Club" into the ol' ilovedinomartin search engine, we found that we had no only posted remarkable reviews from there before, but indeed 'nother post from Miss Ihnat who previously did a rad review of the Dino sex farce of sex farces, "Kiss Me Stupid."  If you clicks  HERE you will find ilovedinomartin's February 13, 2015 write up of said.

Today we feature Miss Ihnat's love affair with 'nother Dino big screen classic drama, "Toys In The Attic."  Gwen has not only a deep appreciation for this adaptation of Miss Lillian Hellman's play by the same name, but a deeply deep appreciation for our most beloved Dino as well.  Ihnat's words that we use to tag this particular post speaks volumes of her awesome amore of our main man,.." Martin channels his considerable charm and vulnerability into the part, visibly brightening the gloomy old house with his arrival."  She closes her review with yet 'nother nod of adulation for our Dino,.."But Toys In The Attic is worth seeking out, even if just to see Dean Martin’s greatest cinematic performance that’s not cowboy-related."

Once 'gain we sez our thank you very much to Miss Gwen Ihnat and all the pallies at "The A.V. Club" for puttin' their readership on to 'nother lesser known, but brightly brilliant Dino-flick.
To checks this out in it's original source, simply clicks on the tag of this here Dino-gram.  Deeply delighted in Dino,DMP

Toys In The Attic is hard to find, but worth the search

By Gwen Ihnat@gwenemarie

Oct 23, 2015 12:00 PM



Yvette Mimieux, Geraldine Page, Dean Martin

Toys In The Attic (1963)

Geraldine Page was coming off of two Tennessee Williams movies when she made Toys In The Attic in 1963, and must have felt right at home in another twisted Southern drama. This time, though, the drama was based on a Tony-nominated Lillian Hellman play, and featured family in a fatal brand of romance. Page starred as Carrie, who lives with her sister Anna (Wendy Hiller) in a crumbling old New Orleans house, where they wait for visits from their ne’er-do-well younger brother Julian, played by Dean Martin. Julian returns to town with an unstable young bride and a mysterious pile of cash, and as is so often the case in Southern gothic dramas, the stress of this visit causes long-buried family secrets and desires to flood to the surface.

The maniacal twists and turns of the script are fun to navigate, and Page proves why whole theaters are named after her. But the real revelation here is Martin, going toe-to-toe with the grand dame of the American stage. Hellman based Julian on her own father, a charismatic traveling salesman who was doted on by his two sisters. Martin channels his considerable charm and vulnerability into the part, visibly brightening the gloomy old house with his arrival. As the young bride, Yvette Mimieux is so lovely, it’s hard to believe she didn’t have a bigger career, and Gene Tierney makes the most of her brief appearance as Julian’s new mother-in-law, a New Orleans society force to be reckoned with.

The bond between the three siblings is the only family (and for the sisters, the only basic human contact) that they know. Toys In The Attic goes to great lengths to depict the downside of that much sibling isolation and devotion. George Roy Hill, directing only his second movie about a decade before winning the Oscar for The Sting, crafts the bleak camera angles and stark black-and-white contrasts as adeptly as any horror movie, which is actually what Toys transforms into. Carrie starts out fluffy and inconsequential but slowly becomes monstrous as her attachment to Julian consumes her. Julian is all brash and polish until his secretive sides are exposed. It’s such a master class in everything—acting, cinematography, screenwriting, yet its only Oscar nomination was for costume design—it’s hard to believe this movie appears to have fallen off the pop-culture landscape (give or take an Aerosmith title track). It shows up on TCM occasionally, but it’s not as readily available as some other classics from the era. But Toys In The Attic is worth seeking out, even if just to see Dean Martin’s greatest cinematic performance that’s not cowboy-related.

Availability: Toys In The Attic is available on DVD from Amazon and possibly your local video store/library.

Sunday, October 25, 2015

Danny G's Sunday Serenade with Dino: "Outta My Mind"

Welcome back mi amici!
How's my fellow Dino-philes doin'?
Is all well?
 Are youse gettin' ready for some tricks & treats?

Now youse ALL know that I would NEVER trick ANY of my brothers & sisters of Dino!
 But...I would DEF I NATE LY supply youse ALL with MANY Dino-treats!
So...that's what I'm gonna do for this week's Serenade!
Yes siree, pallies!
 Found us a Cool Cool jam that I ain't NEVER ever heard!
Hopin' it's a new treat for my pals, as well!
"Outta My Mind" goes waaaay back to Dean's Capital Records days &, like last week, has that "vintage vinyl" sound that I simply CANTS get 'nough of!!!

Man o man, pals...thinks we ALL can relate to this Dino-tune, at some time or 'nother!
 I've had PLENTY of occasions in my crazy life that I look back at now & do nothin' but laugh! Haha!!
 What a nut I was! Hahaha!!!
O well, pallies. That's part of life! Growin' & learnin'. What works & what don't.
All & all...it's a FUN FUN ride!
Let's see if this swingin' number conjours up some "what was I thinkin" memories for all my fellow Dino-holics!
 Hope it makes you smile, pals!
 Can't take life too seriously, mi amici. Dean never did.
 Just look back & laugh...we is doin' just fine!
 Enjoy!







Outa my mind I must have been outa my mind
I thought that I'd leave you behind
And never be sorry
Thought I could give you the brush one clean and final break
What's more I left in a rush what difference could it make
Boy was I mistaken

Outa my head I had to be outa my head
'til something inside of me said
You love her like crazy
And I came outa my spin
That dizzy spin I was in
Don't ask me where have I been
Been outa my mind

(Outa my mind I must have been outa my mind)
(I thought that I'd leave you behind)
(And never be sorry)
(Thought I could give you the brush one clean and final break)
(What's more I left in a rush what difference could it make)
(Boy was I mistaken)

Outa my head I had to be outa my head
'til something inside of me said
You love her like crazy
And I came outa my spin
That dizzy spin I was in
(Both) Don't ask me where have I been
(Both) Been outa my mind

Saturday, October 24, 2015

Italian-American Heritage Month: Day 12 Dean Martin

Hey pallies, likes today's Dino-adulation is sorta on the more short 'n sweet side of Dino-thin's, but it shows yet 'nother arena of amore for our most beloved Dino.  Likes today we takes you to the personal blog of a lady known as Miss "antoninafrancesca," who blogs at a site tagged Family Faith and Food - "Where everyone is welcome."  Seems that Miss Antonia "grew up in a traditional Italian household (the oldest of eight children), where I learned at a very young age that there were three important things you needed in order to live a good life.  Those "tree important things" are obviously "Family Faith and Food."

Well, through the efforts of google Dino-blog searchin' we discovered that Miss Antonina has been celebration "Italian-American Heritage Month" at her blog and our Dino has been featured on Day 12.   Antonina  shares a an extraordinary engagin' evocative pose of our great man with a few lines of patter 'bout his life and times.....probably 'nothin' new for died in the wool Dino-holics likes youse, but for "Family Faith and Food" readers this might perhaps be there first introduction to our one and only Dino...and everybody has to start somewhere in their journey to deep, pure, and true devotion to the King of Cool!

There's a youtube link to our main man singin' one of his main croons,"That's Amore" and Miss Antonina quires her readership by askin' "What is your favorite Dean Martin…movie, song, tv special, or Las Vegas show?"  Wouldn't it be cool to have likes a ton of ilovedinomartin pallies patter her back with their Dino-reflections?!?!?!?!?!

Likes, we sez our thank you very much for this gentle and kind reflection by this lovely lady, who is helpin' many to find their way to Dino!  To checks this out in it's original source, simply clicks on the tag of this here Dino-report.   In our Dino, DMP


Italian-American Heritage Month: Day 12 Dean Martin






FPG/archive photo/getty image
Our celebrated Italian-American of the day is Dean Martin. Dino Paul Crocetti was born on June 7, 1917 in Steubenville, a small town in Ohio. Martin was an American singer, actor, comedian, and film producer.
Martin’s father Gaetano Alfonso Crocetti, a barber, immigrated here from Montesilvano, in Abruzzo, and married his Italian-American mother, Angela Crocetti (nee Barra) in 1914.
Martin’s first language was an Abruzzese dialect of Italian, and he did not speak English until he started school at the age of 5. He was bullied for his broken English, and dropped out of high school in the 10th grade because he thought he was “smarter than his teachers.”
He worked odd jobs including: an amateur welterweight boxer under the name “Kid Crochet,” drove liquor across state lines during prohibition, sold lottery tickets, as well as “acting as a bookie and working as a card dealer and croupier in local gambling joints, all before his start in show business.
Martin had a long-running comedy partnership on radio, film, and television with Jerry Lewis. After going solo, Martin met and became friends with Frank Sinatra, and joined the Rat Pack – including Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., Joey Bishop and Peter Lawford, where they became legendary for their Las Vegas Strip performances.
Please enjoy Dean Martin singing his first hit song ‘That’s Amore’
What is your favorite Dean Martin…movie, song, tv special, or Las Vegas show?
Until Next Time…

Friday, October 23, 2015

I couldn't be a bigger Dean Martin fan.


My Photo
 Hey pallies, likes likes what coulda be more 'citin' then sharin' 'nother pallie proclaimin' their awesome adulation of our most beloved Dino?!?!?!?!  That's what's on Dino-deck this very Dino-day.

Whilst doin' our likes almost daily google blog Dino-searchin' we happened 'pon the self-tagged blog "ronnyelliott" where, of course, Mr. Ronny Elliott holds forth.

Elliott's bio tell us that he himself is in the song writin' and song singin' biz himself tellin' us that he has "been writing songs and playing them since 1964. No gold records, no gold watch. I have been lucky enough to share bills with Chuck Berry, the Allman Brothers, Jimi Hendrix, the Flatlanders, Van Morrison and lots of other heroes of mine."

 Likes we are incredibly impressed by Ronny's bio, and likes even more incredibly  impressed when in his recent blog post, "Dean and Jerry,"  he publicly professed "I couldn't be a bigger Dean Martin fan."  In his short post Elliott talks 'bout bein' deeply deeply  "devastated" by the break up of Martin and Lewis sayin' "In my nine year old mind it was ultimate tragedy, total loss."  A feelin' that truly truly many of us can likes totally totally related to.

Anyhow, Ronny relates how "watching the old clips of their comedy act changes my perspective." and led him to his deep devotion to our  one and only Dino!  It woulda be so so interestin' to hear more of just how watchin' those old clip led him to the Dino-truth.  Also Elliott references a Mr. Howard Zinn, but in our google searchin' we were unable to find anythin' related to our Dino and Mr. Lewis.

Mr. Elliott concludes his Dino-devotion with a vid clip of our Dino and his partner Mr. Lewis that we ain't remember seein' before.  It's 1952, June 22 to be precise, and our main man and his main man are on a telethon hosted by Mr. Bob Hope and Mr. Bing Crosby that is raisin' funds for the US Olympic team.  It shows our Dino and Jerry in full form.

We sez our thoughtful thanks to Mr. Ronny Elliott for so proudly and boldly confessin' his deeepest of deep delight in our most beloved Dino!  To checks this out in it's original format, simply clicks on the tag of this here Dino-gram.  Always Dino-awed, DMP

Dean and Jerry

As a kid when I learned that Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis were breaking up as a team, I was devastated. In my nine year old mind it was ultimate tragedy, total loss.

Most of us kids assumed that Dean was being mean to Jerry. I'm guessing now that lots of our moms were glad to see Dino dumping the jerk.

Watching the old clips of their comedy act changes my perspective. I couldn't be a bigger Dean Martin fan. The fanfare for Jerry is the only thing that keeps me from being an out and out Francophile.

Good guy/bad guy- be careful. Read Howard Zinn.



Thursday, October 22, 2015

Dean Martin's "Ain't that a Kick in the Head" was one of her favorite songs, back in the day....






Donna Vickroy
Hey pallies, likes today we are deeply delighted to share 'nother touchin' 'n tender tale of transformation, of the purely potent power of our most beloved Dino.  From the annals of the October 21 edition of none other then the Chicago Tribute we share with you how our Dino's coolest of cool croons is givin' the purest of pure pleasure to elderly folks who are sufferin' from the depths of dementia.

Scribed by Miss Donna Vickroy, a Contact Reporter for the Trib, her prose tagged "Music gift gives dementia patients trip down memory lane" accents 101 year old Miss Margaret Lavery, and the incredibly immense pleasure that she recently received while listenin to the strains of our Dino's "Ain't that a Kick in the Head."  "one of her favorite songs, back in the day, back before dementia began a slow assault on her memory."

We share with youse the briefest of brief excerpt from this articulate article of  the continuin' transformational power of our Dino in hopes that you will simply clicks on the tag of this Dino-gram and read the report in total to learn more 'bout how music has a spectacularly soothin' effect on folks dealin' with dementia.

We continue to stand ever more in amazin' awe of  our one and only Dino to continue to meet the needs of his devotees time after time...no matter what their age or stage of life is.  We salutes the folks at the Chicago Tribute, and in particular reporter Miss Donna Vickory  for bringin' this stunnin' story front and center helpin' even more pallies to stand in awe of our one and only Dino.   Devotedly in Dino, DMP

Music gift gives dementia patients trip down memory lane

Music gift gives dementia patients trip down memory lane

Donna Vickroy  Contact Reporter

When they placed the headphones on Margaret Lavery's ears and turned up the volume, the 101-year-old resident of Smith Crossing in Orland Park immediately began to dance in her wheelchair.

Dean Martin's "Ain't that a Kick in the Head" was one of her favorite songs, back in the day, back before dementia began a slow assault on her memory.

"Eeeeeeeee," she squealed. "Ooooh, I like. This is fun. You know how to take a girl's breath away."



Wednesday, October 21, 2015

DEAN MARTIN WAS BOTH THE WINGMAN TO “OL’ BLUE EYES” FRANK SINATRA AND A LONER


Xochitl Pena
Hey pallies, likes the words of the day are MARVELOUS MASSIVE MISSIVE!  Likes before we 'plain ourselves, we are obliged to send a huge shout out to one of the most loyal followers of our Dino and of the scribin's here at ilovedinomartin, Mr. DeansPalley, who likes yesterday graciously sent us word of a fantastic find of the deepest, purest, and truest devotion to our Dino that we can't wait to shares with all youse Dino-holics.

DeansPalley pointed us in the direction of the on-line presence of "The Desert Sun" where scriber  Miss Xochitl Pena has composed the hugest of huge homage of our most beloved Dino tagged "Dean Martin: 'King of Cool'  - DEAN MARTIN WAS BOTH THE WINGMAN TO “OL’ BLUE EYES” FRANK SINATRA AND A LONER."

This potent, poignant, powerful prose is one of a series of five articles tagged "Rat Pack: 100 years of Frank Sinatra & friends."  "The Desert Sun" sez that this quintet of posts  "explores the life of Frank Sinatra and impact of Sinatra and the Rat Pack on the development of a unique Palm Springs style and culture still in practice, with stars of film and music effortlessly mixing with philanthropists and politicians in the Coachella Valley."

Likes we don't wanna takes any thunder at all 'way from this awesome amore of our King of Cool, and we wouldn't know where to start if we did, so we simply direct your eyes below to drink deeply of this, as we said, MARVELOUS MASSIVE MISSIVE to the life, times, and teachin's of our most belvoed Dino.  There are a number of fantastic features that we have not been able to transfer here includin' a couple of series of great poses of our Dino, a video featurin' testimony from former Golddigger Miss Patti Gribow, and a terrific timeline that is interactive.

Youse will probably wanna checks out the other four articles in the series as well.  We shouts out our deepest of deep Dino-appreciato to Mr. DeansPalley for puttin' us on to this...we might never never have uncovered it without his energetic efforts.  And, of course, we send huge kudos to Miss Xochitl Pena and the other pallies from "The Desert Sun" who worked on this labor of love to our most beloved Dino.  We dare say that this perfect prose will bring many many more pallies into the Dino-fold for Dino-sure!  To checks this all out, simply clicks on the tag of this Dino-gram to be transported to "The Desert Sun" to bask in all the glory of this Dino-entry!   Dino-always, ever, and only, DMP

 Dean Martin: 'King of Cool'

DEAN MARTIN WAS BOTH THE WINGMAN TO “OL’ BLUE EYES” FRANK SINATRA AND A LONER

Xochitl Pena, The Desert Sun

He personified tall, dark and handsome. He was the “King of Cool.” His baritone made women swoon. And his effortless charm made men want to mimic him.

He was the wingman to “Ol’ Blue Eyes” and MVP of the Rat Pack.

Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra were more than compadres, they were brothers who found each other at a time when Hollywood was seeping with glitz and glamor and clamored for larger than life personalities to entertain.

Ask anyone who saw the two Rat Packers perform together. They had a natural chemistry that came from a deep place. They fed off each other and spun gold every time. Dean with a perpetual twinkle in his eyes and Frank with a mischievous grin.

“To watch them on stage together was brilliant because you could see the love in their eyes, the respect for each other,” daughter Deana Martin said.

The two even had matching pinkie rings Frank had made for them, each with an emerald-cut diamond. Dean never took his off.

Friends for more than 40 years, the legendary performers who made Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Palm Springs their stomping grounds were formidable on stage, often making each other laugh during comedy bits. A straight face was a rarity when those two were together. It was as if there was a perpetual inside joke between the two.

“If you were a girl, I would probably go for you. Darn it. Why aren’t you a girl?” Dean asked Frank in one of their funnier television skits.

The two sat on a park bench, Dean holding a bouquet of roses for Frank after a dating computer blindly set them up because they apparently were perfect for each other.

“You even got the sense of humor I like,” reiterated Dean — a skit likely created to play off their affinity for each other.

As the skit closes, both of them are chuckling and doing the Tango, while the live audience erupts in laughter.

“They just played off each other. They just had fun,” recalled Rancho Mirage resident Patti Gribow, a former member of the Golddiggers, who served as a backup singer and dancer for Dean Martin.

Prelude to a song of the Rat Pack and Frank Sinatra

“The closest thing I can think of today is Justin Timberlake and Jimmy Fallon. You know how they interact, they are just having a great time. And they are so talented, that’s who they remind me of. And I haven’t seen anyone in all these years that remind me of that fun chemistry they had,” she said.

By 1944, Dean was performing at the Riobamba nightclub in New York, serving as a replacement for Sinatra, whom some say he met that year. But his initiation into the Rat Pack was still years away. And well after a decade long music-comedy partnership with Jerry Lewis that ended in 1956.

As members of the Rat Pack in the late 1950s and early 1960s, Frank, Dean and the other members — Sammy Davis Jr., Joey Bishop and Peter Lawford — enjoyed phenomenal success as entertainers.

Frank and Dean made a number of movies together, including: “Some Came Running” in 1958, “Ocean’s 11” in 1960, “Sergeants 3” in 1962, “4 for Texas” in 1963 and “Marriage on the Rocks” in 1965.

“In ‘Oceans 11,’ they seemed like teenage boys on the loose, though they were all in their mid-40s. That film was a great success and became a cult favorite, not least for the glimpse it offered of the inner workings of the Rat Pack,” recalled Deana Martin in her book about her father, “Memories are Made of This.”

Dean Martin came to Palm Springs to wind down and be the family man.

Marilyn Chung/The Desert Sun
A family man

Dean adored his friends and had fun running around with the Rat Pack, but when it came to partying, he was often the first to bail out — opting for some family time, sleep and an early morning game of golf over raucous ragers.

The “king of cool” was very much a family man. He had four children with first wife Elizabeth “Betty” McDonald — Craig, Claudia, Gail and Deana. Following their divorce, he acquired sole custody of all four, creating a blended family with his second wife Jeanne, with whom he had another three children — Dean Paul “Dino,” Ricci and Gina.

 Dean Martin with daughter Deana
Dean Martin with daughter Deana
(Photo: Photo Courtesy to The Desert Sun)

The Martins and Sinatras spent a lot of time together in Los Angeles and in Palm Springs, Frank and Dean buying homes in the desert. Upon his divorce from Jeanne in 1973, Dean gave her the Alexander home at 1123 Via Monte Vista in Palm Springs’ Vista Las Palmas neighborhood.

“The Sinatras were a big part of our lives and the kids from the two families were great pals,” Deana recalls in her book.

“Tina was my best friend at Marymount in Brentwood. Tina was beautiful and just like her father — tough, strong and opinionated. Tina and I hung out together all the time. At their house in Palm Springs, known as the Compound, we’d spend hours listening to her favorite Johnny Mathis albums sitting out by the pool with reflectors trying to get an even suntan.”

One of Deana’s fondest family moments, however, occurred on stage for all of America to see.

It was the Dean Martin Christmas Special in 1967 with the Sinatra Family.

The two patriarchs sang, told jokes and played off each other. The kids even got to shine, singing duets with one another — Gail Martin and Nancy Sinatra, and Dean Martin Jr. and Frank Sinatra, Jr.

Deana Martin and Tina Sinatra got to sing with their dads.

“We sang “Doe a Deer” and we danced around and it was great. It was a beautiful, beautiful, Christmas special,” she said.

The show also included an almost 10-minute medley with Dean and Frank. “You can see how much they loved each other and the fun they had,” she said.

Photo of Deana and Dean Martin with Frank Sinatra and Tina Sinatra during the Dean Martin Christmas Special in 1967.

Dean's downward spiral

Dean’s life changed drastically when his son “Dino” died. It was about 10 years after that infamous Christmas special.

“I know he was very close to all his children. And when (Dino) died. That changed him. Because family was everything to him. Dean was never ever the same. That was when he aged. Because when he’d go on stage, he was so debonair, so handsome, so solid, and after (Dino) died, he became a little hunched over and his zest for life changed at that point,” Gribow said.

Known during his early teenage years as “Dino,” he was the ambitious, multi-talented son who sang, acted, played professional tennis and also flew jet fighters for the California Air National Guard.

On the afternoon of March 21, 1987, Dean Paul Martin Jr., 35, a Captain in the Air National Guard, flew his F-4C Phantom fighter aircraft out of March Air Force Base on a routine training mission over desert bombing grounds. Also aboard was weapons system officer Capt. Ramon Ortiz, 39.

Their aircraft flew in the middle of a formation of three Phantoms, assigned to the 163rd Tactical Fighter Group. Ten minutes into the flight, Martin’s aircraft disappeared from radar screens in a mountainous area, shrouded by clouds.

The plane vanished from radar after the formation had been told to turn left to avoid 11,500-foot Mt. San Gorgonio, Southern California’s highest peak.

For four days, search helicopters and planes scoured the rugged mountainside, but found no sign of the missing plane. In her book, “Memories are Made of This,” Martin’s daughter, Deana Martin states, “Ronald Reagan, now the President of the United States and a family friend, rang to offer his assistance. He even sent up the military's top spy plane to look for Dean Paul's jet.”

Dean held out hope his son would be found alive.

Deana Martin, also recalls in her book, the conversation between Sinatra and her dad the day her brother’s plane disappeared.

“If there’s anything I can do, pal,” Sinatra said, his voice shaking. “Anything at all.”

SOURCE: Desert Sun research
TIMELINE: Xochitl Peña, Denise Goolsby and Robert Hopwood, The Desert Sun
Key events in Dean Martin’s life

The news was especially poignant for Sinatra whose mother, Natalie “Dolly” Sinatra of Cathedral City had been killed in a plane crash in the same vicinity while flying from Palm Springs to Las Vegas in 1977 to see her son open at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas. The Lear jet she was on slammed into Mt. San Gorgonio during a snowstorm. The plane was located and the bodies recovered after a three-day search.

“Dad, too numb for conversation, thanked him and put down the receiver. Those who were with him said he sat drinking scotch, lighting one cigarette from another, and staring at the telephone,” recalled Deana in her book.

Two psychics were hired. One, who touched Dean Paul Martin’s flight suit, said he was dead. Another, named Char, was recommended by pal Shirley MacLaine, the book states.

Char and Dean Jr.’s brother, Ricci, went to the air base to pour over maps of the mountainous area where the plane had disappeared. Soon after, they boarded a chartered helicopter and flew toward the area Char had identified as giving off the strongest “signals.”

As they approached the foothills known as the Little San Gorgonio Mountains, news came across the radio that Dean Jr.’s jet had been found. It was in the exact area Char the psychic had pinpointed.

“Later that night, a colonel from the base called on Dad and Jeanne (Martin Sr.’s ex-wife),” Deana said in her book. “His cap in hand, he told the assembled family that Dean Paul’s Phantom jet had disintegrated when it crashed into the side of a mountain at 550 mph during a freak blizzard. There were no survivors.”

Newspaper accounts of the crash said the jet — last appearing on radar at 9,300 feet — slammed into a granite wall and the pilot and his weapons officer “never knew what hit them.”

Dean was never the same.

“He couldn’t handle it,” his late friend, singer Jerry Vale of Palm Desert, said in a People Magazine interview. “After (Dino’s death), it seemed like he was just walking through life.”

Tough guy

Dean was born Dino Crocetti in Steubenville, Ohio — a tough guy in a tough town — where he bootlegged liquor, dealt blackjack, worked as a speakeasy croupier and boxed. He even had his nose broken in a fight and had to have it reset.

 Singer and actor Dean Martin, shown during the filming
Singer and actor Dean Martin, shown during the filming of the western "Something Big"in 1971, died Monday, Dec. 25, 1995, at the age of 78. Martin died at his Beverly Hills home of acute respiratory failure, said his longtime agent and friend Mort Viner.
(Photo: ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Frank liked men who were strong and tough. He longed to be one himself, recalls Tom Dreesen, Sinatra’s opening comic in the 1980s and ’90s.

“Dean was the toughest of the three. Frank was a scrapper — a Billy Martin-type barroom scrapper. Dean Martin was a tough guy. He fought in the ring as Kid (Crochet). Dean had hands the size of a ham and he could handle himself. He didn’t say a whole lot, but he was a tough guy,” he said.

“Frank Sinatra respected Dean Martin more than any man alive, for a lot of reasons. For one, he loved him. Two, he was the brother Frank never had. Frank longed to be a tough guy, Dean was a tough guy. Dean didn’t take any crap from anybody, especially Frank,” recalled Dreesen.

“If Frank said, ‘Hey, we’re all going to stay up until dawn,’ we’d all stay up until dawn because, you know, it’s going to be fun. If Dean wanted to go to bed, Dean would go to bed. It would piss Frank (off), but he did what he wanted to do. And I think subconsciously, Frank respected that more than anything. Because he was his own man.”

Dean was not impressed with the mafia-types, unlike Frank, who enjoyed swimming with the sharks and was associated with Chicago Mafia Boss Sam Giancana and others.

Dean Martin carries Sammy Davis Jr. during their nightly

Dean Martin carries Sammy Davis Jr. during their nightly performance at the Sands Hotel and Casino on the Las Vegas Strip, Nev., in 1963. At right, with his back to the camera, is Frank Sinatra. (AP Photo)
(Photo: ASSOCIATED PRESS)

On occasion, the Rat Pack performed for mobster friends of Frank’s. One show in particular was the Villa Venice Club in Chicago in 1962.

When Dean did those shows, he did them out of friendship and loyalty to Frank and no other reason, Dreesen said.

“Whenever they came to Dean, the wise guys, when they did the shows they did — Frank, Sammy and Dean — they’d come to Dean and say, ‘We want to thank you for help(ing) us out’ and Dean would say, ‘No. I did it for Frank.’ He’d point at Frank. ‘I did it for him.’”

Dean was the epitome of cool. On talk shows, he often had a cigarette in one hand and a whiskey cocktail in the other. And when he was joined by Sammy and Frank and all of them would drink and joke around, all bets were off.

“If this don’t straighten my hair, nothing will,” was the running joke Sammy Jr. would say after taking a sip of his stiff drink.

Those close to Dean, though, knew it was just apple juice — Martinelli brand apple juice to be exact — and the drunk, slurred speech was all an act.

And though he commanded attention on stage, off stage he wasn’t much for chitchat and was a loner at heart.

Nice guy

“Dean had a persona of that being bigger than life and being basically a womanizer, and a skirt chaser, which he was not. He was just a sweetheart of a guy,” said Gribow, who worked with Dean on and off for about 15 years in the ’70s and ’80s.

“On stage, he was in control and acted like he was a drunk or he was going to chase the girl. He was always mischievous and he’d get off stage and he was shy,” she said.

As a member of the Golddiggers, Gribow started working with Dean in 1973 on his show and would tour with him and Frank Sinatra.

The one thing she recalls is, he didn’t rehearse.

For his TV show, there was a stand-in for Dean, so the Golddigers would rehearse with the stand-in and when it was time to perform, he followed their lead. If there wasn’t a football game on, he might watch the rehearsal, though, from his dressing room monitor.

1. Airport with Burt Lancaster, 19701. Airport with Burt Lancaster, 1970
(Photo: Provided photo)

Fullscreen

1. Airport with Burt Lancaster, 1970 2. Rio Bravo with John Wayne, 1959 3. Some Came Running with Frank Sinatra and Shirley 4. The Cannonball Run with Burt Reynolds and Sammy 5. The Young Lions with Marlon Brando and Montgomery 6. Living it Up with Jerry Lewis, 1954 7. Sailor Beware with Jerry Lewis, 1952 8. The Sons of Katie Elder with John Wayne, 1965 2. Rio Bravo with John Wayne, 1959 2. Rio Bravo with John Wayne, 1959
Next Slide

“His whole gig was his spontaneity. That’s what made him so great. So we would literally have to drag him around,” she said.

As proof of his instinctive ease, a photo of her and Dean sits on a table inside her Rancho Mirage home — coincidentally just half a mile from Dean Martin Drive — that shows the two sharing a laugh. The expression on Dean’s face shows the playful banter they had on stage.

“We’re laughing together because he would always go up on his lines,” she said. Essentially, he would forget his lines.

But to distract, he would hit his head or do something silly, and people loved it.

What was especially comical was that with each guest appearance, Dean was truly surprised to see them because he never knew who was coming on.

“Then the guest stars would come on like Frank or Jack Benny, or whomever, he would not know who he would sing with. He just knew he was going to perform with someone and that was just brilliance … because the interaction, just all the fun little things would happen — like what happens with Fallon,” said Gribow, again comparing Dean’s comedic performances to Jimmy Fallon.

Before each show, Dean would hug each Golddigger for good luck and if one forgot to show him some affection, he took notice.

He would also, though, alongside Frank, make sure the girls were taken care of and safe.

“When we toured, Dean said, ‘If there’s anything wrong, you tell me or you tell Frank and we’ll take care of everything for you.’ It was so cute,” Gribow said.

1. That’s Amore, 19531. That’s Amore, 1953
(Photo: Provided photo)
Fullscreen

1. That’s Amore, 1953 2. Ain’t That a Kick in the Head, 1960 3. Sway, 1954 4. Volare, 1958 5. Everybody Loves Somebody, 1964 6. You’re Nobody ‘Til Somebody Loves You, 1964 7. Memories are Made of This, 1955, 8. On an Evening in Roma, 1959 9. Mambo Italiano, 1955
Next Slide

“We went out to a nightclub after one of the performances and we had an area roped off for us. And there’s eight of us and eight bodyguards. They took really good care of us,” she said.

She also recalls one time on tour when they ran out of tissue and Frank took care of it. She remembers him standing at the top of the staircase that led to their dressing room.

“I told them you don’t have enough Kleenex and it’s going to be taken care of right now,’ ” Gribow said, imitating Frank.

“He got all over people because we didn’t have enough Kleenex in our dressing room. He wanted everything perfect. But he was very genteel and sweet to us,” she said.

Touch and go

After four decades of friendship, Dean and Frank’s relationship hit a bump after a reunion tour didn’t go as anticipated.

It was 1988, a year after Dino died, and Dean had agreed to join Frank and Sammy on a 29-city national tour that was conceived in Palm Springs by Frank and Sammy. Many say Frank just wanted to get Dean out of the cloud his son’s death had created.

“My Dad didn’t want to go out. Frank wanted Dad to get out and do things. He got out there and it was too much work,” Deana Martin said.

After a handful of shows, Martin quit. There were reports of him forgetting his lyrics, slurring his lines and, in one case, flicking a lit cigarette into the audience.

Dreesen says he knows what went down the night Dean quit in Chicago.

“What really happened that night was afterward, they went to the Ambassador East, where Frank always stayed, and I stayed, and Frank was going to party all night long. He got Sammy out of bed and everybody was going downstairs and Dean said no. Frank said, ‘Come on, we’re all going downstairs,’ and Dean said, ‘No.’ Dean had it. He later that night got in his private jet and went back to Los Angeles,” he said.

Sinatra had to get Liza Minnelli to replace Dean on the tour.
Sammy Davis, Frank Sinatra and Liza Minnelli.

Sammy Davis, Frank Sinatra and Liza Minnelli.
(Photo: Provided photo)

“That’s when the falling out started. But they became friends again before they died,” Dreesen said. “In my opinion, at that particular time, I think Frank was wrong. Dean was up in years and he didn’t want to party. He didn’t want to hang out all night long,” Dreesen said.

According to Deana Martin, her dad finally gave in and went to the party, but questioned his decision and wished he was back at his room watching westerns. When he got home, he checked himself into the hospital for kidney issues.

“Frank was upset with that, but he understood and they became close friends again,” recalls Deana Martin.

Throughout his life, when Frank noticed Dean was pulling back or becoming withdrawn, as a friend, he wanted to help.

He didn’t like the fact that Dean and Jerry Lewis weren’t friends any longer after such a successful and vibrant relationship, so he set out to fix it.

In one such effort, to lift his spirits about six months after his divorce from third wife Catherine Hawn, Frank invited Dean to join him as his special guest on Lewis’ muscular dystrophy telethon. It was September 1976.

“Uncle Frank thought it was time for these special friends to unite. He felt that getting the two of them back together again might be just the right boost dad needed,” Deana said in her book.

Gribow was at that telethon and witnessed the “special” moment orchestrated by Frank.

“Frank, he did not like the idea that they were not friends. He just didn’t like it. And from what I understand, if Mr. Sinatra doesn’t like it, he’s going to make it right. And I say that in a good way,” Gribow said.

This gesture underscored Frank’s affection and devotion for a man who had been more than a friend and sidekick for most of his career.

Their relationship was summed up quite eloquently by Frank in a statement he shared after Dean’s passing on Christmas Day in 1995.

“Dean has been like the air I breathe, always there, always close by. He was my brother not by blood, but by choice.”

Reporters Denise Goolsby and Bruce Fessier contributed to this report.

FILE--Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra are shown at the Friars Club in New York, Feb. 23, 1976. Sinatra, hospitalized last week for a pinched nerve, reportedly was in deteriorating health and being treated for pneumonia and heart failure. KCBS-TV, citing an unidentified hospital source, said Sinatra s private room at Cedars Sinai Medical Center resembled an intensive care unit. Sinatra, 80, was hospitalized Nov. 1. (AP Photo/stf)

(Photo: RED, ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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Tuesday, October 20, 2015

One man who encompasses every trait we admire is Dean Martin.

Hey pallies, likes perhaps all youse Dino-philes remember that famous quotation from our Dino's producer/director of the Dean Martin Variety Show, Mr. Greg Garrison.  Greg speakin' of our most beloved Dino's popularity with both men and women said, "Women wanted Dean, and men wanted to be Dean."

Well this very day, men of all types and stripes, all ages and stages STILL WANNA BE DEAN!   And, likes  pads for today's youthful male modsters are croppin' up all over the web, and we are likes totally, thoroughly thrilled when we find 'em one by one hugely homagin' on our most beloved Dino.

Case in point woulda be today's Dino-entry from the up and comin' male hangout "The Guy Society" tagged "PORTRAIT OF A MAN’S MAN: DEAN MARTIN."  Swankly scribed by Mr. Jon DaBove, "was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York."  DaBove " is a businessman, entrepreneur, and published writer," and  "holds a B.A. as well as a Master of Arts."  Jon pairs a trio of stunnin' shots of our Dino with some purely powerful patter of our main man...truly a guy's guy if there ever was one.

We chose what we consider to be DaBove's supremely superlative  sentence to tag today's entry, "One man who encompasses every trait we admire is Dean Martin."  Need we say more pallies...it's clear that Mr. Jon DaBove deeply deeply digs our King of Cool.  Likes in speakin' of our Dino's royally regal tag Jon scribes...."His nickname was “The King of Cool”, a moniker I would personally kill for."

Likes we salute Mr. Jon DaBove for so boldly and beautifully broadcastin' his awesome admiration of our dashin' 'n darin' Dino to all the readership of "The Guy Society," and for this  pad helpin' make more and more pallies devotees of our main man.  To checks this action out in it's original source, simply clicks on the tag of this here Dino-gram.  Deeply deeply delighted in Dino, DMP

p.s. pallies......Likes after we finished craftin' this Dino-prose, likes we used the ol' 'net to see if we coulda finds perhaps more Dino-adulation from the pen of Mr. Jon DaBove.  Likes we discovered that DaBove is also the head honcho at 'nother male pad tagged "MMD - MENSMAGDAILY.COM,"  where on September 9, 2014 he scribed more Dino-devotion with the almost the same exact tag as today's entry:   "PROFILE OF A MAN’S MAN: DEAN MARTIN,"   Youse can find it shared HERE AT ILOVEDINOMARTIN.


 
PORTRAIT OF A MAN’S MAN: DEAN MARTIN
Dean Ocean's_Eleven1960

Here at The Guy Society we judge a man by his character, his accomplishments, the number of drop dead gorgeous women he’s dated, and his overall cool factor. It truly is a sophisticated science. One man who encompasses every trait we admire is Dean Martin. He was a member of The Rat Pack, had dozens of hit songs, was a successful actor, comedian, Roast Master, and overall man’s man. His nickname was “The King of Cool”, a moniker I would personally kill for.

However, Dean didn’t start at the top. He was born into modest means in Steubenville, Ohio where he held some interesting jobs that included boxer and stickman at an illegal casino in the back of a tobacco shop. All along Dino honed his vocal skills by singing with local groups. Things started to pan out for him and he became a successful singer on the East Coast, playing small venues and drawing in decent crowds. His local popularity finally led him to forming the comedy duo Martin and Lewis. Dean Martin’s ascension to the top began.

Dean Martin & Jerry Lewis circa 1950

Dean Martin & Jerry Lewis circa 1950

Teaming up with Lewis led to television, movies, and increased popularity. Dean eventually began to separate himself from the slapstick comedy and along came the serious movie roles, a wildly successful music career, as well as a budding friendship with Frank “The Chairman of the Board” Sinatra. He released hit singles like “Volare”, “Mambo Italiano”, “Everybody Loves Somebody”, “You’re Nobody ‘Til Somebody Loves You”, “That’s Amore” and a bunch more. Some of his classic movies include Ocean’s 11, The Young Lions, and Some Came Running. He also had a nearly ten year long run on television with the Dean Martin Show.

He lived a life every man on the planet would give a limb for. He smoked, he drank (although not nearly as much as people thought, he was not a drunk, it was for entertainment purposes), he dated beautiful women, he was a star, and a member of the Rat Pack. Can it get any better? He had old school values and was much more of a homebody than people think.

 Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis from the television program Colgate Comedy Hour. 1955

Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis from the television program Colgate Comedy Hour. 1955

I was once told a story about Dean Martin that I think is probably more indicative of who he was as a man. He once had a party at his house and in the middle of the party Dean was nowhere to be found. The police knocked on the door and Dean’s wife answered. Frank went upstairs to find Dean in bed, relaxing. Dean told him that it was him who called the police. He allegedly told Frank, “They ate, they drank, and now it’s time for them to go home.” Frank responded by laughing uncontrollably.

Now, that’s a man’s man.

Monday, October 19, 2015

Dean Martin plays the romantic tender

Hey pallies, likes today we gets more powerful proof that people from all over the known world keeps diggin' our most beloved Dino.  Some of our latest google Dino-blog searchin' has sent us way of the Romanian blog "un Radio Clasic in culori" which translates to "A Classic Radio Color."  And, likes the "color" that is bein' accented is our one and only Dino.  Likes the patter below is promotin' a
Friday, September 18, 2015 live Dino-broadcast  from the Romanian Radio Classic station.

We could not locate a link to see if the programme was recorded for playback, and even if we found it, we unfortunately don't understand the language.  We're guessin' that the programme featured many of our Dino's classic croons, but the promo mentions "cinema," so we are wonderin' if somehow the pallies at classic radio weaved somethin' from of our Dino's classic flicks into the mix.

The patter below puts an awesome accent on our Dino's big screen efforts, 'long with thoughts on some of his musical musin's, and with requisite remarks 'bout his life and times.  Probably nothin' new to Dino-holics likes us dudes, but it is always always so hugely hugely heart-warmin' to see pallies from 'round the globe liftin' up the glorious name of our Dino and spreadin' the Dino-message helpin' even more pallies to gather 'round our Dino.

We thanks all the pallies at this classic radio station in Romania spreadin' mucho Dino-affection.  Likes to checks this out in it's original source, simply clicks on the tag of this here Dino-report.
Spreadin' the Dino-word, DMP


Dean Martin

Who? Cinema!

Friday, September 18, 2015, live from Radio Classic

www.clasicradio.ro

Baby Dino Paul Crocetti, who would become over the years, actor and singer Dean Martin, not too loved school ... she left her soon to make trades as the bootblack or salesman, for example ... started playing 17 years, under the pseudonym Dean Martin, alias I will always keep. Its qualities of "showman" and good animator, liked by the audience, made Dean Martin to get fast success with songs like "That's Amore," "Volare" "In Naples", "Mambo Italiano" or "Return to Me ". The singer has never ceased to sing in Italian and was born in America although (1917), later to learn English. During a gale, he met Jerry Lewis, at that time a young comic rookie.It proposes doing movies! Make together a dozen films, the first of which is "My Friend Irma" by George Marshall. What is the success of the two? The fact that they are completed: Dean Martin plays the romantic tender, while that of Jerry Lewis perfect asshole! Their successes, all comedies were called "Road to Bali" "The Stooge", "Living It Up" ... But after a while, feeling that his partner win an upward toward him, Dean Martin, leaves Adventure in two screens and decide to develop their own career forward! After a series of movie successes, including "Some Came Running", directed by Vincente Minnelli and "The Young Lions" by Edward Dmytryk, he plays alongside John Wayne, in western Rio Bravo, in which his portrayal of a drunken sheriff's deputy is praised by everyone. This film signed by Howard Hawks actually marks the beginning of serious film career of actor singer Dean Martin! In the late 50's, Dean Martin forms, along with his friends, Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr. group "Rat Pack". For three achieves big screen movies like "Ocean 11" (after which the film was made in 2001 eponymous remake with George Clooney) "4 for Texas" and "Sergeants 3". During this time his production house founded Meadway Claude Productions Company. Although after a few years, the group disbanded, Dean Martin continues to appear on the big screen: "Kiss Me Stupid" by Billy Wilder and "The Sons of Katie Elder" by Henry Hathaway are two of productions in this period. In this last mentioned film, Dean Martin playing again with John Wayne and awarded the Bronze Wrangler at the Western Heritage Awards. In the decade of the 65-75, Dean Martin appears less frequently in film, but music and devote themselves especially small screen. His show "The Dean Martin Show" enjoys a large audience, and the discs "Everybody Loves Somebody" and "Gentle on My Mind" is selling like hotcakes. Play though sporadically on the big screen in a series of films, parodies by James Bond (the "Murderer's Row", "The Wrecking Crew", "The Ambushers" "The silencers") or in the dramatic film like "Airport "George Seaton. His latest film, "The Cannonball Run II" appears on the screen in 1984. Until his disappearance, Dean Martin is dedicated to music and television (where performed "Dean Martin Celebrity Roast", which does not enjoy the same success as his first show ). Songs like "Everybody Loves Somebody" "Buona sera" "Someone Like You" I'm in love with you "," Ridin`into Night "," Hangin`around with you "," There is my Lover "Non Dimenticar "" Luna Mezzo Mare, "" Arrivederci Roma "," Sawy "or" I Love The Way You Say Goodnight "are just a few of the songs that the artist interpreted them like no other!His songs are found on the soundtrack to more than 220 films and serials, including the song "Money A Hole In My Pocket Burns", which we hear on the soundtrack of the series "Mad Men". He is one of the few artists who has three stars on the famous boulevard Hollywood Walk of Fame


Cine? Cinema!

Vineri, 18 septembrie 2015, în direct la Radio Clasic

www.clasicradio.ro



Copilul Dino Paul Crocetti, cel care avea sa devina peste ani, actorul si cantaretul Dean Martin, nu prea iubea scoala…A parasit-o repede, pentru a face diverse meserii ca cea de lustragiu sau comis voiajor, de exemplu…Incepe sa cante la 17 ani, sub pseudonimul Dean Martin, pseudonim pe care il va pastra mereu. Calitatile sale de “showman” si de bun animator,  placut  de public, au facut ca Dean Martin sa obtina repede succesul, cu melodii ca  « That’s amore », « Volare » “In Napoli”, “Mambo Italiano” sau “Return to me”. Cantaretul nu a incetat sa cante in limba italiana si desi s-a nascut in America (1917), a invata tarziu limba engleza. In timpul unei gale, il intalneste pe Jerry Lewis, la acea data un tanar comic debutant. Acesta ii propune sa joace in filme! Realizeaza impreuna o duzina de filme, dintre care primul este  “My Friend Irma”, de George Marshall. In ce consta succesul celor doi? Faptul ca ei se completeaza: Dean Martin joaca rolul romanticului tandru, in timp ce Jerry Lewis pe cel al imbecilului perfect! Succesele lor, toate filme de comedie, s-au numit:” Road to Bali” “The Stooge”, “Living  It Up”…Dar, dupa o vreme, simtind ca partenerul sau castiga un  ascendant fata de el, Dean Martin, paraseste aventura in doi pe ecrane si decide sa-si dezvolte singur mai departe cariera! Dupa o serie de filme reusite, printre care “Some Came Running”,  in regia lui Vincente Minnelli sau “The Young Lions”, de Edward Dmytryk, el joaca, alaturi de John Wayne, in westernul Rio Bravo, in care, interpretarea rolului unui ajutor de serif betiv este laudata de toata lumea.  Acest film semnat de  Howard Hawks marcheaza de fapt inceputul carierei cinematografice serioase a cantaretului actor Dean Martin!  La sfarsitul anilor `50, Dean Martin formeaza, impreuna cu prietenii sai, Frank Sinatra si Sammy Davis Jr. grupul « Rat Pack ». Pentru marele ecran cei trei realizeaza filme ca “Ocean 11” (film dupa care s-a realizat in 2001 remake-ul omonim cu George Clooney), “4 for Texas” sau “ Sergeants 3”. Tot in aceasta perioada infiinteaza casa sa de productie Meadway Claude Productions Company. Desi dupa cativa ani, grupul se destrama, Dean Martin continua sa apara pe marele ecran: “Kiss Me Stupid” de Billy Wilder sau “The Sons of Katie Elder” de Henry Hathaway sunt doua dintre productiile din aceasta perioada. In acest ultim film amintit, Dean Martin joaca din nou cu John Wayne si primeste premiul  Wrangler de bronz, la  Western Heritage Awards. In deceniul `65-75, Dean Martin apare tot mai rar in film, dar se consacra cu precadere muzicii si micului ecran. Emisiunea sa “The Dean Martin show” se bucura de o larga audienta,  iar discurile  „Everybody loves somebody” si „Gentle on my mind” se vand ca painea calda. Mai joaca totusi sporadic pe marile ecrane, intr-o serie de  filme, parodii dupa James Bond ( ca “Murderer’s Row”, “The Wrecking Crew”, “The Ambushers”,” The Silencers” ) sau in filme dramatice, ca “Airport”, de George Seaton. Ultimul sau film, “The Cannonball Run II”, apare pe ecrane in 1984. Pana la disparitia sa, Dean Martin se dedica muzicii si  televiziunii (unde realizeaza “Dean Martin Celebrity Roast”, care nu se bucura de acelasi success ca primul sau show). Melodii ca “Everybody Loves Somebody” “ Buona sera” “Someone like you”, I’m in love with you”, “Ridin`into Night”,”Hangin`around with you”,”There is my Lover”, Non Dimenticar“, “Luna Mezzo Mare”, “Arrivederci Roma”, “Sawy” sau “I Love the way you Say Goodnight” sunt doar cateva dintre piesele muzicale pe care artistul le-a interpretat ca nimeni altul! Melodiile sale se regasesc pe coloana sonora a peste 220 de filme si seriale, inclusiv melodia  „Money Burns A Hole In My Pocket”, pe care o putem auzi si pe coloana sonora a serialului “Mad Men”. El este unul dintre putinii artisti care are trei stele pe celebrul boulevard Hollywood Walk of Fame

Sunday, October 18, 2015

Danny G's Sunday Serenade with Dino: "I Wish You Love"



 Welcome pals!
Found us some great great stuff for today's Serenade!
This time we is goin' "old school!"
I'm talkin' bout' that "vintage" Dino sound thats simply PERFECT the way it is!
It's just an "old vinyl record" kinda day!
The kinda day youse just wanna cuddle up with a good dose of Dean & an EXTRA dry martini! Haha!!
Now if your a completely sold-out Dino-holic like myself...then youse ab so lute ly KNOWS... that youse NEEDN'T look any further than that magical al b um... "Cha Cha De Amor"!
Is "needn't" even a word pals??!! Hahaha!!!

I'M GETTIN' DRUNK ON DINO HERE!!!

Anyways..."I Wish You Love" is just what I was fiendin' for! Warms my soul, pals.
Love how the lyrics touch on every season. Perfecto for the whole year through!

So here comes our GREAT GREAT pal doin' what he does best...weavin' us into nother' time & place with his inimatable vocal.
 Let's get that retro groove goin' for this tune...close your eyes & let Dean take you away...
Enjoy!


I wish you bluebirds in the spring
To give your heart a song to sing
And then a kiss
But more than this
I wish you love

And in July a lemonade
To cool you in some leafy glade
I wish you health
And more than wealth
I wish you love

My breaking heart and I agree
That you and I could never be
So with my best, my very best
I set you free

I wish you shelter from the storm
A cozy fire to keep you warm
But most of all
When snowflakes fall
I wish you love

I wish you shelter from the storm
A cozy fire to keep you warm
But most of all
When snowflakes fall
I wish you love
I wish you love
I wish you love

Saturday, October 17, 2015

Nothing escapes his eye, as in this description of Dean Martin captured in a kinescope of a 1965 concert


Hey pallies, likes one never ever knows what the pallies at ol' google Dino-'lerts are goin' to send our Dino-way.  Recently, we received a Dino-'lert that sent us over to the pad of  "The BAY AREA REPORTER -  Serving the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender community since 1971."  Once we gots there we found an exquisite essay penned by Mr.  Roberto Friedman tagged "Rakoffian pleasures" accentin' the late renowned humorist Mr. David Rakoff."

Friedman, in demonstratin' the vast variety of subjects for what  he called Rakoff's  "pitch-perfect ear for pop culture," notes a remarkable reflection scribed by Rakoff on our one and only Dino.  The potent paragraph below has Rakoff remarkin' on our Dino's croonin' of his hit song "King Of The Road" durin' that most famous live 1965 benefit concert at the Keil Opera House with Mr. Frank Sinatra and company.  We, of course, have also included a youtube vid clip of the moment in Dino-history.

We thanks Mr. Roberto Friedman and all the pallies at "The BAY AREA REPORTER" for this  marvelous mention of our most beloved Dino.  As we have only shared the particular portion of the prose that accents our Dino, as usual, simply clicks on the tag of this Dino-patter to reads all of Friedman's thoughts on Mr. David Rakoff.  btw, the pix above is of Rakoff.  Dino-reportin', DMP


 Nothing escapes his eye, as in this description of Dean Martin captured in a kinescope of a 1965 concert: "While singing 'King of the Road,' he gives it a nice little genderfuck by punctuating a riff with a lock of the torso, a cant of the head, his wrist a relaxed teapot handle, and singing, 'Queen of the road.' Dean, just for an instant, makes a surprisingly sympathetic and counterintuitively convincing bottom. I sit there, homo that I am, charmed and unoffended."

Friday, October 16, 2015

My guess is that Dean Martin cooperated better


Hey pallies, likes fast-forward seven years from yesterday's 2006 patter on the Dino-western "4 For Texas" from Mr. John McElwee at"John McElwee's GREENBRIAR Picture Shows."   Likes if you perused yesterday's Dino-thoughts from McElwee you will remember that he wasn't much smitten by this silver screen offering.

Well, today we share John's ponderin's seven years latter in 2013 and he sez, "hanged if this scruffy spoof isn't starting to grow on me."  In speakin' his mine, per usual, McElwee is most most kind to our most beloved Dino when he reflects "My guess is that Dean Martin cooperated better."  His referenece is to our Dino bein' more cooperative then his Rat Pack pallie Mr. Frank Sinatra.

This entry is on the short side sans any glorious poses of our main man, but likes how coulda we share one "4 For Texas" entry without the other?!?!?!?  Likes for the time bein', this will be our last entry from our Dino-addicted pallie Mr. John McElwee, and we thank him for the many many Dino-offerin's that we have shared over the course of the last couple of weeks or so...doin' mucho much to lift up the life, times, and teachin's of our one and only Dino!  To checks this out in it's original source, simply clicks on the tag of this Dino-message.   Dino-reportin', DMP

Part Of The Rat Pack Gone West


4 For Texas (1963) Gets More Bearable

This could have been another really good Robert Aldrich movie, an outcome frustrated by Frank Sinatra (Aldrich said as much in interviews). Sinatra had no patience with projects he didn't respect, and doled his time to a point where footage with him diminished during Four's second half. This was an HD Texasrevisit after six years, the last GPS encounter here, and hanged if this scruffy spoof isn't starting to grow on me. There's more in speculation on what happened behind-scenes than interest in action we see. My guess is that Dean Martin cooperated betterwith Aldrich because he liked westerns and wanted to be in a good one, a goal Frank made impossible to fulfill. A secondary cast is peppered with Aldrich regulars --- I wanted Ralph Meeker to stop in so that Kiss Me Deadly's reunion would be complete. I'm embarrassed for Sinatra when he (and larger double) engage fisticuffs with Dean, it obvious to a child that the latter could handily beat tar out of the former. For all Frank's frustration with Martin on and off Rat Pack stage, do you suppose he ever dared getting in the larger man's face? (given Sinatra's comparative runt stature, I certainly wouldn't have) Four (or 4)For Texas looks vivid in HD --- you can count beads of sweat on portly Vic Buono's forehead.

Thursday, October 15, 2015

Martin’s clearly hauling the load for both


Hey pallies, likes we are nearin' the end of our stellar series of Dino-focused patter from Mr. John McElwee's self-tagged blog  "John McElwee's GREENBRIAR Picture Shows." with a two part post accentin' 'nother of our most beloved Dino's big screen westerns, "4 For Texas."  The intriguin' thin' pallies is that McElwee scribed his reviews likes seven years apart.

In John's first take on this flick scribed back in 2006, he ain't got much good to say 'bout Mr. Frank Sinatra, while showin' at least a bit of Dino-appreciato sayin' "Martin’s clearly hauling the load for both."  As usual Mr. McElwee offers a number of behind the scene insights that we didn't know before, so readin' this prose is worth the price of admission to learn, for example, that our Dino's take for starrin' in this flick was a mere "$250.000" while Mr. Sinatra received "$750.000 against 10%."

Likes the other thin' we appreciate 'bout this first review are the Dino-images that John chose to share with his readership startin' with a poster for the flick that we ain't ever seen before.  Our most beloved Dino looks so dashin' 'n darin' in the cool candids, and likes we are swankly swankly smitten by the shot of our Dino 'long side the 3 Stooges!

Once 'gain, we salutes Mr. John McElwee for more Dino-devotion from his pen and we will return soon with John's take two on "4 For Texas."  To checks this out in it's original source, simply clicks on the tag of this here Dino-message.   Deeply in Dino, DMP

MONDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2006




Part Two Of Robert Aldrich and 4 For Texas


Should you want to introduce a civilian to the joys of Rat Pack frolicking this Christmas, take my advice and give them CD’s. You’ll gain few friends handing out 4 For Texas on DVD. In fact, most of those Frank n’ Deans from the sixties would amount to so much coal in my stocking, though I suppose they have their adherents. I can still enjoy Ocean’s 11, and of course, Some Came Running rests comfortably on a fifties pantheon, but what ofSergeants 3 (seemingly deadlocked within Sinatra’s estate and out of circulation for decades), Robin and The Seven Hoods, Marriage On The Rocks, and today’s object of scorn, 4 For Texas? Their humor seldom aspires beyond the level of Playboy Party Jokes, and as often evokes dog-eared back pages from Adam or Nugget. Rat Pack movies were in no way to be taken seriously, least of all by their stars. You needed burnouts like Lewis Milestone or tackle dummies with Gordon Douglas’ stamina to endure Frank’s abuse. Aldrich was way too good for such an enterprise. When I read that Sinatra got $750,000 against 10% on 4 For Texas (to Dean’s 250,000), it was clear a lot of money had been paid under false pretenses, especially when you observe how little he actually doesin the film. The director initially touched off Frank’s fuse when he scheduled ten days on a desert location for that opening stagecoach pursuit. Sinatra replied he’d be there for five, then faded two days ahead of that commitment. He’s to blame for the ruination of this show. Aldrich spoke well of Dean in hindsight, but he was ready to litigate on Frank. Estimates suggested the recalcitrant star worked only eighty hours over thirty-seven days. Martin’s clearly hauling the load for both, especially in an excruciating second half. He’d been on board with Aldrich’s script from early on, hoping to lure James Stewart or Robert Mitchum as co-star. Cruel fate gave them Sinatra at the eleventh hour. The star lived down to his reputation --- arriving late and unprepared, demanding pages be lopped from the script, insistance upon a personal hairpiece handler, etc. If the director thought he’d had a bad time with Davis and Crawford, he was about to find out how things could be worse.

I always thought Aldrich was better doing serious with comedy than comedy with serious. 4 For Texas opens with a scene that would challenge the commitment of Dean Martin’s most forgiving admirers. He’s on a besieged coach with meek little Percy Helton, forever the figure of fun in a thousand shows, unceremoniously shot dead by the villains, and having his pockets picked by a the same callous Dean who moments before identified himself as thegood guy. This gallows humor has a particularly nasty smell, and it pervades much of the action to come. It also reveals the cruelty that underlies much of the Rat Pack’s humor. Would Vegas Dean react similarly if some poor chump at Sands concert ringside pitched forward with a bourbon induced coronary? You wonder as he steals Helton’s watch and smirkingly reads the inscription. Was this really the sort of image Dean wanted to project? Nothing makes you squirm like comical anti-heroes who go too far. This one disturbing scene sent my mind in a dozen directions --- like maybe I’m poolside at the Tropicana in 1962 and the Pack walks by. They say Dean projected Look, But Don’t Touch. With Frank, it was Don’t Even Look. Must have been disillusioning for a lot of fans that tried to approach these two.

Frank goes in for petty meanness as well, though it’s more expected coming from him. There’s a scene wherein corpulent Victor Buono reports to town boss Frank for his marching orders. Poor Vic is swaddled in wool suits and strangulating ascot ties. DVD clarity reveals beads of perspiration in virtually all his scenes. You wish this discomfited man could have played it all in gym trunks with a glass of ice tea in his hand, an admittedly less engaging visual prospect, but a merciful alternative to the costumes he wears. Fat people are there to be ridiculed in a Rat Pack universe, so bullying Frank takes pains to remind Buono that he doesn’t fit the bill with regards servicing Anita Ekberg, her own Amazonian proportions ironically more congenial to a man of Vic’s size as opposed to shrimpy Frank. This is the sort of condescension that goes on between Sinatra and everyone he shares scenes with, providing unintended parallels to behind-the-camera rancor provoked by the star’s imperious attitude. Dean had to be annoyed at times, but at least he takes pride of place in the matter of romantic pair-offs (as if romance could have anyapplication to these Rat Pack smoker reels). Ursula Andress, fresh off Dr. No’s Jamaica beach, must surely have quickened the pace of roue Dean's forty-six year-old heart, while alleged cock-of-the-walk Frank is cruelly paired with hulking Ekberg, she of bat-wing eyelashes fluttering beneath hornet nest wigs. Her summons to Frank for intimate dalliance plays more like a threat to his comparatively delicate frame, as she looks fully capable of wrestling him to a standstill.
Sinatra lies around the whole time getting shaved and manicured. How does such a sedentary figure become top dog in Galveston? Dean’s slightly less plausible as a lawyer turned amoral thief and gambler, shading his characterization by making preposterous gifts to an orphanage. Three Stooges fans are well aware of the boy’s belated cameo during the last thirty minutes, though you get the impression neither Dean nor Aldrich had caught their act before. Jules White should have been along to wave the baton, for their pallid clowning here makes the Stooge’s own Sappy Bullfighters look like The Gold Rush by comparison. Arthur Godfrey shows up momentarily, but that gag lays flat today, as who remembers Arthur Godfrey? More engaging guests may well have been four Texas beauty contest winners exiting the shiny Plymouth shown here. Part of their pageant bounty was a week doing extra work on 4 For Texas. I’d love to sit down with one of them today. The four occupied barstools on Dean’s gambling ship. From what I’ve read, there were Sinatra imported call girls filling period gowns as well. Were those Lone Star innocents despoiled by an encounter with seasoned pros? Champ seducers Frank and Dean must surely have put in bids as well --- it was almost compulsory with these two. No doubt the Texas girls took home insights, if not wisdom, they’d have been years coming by otherwise.

Two longtime friends of the Greenbriar, Edwin T. Arnold and Eugene L. Miller, have contributed a pair of outstanding books to the Aldrich canon. The Films and Career Of Robert Aldrich is analysis based largely on reflections of those who worked with the director, as well as thorough research by the writers. Robert Aldrich Interviews is a collection of these representing Aldrich at various stages of his life and work. Both books are a must, and can be got HERE and HERE.