Hey pallies, just read in the blogg Republibot (clicks on tagg of this Dinogram to go there) that Mr. Karl Malden has passed from this life. All you Dinoholics will remember that Mr. Malden played the villian Julian Wall in the stellar Matt Helm caper "Murder's Row." Pallies can view the whole Dinocaper at youtube, but those who have posted the Dinoclips have disabled embeddin' so below is a stellar Dinotrailer from MR where you can get a glimpse of Mr. Malden, and of course our Dino.
I am grateful to the dude Republibot 3.0 for postin' his obit of Mr. Malden and his mention of his performance with our Dino in MR. However as you will read below, this guy is not a fan of the Matt Helm flicks in general, and MR specifically. Truly sad to still find folks who truly don't understand the stellar nature of our Dino's spy capers. So, in addition to postin' what Republibot 3.0 sez 'bout MR, you will find at the end my Dinopatter back at him that is also posted at the blogg.
We remember our Dino and Mr. Karl Malden and their amazin' work together on "Murder's Row." Dinolovin', DMP
The more laughable one was "Murderer's Row," one of the amazingly smarmy and cheezy Dean Martin "Matt Helm" movies. He was the main bad guy, and it's one of the very, very few times I've ever seen him give a bad performance. Functioning as the main bad guy, He's sadled with a terrible accent, and occasionally forgets to use. The movie is best known for Anne Margaret wearing the world's only turtleneck swimsuit, and an overlong hovercraft chase to pad the film out to barely feature length, and Between the incoherent plot, flaccid direction, and a scrip that was obviously being made up as they went along, it's a sad example of a great supporting player at his worst, but you know what? Even phoning it in as part of a crap movie that is clearly frustrating him, he's still better than anyone in it.
And my reply to this dude....
Hey pallie Republibot 3.0, no disrespect to the memory of Mr. Malden, but I certainly take offence at your comments on our Dino's stellar Matt Helm caper "Murder's Row," simply the best of our great man's spy quartet. While our Dino showcased his amazin' dramatic actin' ability in such flicks as "Rio Bravo," "Some Came Running," and "The Young Lions" to name just a few, in MR our Dino does what he does best.....play his ever cool, hip, and randy self to Dinoperfection. MR and the other three Matt Helm films are groovy parodies of the more serious spy films of their day. Your are obviously not a fan of our great man....and likes that is your loss. http://ilovedinomartin.blogspot.com/
Not true, not true, not true! I love Dean Martin, and I am inexorably tied to the Matt Helm movies. When I was a kid in the late 70s, and our local UHF station would play "Spy Theater" on Sundays, right after church. Whenver the Helm flicks came up in rotation - obviously without bothering to screen them first - it was always a red-letter day for a 10 to 12-year-old kid who was just beginning to realize women were damn fascinating, and, oh, Lord, there were acres of women in those movies, weren't there? Added to which, they were funny, and I loved when Dino would sing parody versions of his own standards on the soundtrack. In fact, I own all four of the movies.
ReplyDeleteThat said, I still think "Murderers Row" is the weakest of the bunch, and the recently-late, undeniably great Mr. M. was clearly not having a pleasurable working experience on it.
But you've convinced me: I'll review all four of the movies just as soon as I can find the remote control for my DVD player.
Hey pallie Republibot 3.0, so so sorry to have misjudged your Dinointentions....but the tenor of your thoughts on "Murder's Row" did not same of favorable thin' 'bout our Dino or his role as Matt Helm.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for sharin' how your came to see the Matt Helm capers....like you I first saw 'em on TV and was transfixed by our Dino.....and makes my Dinoheart glad to know that you own all 4 of 'em.....woulda you please let me know when you review all 4 of the flicks, and do hope that you will give MR a fair shake....for many of us who are proud to be tagged a Dinoholic, "Murder's Row" is by far our fav of favs.....just so mucho full of total Dinopleasure along with Miss Ann-Margret and that great scene between our Dino and his beloved boypallie Dino Jr.
If you loves our Dino, do hopes that you will stop by the ilovedinomartin Dinopad often to share your Dinothoughts and spread your Dinopassion...
DMP,
ReplyDeleteOff topic....
I stumbled across this.
I have no idea if you've posted about the material before.
Use the forward arrows to bring up several more postings about Dean.
Hey pallie AOW, if it's 'bout our Dino, it is never off topic...have enjoyed the Shelia Variations tribs to our great man...don't remember if I have ever shared 'em here....know that they were shared at the yahoo Dinopad ilovedinomartin....thanks for sharin' this pallie....
ReplyDeleteI'd be happy to send you the links for the Matt Helm movies when they start going up! Absolutely first thing! If you could maybe pass 'em on to the rest of the Dino-lovin' online community, that'd be cool, too!
ReplyDeleteSay, just out of curiosity, pallie, I was wondering: You know they wanted to do another Helm movie, right? And I know they wanted to do a crossover picture teaming up Matt Helm with Tony Rome. Do you know if those were both the same project, or if they were intended to be different films?
Hey pallie Republibot 3.0, dude likes I knew 'bout and have been tryin' to follow the action on the proposed Matt Helm remake....but gotta 'fess up that I have never heard 'bout the Tony Rome possibility....but my Dinohunch is that they are prob separate pixs altogether since Tony Rome has never been mentioned in any of the comments 'bout a new Matt Helm....
ReplyDeleteWill be so Dinoeager to read your reviews of our Dino in the Matt Helm Capers...and it is my fullest intent to post 'em here for all the pallies to enjoy....btw man, am workin' on featurin' the stories of some true Dinoholics and how they came to know, love, and groove on our Dino....woulda you be likes interested in bein' one of the Dinointerviewees?
Hey pallie DMP. I had no clue that Karl Malden had passed away. I'm so sorry to hear the news. I remember him from so many movies, television shows, commercials, you name it. I'll of course always remember him as the baddie in MR.
ReplyDeleteHey pallie Keith, yeah...all the folks who worked with our Dino are leavin' the planet....how sad to think that one day there will be no one left who was directly connected to our Dino...but even so the Dinolegacy will continue to glow and grow....'cause more and more of today's youth are turnin' on to our Dino in the biggest of ways....like our pallie Maria...and how cool is that...
ReplyDelete