Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Bad Man Dean Playing It Straight

Hey pallies, likes what a thrill it is to goes to goggle blog search and type in the tag of our most beloved Dino and then wonder and wander through the random Dino-listin's to find Dino-treasure to share with all youse Dino-holics.  And, likes today ilovedinomartin has struck pure pure Dino-gold with a post by a Mr. John McElwee at his blog pad, "GREENBRIAR!"

Likes ilovedinomartin is sure that many many of youse Dino-philes coulda guess what Dino-flick is the topic of Mr. McElwee's scribin's by the title he has given his Dino-devotion, "Bad Man Dean Playing It Straight."
Likes, of course, it has to be the western "Rough Night In Jericho," cause likes we all knows that this is the flick where our Dino plays a real read baddie....to the point of, as McElwee points out......."Few among Dean's Thursday night audience expected to see him beat up Jean Simmons so savagely as here."  Indeed the roughness of our Dino was truly truly surpisin' to many many of those of claim him as their King of Cool.

Mr. John McElwee has certainly done our Dino proud with his wise words and powerful pixs from this powerful big screen effort.  It is clear that McElwee is a true knower and true lover of our most beloved Dino.....his passion for our Dino is clear when he pontificates......"Now, of course, it's Dean we come to see" speakin' of the fact that both our great man and George Peppard each got top billin' dependin' on where the flick was bein' shown.

ilovedinomartin thanks Mr. John McElwee for his valiant effort in sharin' his passion for our Dino with his readership.  To checks this out in it's original format, simply clicks on the tag of this Dino-gram.  Dino-only, DMP







Bad Man Dean Playing It Straight


A Mid-60's Universal Western That's Actually Good

I'd put Rough Night In Jericho among comfort westerns marked capital C, though shock it was to find poster art billing George Peppard first and ahead of Dean Martin. Turns out they did ads both ways, evidently splitting up quantity so that each star took pole position, depending on which display showmen chose to hang. Shows if nothing else what juice Peppard (briefly) had. Now, of course, it's Dean we come to see, and to his credit, there's no slumming or sarcasm as was Martin-applied to Rat Packing, Matt Helming, and whatever television talked him into. Dino admired westerns, always had, so took seriously better ones that cast him.


No songs here, not even over titles, and what a straight-up nasty heavy DM is, town-bossing minus smirks that so often distanced this fine actor from parts he didn't respect.Rough Night is really about Martin's villainy, Peppard at all times in second chair despite billing gymnastics. Few among Dean's Thursday night audience expected to see him beat up Jean Simmons so savagely as here, Martin's "just pretend" mechanism happily switched off. Universal wisely soldRough Night thus: Who Says They Don't Make Westerns The Way They Used To --- We Just Did, which was answer to decline of the genre as US-manufactured, and perhaps challenge to Italo-upstarts then making presence felt (For A Few Dollars More was released three months ahead ofRough Night In Jericho).


Universal was for a most part junk peddling through the sixties after MCA bought control, chief of staff Lew Wasserman more interested in big deals than good pictures, so Rough Night turning out well was happy surprise (give me this over bummer Shenandoahanytime). Maybe to soften blows of his screen nastiness, Dean Martin did a trailer in customary character, poking fun at scenes from the western, with promise of a larkRough Night would not fulfill. In fact, it would be something lots better, as lately evidenced on Universal's Vault DVD, which is at least correct Techniscope ratio (TV still crops it, at best to 1.85). I just wish they'd done a fresh transfer, as here's one that deserved a shine.

Tuesday, July 30, 2013

COCKTAIL OF THE MONTH: THE DEAN MARTIN

Hey pallies, likes ilovedinomartin is pysched to 'gain this very Dino-day share with youse more Dino-adulation of the international scope.  Today we head north to Canada to the province of French speakin' Quebec where the blog pad of  Quebec Scope Magazine, "Quebec Scope Blogue" features "Cocktail Of The Month: The Dean Martin."

Staff scriber Miss Lisa Messier relates the history of this cool cool cocktail in honor of our King of Cool....."
We made the discovery of this cocktail at Cafe Martorano located in the Rio hotel in Las Vegas. Steve Martorano, owner of the restaurant chain, is the origin of this delicious cocktail in honor of the great Dino."
Indeed likes how totally totally swank to have this en francais blog puts the accent on a liquid libation honorin' our Italian stallion created in our Dino's playground of 'Vegas-baby-'Vegas!

How totally totally refreshin' to find all corners of the world playin' profoundly passionate devotion to our most most beloved Dino!  ilovedinomartin salutes Miss Lisa Messier and all the pallies at "Quebec Scope Blogue" for accentin' our Dino in this coolest of cool way.  To checks it out in it's original format, clicks on the tag of this Dino-gram.   Dino-honorin', DMP

COCKTAIL OF THE MONTH: THE DEAN MARTIN

HISTORY OF DEAN MARTIN COCKTAIL

We made the discovery of this cocktail at Cafe Martorano located in the Rio hotel in Las Vegas. Steve Martorano, owner of the restaurant chain, is the origin of this delicious cocktail in honor of the great Dino. Dean Martin is a refreshing concoction of lemon vodka, simple syrup and soda, decorated with strawberries and fresh basil. You might be having dizzy after just one, but you might go to bed smiling.
By Leah Messier

INGREDIENTS:

2.5 oz (75 ml) lemon vodka (Belvedere Citron or Absolut Citron)
0.5 oz (15 ml) simple syrup (sugar syrup)
0.5 oz (15 mL) Club soda
Fresh strawberries
Fresh basil

METHOD:

Although pound strawberries and basil leaves together at the bottom of a shaker to bring out their flavors.
Add ice cubes, vodka and syrup. Shake vigorously and strain over a traditional cocktail glass.
Slightly extend the cocktail with a 'splash' of Club Soda. Do not exceed 0.5 oz to remain faithful to the original recipe
Garnish the top of the liquid sliced ​​fresh basil. That's it!

RESULT:

Original taste, full-bodied, fruity and colorful!

SIMPLIFIED VERSION OF DEAN MARTIN

2 ounces of vodka
0.5 oz lemon juice
2 teaspoons sugar
0.5 oz Club Soda
Strawberries
Follow the above method.
That's it!

COCKTAIL DU MOIS: LE DEAN MARTIN
23 JUIL 2013
HISTOIRE DU DEAN MARTIN COCKTAIL
Nous avons fait la découverte de ce cocktail au Café Martorano situé dans l’hôtel RIO à Las Vegas. Steve Martorano, propriétaire de la chaine de restaurants, est à l’origine de ce cocktail savoureux en l’honneur du grand Dino. Le Dean Martin est une concoction rafraîchissante de vodka citron, de sirop simple et de soda, agrémenté de fraises et de basilic frais. Vous allez peut-être avoir la tête qui tourne après quelques-un, mais vous irez certainement au lit en souriant.

Par Léa Messier



INGRÉDIENTS:
2.5 onces (75 ml) de vodka citron (Belvedère Citron ou Absolut Citron)

0.5 once (15 ml) de sirop simple (sirop de sucre)

0.5 once (15 ml) de Club soda

Fraises fraiches

Basilic frais

MÉTHODE:
Bien piler les fraises et les feuilles de basilic ensemble au fond d’un shaker pour faire ressortir leurs arômes.

Ajouter des cubes de glace, la vodka et le sirop. Secouer vigoureusement et filtrer au dessus d’un verre Cocktail traditionnel.

Légèrement allonger le cocktail avec un ‘splash’ de Club Soda. Ne pas dépasser 0.5 once pour rester fidèle à la recette originale

Garnir le dessus du liquide de tranches de basilic frais. Voilà!

RÉSULTAT:
Original au goût, corsé, fruité et coloré!

VERSION SIMPLIFIÉE DU DEAN MARTIN
2 onces de vodka

0.5 once de jus de citron

2 cuillères à thé de sucre

0.5 once de Club Soda

Fraises

Suivre la méthode ci-dessus.

Voilà!





  

Monday, July 29, 2013

A Montesilvano, Sixth Edition "Award Dean Martin"

Hey pallies, likes while ilovedinomartin is a bit behind the times in gettin' this international scoped Dino-event reported, we none the less wanna let's you know 'bout this huge huge homagin' of our Dino by the hometown of our most beloved Dino's bost beloved daddy-o.  From the annals of  the on-line resource of "www.abruzzo24.ore.tv" comes word that on Saturday, July 13, the city of Montesilvano along with the Dean Martin Foundation presented their sixth annual Dino-fest, which you can read all 'bout below.

It is this same Italiano city  ilovedinomartin reported last month, on the anniversary of our Dino's entrance onto the planet, that dedicated a local park in deep deep devotion to our most beloved Dino.  How wonderful to know that the city of our Dino's biological roots is so so passionate 'bout celebratin' their "son's" life and times.  After all dudes, likes what a stunnin'ly stellar honor Montesilvano has in boastin' of their Dino-heritage!

ilovedinomartin salutes the town of Montesilvano for hostin' a great great  yearly celebration of our great great man.  And, likes we thanks "www.abruzzo24.ore.tv" for puttin' us on to this Dino-informatio.  To checks this out in it's original postin', clicks on the tag of this Dino-report.   Dino-homagin', DMP

A Montesilvano, Sixth Edition "Award Dean Martin"

Thursday, July 11, 2013, 15:31
Foundation Dean Martin
Foundation Dean Martin
 The festival, now in its sixth edition, and 'organized by the Foundation Dean Martin and the City of Montesilvano and retraces the journey with his guests Emigrant, the same as Gaetano Crocetti (father of Dean Martin), which I leave August 29, 1913 'the Adriatic town to arrive on 11 September of the same year (this year marks the centenary) in America in search of fortune. 
arrival Luck 'with his son, actor and singer of international fame, which counts among its successes songs as "That's Amore" and "Everybody loves somebody sometime." Dino Paul Crocetti, this is his real name, will be 'the star of the evening to be held' Saturday, July 13 from 21, in the square opposite Porto Allegro, area Grand Hotels. Just at this location ', which was once called by the Dead River , Gaetano lived, the more 'slender and more' youngest of five brothers, he worked "in days" as a farmhand. knew barely read and write and when received by the brother Joseph and a $ 25 ticket, the dream became reality in the Americas'. Little use of the weeping mother and father's disagreement. It was the last child and still as custom, was deputy to be stick for old age for John and Mary.Gaetano took the train from Pescara to Naples. - Through 'as he later told her children, countryside and city' that he had never seen and that he would never more '. On board the "Hamburg" parties 'Naples from 30 August 1913 to arrive at Ellis Island on Tuesday' always on September 11, 1913. The figure of the famous showman of origin montesilvanese 'was always of attraction for tourists, who have participated every year numerous event.





Thanks to the Foundation of the same name the city 'of Montesilvano is trying to give a cultural, recreational and social through Dean Martin and his father Gaetano. 
latter reminds us of the difficulties' of immigrants in the area. Montesilvano has primacy in fact encompasses the largest number of immigrants in Abruzzo. 
fact, there are community 'of Senegalese, with which the City has also organized events in the past years for intercultural exchanges and to create dialogue between different customs and traditions. 
Same situation for other communities' existing, from the Romanian Albanian-Russian up to the Venezuelan, everyone will be invited to the Prize Dean Martin.
Dean Martin would have turned 7 June, 96 years, 'died in 1995, on Christmas Day. The City on the anniversary of his birth had dedicated a park a few weeks ago, the same morning, and 'was also presented the Foundation Dean Martin, chaired by journalist Alessandra Portinari. Inauguration of which took part in different realities' cultural towns and not only that it 'was a moment of celebration to mark one of the older' famous Montesilvano.
To remember it even better Saturday, July 13 will be: the music critic Dario Salvatori, the comedian 'nduccio, Antonello Angiolillo (actor, singer and dancer), actress and showgirl Nathalie Caldonazzo, the lead singer of Montesilvano Valerio Di Rocco and many people who have crowned the American dream through their work, bringing their montesilvanesita abroad '. To accompany the artists and musicians a band of the School of Music Hall. The evening will be 'presented by Mila Cantagallo journalist. In addition to the screening of video along with the extraordinary actor Jerry Lewis guests will perform between gags and music from the twenties to the sixties, in a repertoire that was also Dean Martin.

A Montesilvano, sesta edizione " Premio Dean Martin"
giovedì 11 luglio 2013, 15:31

Fondazione Dean Martin 
Fondazione Dean Martin

 La kermesse, giunta alla sesta edizione, e' organizzata dalla Fondazione Dean Martin e dal Comune di Montesilvano e ripercorre con i suoi ospiti il viaggio dell'Emigrante, lo stesso di Gaetano Crocetti (padre di Dean Martin), che il 29 agosto 1913 lascio' la cittadina adriatica per approdare l'11 settembre dello stesso anno (quest'anno ricorre il centenario) in America in cerca di fortuna.
La fortuna arrivo' con suo figlio, attore e cantante di fama internazionale, che vanta tra i suoi successi canzoni come "That's amore" ed "Everybody loves somebody sometime". 
Dino Paul Crocetti, questo il suo vero nome, sara' il grande protagonista della serata che si svolgera' sabato 13 luglio dalle 21, nel piazzale antistante Porto Allegro, zona Grandi Alberghi. 
Proprio in questa localita', che un tempo veniva denominata via Fiume Morto, abitava Gaetano, il piu' esile ed il piu' piccolo di cinque fratelli, lavorava "a giornate" come bracciante agricolo. 
Sapeva a malapena leggere e scrivere e quando ricevette dal fratello Giuseppe 25 dollari ed un biglietto, il sogno delle Americhe divenne realta'. A nulla servirono i pianti della madre ed il disaccordo del padre. Era l'ultimo figlio e come tuttora usanza, era deputato ad essere bastone per la vecchiaia per Giovanni e Maria. 
Gaetano prese il treno da Pescara per Napoli.- Attraverso' come avrebbe poi raccontato ai figli, campagne e citta' che non aveva mai visto e che non avrebbe rivisto mai piu'. A bordo della "Hamburg" parti' da Napoli il 30 agosto 1913 per approdare ad Ellis Island martedi' 11 settembre sempre del 1913. 
La figura del famoso showman di origine montesilvanese e' stata sempre di richiamo per i turisti, che hanno partecipato ogni anno numerosi all'evento.
Grazie alla Fondazione omonima la citta' di Montesilvano sta cercando di dare un'impronta culturale, ricreativa e sociale attraverso Dean Martin e suo padre Gaetano. 
Quest'ultimo ci richiama alle difficolta' degli immigrati presenti sul territorio. Montesilvano ha il primato infatti di accogliere il maggior numero di immigrati provenienti in Abruzzo. 
Esistono infatti comunita' di senegalesi, con i quali il Comune ha organizzato anche negli anni passati eventi per scambi interculturali e per creare dialogo tra costumi e usanze differenti. 
Stessa situazione per le altre comunita' esistenti, da quella rumena all'albanese da quella russa fino a quella venezuelana, tutti verranno invitate al Premio Dean Martin.
Dean Martin avrebbe compiuto il 7 giugno 96 anni e' scomparso nel 1995, il giorno di Natale. Il Comune nella ricorrenza della sua nascita gli ha intitolato qualche settimana fa un parco, nella stessa mattinata e' stata presentata anche la Fondazione Dean Martin, presieduta dalla giornalista Alessandra Portinari. Inaugurazione alla quale hanno preso parte diverse realta' culturali cittadine non solo e che e' stato un momento di festa per celebrare uno dei figli piu' celebri di Montesilvano.
A ricordarlo ancora meglio sabato 13 luglio interverranno: il critico musicale Dario Salvatori, il cabarettista 'Nduccio, Antonello Angiolillo (attore, cantante e ballerino), l'attrice e showgirl Nathalie Caldonazzo, il cantante di Montesilvano Valerio Di Rocco e tanti personaggi che hanno coronato il sogno americano attraverso il loro lavoro, portando all'estero la loro montesilvanesita'. Ad accompagnare gli artisti una band musicale e musicisti della Scuola di Musica Comunale. La serata verra' presentata dalla giornalista Mila Cantagallo. Oltre alla proiezione di video dell'attore insieme allo straordinario Jerry Lewis gli ospiti si esibiranno tra gag e musiche dagli anni Venti agli anni Sessanta, in un repertorio che fu anche di Dean Martin.

 

Sunday, July 28, 2013

Danny G's Sunday Serenade with Dino: "In Love Up To My Heart"





 

Hey pallies...I reckon' it's 'bout time for a little bit o' country singin' from our GREAT GREAT country croonin' pal, Tex Martin!
 
 
This week's Serenade is off Dean's "The Nashville Sessions" al b um. One of the ONLY country al b ums I actually dig! "In Love Up To My Heart" is a swingin' little number 'bout gettin' shot by Cupid's arrow when youse least expect it. I guess we never know when that arrow is aimed at us...right between the eyes pals!!! "Cause Dean went to my head & all my defenses fell apart! Hahaha!!!"  
 
 
I suppose if even ol' Dino can be caught off-guard...this could happen to any of us! Man it's a crazy game we ALL get to play...once in while! Enjoy pallies!!!


I always left some room to back away
Whenever love would get too close to me
I've always kept my feet on solid ground
And my head out of a cloud, no broken heart for me

But there you were, and there I was off-guard
Not able to protect me from your charm
And I felt myself falling further
Closer you got
And I fell in love up to my heart

I fell into love up to my heart
I couldn't stop myself, I went too far
I was standing on the edge and then
Next thing I knew I had
Fallen in love up to my heart

I can feel myself fallin' more and more
And there's no use in fighting anymore
'Cause you went to my head and
All my defenses fell apart
And here I am, in love up to my heart

I fell into love up to my heart
I couldn't stop myself, I went too far
I was standing on the edge and then
Next thing I knew I had
Fallen in love up to my heart

I was standing on the edge and then
Next thing I knew I had
Fallen in love up to my heart

Saturday, July 27, 2013

Dino Paul Crocetti, known in the art world as Dean Martin


Hey pallies, likes more and more ilovedinomartin is findin' our Dino makin' the scene more and incredibly,  increasin'ly internationally.  Case in point.  Today ilovedinomartin takes you to the blog, "El Mirado Nocturno (The Watched Night) where Senor  Leonardo Liberman holds forth.  And, likes Senor Liberman has scribed a huge huge homagin' of our Dino usin' some amazin' Dino-poses mixed with appro Dino-details.

Likes did a bit of searchin' but ilovedinomartin has not be able to ascertain exactly which Spanish speakin' country that Liberman hails from....always always loves to know the particulars 'bout each and every Dino-devotee that likes we feature here at our humble little Dino-home, but one thin' for sure...Mr. Leonardo Liberman digs our Dino  and is not ashamed to share his deep deep Dino-appreciato with his pallies.

ilovedinomartin would so so loves to be able to used the super super sized Dino-pixs as shared at Mr. Liberman's blog.........what a wonderfully wise way of  honorin' our wonderfully wise man!  Salute! To Mr. Leonardo Liberman for proudly proclaimin' the life and times of our most most beloved Dino....certainly helpin' his pallies to embrace our King of Cool.  As ever, to view this post in its original format....and mavel at those super super sized Dino-poses, simply clicks on the tag of this Dino-report.   Dino-delightedly, DMP




Dean Martin




Dino Paul Crocetti, known in the art world as Dean Martin , was born in Steubenville, Ohio, on June 7, 1917 and died in Beverly Hills, California on December 25, 1995. It was comic, actor and singer.


Son of Italian immigrants, Dean Martin spoke Italian to start school and played drums teenager as a hobby.


He began working in various activities , as a laborer, assistant at a gas station dealer and had a period when tested as a boxer in the ring and did not do badly, fighting under the name of Kid Crocetti.




Along with dabbling in the ring, Dino began performing as a singer in nightclubs under the stage name Dino Martini.


Throughout his long career as a singer, Martin had great successes with the interpretations '"Volare (Nel Blu Dipinto di Blu)"' of Domenico Modugno, "Everybody Loves Somebody", "Sway" or "Mambo Italiano". Over time, in his performances, besides singing numbers also played comic .


In these environments rookie met another comedian named Jerry Lewis. The two became inseparable and colleagues prepared a number as a duet that premiered at the 500 Club Atlantic City in 1946.




Dean saw in his partnership with Jerry Lewis the possibility of exploiting a seam in the genre of comic nonsense and was the most successful comedy team in the United States for a decade.

The fame of the comic was great and were tempted by television, and June 20, 1948 were invited for a variety progam that premiered on CBS titled Toast of the Town, whose host was Ed Sullivan.



This program eventually became a television classic and not just in the U.S., remaining for decades.


From the ninth season, was renamed The Ed Sullivan Show would be a benchmark for television, beyond the United States.


At that time, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis already had some fame so attracted the attention of Paramount hired.

 


The comic couple was able to attract the public to the halls of exhibition therefore proved profitable films studies. Between 1949 and 1956 filmed 18 movies together.


From 1951, are stars invited usual variety show The Colgate Comedy Hour broadcast between 1950 and 1955 on NBC.


Since the '50s, Dean Martin was part of a group of actors known as the Rat Pack with Frank Sinatra, Peter Lawford and Sammy Davis, Jr. all participated in the movie Gang of eleven 1960.




From rat pack members were said to have close contacts with the world of the Mafia, in fact, were seen with known members of organized crime in Las Vegas, a city that felt like a fish in water.


Hollywood or Bust, 1956 was the last film in which Martin and Lewis participated together.


The egos of each other, eventually proved incompatible and began to have disagreements, friction and discussions. Martin Lewis endured until the moment he saw that he no longer needed and could start a solo career.


Dean Martin began his career as a film actor, performing roles heartthrob and singer and left some memorable titles like The Sons of Katie Elder Hathaway, Hawks' Rio Bravo, Kissing a Fool of Wilder, as a torrent of Vincent Minnelli and especially , Dance of the Damned by Edward Dmytryk.


In 1965, Dean Martin was hired by NBC and became the host of his own TV show: The Dean Martin Show.




In 1973, after eight seasons, the show was losing audience and was canceled, but NBC would continue to exploit the popularity of its star, and hired him for a series of specials titled The Dean Martin Celebrity Roast.


In 1966 she played Matt Helm, a spy James Bond style, but humorous. Give life to this hero in a series consisting of four films.


In 1976 was the reunion of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis in the annual Jerry Lewis Telethon. Frank Sinatra was the one who encouraged reconciliation, bringing a surprise guest on Dean Martin. It was 20 years that did not speak.




His last film for the cinema was The Cannonball II Locos 1984.


In 1985, NBC hired him to join the cast of a new series titled Half Nelson. Martin's role was that of Detective confident. The series was canceled and only 6 episodes were broadcast.




Dean Martin died, aged 78, on Christmas Day 1995 in Beverly Hills, California as a result of emphysema which produced its advanced lung cancer.




He was buried in Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles, California.

Next, a tribute to the TV in the United States.




Posted by Leonardo Liberman at 00:27

Dean Martin




Dino Paul Crocetti, conocido en el mundo artístico como Dean Martin, nació en Steubenville, Ohio, el 7 de junio de 1917 y murió en Beverly Hills, California, el 25 de diciembre de 1995. Fue cómico, actor y cantante.


Hijo de inmigrantes italianos, Dean Martin habló italiano hasta empezar la escuela y de adolescente tocaba la batería como pasatiempo.


Empezó a trabajar en distintas actividades, como peón, ayudante en una gasolinera, croupier y tuvo un período en que probó como boxeador y en el cuadrilátero no le fue mal, luchando bajo el seudónimo de Kid Crocetti.




Paralelamente a sus escarceos en el ring, Dino empezó a actuar como cantante en los nightclubs con el nombre artístico de Dino Martini.


A lo largo de su dilatada carrera como cantante, Martin tuvo grandes éxitos como con las interpretaciones '"Volare (Nel Blu Dipinto di Blu)"' de Domenico Modugno, "Everybody Loves Somebody", "Sway" o "Mambo Italiano". Con el tiempo, en sus actuaciones, además de cantar interpretaba también números cómicos.


En estos ambientes conoció a otro cómico novato llamado Jerry Lewis. Ambos se hicieron colegas inseparables y prepararon un número como dúo que estrenaron en el 500 club Atlantic City en 1946.




Dean vio en su asociación con Jerry Lewis la posibilidad de explotar una veta en el género de la farándula cómica y fue la pareja cómica con más éxito en Estados Unidos durante una década.

La fama de los cómicos era grande y fueron tentados por la televisión, y el 20 de junio de 1948 fueron invitados para un progama de variedades que estrenaba la CBS titulado Toast of the Town, cuyo presentador era Ed Sullivan.



Este programa, con el tiempo, se convirtió en un clásico de la televisión y no sólo en Estados Unidos, manteniéndose durante décadas.


A partir de la novena temporada, pasó a llamarse The Ed Sullivan Show sería todo un referente para la televisión, más allá de Estados Unidos.


En ese tiempo Dean Martin y Jerry Lewis ya tenían cierta fama por lo que atrajeron la atención de la Paramount que los contrató.




La pareja de cómicos fue capaz de atraer al público a las salas de exhibición, por tanto, sus películas resultaban rentables a los estudios. Entre 1949 y 1956 rodaron 18 películas juntos.


A partir de 1951, son estrellas invitadas habituales en el programa de variedades The Colgate Comedy Hour emitido entre 1950 y 1955 por la NBC.


Desde la década de los 50, Dean Martin formó parte de un grupo de actores conocido como el rat pack junto con Frank Sinatra, Peter Lawford o Sammy Davis, Jr. Todos participaron en la película Cuadrilla de los once de 1960.




De los miembros del rat pack se decía que tenían estrechos contactos con el mundo de la mafia, de hecho, se dejaban ver con conocidos miembros del crimen organizado en Las Vegas, ciudad en la que se sentían como pez en el agua.


Loco por Anita de 1956 fue la última película en la que Martin y Lewis participaron juntos.


Los egos de uno y otro, finalmente, resultaron incompatibles y empezaron a tener discrepancias, roces y discusiones. Martin soportó a Lewis hasta el momento en que vio que ya no lo necesitaba y podía iniciar una carrera en solitario.


Dean Martin comenzó su carrera como actor cinematográfico, realizando papeles de galán y cantante y dejó algunos memorables títulos como Los cuatro hijos de Katie Elder de Hathaway, Río Bravo de Hawks, Bésame, tonto de Wilder, Como un torrente de Vincent Minnelli y, especialmente, El Baile De Los Malditos de Edward Dmytryk.


En 1965, Dean Martin fue contratado por la NBC y se convirtió en el anfitrión de su propio programa de televisión: The Dean Martin Show.




En 1973, tras ocho temporadas, el programa fue perdiendo audiencia y fue cancelado, pero la NBC, quiso seguir explotando la popularidad de su estrella, y lo contrató para una serie de especiales titulado The Dean Martin Celebrity Roast.


En 1966 interpretó a Matt Helm, un espía al estilo James Bond, aunque en clave de humor. Daría vida a este héroe en una serie compuesta por cuatro películas.


En 1976, ocurrió el reencuentro de Dean Martin y Jerry Lewis en la Telemaratón anual de Jerry Lewis. Frank Sinatra fue quién fomentó la reconciliación, llevando como invitado sorpresa a Dean Martin. Hacía 20 años que no se hablaban.




Su última película para el cine fue Los Locos del Cannonball II de 1984.


En 1985, la NBC lo contrató para formar parte del reparto de una nueva serie titulada Half Nelson. El papel de Martin era el de confidente del detective. La serie fue cancelada y sólo se emitieron 6 episodios.




Dean Martin murió, con 78 años, el día de navidad de 1995 en Beverly Hills, California como consecuencia de un enfisema que le produjo su avanzado cáncer de pulmón.




Sus restos se encuentran en el Cementerio Westwood Village Memorial Park de Los Ángeles, California.

A continuación, un homenaje de la TV de los Estados Unidos.




Publicado por Leonardo Liberman en 00:27

Friday, July 26, 2013

Dean Martin and Politics

Hey pallies,  likes our ever devoted Dino-gal Miss AOW, has 'gain favored all us pallies with a Dino-centric post likes puttin' the accent on two of her most fav of fav topics....of our course most beloved Dino and politics.   If you goes to her blog pad, "Always On Watch" (just clicks on the link below, you will find Miss AOW daily sharin' her political perspectives with her readership....and on occasion some great devotion to our great man!

Well, likes with the "news of Detroit's recent financial woes, our pallie has written a little patter that sorta combines her two great great passions.  Below you will find Miss AOW's ruminations and a great vid clip she has located of our amazin' Dino croonin' a tune he shared a number of times of the Dino-show.....likes one of the most recent Dino-DVD collections contains the coolest of cool clips of our Dino sharin' this classic tune.

ilovedinomartin salutes our ever ever faithful Dino-gal Miss AOW  for providin' this Dino-devotion for all us Dino-holics here at ilovedinomartin.  Keeps lovin' our most beloved Dino!   Dino-diggin', DMP



By Always On Watch
Our Dino avoided politics — with the exception of joining his pal Frank for a few occasions. See THIS from the Library of Congress and THIS from the University of Texas. Our Dino was a wise man to avoid politics. Such a stressful topic and venue! Nevertheless, with news of Detroit's recent financial woes, our Dino's version of "Detroit City" takes on a particular contemporaneous poignancy (Bonus - a wonderful collection of photos of our Dino are included in the video):

Thursday, July 25, 2013

Our Dino and Jerry.....endin' by speakin' love

Hey pallies, likes just had to sends this out to you before this very very special day in Dino-history expires.  Just found this great great Martin and Lewis photo essay at what is becomin' one of ilovedinomartin's fav Dino-hangouts.....tumblr!

 From a 23 year old chick tagged Kayley comes this tremendous tribute on the day that our most beloved Dino and Mr. Lewis began their decade long partnership....ten---count 'em---ten delightful Dino-poses with Jerry and  some of Mr. Lewis's wise words 'bout the last night of their partnership as recorded in Lewis' amore to our Dino, "Dean And Me: A Love Story."  It is so hugely hugely heartwarmin' to hear the absolute affection that Jerry had for our Dino and that our Dino had for Jerry.

ilovedinomartin salutes the huge number of today's youth likes Miss Kayley  for spreadin' so so much Dino-love over at tumblr, and to view this in it's original format, simply clicks on the tag of this Dino-message.  Dino-always, ever, and only, DMP


“We had some good times, didn’t we, Paul?”
“We sure did, kid.”
“I don’t know where either of us is going from here, but I’ll be carrying you in my heart wherever I go, because I love you.”
“I love you too, Jer.”
- Dean and Me: A Love Story
Martin & Lewis  (July 25th 1946 - July 25th 1956)

On This Day In Dino-history: July 25, 1946

Hey pallies, likes yesterday we remembered the last time that our most beloved Dino and Mr. Lewis performed on stage together, and today is that historic day in all of Dino-history that Martin and Lewis began their decade long partnership of comedy. Fifty-seven years ago this very day, July 25, 1946 our great man and the ever funny Jerry Lewis did their first nightclub performance in Alantic City together at the Club 500...and the world was never ever the same again.

Today's Dinoremembrance comes from the blog pad "Triviazoids - Day-To-Day Look At History Links by Mr. Brad Williams. Likes everythin' our Dino does it likes so so perfect...to the point that the team of Martin and Lewis performed for exaxtly 10 years to the day....beginnin' July 26, 1946 and endin' as we shared yesterday on July 25, 1956. Certainly was the decade of comedic brillance between our beloved Dino and the Mr. Lewis.

So so loves rememberin' and honorin' these most important days in the life and times of our amazin' King of Cool. ilovedinomartin sez our thanks to Mr. Brad Williams for rememberin' and honorin' this very very special day in the life and times of our most beloved Dino! To view this in it's original format, likes clicks on the tag of this Dino-message. Dino-rememberin', DMP


“Layyyyyy-deeee!” Did you know the comedy team of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis performed together for the first time on 25th in 1946 at a club in Atlantic City? Martin and Lewis also officially broke up on July 24th, 1956.

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

On This Day In Dino-history: July 24, 1956



Hey pallies, likes 57 years ago this very day, July 24, in 1956 our most beloved Dino had likes  his hugest of hugest endin' and likes his newest of newest beginnin' when he called it quits with his partner, Mr. Jerry Lewis...exactly a decade after they had created the greatest comedy partnership in all of world history.

Likes it has becomes likes a Dino-tradition on this most historic of historic Dino-day to  revisit a stunnin' retellin' of what happened on that last night   Martin and Lewis took the stage at the Copacabana....truly some deeply heart-felt insights 'bout our Dino and Jerry's last gig together  shared at the blog "Frontier Net."
From the writings "The Copacabana, An Illustrated History" by Kristin Baggleaar  comes some deeply deeply devoted details of our Dino and  Jerry's swan song.  So, sit back and reflect on the  meanin's of likes this most bitter-sweet day in all of Dino-history.

 Likes as I often do on this day, 'gain likes gotta 'fess up pallies, likes for years I had zip, zero, nadda  appreciato for Jerry Lewis whatsoever, and felt that the split-up was exactly what Lewis deserved.  But, ever since readin' Jerry's tome "Dean and Me: A Love Story," I have grown in my understandin' and appreciato of just how much Mr. Lewis loved, and still loves our most beloved Dino!

In fact, I have become likes totally totally jealous of Mr. Lewis 'cause he got to spend 10 intimate and glorious years with the coolest person ever to walk the face of the earth...and got to know our Dino better then any other person alive ever has or ever will.  What coulda be more wonderful then that!   In fact, I remember in readin' in Tosches' outstandin' Dino-bio that Lewis was jealous of Jeanne and Jeanne was equally jealous of Lewis...and who could blame 'em...they each wanted our Dino for themselves...and don't we all likes feel likes that same Dino-way?!?!?!

Anyway, on this special Dino-day in Dino-history we remember the legacy that our Dino and the Jerry had together, and see this endin' as a hugely important new beginnin' for our most beloved Dino.   Dino-rememberin', DMP

The Copacabana

An Illustrated History by Kristin Baggelaar
.



By summer 1956, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis officially announced that they were breaking up as a team; however, together they were committed to one last engagement at the Copacabana.  Perhaps because it was the last time they would ever work together, Martin and Lewis' final two-week stand at the Copa did a record-breaking business.

The diminished floorshow space was a tribute to their draw and mass impact.  The Doug Coudy production numbers were curtailed as the acts, including the personable dance team of Conn & Mann, were stage waits for the headliners.  Martin & Lewis worked with smoothness and no apparent personal friction despite all the press about their rift, but some dissension was evident with their Pardners bit, a cafe trailer for their soon-to-be released Paramount film of the same name.  To their professional credit they played it straight, with Lewis foiling for Martin's crooning, and likewise, Martin foiling for his partner's clowning.  While both were well received, it was felt that solo or team, the impact was not as resounding as in the past until their final night.  Every celebrity in Manhattan was in the audience to witness the pair's swan song of one of the greatest comedy acts in history.  They pulled out every schtick in their comedy bag for the star-studded crowd, from squirting seltzer down Milton Berle's shirt front to cutting off Monte Proser's necktie.  The sophisticated cafe crowd wouldn't let them quit.

The final moments of the last show of their farewell engagement at the Copa on a hot Tuesday night, July 24, 1956, are pressed indelibly in the minds of those who were present.  Martin's face was impassable, cool to the end.  They finished with the final crescendo from Pardners:  "You and me, we'll be the greatest pardners, buddies, and pals!"  They joined hands for a last bow.  Martin hugged Lewis.  The audience exploded in an emotional uproar.  Jackie Gleason jumped up and grabbed the mike, wiped away a tear, and said, "Folks, this can't be allowed to happen."  The audience roared its approval, but Martin & Lewis just shook their heads, no.  It was over.  There was no encore.  Martin took one aisle away from the floor; Lewis took the other.

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

a never-again-duplicated.....dynamic between Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis that made their partnership magic

Hey pallies, likes we are fastly fastly approachin' two of the mostest of the most important dates in all of Dino-history...likes tomorrow, July 24 is the date in 1956 that the amazin' duo of Martin and Lewis broke the ties that bound 'em and ended their decade long comedic reign.   And, likes on July 25 we honour the date in 1946 that our most beloved Dino and Mr. Lewis  officially began their partnership.

 Likes today on the eve of these huge huge Dino-remembrances, we turn to the blog, "Thrilling Days Of Yesteryear" where blogger Ivan G. Shreve Jr. has scribed some dynamic devotion to our Dino and Jerry tagged, "Dynamic Duos in Classic Film Blogathon - Dean Martin & Jerry Lewis."  Likes usin' a variety of pixs and prose, Shreve does likes a joyous job of sharin' the fabulous film career that our Dino and Jerry shared in their 16---count 'em---16 big screen successes.  And, in addition, Mr. Shreve gives us an overview of Martin & Lewis's other amazin' efforts as well....radio, television, and night clubs.

ilovedinomartin salutes Mr. Ivan G. Shreve Jr. and all the pallies at "Thrilling Days Of Yesteryear for this excellent prose of the greatest comedic team in all of history.  Thanks for a great post helpin' us lead up to our honorin' of the humble beginnin's of Martin and Lewis and the sad endin's as well.  To checks this out in it's original format, simply clicks on the tag of this here Dino-gram.  Dino-always, ever, and only, DMP


Sunday, July 14, 2013


Dynamic Duos in Classic Film Blogathon – Dean Martin & Jerry Lewis: Together Both


The following is Thrilling Days of Yesteryear’s contribution to theDynamic Duos in Classic Film Blogathonhosted by Once upon a Screen and the Classic Movie Hub July 13-14.  For a complete list of the blogs participating and the personalities covered, click here.


In 1976, viewers who tuned into the annual MDA Labor Day Telethon got an unexpected surprise: twenty years after their acrimonious split, host Jerry Lewis was reunited with his former partner, actor-singer Dean Martin, when Martin’s fellow Rat Packer Francis Albert Sinatra brought him onto the show.  It was a big deal for fans of the duo, and it was a big deal for a thirteen-year-old kid who had become a belated fan by watching their classic movies in just about any venue that offered them (mostly TV at that time).

There are a good number of people who revere Jerry Lewis.  They are James Neibaur and the entire nation of France.  The rest find it difficult to tolerate the man’s excesses, though I have always been on record as saying that I don’t mind some of Lewis’ solo vehicles.  I gravitate mostly to the ones directed by Frank Tashlin—like Rock-a-Bye Baby(1958) and my personal favorite, It’$ Only Money (1962)—but I certainly wouldn’t object to an official DVD release of an underrated comedy, Don’t Give Up the Ship (1959).  My greatest love for Jerry Lewis was when for a decade—1946 through 1956—he partnered with Dean Martin and made some very funny movie comedies…not to mention some hilarious TV programs and occasionally a rib-tickling radio broadcast or two.

The duo who would eventually rocket to movie stardom in 1950—replacing Bud Abbott & Lou Costello as Hollywood’s top box-office comedy team—had their first encounter in 1945 at a club called The Glass Hat, where Dean sang and Jerry was emcee. They crossed paths again a year later (July 25, 1946), officially teaming up at Atlantic City’s 500 Club when Lewis suggested to the owner that he allow Martin to perform in place of the scheduled singer (who was unable to go on).  The two men had put together an act that went over like an epidemic of smallpox…and club owner Skinny D’Amato put the team on notice that if things didn’t improve by the second show they’d be looking elsewhere for work.

Dean and Jerry decided to “go for broke.”  While Dean was performing, Jerry came out dressed as a busboy and wreaked havoc during Martin’s performance—dropping an entire tray of dishes during one of his numbers.  They dug old vaudeville jokes out of their memory, performed slapstick and engaged in a spirited exchange of insults.  The audience ate it up.  Martin and Lewis became an “overnight success,” and took their new act from club to club until it was estimated they were pulling down close to $15,000 weekly in 1948 alone.

Though Martin & Lewis had a good deal of name recognition in the industry, they were still an unknown quantity to the general public—this would soon change. They were among the featured performers of Ed Sullivan’s premiere Toast of the Town telecast in 1948, and they made a well-received radio appearance on an October 26, 1948 Bob Hope Show that prompted NBC to offer them a contract. An audition recorded was produced on December 21, 1948, and that program (with guest Lucille Ball), edited to a half-hour, became the April 3, 1949 premiere broadcast of The Martin & Lewis Show.

Dean and Jerry’s zany antics didn’t translate to radio too well.  The network was spending $10,000 a week and luring big-name guest stars—John Garfield, Henry Fonda, Burt Lancaster, Jane Russell—but audiences were lukewarm to the show, and it soon came to a close on January 30, 1950.  The future fan base of Martin and Lewis would become more acquainted with the team from movies and television—the duo were frequent hosts of NBC-TV’s The Colgate Comedy Hour, said by many to be the only medium that was really able to come close to capturing the spontaneity of their nightclub act (and surviving kinescopes demonstrate that Dean and Jer really had a ball on live TV).  When the team’s movies made them big box-office attractions, NBC had another go at a radio program with them beginning on October 5, 1951 for a two-year run.  Curiously, NBC chose to play up Martin’s role more than that of his partner's, renaming the series The Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis Show and introducing the crooner as the “master of ceremonies.”  Jerry would then make his “late” appearance shortly after Dean’s opening number. This version, still packed with top guest stars, ultimately folded its tent July 14, 1953.

While the duo were working on the first incarnation of their radio show, Paramount signed them to be the “comedy relief” in a picture based on a radio sitcom—My Friend Irma.  The 1949 film, which both men plugged on their radio broadcast, featured Marie Wilson as the titular pal from the radio hit that had been running on CBS since 1947.  The studio recast the role of Irma’s best bud Jane Stacy (played by Cathy Lewis on radio) with contractee Diana Lynn, and the part of Irma’s ne’er-do-well boyfriend Al (so memorably essayed over the ether by the great John Brown) went to another studio player, John Lund.  In fact, the only two performers who—along with Wilson—transitioned to the film version were Gloria Gordon (seen briefly as landlady Mrs. O’Reilly) and Hans Conried as Professor Kropotkin, the girls’ upstairs neighbor.  (Conried only got to play the part after the originally-cast Felix Bressart died during production.)  The film also featured Don DeFore (as the show’s Richard Rhinelander III), Kathryn Givney and Percy Helton (as Irma’s employer, Mr. Clyde—played by Alan Reed on the radio show but to be honest, I like Helton in the part).

My Friend Irma’s plot—concocted by the show’s creator, Cy Howard, and its chief scribe, Parke Levy—finds Jane angling to become the new secretary to Mr. Rhinelander because the gal’s got matrimony with a wealthy man on her mind.  (I’ve always believed that Paramount cast Lynn in this part to make the character seem a little less like a gold-digger.)  But Ms. Stacy falls for Steve Laird (Dean), an aspiring crooner (whom Al agrees to manage) but for now a drone at an orange juice stand along with his sidekick Seymour (Jerry).   Various misunderstandings and complications arise—instigated by Irma, the original “dumb blonde”—before Jane realizes that she needs to marry for love and not loot.  (Even then, the film’s closing gag keeps the two of them from tying the knot and living happily ever after.)

Not many people outside of old-time radio buffs remember My Friend Irma, so if it weren’t for the presence of Martin and Lewis it’s a sure bet the movie would be forgotten today.  There’s no denying that the duo are the major drawing card, though their hi-jinks are forced to take a back seat to the Irma-Jane action (only emerging when they recreate some of their nightclub act by performing Just for Fun).  Interestingly, the studio had originally wanted Jerry to play boyfriend Al, but they changed their minds and created the Seymour character to match his familiar persona.  (As much as I dislike Lund as Al—and I do, unquestionably—having Lewis play the part would be the textbook definition of bizarre.)  The success of the film led to a follow-up (the only sequel the team ever made), My Friend Irma Goes West(1950). 

West pretty much picks up where the first film left off, with Martin’s Laird still trying to succeed in show business and having little luck.  An appearance on a TV program (where Steve, Seymour and Al are paid off in spaghetti) attracts the attention of movie producer C.Y. Sanford (Charles Evans), who signs Steve to a movie contract…prompting the cast to go west, young man, go west by train.  Unfortunately, Mr. Sanford is a little funny in the head (he’s an escaped mental patient) and the journey to Hollywood is going to wind up in eventual heartbreak.  There are a few subplots, including a French starlet (played by French starlet Corinne Calvet) who’s got it bad for Steve—much to Jane’s annoyance—and a gang of racketeers (led by Lloyd Corrigan) who wind up taking Irma hostage towards the end of the movie…and soon learn why she’s been a source of aggravation to both her roommate and boyfriend all these years.

With the Irma movies under its belt, Hollywood was ready for the first starring feature for Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis.  It would come in the form of At War with the Army (1950), which was actually filmed before West but not released until December of that year (West was released in May).  The movie was made by independent producer Fred Finklehoffe and released by Paramount; Martin and Lewis had obtained in their Paramount contract an option to make one film a year outside the studio under the banner of their company, York Productions.  Not long after the release of the movie, the team found themselves embroiled in a messy legal battle (involving their salary payoff with the film) that ended only when they relinquished all financial interest in Army…and in exchange, they didn’t have to make any more “outside” pictures.  At War with the Army slipped into the public domain back in the 1970s, and for that reason it’s probably more accessible (on home video) than Dean and Jer’s other films.

Their first service comedy finds them at odds with one another: they’re childhood pals but Dean’s Vic Puccinella now outranks Alvin Korwin (Jerry)—Vic’s a sergeant, Alvin a lowly private.  The film was adapted from a stage play by James Allardice, and never moves beyond its theatrical origins; there’s not a lot of real “plot,” mostly a series of vignettes.   The movie’s credits include an “introduction” to Polly Bergen (who would later appear with the team in That’s My Boy and The Stooge) though she had made appearances (as a vocalist) in a couple of earlier vehicles—but it is the first film for Danny Dayton (as the supply sergeant) and Mike Kellin (as Sergeant McVey, Jerry’s nemesis), who reprised his stage role along with Kenneth Forbes.

Army and a 1951 Paramount release,That’s My Boy, essentially established Dean and Jerry as the number one movie comedy team in the nation.  Watching That’s My Boy today…it’s a little hard to figure out why this was the case.  Cy Howard, the man behind My Friend Irma, scripted the movie—which casts Jerry as the milquetoast son of a college football legend (Eddie Mayehoff, in the first of three movies he would make with Dean and Jer) who attends his pa’s alma mater and is unable to follow in his dad’s footsteps.  Mayehoff is paying Dean’s way through school (Dean is a hot football prospect, destined to become All-American) and Eddie wants in return is for Dean to help son Jerry make something of himself on the gridiron.  It probably played funny with audiences back in in the time of its original release…but it hasn’t aged well—it’s more maudlin than tee-hee.

The team’s following feature more than made up for the excesses of That’s My Boy:Sailor Beware (1952), their second service comedy, has always been one of my favorites (and in fact, depending on what day of the week you ask, I’ll probably name it as my all-time fave).  This time Dean and Jerry cut loose in the Navy (in fact, the working title was At Sea with the Navy), with Jerry the luckless boob whose romantical prospects with a frosty cabaret singer (Corinne Calvet) are the focus of a king-sized bet in his platoon (Jerry must receive a kiss from Corinne, who has a reputation of spurning all sailors), instituted by bullying sergeant Robert Strauss.

Sailor Beware was based on a 1933 play written by Kenyon Nicholson (and Charles Robinson) that had been previously filmed as The Fleet’s In (1942)—the film that provided Betty Hutton with one of her breakthrough roles…so it’s kind of Kismet that she has a cameo in Sailor (as “Hetty Button”).  But Martin and Lewis really made the remake their own, including such classic routines as the Army induction scenes (Jerry, who’s already donated at a blood bank, stymies the medicos when they attempt to take a blood sample and get nothing but water) and a riotously funny boxing sequence that’s similar to the one in Abbott & Costello’s Buck Privates (1941).  (You might recognize James Dean as one of the hangers-on in the locker room.)

I have a soft spot for Sailor Beware because it was the film that introduced me to the reality that all those old movies I had been watching on TV actually had a first life in theaters; I learned this when I saw Beware on ABC’s Monday Night Movie and was flummoxed at how my father, who was watching it with me, was able to predict what would happen next.  (He came clean and told me he saw the film when he was in the service.)  Beware was directed by Hal Walker, who had also directed At War with the Army, and was co-scripted by Army’soriginal playwright, James Allardice.

The team’s final service comedy, Jumping Jacks, was also released in 1952—Jerry’s the former stage partner of Dean, who’s enlisted in the Army in hopes of joining the paratroopers, and in helping out his bud with an Army show finds himself dragooned into masquerading as a private (Richard Erdman) when the production is enthusiastically thumbed-up by general Ray Teal.  Not quite as good as Sailor Beware (but better than At War with the Army), Jacks is a moderately amusing comedy that brings back Robert Strauss as Dean and Jer’s commanding officer (interestingly, he likes Jerry despite the fact Jer’s a screw-up) and Don DeFore as one of Dean’s fellow soldiers.  The movie was originally scripted by Robert Lees and Fred Rinaldo back in the 1940s (it was offered to Bob Hope and Danny Kaye; both turned it down) which explains why it feels more like an Abbott & Costello knock-off (particularly the last part of the movie, where the war games sequence is very much like the one in Buck Privates).

Martin and Lewis decided to break the formulaic pattern of their films in 1953 with The Stooge.  In this comedy-drama, crooner Dean severs ties with his vaudeville partner (Richard Erdman) to try going it alone as a solo act…but soon finds he’s as welcome as a proctology exam as far as audiences are concerned.  His agent, played by Eddie Mayehoff, suggests he find a “stooge” for his act—a guy who’ll be on the receiving end of his comic abuse, and that of course will be Master Jerome Lewis.  Lewis makes the act a hit, though Martin seems unable to admit this (refusing to give his partner credit)…even causing friction between his beloved, played by Polly Bergen.  The Stoogewas named as Lewis’ favorite among the vehicles he made with his partner…though personally I’m not a huge fan of the film; it was actually filmed in 1951 but withheld by Paramount for two years because of their concern at Dean’s character being an unlikable jerk.

That same year saw the release of The Caddy, another oddball comedy-drama with Jerry as the titular club carrier; he has an aptitude for the game but also has a phobia about playing in front of crowds so he teaches the game to Dean…who becomes a champion but also un dickhead formidable, treating Jerry like a commoner among his new high society friends (including would-be girlfriend Donna Reed).  In the course of the film, Dean and Jerry’s characters find they’re more suited as nightclub performers than duffers—the odd denouement of this one finds them coming face to face with the real Martin and Lewis!

Leonard Maltin rated The Caddy in his Classic Movie Guide one-and-a-half stars; I don’t think it’s as terrible as all that (though the X-rated audio outtakes of the trailer they made to promote the film are funnier) but it does seem as though Paramount cobbled this together just so they could include golf legends Ben Hogan, Sam Snead, Byron Nelson, and Julius Boros.   The Caddy is probably remembered best as the film in which Dean sings That’s Amore—which became one of the crooner’s signature tunes and also an Academy Award nominee for Best Original Song (it lost to Secret Love from Calamity Jane).

A Martin and Lewis film released that same year (a New Year’s Eve premiere; the film went into general release in February of 1954) that doesn’t hold up as well as it once did isMoney from Home—the team’s first Technicolor film (though not their first color film appearance—that was a cameo in the Bing Crosby-Bob Hope romp Road to Rio) and only movie released in 3-D.  Dean and Jer do Damon Runyon in a tale that finds the two of them involved in gangsters and the sport of kings…with Jerry masquerading as a jockey (played by an inebriated Richard Haydn) and Dean romancing a horse owner in Marjie Miller.  I revisited this one earlier this week in preparation for the blogathon and while it was a favorite as a youngster, I kept having trouble buying Gerald Mohras a jockey (let alone Lewis) though the always-welcome Sheldon Leonard is great as the film’s heavy, gangster “Jumbo” Schneider.

Also released in 1953 wasScared Stiff, a remake of Bob Hope’s classic 1940 comedyThe Ghost Breakers, which I discussed at length in a blog post here so I’ll skip over the analysis.  Since I also didn’t get an opportunity to revisit 3 Ring Circus (1954)—the only M&L comedy not available on DVD for unspecified reasons—I’ll pass that one by, too; I saw it many years ago but I don’t want to rely on an imperfect memory (for what it’s worth, I don’t remember it being very good).

In his book Movie Comedy Teams, Leonard Maltin namedLiving It Up (1954) as his choice for the best of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis’ sixteen films together.  I have to admit that Len is right on this one; it’s a gem of a comedy based on the source material for Nothing Sacred (1937) (Living is more an adaption of the 1953 musical, Hazel Flagg)—and I know I get into trouble when I say this, but Living It Upis also a rare example of a movie outshining its original (I’m anticipating a threatening telegram from Carole & Co. any minute now).  Jerry plays the Carole Lombard role in a wacky tale of his and Dean’s (Martin plays his physician) attempts to take advantage of a New York newspaper’s offer to show Jerry the town when they mistakenly think he’s dying of radiation poisoning.

Janet Leigh plays the reporter that Fredric March essayed inSacred, and Fred Clark is at his apoplectic best as the editor (Walter Connolly inSacred) who gleefully exploits Jerry’s malady for circulation sake.  The comedy sequences in this film rank as some of the team’s best (the Yankee Stadium bit is a classic) and the ending of the film is much stronger (and more cynical) than the original.  (Though I will admit it falters momentarily when Lewis impersonates an Asian doctor, doing his “Big-Teeth” shtick.)  Living It Up also features my favorite song (from theHazel Flagg musical) from any Martin & Lewis film (as a kid, my interest would drift during the musical numbers…and in some of their films things have not changed), Every Street’s a Boulevard in Old New York.

The team continued reworking old classics with 1955’s You’re Never Too Young—a remake of The Major and the Minor(1942), though the screenplay by future potboiler novelist/I Dream of Jeannie creator Sidney Sheldon doesn’t mention Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett—only the author of the original play, Edward Childs Carpenter.  Again, I will flirt with heresy and admit that I prefer Young to Minor (the Ginger Rogers-Ray Milland film has always come across a little creepy to me—and I say this as someone who worships Wilder); Jerry continues his gender-bending by taking on the Rogers part as the adult who poses as a child in order to get a cheaper rate on train fare; he gets mixed up with a gangster (Raymond Burr) who’s just murdered a jeweler and made off with a honkin’ big diamond…so Jerry hides out at a girls’ school where Dean is an instructor (and where he suspects there’s more to Jer than meets the eye).  Actress Diana Lynn, who appeared in the first two Martin & Lewis films, also stars in Young…and she also appeared in Minorwhen it was released in 1942.  (Synchronicity!) 

I must come clean and admit that I’m not as enamored ofPardners (1956) as I once was—possibly due to my re-watching it for the blogathon.  It’s the duo’s last trip to Remake City (it’s loosely based on 1936’s Rhythm on the Range) with Dean and Jer playing dual characters in this western comedy; Wade Kingsley (Lewis) and Slim Mosely (Martin) are in a skirmish with the villainous Dan Hollis (John Baragrey), who’s attempting to take over Wade’s ranch.  The two men head out the door for a final showdown…but Wade first has to kiss his infant son goodbye, since wife Mathilda (Agnes Moorehead) is headed back East, tired of the dangers living out West.  Gunned down by Hollis, Wade and Slim hope to be avenged by their sons.

With the passage of several years, Wade, Jr. is the pampered son of the wealthy Mathilda (now a captain of industry), who begs Slim, Jr. to take him out West when Slim and Wade’s cousin Carol (Lori Nelson) come to New York to ask Mathilda about buying a prized bull for their ranch.  Wade buys “Cuddles,” and Slim agrees to become his “partner”—they head back to the woolly West and things get a bit hairy when Sam Hollis (son of Dan) continues in his father’s business by trying to take the ranch so he can sell the land to the government.  With the luck that only befalls Jerry Lewis and fools, Wade and Slim end up rounding up the bad guys…and the film ends on a bizarre note with the two men breaking the fourth wall and thanking the audience for coming to see their picture.   In revisiting this movie, I found the plot wafer thin but there are some truly funny sequences in this one—the highlight being Jerry’s humiliation of henchman Jeff Morrow in a saloon (which sort of forecasts his laterNutty Professor character, Buddy Love).

By the time this film went into production, rumors were rampant that the team was headed for splitsville; Martin had started to chafe at his straight man role, unhappy with playing colorless romantic leads…and Lewis didn’t help matters any with his insistence on concentrating on pathos as if he were a second Chaplin and focusing much of the comedy on himself.  Martin fulfilled the rest of his Paramount contract but told his partner that he was “nothing to me but a fucking dollar sign.”  On the day that Pardners was released (July 25, 1956), Martin and Lewis performed for the last time at New York's Copacabana.

Pardners would not be the last M&L film to be released, however—Hollywood or Bustreached theaters in December of 1956, though its production was rather troubled in that during filming, Dean and Jerry refused to speak to each other anytime the two of them were off the set.  (Lewis says this is the only M&L film he’s never watched.)  It’s essentially Dean and Jerry “on the road”—Dean’s a sharpie whose plans to collect on a free car given away at a movie “bank night” are stymied when Jerry turns out to have the legitimate winning ticket.  The two of them head cross country to Hollywood (Jerry has dreams of meeting actress Anita Ekberg) with Jerry’s gi-normous Great Dane, picking up lovely Patricia Crowley along the way.

Hollywood was directed by Frank Tashlin—who would later go on to direct Lewis in a number of solo vehicles including The Geisha Boy(1958) and The Disorderly Orderly (1964).  Tashlin was also at the helm of what may very well be my personal pick of the Martin-Lewis vehicles,Artists and Models (1955).  Dean’s a struggling artist who can’t hold onto a steady job thanks to sidekick Jerry—whose steady diet of reading comic books is responsible for their losing jobs, plus he keeps Dean up at night with his nightmares.  The nightmares also affect a pair of tenants that live in the team’s apartment building: Dorothy Malone, the woman who draws the character in the comic books giving Jerry nocturnal fits, and her roommate Shirley MacLaine, the secretary at the comic book company (who also poses as the character in Malone’s comic creation).

At the same time Malone is trying to distance herself from the comic book business, Dean is hired by her boss (a hilarious performance from M&L regular Eddie Mayehoff) as an artist…and he decides to use Jerry’s comic book fantasies as fodder for his creations.  Jerry’s “Vincent the Vulture” apparently has a secret rocket formula (X34 minus 5R1 plus 6-X36) that’s similar to the one being actively sought by not only U.S. agents but foreign ones as well.  Eva Gabor is a Hungarian spy who attempts to pry the secret loose from Jerry, but everything comes out in the wash at the end.  I remember seeing Artists and Models on the CBS Late Movieas a kid and doing a Tex Avery reaction at both the skimpy outfits worn by the females (a Tashlin trademark, as you know) and much of the innuendo—it’s definitely the most “adult” of the Dean and Jerry films.  But it’s also a wonderful satire of 1950s pop culture: you’ve got Cold War politics, the space race and the “Seduction of the Innocent” concerns that comic books were warping the minds of impressionable youth.

There are a lot of in-jokes in this comedy as well: references to The Honeymooners andRear Window, and a funny throwaway when Malone and MacLaine acknowledge that Martin’s character sings “a lot like that guy who had the hit with That’s Amore.”  (A song from this film, Inamorata, would also be a big pop smash for Martin as well.)  But I think what amuses me most about Artists is that despite Dean’s attitude that he was going to walk through this stuff until his contract was done, there are a number of times in the film (and in some of the later vehicles as well) where his nonchalance steals the show from his partner.  (The classic comedy sequence inArtists, where Jerry runs up and down several flights of stairs relaying messages to roommate Dean, is supposed to be Lewis’ show but Martin walks off with it in an instant with an exasperated “What did hesay?!!”)

The relationship between the duo in Artists and Models remains for me the reason why I’d much rather sit down and watch Sailor Beware or Jumping Jacks than some of Lewis’ critically-praised solo vehicles like The Bellboy (1960) and The Ladies Man(1961).  There was a never-again-duplicated dynamic between Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis that made their partnership magic (if only for a decade): Dean the older brother and authority figure, Jerry the younger bro and mischievous kid.  Losing Martin made Lewis’ solo work a little lopsided—and though Jerry tried to compensate (Darren McGavin played what was reportedly going to be Dean’s role in the first solo Lewis vehicle,The Delicate Delinquent) with great supporting players like Del Moore and Kathleen Freeman, he just wasn’t able to capture lightning in a bottle a second time.  After their reunion at the MDA Telethon in 1976, Lewis says he spoke with his former partner at least once a day after that; he attended Dean’s son’s funeral (Dean Paul Martin was killed in a plane crash) in 1987 (though he retreated to the background because he knew the paparazzi would make it a Martin-Lewis reunion) and in 1989, came on stage in Las Vegas with a birthday cake to celebrate Dino’s 72nd birthday.  “Why we broke up, I'll never know,” Jerry said after thanking his friend for all the joy he brought into the world.  It would be their last public appearance together before Martin’s death in 1995.

I’ll never know why they broke up, either.  But we have their movies, and that is the greatest gift of all.