Our Dino O'Martin Croonin' "Irish Lullaby" On This Wearin' Of The Green Day 2014

Hey pallies, likes greetin's all youse Dino-holics on this St. Paddy's Day 2014.  It has become tradition 'round these Dino-parts to share our most beloved Dino O'Martin oh so gentle, oh so lovin' croonin' of "Irish Lullaby" from the Martin and Lewis big screen comedy "At War With The Army" on this day of the wearin' of the green.

While this flick is certainly not 'mong our most fav of the 16 movies that our Dino and Jerry starred in, this wee clip of Martin and Lewis playin' Irish for a wee bit is one of the very most totally totally touchin' moments ever filmed between 'em.   As our Dino croons this lullaby, we woulda swear that our Italian Stallion had transformed himself to an Irish leprechaun for a few brief magical moments in time.

So enjoys this day when all pallies are Irish for just a day, and immerse yourselves in this gorgeously gentle lullaby from the soothin' croonin' of our great great man.   Dino-surrenderin', DMP

Danny G's Sunday Serenade with Dino: "I'm Not The Marrying Kind"

Welcome to the LAST Sunday Serenade of Winter 2014' pals! Yeaaaa Hooooo!!! Told youse we'd make it through...with a little bit o help from our bestest pallie, Dino! Don't matter WHAT weather hits us now pals...Spring is Spring & I says BRING IT!!!


Anyways pallies, I gots a wee dilemma for todays's Serenade. I'm not quite sure if I've done this tune before!!! It's such a FAV of mine that I simply CAN'T believe that I haven't! However...I am UNABLE to find it in my "saved" file & therefore am "assuming" that I have not.

Now this isn't necessarily a bad thin' pals. As a matter of fact...IT'S AN AWESOME THIN'!!!

I try not to repeat my Serenades, as you might have noticed. And really...with Dean's HUGE amount of GREAT GREAT recordins'...why would I??? BUT...seein' how I truly believe this to be, in my humble opinion, Dino's TRUE signature tune, it is with TRUE TRUE excitement that I gets to post this SWINGIN' little jam!!!


"I'm happy being free, no girls gonna put a rain on me!" Hahaha! Now if that ain't our Dean...I don't know WHAT is!!!

 Pals...I present to youse..."I'm Not The Marrying Kind". Enjoy!!!





I go my way alone free and easy like a rolling stone
I am strictly on my own not the marrying kind
I'm happy being free no girls gonna put a rain on me
That's how it's gotta be, not the marrying kind
I've been known to run a mile when they try to lead me down the aisle
So if you want me to stay a while don't start changing my style
It's always been my plan to stay single any way I can
I'm just a happy man, not the marrying kind
Not the marrying kind
It's always been my plan to stay single any way I can
I'm just a happy man...
Not the marrying kind... not the marrying kind
I'm not the marrying kind.

Hey pallies, likes in many many parts of the world this has been likes a very very long and very very hard winter, but in just a few more days Spring will have sprung, at least on the calendar, and so we thoughts we better sneak at this post in these last days of winter freeze.

 Likes today we takes you to a blog that we thinks our Dino woulda  digs himself, "Golf Stinks" where stinkin' golf blogger Mr. Pete Girotto proclaims his absolute appreciato for our most most beloved Dino, while bemoanin' the absolute abundance of the white stuff this winter season.

Likes we loves it when Pete pontificates 'bout his deep, pure, and true affection for our King of Cool....."love him to death," put likes of course we knows that our lovin' of Dino leads to likes mucho life, not death!  And, likes we grooves on the way this Dino posts mixes with our Dino's own passion for the game with the little ball goin' into the hole and his perfect rendition of the wintery croon "Let It Snow."  We totally totally thrills to the knowledge that Girotto hears "that song in my head when two snowstorms smack you within a couple days of each other."  Indeed, in many parts of the Dino-globe now in winter it has been an awesome tune to croon this year.

ilovedinomartin salutes Mr. Pete Girotto for mixin' golf, snow, and our Dino together for a fun-lovin' way of gettin' his readership to grow in their personal devotion to our great great man.  To checks this out in it's original format, simply clicks on the tag of these here Dino-remarks.  Dino-always, ever, and only, DMP

Golf, Dean Martin & Winter.

February 7, 2014 | By Pete Girotto | 

I grew up listening to Dean Martin and his classic “Let It Snow”…love him to death. My problem is hearing that song in my head when two snowstorms smack you within a couple days of each other. Yes Dino, the weather outside is quite frightful but shoveling that crap is bull! I’m convinced this song is meant for people that are in school, grades K-12. Snow day!

Wait. Why can’t we enjoy our snow days too? Yes, shoveling does suck big time but why not make this negative a positive? Consider the shoveling some exercise for your golf swing. After a quick bite…and a nap, break out that putting mat and those plastic practice  golf balls and turn your snowed-in castle into a word class golf course.

Once the roads have been cleared enough to drive safely, another option would be to head out to an indoor golf facility or treat yourself to some new clubs. You know, a little custom fitting like the guys at Express Golf do in the UK. I wish there was something like that closer to me.

I guess the point here is that just because the weather or winter keeps us off the course it doesn’t mean we have to forget about golf. I do have to warn you though…the old lady wasn’t too fond of me when I was standing on the couch trying to explain to her my ball is in the “sandtrap”. And to make matters worse, I was out in 3…oof!

Hit’em long…yell FORE!!!

Matt Helm movie tie-ins and miscellaneous stuff: Toy Guns

He pallies, likes for now we gotta shares at least one more post from Mr. Mike Martinez, likes the totally totally awesome mod of the cyber pad "mmtz" that features an absolutely awesome collection of  Matt Helm movie tie-ins and miscellaneous stuff.

Likes, our little patter to all youse Dino-philes today accents somethin' that woulda be totally totally politically incorrect to give today's tikes as a toy, but durin' the swingin' sixties was the coolest of cool play thin' any youthful Dino-diggin' Matt Helm lovin' youngster coulda ever have dreamed of posessin'......a Matt Helm secret agent toy gun set!

One of the toys below has verbage scribed in English, and one is in Spanish showin' that these swingin' spyster gun sets musta been popular 'round the globe.  How absolutely cool it had to be to be able to emulate our great great man as Matt Helm with these proper props.  Just wishes that we woulda had 'em in our toy box when we were first smitten by the Helmer capers!

'Gain, ilovedinomartin salutes our pallie Mr. Mark Martinez for searchin' the web for such unique and unusal Dino-treasures a la Helm.  To checks these out in it's original source, simply clicks on the tag of this here Dino-gram.  Dino-desirin', DMP

Matt Helm movie tie-ins and miscellaneous stuff

Matt Helm toy gun



Matt Helm toy gun

Matt Helm movie tie-ins and miscellaneous stuff: Trading Cards From Argentina

Hey pallies, likes a few 'go we shared with you some Matt Helm calender pages from the site "mmtz," which stands for Mr. Mark Martinez, the  totally totally awesome  mod of this cyber site that features a massive massive collection of  Matt Helm movie tie-ins and miscellaneous stuff from 'round the globe.  Likes today, we share some more amazin' Dino-treasure from Martinez's pad.

Below is  a set of Matt Helm tradin' cards from Argentina.  In doin' some 'net searchin' we were not able to come up with any substantial information on these cards, but seein' how one of the puzzle backs includes the image from the "Matt Helm Lounge" dvd set, these sets musta been offered sometime after the release of the
quartet of Dino-flicks on DVD.  And, likes as  you can see each set of tradin' cards includes 9 images that when you turn 'em over create a very cool Dino-puzzle.

On searchin' the 'net we found only one site that had offered a set of the cards for sale at one time.  Likes don't knows 'bout all youse Dino-holics, but we here at ilovedinomartin woulda loves to get our hands on one of these swingin' sets of Dino-treasure.    Likes if any of youse pallies have any more info on this great great Dinos-stuff, we'd certainly crave to hears from you.

ilovedinomartin salutes Mr. Mark  Martinez for uncoverin' this delightful Dino-treasure and bringin' to his all thin's Matt Helm pad for all use Dino-philes to groove on.  To checks this out in it's original format, simply clicks on the tag of this  here Dino-report.   Dino-always, ever, and only, DMP

Matt Helm movie tie-ins and miscellaneous stuff

Trading cards, Argentina



Trading cards, Argentina, back



Trading cards, Argentina




Trading cards, Argentina, back



Trading cards, Argentina



Trading cards, Argentina, back



Trading cards, Argentina



Trading cards, Argentina, back



Trading cards, Argentina

Trading cards, Argentina, back



Trading cards, Argentina, back

Follow Matt Helm secret agent from bedroom to bedlam with guns, girls and dynamite!

Hey pallies, likes we gotta 'fess up that we are likes totally totally on a massive Matt Helm Dino-high with all the previous weeks postin's of our Dino-addicted pallie Geronimo's great great poses of his Matt Helm Dino-action-figure and the most recent posts accentin' the Matt Helm Calendars.  So we continue to spend some time on the ol' net usin' google searches to see what other magical  Matt Helm treasure that we coulda uncover.

One of the places that our Dino-search led us to is a pad tagged "Classic Film Freak" where a dude who tags himself  "Orson De Welles" created a remarkable review of Helmer numero uno, "The Silencers."  It is clear from readin' "De Welles" scribin's that he is avid fan of our Dino as spyster Helm.  We simply loved his passionate prose......

"Then there is Dean Martin himself, who hams it up wonderfully for the picture.  Though his spirit for the series flagged as time went on, here he is fresh and fully engaged.  His performance, though not by any means Academy worthy, is perfect for the picture.  It is challenging if not impossible to see where the acting ends and the reality of his own self crafted image begins.  He leers, kvetches, and spouts one liners with equal ease.  The entire series is a ribald blend of one-liners, booze, women, and impromptu song parodies, all sung by Martin of course."

Likes we coulda goes on and on 'bout "De Welles" Dino-description, but then it woulda leave nothin' left for you to peruse....so we'll leave it to all youse Dino-philes to indulge in this pleasurable  Dino-read.  ilovedinomartin profusely thanks our newest pallie "Orson De Welles" for his delightful delight in our Dino as Matt Helm in "The Silencers."  Likes, as usual, to checks this out in it's original Dino-format, simply clicks on the tag of this here Dino-gram.  Dino-always, ever, and only, DMP

The Silencers (1966) with Dean Martin


1966 the silencers

Follow Matt Helm secret agent from bedroom to bedlam with guns, girls and dynamite!






Although the last generation would think of the Austin Powers series as perhaps the most popular of all the humorous tongue-in-cheek parodies of the James Bond film franchise, it is not the best.

That claim rightfully falls to the ingenious if ever so campy Matt Helm series of the late 1960s.  Written by Donald Hamilton, the written canon of the Matt Helm novels span twenty seven entries, quite a bit more than even Fleming’s own 007.  Unlike Fleming’s creation, the films bear almost no relation to the books, outside of Matt Helm’s presence in them.  Even the most tepid of the Bonds (at least those based on a Fleming originals) has a few points of similarity.  Hamilton’s original writings are rather hard hitting spy novels, and nothing could be farther from the truth in the Matt Helm series.  If anything, the exact opposite is the case.  However, that doesn’t make the films anything less than fun.

Like their successor Austin Powers films, the Matt Helm is a blending of camp, humor, and action.  The blend for Helm is a bit more even with the action being quite a bit less comical.    The Silencers was the first of the four Helm pictures.



 The Silencers opens with our semi-retired hero, played by Dean Martin, enjoying himself in the swankiness of his 1966 bachelor dive, which is full of all of the latest gadgets.  There’s a spinning bed which also transports Helm- and any potential lady love- to a good sized swimming pool.  It can even tilt to dump its occupants in as well for a nice touch.  Other comforts of home are dual automatic coffee makers, rotating drying spindles (making bath towels unnecessary), and automated dressing devices.  Way too cool and you’ll see variants in later Helm films in addition to various homages in the Austin Powers films.

Though it looks dated now, and if you didn’t know better you’d think The Silencers came out in the last few years given the current trend for retro campiness.  Helm also has his own version of “Q” branch which provides a camera with throwing knives, a gun which shoots backwards, and a coat with detachable grenades disguised as buttons among other things.  Again, everything is a parody, but we are all in on the joke.

 

Helm too has a veritable bevy of women around him, with Stella Stevens, Daliah Lavo, Nancy Kovack, and Cyd Charisse all sharing screen time with the Ohio-born crooner.  There is more than enough skimpy clothing to go around and between the flashes of flesh, repeated dousing of women with water, and dialogue full of double entendres the sexual tension gets pretty well stoked, especially given the times.  But again, it was the last 60s.  There are also other “A” listers involved, ranging from the score by Elmer Bernstein to the producer, the infamous Irwin Allen.


Then there is Dean Martin himself, who hams it up wonderfully for the picture.  Though his spirit for the series flagged as time went on, here he is fresh and fully engaged.  His performance, though not by any means Academy worthy, is perfect for the picture.  It is challenging if not impossible to see where the acting ends and the reality of his own self crafted image begins.  He leers, kvetches, and spouts one liners with equal ease.  The entire series is a ribald blend of one-liners, booze, women, and impromptu song parodies, all sung by Martin of course.

Helm is drawn out of retirement to help his old employer, ICE (Intelligence and Counter Espionage).  The overall plot is for him to defeat the BIG O organization (Bureau of International Government and Order) from starting the next World War with a rogue atomic bomb.  The plot really doesn’t matter, just buy into it knowing Martin’s style and that he will eventually win out and you will find The Silencers enjoyable fun.



There is also a nice jab directed at fellow Rat Packer Frank Sinatra.  While in a car one of his many loves tunes the radio to Sinatra singing “Come Fly with Me.”  On hearing it Martin grimaces “Oh turn him off, that guy’s terrible!,” and has her change the station.  On comes Martin’s own “Every Loves Somebody Sometime.”  Martin relaxes and coos, “Now that’s a guy that can sing!”  A cheap joke but a good one.

Like all of the Helm pictures the production values are questionable, though perhaps this was intentional.  There are lots of poorly shot rear projection shots, mainly of car chases.  Many of the sequences are obviously sped up as well, though strangely it seems to work.  The sets also bear a rather cliched resemblance to the vast underground lair’s of the early Bond films.  And the BIG O looks a lot like a SPECTRE knockoff as well.  At the film’s conclusion too is another steal from the Bond series, though here Helm expands it a bit.



Each Bond film from first to last (I think), has stated either “JAMES BOND WILL RETURN IN [Insert Title Here]” or simply “JAMES BOND WILL RETURN,”  with the second of the two being used since original Fleming titles got scarce.  For Helm, we not only get a similar tease, but we also get a video tease from Martin and an additional bevy of beauties.  This continued for the entire length of the series, with the last Helm picture teasing The Ravagers as the next installment.  As we all know, The Ravagers was never made, in all probability to Martin’s diminished enthusiasm for the project.

But the overall quality of the series dropped significantly from before that time, with The Silencers being the strongest by far of the series- though in the interests of full disclosure some prefer the immediate sequel, Murderer’s Row.  As the series progressed, Dean Martin gets visibly tired of the bit, and there is more than a little redundancy in the films.  The Silencers also has the closest semblance to a plot, such as it is.

Fictional Characters on the Screen: Matt Helm

Hey pallies, likes the  Matt Helm Dino-buzz  simply continues to grow stronger and stronger  as more and more Dino-treasure a la Matt Helm finds itself uncovered on the ol' world wide web.  Today's Dino-feature includes not only more on The Matt Helm inspired calendars, but a profoundly powerful plethora of poses and posters from the quartet of big screen Dino-epics.  And, likes all of these Dino-goodies accent two of our favorite Dino-causes here at ilovedinomartin.....both youthful and international Dino-devotion!

From the blog, "Fictional Characters on the Screen - Famous fictional characters from books,comics, radio, TV and cinema," modded by youthful Brit  Mr. Steve Lensmen, comes one of ilovedinomartin most most massive posts of Dino-devotion simply tagged, "Matt Helm."  In this post Lensmen homages the fictional character of Matt Helm by listin' all 27 of the published tomes scribed by Donald Hamilton, a brief entry 'bout Tony  Franciosa brief turn as Matt Helm on the small screen, and the hugest of huge photo entries sharin' tons and tons of  Dino-poses for each of the four Helm capers includin' short snatches of dialogue from each.....provin' without a doubt that nouveau hipster musta be a Dino-diggin' devotee!

Likes how it simply warms our Dino-hearts likes to the max to see flicks that are now almost half a century old gettin' such tremendously touchin' treatment from dudes likes Steve who weren't even born when theses flicks first appeared on the big screen......showin' the amazin'ly transformational power of our most beloved Dino bein' extended to generation after generation of youthful devotees of our King of Cool.

ilovedinomartin salutes Mr. Steven Lensmen for such an outstandin' offerin' of deep, pure, and true devotion to our Dino in his role of hipster spyster Matt Helm....sure to help many of today's youngen's grow deeply, purely, and truly in their adulation of our Dino.  To checks this out in it's original format, simply clicks on the tag of this here Dino-gram.  Dino-awed, DMP



Matt Helm
American secret agent Matt Helm was created by author Donald Hamilton (1916-2006), first appearing in the novel 'Death of a Citizen' published in 1960.

27 Matt Helm novels were written -

Death of a Citizen (1960) The Wrecking Crew (1960) The Removers (1961) The Silencers (1962) Murderers' Row (1962) The Ambushers (1963) The Shadowers (1964) The Ravagers (1964) The Devastators (1965) The Betrayers (1966) The Menacers (1968) The Interlopers (1969) The Poisoners (1971) The Intriguers (1972) The Intimidators (1974) The Terminators (1975) The Retaliators (1976) The Terrorizers (1977) The Revengers (1982) The Annihilators (1983) The Infiltrators (1984) The Detonators (1985) The Vanishers (1986) The Demolishers (1987) The Frighteners (1989) The Threateners (1992) The Damagers (1993)







































Gail Hendrix: I want some music.
[Turns on car radio, Frank Sinatra's "Come Fly With Me" plays]
Matt Helm: Oh, turn him off, he's terrible!
[Changes the station, Dean Martin's "Everybody Loves Somebody" plays]
Matt Helm: Now that's a guy that can sing!


The Silencers (1966) Directed by Phil Karlson. 102mins

Dean Martin - Matt Helm
Stella Stevens - Gail Hendricks
Daliah Lavi - Tina
Victor Buono - Tung-Tze
Arthur O'Connell - Joe Wigman
Robert Webber - Sam Gunther
James Gregory - MacDonald
Nancy Kovack - Barbara
Roger C. Carmel - Andreyev
Cyd Charisse - Sarita
Beverly Adams - Lovey Kravezit

Music by Elmer Bernstein





















Matt Helm: This is dancing?
Suzie Solaris: It's called a discotheque. You want to try?
Matt Helm: I don't disc

Murderer's Row (1966) Directed by Henry Levin. 105mins.

Dean Martin - Matt Helm
Ann-Margret - Suzie Solaris
Karl Malden - Julian Wall
Camilla Sparv - Coco Duquette
James Gregory - MacDonald
Beverly Adams - Lovey Kravezit




























Jose Ortega: [toasting] Cheers!
Francesca: [also toasting] Skol!
Matt Helm: Sure it's cold. It's got ice in it.

The Ambushers (1967) Directed by Henry Levin. 102mins.

Dean Martin - Matt Helm
Senta Berger - Francesca Madeiros
Janice Rule - Sheila Sommers
James Gregory - MacDonald
Albert Salmi - Jose Ortega
Kurt Kasznar - Quintana
Beverly Adams - Lovey Kravezit





















Bruce Lee was Martial Arts advisor on The Wrecking Crew, seen here rehearsing a fight scene between Sharon Tate and Nancy Kwan.



Chuck Norris standing next to Elke Sommer, his first film role.



Chuck vs Dean!












Lola Medina: I've heard that you do... drink.
Matt Helm: Just call it a hobby.

The Wrecking Crew (1968) Directed by Phil Karlson. 105mins.

Dean Martin - Matt Helm
Elke Sommer - Linka Karensky
Sharon Tate - Freya Carlson
Nancy Kwan - Yu-Rang
Tina Louise - Lola Medina
Nigel Green - Count Massimo Contini

A fifth Matt Helm movie - The Ravagers - was planned but abandoned after Dean Martin lost interest in continuing the role.

Sharon Tate was brutally murdered by followers of Charles Manson a few months after The Wrecking Crew was released, she was 26 years old and pregnant at the time.

Anthony Franciosa starred in the TV series 'Matt Helm' in 1975-1976. The series lasted one season and 14 episodes.