(Photo by PoPsie Randolph/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
An engagingly enjoyable delve into the life of charismatic singer-actor Dean Martin, it is easy to see why the film is perfect for TCM (Nov 19 prem), given how it dips into extracts from a series of classic films alongside archival footage, photographs and interviews. It may be a film that treats the life and legend of Dean Martin with reverence, but it is enjoyable and warm-hearted nonetheless, and will certainly make viewers appreciate his unique laid-back talent.
The Dean Martin the public came to love from the mid-1940s onwards was a man blessed with a velvety smooth voice and an innate ease and charm that gave the impression that he never had to try too hard…or perhaps never wanted to try that hard.
Covering his time from night-club shows to live acts in Las Vegas and from a genial film career through to dominating the television variety show format, director Tom Donahue (This Changes Everything) explores Martin’s varied career, including his complicated relationships with Jerry Lewis, fellow Rat Packers Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr and others, and we hear from admirers such as critic Gerald Early, actor Jon Hamm, and Hip-Hop artist RZA who eloquently testify to Martin’s enduring mystique.
His daughter Deana Martin describes how Elvis Presley described her father as the ‘King of Cool’, while those who knew him as a young man (such as writer Norman Lear) testify to him being mesmerising in his complexity, with a sense of detachment such that he never really wanted people get to know him. As friend Will Friedwald says, he was a man of ‘menefreghista’…unconcerned and indifferent to people and things around him.
Born Dino Paul Crocetti in 1917 in Steubenville, Ohio, his first language was Italian until the age of six when he had to learn English to attend school. He left school early, worked variously in a steel mill and as a blackjack dealer and as a welterweight boxer, until his nose was broken. He started singing with local bands as Dino Martini (though he also sang at home with his extended Italian family), eventually changing his name to Dean Martin when performing in Cleveland.
His career took a change of direction when he met comic Jerry Lewis and they started performing as a music-comedy double-act in 1946, taking their – at that time – unique blend of manic (often improv) comedy and music to radio, television and the movies, though their friendship eventually soured and they broke up in 1956. Martin successfully balanced a solo movie career (with films such as The Young Lions, Rio Bravo and the Matt Helm films) with acclaim as part of The Rat Pack, selling out performances in Las Vegas.
His television comedy-variety series The Dean Martin Show launched in 1965 and ran 264 episodes until 1974, and while he gently scaled back on work (wanting to focus on his time playing golf) he still recorded albums and even reconciled with Jerry Lewis in 1976 when Frank Sinatra secretly brought him on stage at the annual charity Telethon that Lewis hosted. A heavy smoker who was diagnosed with lung cancer, he died on Christmas Day in 1995.
The film’s interviews with family, friends and admirers help keep momentum as it takes a chronological tour through a remarkable life. The likes of RZA (especially) and Jon Hamm offer perspective, while his daughter Deana and Jerry Lewis’s son Gary offer a real sense of Dean Martin’s warmth, charm and enjoyment of the notion of family.
Dean Martin: King of Cool strikingly reinforces Martin’s importance within the cultural landscape of the second half of the 20th century, both as a charismatic crooner but also as a witty, relaxed and genial actor and performer who embraced comedic improvisation with ease. Movie star, singer and television host, he also remained something of an enigma despite being a star known to millions. As one interviewee points out, everything he did linked to family – from his teaming with Jerry Lewis and The Rat Pack through to his warm-hearted television shows. He remains a perhaps underappreciated talent, but will always be the King of Cool.
US, 2021, 100mins
Dir Tom Donahue
Production Appian Way, CreativeChaos vmg, Danny Strong Productions
Producers Ilan Arboleda, Tom Donahue; Co-Producer Jessicya Materano, Tina Potter, Mandy Stein, Peter Greenwald, Chantel Ellis, Ron Marasco (story)
Cinematography Stefano Ferrari, Alecia Jean Denegar
Editor Tom Donahue
Music Leigh Roberts
With Angie Dickinson, Deana Martin, Tommy Tune, Norman Lear, Bob Newhart, Florence Henderson, Gerald Early, Jon Hamm, RZA
Sales Autlook Film Sales
