Sinatra was the biggest Martin and Lewis fan. He was friends with both, but formally chose Dino as one of the main faces of his outfit. Dean had the real mob ties, and brought the comedic charm to the group. Frank famously thought he was funny, but he bombed. When he asked Dean what happened, Dino simply said, “Cause you aren’t funny. You don’t just say funny lines. You gotta BE funny.”
These guys were truly brothers. You can't fake that, they loved each other. I never equated Dino and Jerry. For me it was always Dean, Sammy and Frank.
Just discovered all your great films! Thanks to Sonny King & Roddy McDowell. Big thanks to you for posting these. The best performers ever, The Rat Pack.
Yes- but Jerry was always a part of them too... especially where Sammy was concerned. and Tony Curtis too. They all loved Sam, and protected him from a lot of the racist scum that wanted his head on a plate- especially when he married Mae Britt. I love Sam. IMHO, he was really the most gifted of them all- singer, dancer, actor, musician... Hollywood AND Broadway!
+HarleyTia Thanks for tuning in! We have all the footage from the 1960 and 62 Summits, and have uploaded all of it- except for the "straight" songs (due to copyright restrictions)
+ElectronicMarine Thanks for tuning in! We have all the footage from the 1960 and 62 Summits, and have uploaded all of it- except for the "straight" songs (due to copyright restrictions)
Gotcha! Way to nail it, Padrone- Thanks so much! After a dozen years, the mystery is solved. Honor is due. At least I know that it's not the same footage as "3 Coins in the Copa"...
OMG! You are RIGHT! Holy moly! Maybe some of the footage is from 1960- since Angie is in the audience? Sonny King gave us the original 16mm- but he's long gone now, and we have no one to ask!
Hi Paul- it's definitely from the 1960 Summit- there are lots of references to the movie being shot in the footage- especially Sammy's intro of Peter- "he represents all the dignity and charm of Ocean's 11"... also- I'm good friends with Jane McCormick, one of the showgirls holding up the cue cards. The footage is from 3 nights- Frank, Sam, and Dean were headliners for each separate show- with "special guests"... My guess is that each of them brought some of their own musicians to their show?
Hi Luke - This clip is from the show / night that I've had for years --crappy quality though. I was the first to post this show at You Tube, (I put in titles, cleaned up the choppy edits, etc) It was promptly copied (search Rat Pack- Brad Starks) Then the Sinatra estate made YT take my upload down, plus ALL my other videos -- but the copied version stayed up??? In this show - Lawford nor Oceans 11 is ever mentioned, it's whole different orchestra, and set up..MORE
Burns PS -- I have a great friend who dated Burns. She was a TWA stewardess -- which is how she met Burns. She told me that she always knew if they were going out to dinner, or staying in. When she got to his house, if he had his hair ON, they were going out..if the hair was OFF, they were staying in!! My friend also dated Isadore Becker..a well "connected" guy -- he was part owner of the Riviera and had the East coast distribution deal for Crystal champagne. More....
Luke - I think I've come up with the clincher on why this show / night could not be from 1960. Not in this clip, but in an earlier one (from this same performance) in Sinatra's set he intros "Call Me Irresponsible" by saying "it's from a new Gleason picture". The song is from Gleason's film "Papa's Delicate Condition" came out in '63. Sinatra adds,"one of the best songs since Moon River" - which was written for "Breakfast At Tiffany's" a 1961 film.
(MORE) Johnny Mendoza (conga player) is at stage left..where as in all the Summit clips, he's at stage right. You mentioned the cue card girls -- they're not seen on this night. The show rundown - (footage of the exterior of the Sands, voice over intro of Dean "our first drunkard, direct from the bar.." Dean's set, then Sinatra, then Sammy. Also the end play off music is different from all the Summit clips..may be 1960 but I think it's not during the Summit and O-11.
Luke -- I only knew this because the only Sands footage of the Rat Pack I had for the last 10+ years was THIS particular show...while you have so much footage --I''m sure it all blends together like a single malt scotch and water. I stumbled across a VHS of this show, no time code and terrible sound and picture. I knew it was '63 but obviously before the assassination, as in "Me & My Shadow" there's still the JFK line.
Hey Luke, I always thought this show was was not part of the Summit of 1960....but much later, as the orchestra and layout are different. Anthony Morrelli is conducting and Ken Lane and Bill Miller are seen -- all of whom are not seen in the Summit shows. Joey and Lawford are MIA, and in "Me & My Shadow", they use the line, "Closer to Bobby than is JFK" -which leads me to believe he's now president, (being called JFK, ala FDR, LBJ, etc...and Bobby is Attorney Gen. Could this be from 1963?
Paolo- fantastic stories! OMG... the MGM brothel! LMAO! And Henny... he was SO damn funny! No one even remembers him anymore... playing that violin! "Jewish kid asks his dad, can I have 20 dollars? Dad says- 10 dollars? What do you want 5 dollars for?" LOL
(MORE) Isadore Becker also owned the Scotch brand "Old Smuggler"..which is still around today. The first time I was at the Friar's Club in NYC, I was a guest of Becker's for lunch. I remember I ordered Franks and Beans. Izzie invited Henny Youngman over to our table. He was in a pretty bad shape..not too long before he died.
Just look at our channel page- Janet Leigh was like an aunt to me and my grandfather Abner Biberman was Tony Curtis' first drama coach. This is the only film to tape transfer ever made from the original 16mm reversal camera original.
Luke -- Henny!! Great!! More Henny -- "My wife's cooking is fit for a King....here King...here King!" PS to George Burns. Rumor has it that he didn't make it to 100 years old. He went to Hillcrest Country Club EVERYDAY to play cards--never missed a day. 2 weeks before the announcement of his death, he stopped showing up. They held up the news of his death so that it'd appear that he'd hit 100 - which he had long proclaimed he would.
Thanks for tuning in- Lots more Rat Pack and Dean and Jerry and vintage Vegas footage on our channel- take a look, you'll probably really like what you find there...
Poor Peter... always trying to please everyone, and winding up the doormat... And he really could have become a major leading man- at least that's what Lillian Burns Sidney thought.
