Dean Martin

[R.A. Rifleman]

We've had threads about Red Skelton and Johnny Carson. I like Dean Martin, so why not have discussion about him too.



P.S. I'm under the age of 30.

 

[Steely85]

The Dean Martin Celebrity roasts were fantastic.

 

[ralph7]

If this doesn't channel Sip, nothing will.

 

[tlawler]

As a kid, I loved the Matt Helm series. Didn't find out it was a parody of Jame Bond until much later.

 

[italiansport]

If Dean was ever in anything that was truly bad I don't remember it.
Jim

 

[kwselke]

I have the Rat Pack Channel (Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, Sammie Davis, et al) on my Pandora account. I'm over 60 and just started to appreciate the humor and tunes of that time.

 

[JavierLaurido]

Bing Crosby & Dean Martin - Medley - YouTube

 

[rockquarry]

Great as a singer, though he was in a few good movies. Many of his movies were losers, including the Matt Helm duds. Coincidentally, the author of the Matt Helm books did some gunwriting in later years. I recall two of his articles in GUN DIGEST, perhaps thirty years ago.

 

[revolver59]

Now *That's Amore*

 

[Rustyt1953]

 

[5Wire]

As a kid, I loved the Matt Helm series. Didn't find out it was a parody of Jame Bond until much later.

The Matt Helm novels by Donald Hamilton are not a parody of anything, serious stuff. The parody was added by Deano.

 

[Xfuzz]

Appeared to be a top hand. I liked him
and his music.
My favorite:

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8yz-nlseVOc[/ame]

 

[DeathGrip]

My opinion, Of all of the guys in his time (rat pack) he had the best voice.

 

[Texas Star]

As a kid, I loved the Matt Helm series. Didn't find out it was a parody of Jame Bond until much later.

The books were not a parody, and are really well written, although Matt had a really heavy dose of ego that nearly got him killed a few times.

I was bitter that Dean Martin played him in movies. Didn't fit, and the movies were too slapstick at times. Same was true of the Modesty Blaise films and a TV show about her. Great books, but insipid movies. At least, the Helm movies were pretty good action films and had some hot chicks.

But to really understand and appreciate the Helm character, read the books, beginning with, "Death of a Citizen."

 

[DWalt]

Dean Martin was born Dino Crocetti in Steubenville, Ohio. I had a college roommate from Steubenville who was some relation to him (he always pronounced Steubenville as "Stumville.") He was a prize fighter in his younger days. He was actually not a heavy drinker, just part of his public personna schtick.

 

[Texas Star]

Great as a singer, though he was in a few good movies. Many of his movies were losers, including the Matt Helm duds. Coincidentally, the author of the Matt Helm books did some gunwriting in later years. I recall two of his articles in GUN DIGEST, perhaps thirty years ago.

Donald Hamilton was the only outdoor/gun writer I know of who made the transition to writing bestselling novels.

He also wrote a Western or two and mysteries other than the Helm series.

A skilled sailor/yachtsman, he knew what he wrote about when he had Matt in boats. I think he wrote a column for a yachting title and he returned in late life to his native Sweden and restored fancy boats.

He didn't name gun models much in his books, but any S&W enthusiast will spot the exact models with no problem. His usually issued carry piece in the early books was a M-38 Bodyguard, which he didn't like, for inaccuracy and heavy recoil with warm loads. As a sort of OSS man in WWII, he preferred a Colt Woodsman .22 and owned one, which appeared in, "Death of a Citizen". Other .22's were described in late books, for specialized assassination use. In and after, "The Betrayers", he had a S&W M-60 stainless snub. In one book, impersonating another man, he carried a snub Colt Python.

Rifle data and knife stuff was also pretty good.

I liked Matt Helm almost as much as I did James Bond and Modesty Blaise. Peter O'Donnell's Modesty books were probably the best. He was the sole British writer to do an exceptional job with guns, BTW. And the knives with which he armed Willie Garvin were also well thought out .

BTW, I read an article in T V Guide or somewhere that said that Dean Martin liked to shoot at coyotes with a K-38. He owned a ranch somewhere that he could do that. His Rat Pack pal Sammy Davis, Jr. also liked guns and was quite a fast draw artist. This is uncommon in Hollyweird and merits mention, although long past.

I found Dean Martin to be a good actor and singer and didn't really detest him. I did NOT like Jerry Lewis and was glad when their partnership dissolved. Although I did not see Martin as a valid Matt Helm, I enjoyed the films for what they were. I'm just upset that most who learned about the character did so from those campy movies. Ditto for the James Bond films after, "Thunderball."

 

[da gimp]

Jerry Lewis was another quick draw artist who loved good firearms. He is very admired in France, and he raised millions upon millions of dollars every year for his charity MD. Perhaps he raised more for a charity than any other actor, although Danny Thomas did a fantastic job for St. Jude's Children's Hospital.

added. before I forget again and get side tracked... Dean Martin had a beautiful voice... when I think of the old crooners.. he was tops for me with Bing running a nice second place.

 

[g-dad]

As a kid I always like the comedy movies of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis.

 

[Targets Guy]

Still a Martin and Lewis fan.

 

[e3mrk]

I always liked Him,I didn't care for the Martin and Lewis team but He was good in the Movies He was in.
His Television Show was pretty good also but it was back in the day when People were not so thin skinned about Race and there was a lot of Racial Humor in it. The Dean Martin Roasts were great and I watch Them on YouTube every now and then.
My Mother had a bunch of His Records and would play Them while doing the Housework when I was a Kid and that's how I got to know who He was.