Dean Martin: King of Cool

A TCM documentary from last year on the consummate entertainer. Tracing his roots from Ohio to the top of the heap who skirted on his great looks, effortless way around a song & his innate talent & featuring talking heads like his daughter, the RZA, Jon Hamm, et al who chart his early days as a crooner, his hugely popular partnership w/Jerry Lewis (which turned ugly when Lewis started exercising more power over their relationship), his film roles which led him becoming a member of the Rat Pack & finally his popular TV show which ran for about a decade. Through it all, for all the outward good will he displayed, his failed marriages, the death of his son & his inability to connect soon showed a dark side to his persona where even his own nearest & dearest couldn't get in but through it all Martin still remained an timeless enigma which garnered him praise from all comers.

Based on the information in the ten user reviews of this biography to date, I may be the oldest person in the room as I grew up with Martin and Lewis on television during the 1950's and 60's. For what it's worth, my father, who owned a bar featuring live entertainment in downtown Newark, New Jersey, was a personal acquaintance of Jerry Lewis, but I do not know the extent or depth of this relationship, and he is no longer here to explain it.

I am much more of a fan of Dean Martin as a superb, silken singer who developed a unique, easygoing style than as a comedian or an actor, but his performances in "The Young Lions", "Some Came Running", "Rio Bravo", and "Ada" are very noteworthy. The airing of this biography together with these films by TCM would have been a nice touch, but you can stream them at your convenience whenever they are available on TCM . I am the proud owner of a wonderful album entitled "Dino: The Essential Dean Martin" generously offering 30 of some of his greatest songs. For inspiration, I am playing it now. An extraordinary singer with a distinct voice and tone, there is only one Dean Martin, and he can never be duplicated.

Overall, this was a very good documentary on the life of Dean Martin and his meteoric rise to fame from very modest beginnings in Steubenville, Ohio. It allowed me a rare opportunity to witness a sometimes painfully honest account of a man who made a huge impact on me during my most impressionable years. I very much appreciated the views of those who knew him best, especially his devoted daughter, Deana. I was very moved by her love for her father as well as her candor in explaining the full story, or at least as much of it as she was willing to reveal.

What totally wrecked the film for me were the appearances of individuals who apparently did not know Martin at all and who seem to be unfamiliar with the totality of his work as a performing artist. For me, the appearance of Alec Baldwin, who provided absolutely no insight or contribution whatsoever, was downright disturbing. Jon Hamm seemed to be reading from notes, and I received no benefit at all from RZA's segments. I felt as though these individuals were thrown into the production only for purposes of attracting a wider audience. They not only added zero value to the film but substantially reduced its overall effectiveness. Without their annoying presence, I would have rated this very worthy effort more highly.

A must see for any full blown or half curious Dean Martin fans. This documentary captures a nice glimpse into what and who Dean Martin was, both in his professional and personal life. Many funny moments as well a narrative recollection from many who were close within his circle. After seeing this informative piece I have a desire to make.pasta fagioli!

Dean Martin was a leading entertainer for more than thirty years. First in partnership with Jerry Lewis, then on his own, he conquered the movies, television, records, with a great talent and an air of not caring what happened. This documentary shows that at the very beginning, with flubs from his TV show that he waves off. That leads a lot of the people to speculate that they didn't know him, from his family to the people he worked with for decades.

In actuality, I think that, besides a fine singing voice, he had the ability that great straight men have: the ability to listen to his comic, observe the audience, and slow things down to feed lines at just the right pace. It's why, I believe, the live shows he did with Lewis were such riots, while their movies not so much. It's why the partnership broke up; to be seen as singing a couple of songs and standing by while your partner gets all the laughs is galling. Abbott & Costello had their fallings out; not everyone is George Burns.

And yet the habit persisted. After the partnership with Lewis broke up, his big prestige movie was Howard Hawks' RIO BRAVO. Studio executives, looking at the rushes, wanted to know when Martin was showing up. Hawks said "That's him, right there on the screen, playing the drunk."

Standing aside, letting John Wayne and Walter Brennan stand center stage: I'm not sure I believe the story but it kind of fits, doesn't it?

Admittedly, I didn't know very much about Dean Martin other than his public persona. After seeing Rio Bravo recently, this doc was an opportunity to learn more.

The insight into his real personality is fascinating. It's a difficult job to construct a profile of a man who made a point of being unknowable. The filmmakers probably came as close as possible.