THE HOLLYWOOD RAT PACK Frank Sinatra , Sammy Davis Jr., Dean Martin Three Part Series
Monday, July 16, 2012 at 02:42PM The Hollywood Rat Pack Three Part Series
This three part biography-style series presents the lives and times of Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr. and Dean Martin, three major film-music-entertainment stars, who spent a hell of a lot of their time working and playing together during the 60’s and 70’s. Each one-hour program in this series is a fairly definitive “bio” which tells the whole life story of the artist. Surprisingly, as we have seen most of the programs made about these artists, the series provides the fullest detail, as each was originally mastered in the early 90’s when budgets for such programs were substantial, and each includes interviews with major stars and friends many of whom are long-deceased.
WATCH THE YOUTUBE TRAILER HERE
Dean Martin , Sammy Davis Jr. and Frank Sinatra were the triple threat that founded the famed "Rat Pack". The series tells the story of each man and how he got to be one of the the most popular entertainers of his time.
All three could sing, some were strong film leading men, and one could dance like nobody else on the planet! The “Rat Pack” takes you back to mid-late 20thy century America to experience the times the three had along with their friends, foes, wives and pals.
Bogart and Bacall, true founders of the original "Rat Pack" with Sinatra.
Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., and Dean Martin, were NOT the founding fathers of the “Hollywood Rat Pack”, as some have been led to believe. It was Humphrey Bogart who started the “clan” in the late 40’s (His biography program can be found in our “Hollywood Leading Men Series”), and then it was Bogie’s pal Frank Sinatra who picked up the ball and ran with it after his death in 1957.
Ocean's 11 was perhaps the most famous of all 13 "Rat Pack Films" made. 1960. Frank, Sammy and Dean are at the height of their inidividual and collective careers. Our Series explores both the personal and collective directions of each star.
Frank, Sammy, and Dean became the nucleus of the group, which they never referred to as the “Rat Pack”…Frank hated that moniker, and they preferred being known as the Summit or the Clan. Each of our biography programs in this series shows how important the Rat Pack’s activities were to each member and to their generation’s show business attitudes in general. Frank loved Sammy and Dean so much that he financed 13 major motion pictures for them to do together. It was all over by 1965, even though there were attempts to revive the trio performing together into the late eighties.
It was a lot of fun while it lasted....
Recently Re-mastered 3-DVD Hollywood Rat Pack Series Purchase Options
A Note About Our Personal, Academic and Public Library Pricing
Educational DVD with PPR: $150
Anytime you want to screen a film on campus, Public Performance Rights (PPR) needs to be obtained. Copyright law (USC 17§101) defines a public performance as occurring in a public space or if it is in any place if "a substantial number of persons outside of a normal circle of a family and its acquaintances" is gathered there. This would include classrooms, meeting rooms, auditoriums, dorm lounges, etc. However, copyright law (USC 17§110) also provides an exception for face-to-face teaching activities in a nonprofit educational institution.
Digital Site License with PPR: $200
A DSL grants educational institutions and/or non-profit organizations a LIFE OF FILE license to host and stream a film online to students, faculty and staff on their password-protected server. This license is granted for three years. The key advantage of purchasing a DSL is that once uploaded, an unlimited number of viewers can access the film from multiple locations simultaneously.
DVD + DSL bundle PPR: $225
K-12, Non-profit, Public Library with PPR: $62.50
Personal DVD or File Download: $24.50 for each Part
If your system doe not use Pay Pal or Credit Cards , we will accept your purchase order and send you an invoice payable by check or credit card. For details on purchase orders, please contact: nagle.patrick@gmail.com
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Please scroll below for details on each film in the series…
Frank Sinatra ‘Hoboken’s Chairman of the Board’
“I’m trying to figure out Chairman of the Board? People come up to me and seriously say ‘Well, what are you Chairman of?’ And I can’t answer them.” -Frank Sinatra
Growing up poor on the streets of Hoboken, New Jersey made him all the more determined to work hard and make something of his life. A big-band singer by the early 40’s, Sinatra broke out on his own finding fame as the king of the bobby-soxers and starting his Hollywood acting career in earnest.
Never formally trained, he was an instinctive actor who was best at playing parts that mirrored his own personality. He won an Oscar for his performance as Maggio in 1953’s “From Here to Eternity”. In the 60’s he concentrated on playing lighter roles, often with his good friends Sammy Davis Jr. and Dean Martin. “The Rat Pack” as they were collectively called had a hit with “Ocean’s Eleven” in 1960. His last lead role was as the aging detective in the “First Deadly Sin”, 1980. In it he gave a moving performance that was a befitting finale to a long and rich career. One of the best highlights of this three part biography series is the extensive coverage of the films of Frank Sinatra. Sure he could sing. And sure he could act...like nobody's business.
Sammy Davis Jr., The Golden Boy
When asked what his golf handicap was, he replied: “My handicap? Man, I am a one-eyed, black Jew! That’s my handicap!”
The always-articulate African-American, Sammy Davis never attended school of any kind. Performing since the age of five, he was largely self-taught. As a child song-and-dance entertainer in the vaudeville days, his father would often have him appear behind a screen with a fake cigar in his mouth on the arm of two ladies so as to beat the child-labor laws. His big success came in the mid-50’s with his performance on Broadway in “Golden Boy”. That same year, his film debut in “The Benny Goodman Story” solidified his film future. Soon after he fell in with Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin to become a member of The Vegas-crazy “Rat Pack”. His work in 1969’s “Sweet Charity” demonstrated his amazing stamina as an entertainer, giving a great performance of savvy and dignity. His most famous quote was: “ Being a star has made it possible for me to get insulted in places where the average Negro could never hope to get insulted”.
Dean Martin, Everybody Loves Somebody
“If people want to think I get drunk and stay out all night, let’em. That’s how I got here you know… I drink because my body craves, needs alcohol. I don’t drink, my body’s a drunk.” –Dean Martin
Though best known for the 51 films he made, Martin was a prize fighter, steel mill laborer, gas station attendant and card shark before seeing his first glimmer of fame. It came when he teamed up with comedian Jerry Lewis in 1946. The film “At War with the Army” sent the team towards superstardom. Personality conflicts broke up the duo in 1957. Martin achieved dramatic solo success first appearing with Marlon Brando in “The Young Lions”, 1958, and then “Rio Bravo”, 1959...bringing him international fame. Later, in the 60’s, Martin and his “Rat Pack Pals” Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr. teamed to create a number of potent and lucrative box office successes. Martin was one of the early success stories of Hollywood learning the new medium of Television. Hundreds of hit TV shows and specials followed in which he invited his long time Hollywood friends to join him in front of the live television audience.
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