Rat Pack: The True Stories of the Original Kings of Cool

Starring:Collector's Choice
Studio: A&E Home Video
Product Type: DVD

Description

In the heyday of Vegas, the Rat Pack--Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Peter Lawford, and Joey Bishop--were royalty. This series uses performance clips, archival footage and home movies to profile the legendary band of playboys who left their mark on American culture. Get the inside scoop from people like Jerry Lewis, Milton Berle, Angie Dickinson and others, and thrill to never-before-seen footage from events like the Kennedy Inaugural gala, where even the King of Camelot was outshone by the boys of the Rat Pack.

Customer Reviews:

excellent.......2005-09-06

This is the best documentary/accounting of the careers of the rat pack I've seen. It covers a lot of ground and is narrated and edited together quite well.

The "Summit" Continues.......2004-09-07

After seeing HBO's disappointing "Rat Pack" movie, it was nice to encounter this four-part A&E documentary. Running nearly 3 1/2 hours, it traces the origins of the Rat Pack from the days of Bogart and Skinny D'Amato. The documentary contains a wealth of show-biz and political history, with rare footage of the 1960 Summit in Las Vegas -- not to mention the star-studded Democratic fund-raiser organized by Frank Sinatra. The interviews with Keely Smith, Janet Leigh, Tony Curtis and Sonny King are particularly revealing. Unfortunately, there is a lack of archival interviews with Frank, Dean, Sammy, Peter and Joey. Danny Aiello's narration is OK, but could have used a little more pizzazz. For those who were not around during the Rat Pack's heyday, this DVD package is a valuable document of a bygone era.

Great Documentary.......2004-01-26

As a young fan(21) of Frank, Dino and Sammy, I loved this buy. It goes through the whole careers of each star on an easy to follow timeline. It also provides interesting facts from the friends of the great entertainment superstars.

First three tapes great, forth bad........2002-09-24

The first three tapes are entertaining and informative. The forth sews up things too quickly and gives no information on the Pack the their later years. A fifth tape would have been excellent.

A Rat Pack must, but DVD lacks extras.......2002-08-08

At slightly over 3 and one half hours, this two-disc set in a direct transfer from the A&E Biography series sans any commercials. Each disc contains 2 episodes, in which you have a choice of playing both back to back, one at a time, or basic scene selection. No frills here.

Narrated by Danny Aiello, this series delves deep into the lives and personalities of the four main Rat Pack players: Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., and Peter Lawford. Very little is given on Joey Bishop (the 5th member). Along with the rise and fall of these greats and all the troubles in between, we are also treated to some detailed background histories on Dean Martin & Jerry Lewis, and Frank Sinatra and Hollywood legend Ava Gardner (Frank's 2nd wife). There's a bit to detail Peter Lawford's life and loves as well and how he gets wrapped up into the Kennedy family and a triangle with Frank.

This series is filled with rare footage highlighting many points (and again lows) in each of their careers, and there are many great stories told in interview style by Angie Dickinson, Tony Curtis, Milton Berle, singer Keely Smith and many other legendary singers and actors. Mixed into these interviews are serious and sometimes comical stories on practical jokes, heated tensions, personal issues of the group and spotlights on others that traveled at times with the Rat Pack including mobster Sonny Dimato and Jimmy Durante.

The 4 episodes do their best to keep things chronological; however, (and for obvious reasons) do jump around from time to time only to paint a nice solid picture of a story that may span years. The series in total seems to focus primarily on Sinatra, and interlaces his story with the others.

All in all an excellent series though Joey Bishop gets the short end of the stick in this biography, but really....it is about Frank, Dean, and Sammy isn't it?

However, I was a bit disappointed with the lack of any extras for a DVD. When this show was being produced, you know A&E had tons of more footage, interviews, and information they had to edit out for a hour long episode. With the amount of space on a DVD, they could have easily supplied a photo gallery, a snazzy interactive or animated menu, and I would have loved to seen some un-edited clips of some concerts or `Summit' highlights, but alas, A&E Biography opted to do just a direct transfer of the VHS episodes to DVD....a shame. It would have been really nice if they included an episode of the Dean Martin show, or a Sinatra special or even filmographies of the Rat Pack players.

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