Hollywood or Bust: Dean Martin stars in trailer for 1956 film
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This afternoon, the legendary crooner Dean Martin stars opposite John Wayne in the 1959 western drama Rio Bravo, which airs at 1.15pm on BBC Two. The Howard Hawks-directed piece is set in a Texas border town, where the brother of a dangerous cattle baron is sent arrested on suspicion of murder after a saloon bar fight. The local sheriff is determined to keep the prisoner behind bars until he stands trial, and along with his alcoholic old deputy, and an ageing disabled man, the trio have to go to battle to uphold the law.
Rio Bravo is often cited as among the greatest-ever westerns, with review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes noting it has received an incredible 98 percent positive review rating.
The website added: “Rio Bravo finds director Hawks – and his stellar ensemble cast – working at peak performance, and the end result is a towering classic of the Western genre.”
In 2008, the film was nominated by the American Film Institute among the Top 10 Western Films list, while four years later a poll of Sight & Sound critics said it was the greatest film ever made.
Celebrated director Quentin Tarantino, the brain behind flicks such as Pulp Fiction and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, marvelled at the production, describing it as his “favourite ‘hangout’ movie”.
He even claimed that if someone he goes on a date with turns out not to like the film, a relationship never materialises.
The role helped Martin cement his status as a real film star, but also fuelled claims that he was an alcoholic, such was his brilliant interpretation of town’s drunk character.
By the time Rio Bravo aired, Martin had already secured a legendary reputation for enjoying a drink, including earning the nickname “DRUNKY”, according to the 1992 book Dino: Living High in the Dirty Business of Dreams, written by Nick Tosches.
It was claimed that Dino was “rarely seen without a lowball glass” and that his “Vanity Licence Plate read DRUNKY”.
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A 1992 review of the book, by Entertainment Weekly’s Tim Appelo, added: “Martin was, apparently, what he seemed: a black hole of ennui.
“In later years, he turned his mostly hooked-up alcoholic shtick into a reality: When he was stopped for describing a sine wave down the highway in his souped-up car, it didn’t help that his vanity plate read DRUNKY..
“But from the outset, Tosches convincingly argues, Martin was a bottomless emptiness offset by Lewis’ appalling excess.
“Alas, he once interceded to save his partner’s life when Lewis made fun of Murder, Inc.’s Lord High Executioner Albert Anastasia by braying, ‘That’s what happens when cousins get married.'”
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While his drinking was legendary, it was noted how Martin was in fact disciplined with his drink.
Claims emerged from the set that when it came to nights out with crew, co-stars or friends like Rat Pack colleague Frank Sinatra, Martin would be among the first to go home, as he wanted to be with his wife and children.
In a piece to mark the 20th anniversary of his death in 2015, Susan King writing for the LA Times recalled having a conversation with Deanna Martin, the singer’s daughter.
Deanna admitted that Martin’s personality as “Dino” was a gimmick, and that the perception of his being a hard drinker was often misguided.
She said: “When he started to redo his nightclub act, he started at the Sands Hotel and had some writers helping him.
“It was like Jack Benny who had the violin thing and made fun of being cheap.
“Dad was so handsome, so debonair. They just thought, ‘We’ll put a drink in his hand and a cigarette.’
“Every man wanted to be him, and every woman wanted to be with him.”
But on nights like the one Deanna so vividly described, Martin was often only drinking apple juice, not alcohol, when he performed.
She added: “He would be home for dinner every night.
“He would come home, and he and mom would have their one cocktail at the bar. He was kind.
“He was so different from what everybody thought he was. There was no one who could do Dean Martin better than Dean Martin.”
Rio Bravo airs on BBC Two from 1.15pm today.
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