Rat Pack Confidential: Frank, Dean, Sammy, Peter, Joey and the Last Great Show Biz Party

Written by Shawn Levy

Narrated by Mike Chamberlain

January 1960. Las Vegas is at its smooth, cool peak. The Strip is a jet-age theme park, and the greatest singer in the history of American popular music summons a group of friends there to make a movie. One is an insouciant singer of Italian songs, ex-partner to the most popular film comedian of the day. One is a short, black, Jewish, one-eyed, singing, dancing wonder. One is an upper-crust British pretty boy turned degenerate B-movie star actor, brother-in-law to an ascendant politician. And one is a stiff-shouldered comic with the quintessential Borscht Belt emcee's knack for needling one-liners. The architectonically sleek marquee of the Sands Hotel announces their presence simply by listing their names: Frank Sinatra. Dean Martin. Sammy Davis, Jr. Peter Lawford. Joey Bishop. They call themselves The Clan. But to an awed world, they are known as The Rat Pack.

They had it all. Fame. Gorgeous women. A fabulous playground of a city and all the money in the world. The backing of fearsome crime lords and the blessing of the President of the United States. But the dark side-over the thin line between pleasure and debauchery, between swinging self-confidence and brutal arrogance-took its toll. In four years, their great ride was over, and showbiz was never the same.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tantor Media, Inc
• Release date: Sep 24, 2019
• ISBN: 9781515940401

Shawn Levy

Shawn Levy is the author of King of Comedy: The Life and Art of Jerry Lewis, Ready, Steady, Go! and Rat Pack Confidential. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, Movieline, Film Comment and Pulse!. He is a former senior editor of American Film.

Reviews for Rat Pack Confidential

[miaculpa-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The 60s were, apparently, a swinging time and nothing swung harder than Las Vegas, particularly when the Rat Pack were in town. "Rat Pack Confidential" gives us the background of each member of the Rat Pack; Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr, and the two most people forget, Peter Lawford and Joey Bishop. Sinatra comes across as a bit of wanker, which will come as no surprise to most readers, Martin does whatever wants, Davis cops racist treatment wherever he goes (including from his Rat Pack colleagues), Lawford drinks himself into a sad state and Bishop is really just a hanger-on. What catches ones attention most is the chapter where Levy lists every woman Rat Pack members are known to have slept with. It goes on for many pages.

[gold_gato-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The Sinatra Martini. It's vivid blue and composed of I don't know what, but it made me think of this book and how these dudes made everyday vices so electrifyingly cool. Swingers. This book has an unfortunate tendency to focus on Ol' Blue Eyes, which isn't bad as he's The Leader, but it would have been nice to get much more on his cohorts. It's a great intro to folks discovering their style and a Vegas some of us never knew.

I used spirits for medicinal purposes only.
I manufactured it for medicinal purposes only.
And then I started drinking what I manufactured, and I drank myself out of a hell of a business...for medicinal purposes only.
('Mr. Booze' from ROBIN AND THE SEVEN HOODS)

Sammy with his wicked early 1960s suits, Dean-NO with his innate sense of wicked humor, Lawford with his wicked bizarreness, Bishop with his wicked sarcasm, and Frankie with his wicked vocal chops...ice cubes swimming along before assassinations changed the world.

Dean: You'd think they'd put a little heat in this room, I'm freezing.
Frank: Take your hand out of the ice bucket.
Dean: Oh.

Book Season = Summer (fly me to the moon)

[wokaid · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Good job of capturing the flavor of the times. The breezy, hip writing style helps make you feel you are there in 1960's Vegas.

[bennyb_29 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A most enjoyable read. A fascinating look at these great legends.

[soliloquies · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Enjoyable, if elaborately written, biography detailing the lives of the Rat Pack. The main concentration is on Frank Sinatra and the book suffers because of this.