Product Details

• Format: Box set, Black & White, Color, NTSC, Closed-captioned
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 4
• Studio: A&E Home Video
• VHS Release Date: October 12, 1999
• Run Time: 200 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 0767016998
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #289,225 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Unlike the made-for-cable movie of the same name, The Rat Pack is the real deal, a four-volume documentary that vividly chronicles the lives and wild times of Frank Sinatra, Peter Lawford, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., and Joey Bishop. They were the pied pipers of their day, leading Americans out of the doldrums of the 1950s and into President Kennedy's new frontier. These hipster saints were the living, swinging embodiments of the maxim that nothing succeeds like excess. As narrator Danny Aiello notes, "We gave them a license to break all the rules... to live for us the lives that we would live ... to be outrageous."

The Rat Pack belies the adage "When the legend becomes fact, print the legend." The true stories about Sinatra and his cronies are cooler than fiction. We also meet an amazing cast of characters, including Skinny D'Amato, underworld figure and manager of Atlantic City's legendary 500 Club. It was D'Amato who reportedly took Sinatra aside after the young singer asked a waitress for a drink and told him, "Important men don't ask; they order." And it was at D'Amato's club that Dean Martin first shared the stage with a struggling entertainer named Jerry Lewis.

The Rat Pack unearths a treasure trove of rare photos and priceless archival footage of the entertainers at the beginning and at the height of their careers. The program could have used a more ring-a-ding-ding narrator than the uncharacteristically bland Aiello, but the Pack's friends and intimates, including Tony Curtis, Janet Leigh, comic Pat McCormick, Angie Dickinson, and Jerry Lewis, pick up the slack with candid and poignant recollections. --Donald Liebenson

Product Description

Their films were box office gold. Their performances were magic. And when they went out on the town, they were legend. In a day when excess was cool and style was king, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Peter Lawford and Joey Bishop were the ultimate bad boys. THE RAT PACK explores their lives and legacy with the help of insiders like Angie Dickinson, Tony Curtis, Jerry Lewis and Milton Berle. And toe-tapping footage from the ìMeeting at the Summitîótheir storied, month-long engagement at the Sands Casino at the dawn of 1960óshows them at their irreverent, brilliant best. From the moment Sinatra met each member of the Pack to theirrelationships with the Mob and the Kennedys, this intimate profile reveals what every fan has always wanted to know about THE RAT PACK.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If you are a rat pack fan, you will love this series!, October 24, 1999

By 

Bonnie (Orlando, Florida, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Biography - The Rat Pack [VHS] (VHS Tape)

I saw this series when it aired on A&E and just loved it. It talks about all of the Fab Five's lives individually, as well as their lives together. There's good footage of them performing , which is a special treat to see. The series also gets into Sinatra's connection to the Kennedy election and some interesting political coincidences...

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "(The Rat Pack) threw us a party that lasted 10 years and there hasn't been one like it since.", June 30, 2010

By 

Annie Van Auken (Planet Earth) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Biography - The Rat Pack [VHS] (VHS Tape)

This four VHS box set is a space waster, running just 50 minutes per tape. It should've been a twin-pack.

THE RAT PACK is a four part Danny Aiello narrated A & E documentary that covers The Early Years, The Road to Vegas, The Summit and Camelot & Beyond. The five bad boys of this little band and their many hangers-on enjoyed a glamorous lifestyle for a full decade. They lived everyone's dreams, did so publicly, and were the envy of a generation.

Frank Sinatra was appointed Chairman of the original Hollywood Rat Pack by its founder, Humphrey Bogart. His first Hollywood association was with Peter Lawford when Frank arrived at MGM in 1944. At the time, Lawford was a star and Sinatra an unknown cinematic commodity. Peter was dating Ava Gardner and Frank took up with Lana Turner. Lawford and Sinatra had a falling out over Ava in '48 and their reationship was stormy for the next 20 years. Frank befriended Sammy Davis in 1947 when Sam was a teen member of the Will Mastin Trio. Sinatra met Dean Martin at Atlantic City around the same time; Dean never recognized Frank as his superior. All this and much more is covered in Part One.

It's a well-constructed program that contains numerous rare film clips plus commentary from many of the Pack's contemporaries.

A & E's four-part biopic THE RAT PACK is available on DVD.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars These Cats were True MACKS!, September 3, 2000

By 

A customer "mistermaxxx" (usa) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Biography - The Rat Pack [VHS] (VHS Tape)

The Rat Pack had The World by it's Tail.these Cats did whatever they wanted&set the rules.I saw the whole thing on A&E&it was fantastic.The Rat Pack were The Ground-Breakers of Bringing Hollywood to Politics.these Guys had no Limits.these Cats were True MACKS.they didn't have to Roll with the in Crowd they were The Standard.