The Rat Pack (film)
Encyclopedia
The Rat Pack is a 1998 HBO TV movie about the Rat Pack
. The movie stars Ray Liotta
as Frank Sinatra
, Joe Mantegna
as Dean Martin
, Don Cheadle
as Sammy Davis, Jr.
, and Angus Macfadyen
as Peter Lawford
.
Despite his membership in the Pack, Joey Bishop
(played by Bobby Slayton
) is given minimal screen time, while John F. Kennedy
(played by William L. Petersen), depicted as an on-and-off friend of Sinatra's, is given a more central role.
Also featured in supporting roles are Zeljko Ivanek
as Bobby Kennedy, Veronica Cartwright
as Rocky Cooper
(wife of Gary Cooper
), Deborah Kara Unger
as Ava Gardner
, Megan Dodds
as May Britt
, Dan O'Herlihy
as Joe Kennedy
, Robert Miranda as Sam Giancana
, Scott MacDonald
as a tourist, John Diehl
as Joe DiMaggio
and Barbara Niven as Marilyn Monroe
.
Don Cheadle won a Golden Globe for his performance as Sammy Davis, Jr.
The Rat Pack won three Emmy awards and earned several more nominations, including acting ones for Cheadle and Mantegna.
as an old man, saying "I miss my guys," the movie's main narrative begins during high points in the solo careers of the Rat Pack: Dean Martin
has become a big success despite the breakup of his partnership with Jerry Lewis
; Sinatra's career is at its peak; Sammy Davis, Jr.
, is making a comeback after a near fatal car crash, and standup comic Joey Bishop
is gaining exposure as an opening act for the other three. The Pack becomes complete when Sinatra reconciles with actor Peter Lawford
, who has been ostracized since being seen out publicly with Sinatra's ex-wife, Ava Gardner
.
Lawford has married Patricia Kennedy. Abandoning a notion to seduce Pat for his own amusement, Sinatra becomes more interested in her brother John's political ambitions. He sincerely believes Jack Kennedy would be a great president, but he also feels having a friend in the White House could benefit his own public image.
Sinatra arranges for the entire Pack to perform at a JFK campaign fund-raiser. Sinatra also knows Kennedy's infatuation with the opposite sex and introduces him to Marilyn Monroe
, who begins seeing Kennedy behind the back of her husband, baseball star Joe DiMaggio
.
Kennedy's pompous father, Joseph P. Kennedy, feels Sinatra's mob ties might hurt Jack's chances of defeating Richard Nixon
in the election of 1960. He insists that Sinatra help the campaign from behind the scenes only; hypocritically, he also asks Sinatra to use those same mob ties to swing the West Virginia unions' support Kennedy's way.
Meanwhile, the Rat Pack continues to enjoy success in Hollywood and Las Vegas, often combining their stage acts for joint performances. They even parlay their friendship into a movie collaboration, Ocean's Eleven
, working and playing together at the same time, enjoying wine, women and song.
Davis is sometimes secretly hurt by the racist jokes of their stage act, especially after his girlfriend, actress May Britt
, insinuates that the rest of the Pack is laughing at him, not with him. Davis has a more serious brush with racism when he and Britt announce their engagement, which results in a mixed-marriage protest in front of Davis's hotel. Davis day-dreams about scaring the protesters away with a song and dance routine in which he wields a gun. But he concedes the possible political repercussions of an interracial marriage. He postpones the wedding to avoid hurting Sinatra, who had agreed to serve as best man.
In the White House, President Kennedy seeks to renew his friendship with Sinatra. The two go sailing and plan for Kennedy to stay at Sinatra's Palm Springs
residence during an upcoming West Coast presidential trip. Thrilled by the idea, Sinatra returns home and arranges for a guest compound to be built for Kennedy and his entourage.
However, the FBI finds a potential mafia link to the White House through a woman, Judy Campbell
, who shared phone calls, and possibly affairs, with both Kennedy and mob boss Sam "Momo" Giancana after being introduced by Sinatra to each. Kennedy's brother, attorney general Bobby Kennedy, insists that the President cancel his stay at Sinatra's house and cut off all ties to the entertainer. This enrages Sinatra, who had sunk a lot of money and time into the renovation and had been at least partially responsible for Kennedy's being elected president.
Sinatra takes out his wrath on Peter Lawford, who as Kennedy's brother-in-law was Sinatra's direct link to the White House. Lawford finds himself repeatedly serving as a messenger between Sinatra and the Kennedys, including JFK's secret dalliances with Monroe, and he is sick of it. Lawford dreads delivering the news of Kennedy's decision to cancel his visit to Sinatra's house and stay instead with Bing Crosby
, a Republican. A furious Sinatra physically throws Lawford out of his home and vows never to forgive him.
The movie depicts this incident as the beginning of the end of the Rat Pack's influence in both politics and entertainment.
Rat Pack
The Rat Pack was a group of actors originally centered on Humphrey Bogart. In the mid-1960s it was the name used by the press and the general public to refer to a later variation of the group, after Bogart's death, that called itself "the summit" or "the clan," featuring Frank Sinatra, Dean...
. The movie stars Ray Liotta
Ray Liotta
[File:Ray Liotta is an American actor, best known for his portrayal of Henry Hill in the crime-drama Goodfellas, directed by Martin Scorsese and his role as Shoeless Joe Jackson in Field of Dreams...
as Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
, Joe Mantegna
Joe Mantegna
Joseph Anthony "Joe" Mantegna, Jr. is an American actor, producer, writer,director, and voice actor. He is best known for his roles in box office hits such as Three Amigos , The Godfather Part III , Forget Paris , and Up Close & Personal...
as Dean Martin
Dean Martin
Dean Martin was an American singer, film actor, television star and comedian. Martin's hit singles included "Memories Are Made of This", "That's Amore", "Everybody Loves Somebody", "You're Nobody till Somebody Loves You", "Sway", "Volare" and "Ain't That a Kick in the Head?"...
, Don Cheadle
Don Cheadle
Donald Frank "Don" Cheadle, Jr. is an American film actor and producer. Cheadle rose to prominence in the late 1990s and the early 2000s for his supporting roles in the Steven Soderbergh-directed films Out of Sight, Traffic, and Ocean's Eleven...
as Sammy Davis, Jr.
Sammy Davis, Jr.
Samuel George "Sammy" Davis Jr. was an American entertainer and was also known for his impersonations of actors and other celebrities....
, and Angus Macfadyen
Angus Macfadyen
Angus Macfadyen is a Scottish actor.Angus Macfadyen was born in Glasgow and was brought up partly in Africa, France, the Philippines and Singapore. His father was a doctor in the World Health Organisation. He was once engaged to actress Catherine Zeta-Jones.Angus attended the University of...
as Peter Lawford
Peter Lawford
Peter Sydney Ernest Aylen , better known as Peter Lawford, was an English-American actor.He was a member of the "Rat Pack", and brother-in-law to US President John F. Kennedy, perhaps more noted in later years for his off-screen activities as a celebrity than for his acting...
.
Despite his membership in the Pack, Joey Bishop
Joey Bishop
Joey Bishop was an American entertainer who was perhaps best known for being a member of the "Rat Pack" with Frank Sinatra, Peter Lawford, Sammy Davis, Jr., and Dean Martin...
(played by Bobby Slayton
Bobby Slayton
Bobby Slayton is an American stand-up comedian known as "The Pit Bull of Comedy" and Yid Vicious. Slayton, a native of Scarsdale, New York, is probably best known for a supporting role in the 2001 film Bandits, and as a frequent guest on The Adam Carolla Show.He played Joey Bishop in the 1998...
) is given minimal screen time, while John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
(played by William L. Petersen), depicted as an on-and-off friend of Sinatra's, is given a more central role.
Also featured in supporting roles are Zeljko Ivanek
Željko Ivanek
Željko Ivanek is an Emmy award-winning Slovenian American actor best known for his role as Ray Fiske on Damages. He is also known for playing Blake Sterling on short-lived NBC series The Event and Emile Danko on Heroes....
as Bobby Kennedy, Veronica Cartwright
Veronica Cartwright
Veronica A. Cartwright is an English-born American actress who has worked mainly in American film and television. She is best known for her role of Lambert in Alien, for which she won a Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress....
as Rocky Cooper
Veronica Cooper
Veronica Cooper was an American actress who appeared in three films, acting under the name Sandra Shaw. She was the wife of the actor Gary Cooper and mother of painter Maria Cooper Janis.-Early life:...
(wife of Gary Cooper
Gary Cooper
Frank James Cooper, known professionally as Gary Cooper, was an American film actor. He was renowned for his quiet, understated acting style and his stoic, but at times intense screen persona, which was particularly well suited to the many Westerns he made...
), Deborah Kara Unger
Deborah Kara Unger
Deborah Kara Unger is a Canadian actress. She is known for her roles in the films Crash , The Game , The Hurricane , White Noise , Silent Hill and 88 Minutes...
as Ava Gardner
Ava Gardner
Ava Lavinia Gardner was an American actress.She was signed to a contract by MGM Studios in 1941 and appeared mainly in small roles until she drew attention with her performance in The Killers . She became one of Hollywood's leading actresses, considered one of the most beautiful women of her day...
, Megan Dodds
Megan Dodds
Megan Lynne Dodds is an American stage and television actress.-Biography:Megan Dodds was born in Sacramento, California, and after High School she enrolled in a community college where she was cast as Bananas in John Guare's The House of Blue Leaves...
as May Britt
May Britt
May Britt is a Swedish actress who had a brief career in the 1950s in Italy and later in the United States. She retired from the screen after she married Sammy Davis, Jr. in 1960.-Career:...
, Dan O'Herlihy
Dan O'Herlihy
Daniel O'Herlihy was an Oscar nominated Irish film actor.-Early life:O'Herlihy was born in Wexford, Ireland in 1919. His family moved to Dublin at a young age...
as Joe Kennedy
Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr.
Joseph Patrick "Joe" Kennedy, Sr. was a prominent American businessman, investor, and government official....
, Robert Miranda as Sam Giancana
Sam Giancana
Salvatore Giancana , better known as Sam Giancana, was a Sicilian-American mobster and boss of the Chicago Outfit from 1957-1966...
, Scott MacDonald
Scott MacDonald (actor)
Scott MacDonald is an American actor. He is best known for his recurring roles as Captain Manning on short-lived series Threshold, Burley from HBO series Carnivàle, and as Commander Dolim from Star Trek: Enterprise, and as the title character from 1996 horror film Jack Frost.He grew up in Libby,...
as a tourist, John Diehl
John Diehl
John Diehl is an American actor, particularly known for his roles as Charles Kawalsky in the 1994 film Stargate, Det. Larry Zito on the 1980s cop show Miami Vice, Assistant Chief Ben Gilroy on The Shield, and as "the Cruiser" in Stripes. His other notable roles include Pvt...
as Joe DiMaggio
Joe DiMaggio
Joseph Paul "Joe" DiMaggio , nicknamed "Joltin' Joe" and "The Yankee Clipper," was an American Major League Baseball center fielder who played his entire 13-year career for the New York Yankees. He is perhaps best known for his 56-game hitting streak , a record that still stands...
and Barbara Niven as Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe was an American actress, singer, model and showgirl who became a major sex symbol, starring in a number of commercially successful motion pictures during the 1950s....
.
Don Cheadle won a Golden Globe for his performance as Sammy Davis, Jr.
The Rat Pack won three Emmy awards and earned several more nominations, including acting ones for Cheadle and Mantegna.
Plot
After a brief flash-forward to Frank SinatraFrank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
as an old man, saying "I miss my guys," the movie's main narrative begins during high points in the solo careers of the Rat Pack: Dean Martin
Dean Martin
Dean Martin was an American singer, film actor, television star and comedian. Martin's hit singles included "Memories Are Made of This", "That's Amore", "Everybody Loves Somebody", "You're Nobody till Somebody Loves You", "Sway", "Volare" and "Ain't That a Kick in the Head?"...
has become a big success despite the breakup of his partnership with Jerry Lewis
Jerry Lewis
Jerry Lewis is an American comedian, actor, singer, film producer, screenwriter and film director. He is best known for his slapstick humor in film, television, stage and radio. He was originally paired up with Dean Martin in 1946, forming the famed comedy team of Martin and Lewis...
; Sinatra's career is at its peak; Sammy Davis, Jr.
Sammy Davis, Jr.
Samuel George "Sammy" Davis Jr. was an American entertainer and was also known for his impersonations of actors and other celebrities....
, is making a comeback after a near fatal car crash, and standup comic Joey Bishop
Joey Bishop
Joey Bishop was an American entertainer who was perhaps best known for being a member of the "Rat Pack" with Frank Sinatra, Peter Lawford, Sammy Davis, Jr., and Dean Martin...
is gaining exposure as an opening act for the other three. The Pack becomes complete when Sinatra reconciles with actor Peter Lawford
Peter Lawford
Peter Sydney Ernest Aylen , better known as Peter Lawford, was an English-American actor.He was a member of the "Rat Pack", and brother-in-law to US President John F. Kennedy, perhaps more noted in later years for his off-screen activities as a celebrity than for his acting...
, who has been ostracized since being seen out publicly with Sinatra's ex-wife, Ava Gardner
Ava Gardner
Ava Lavinia Gardner was an American actress.She was signed to a contract by MGM Studios in 1941 and appeared mainly in small roles until she drew attention with her performance in The Killers . She became one of Hollywood's leading actresses, considered one of the most beautiful women of her day...
.
Lawford has married Patricia Kennedy. Abandoning a notion to seduce Pat for his own amusement, Sinatra becomes more interested in her brother John's political ambitions. He sincerely believes Jack Kennedy would be a great president, but he also feels having a friend in the White House could benefit his own public image.
Sinatra arranges for the entire Pack to perform at a JFK campaign fund-raiser. Sinatra also knows Kennedy's infatuation with the opposite sex and introduces him to Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe was an American actress, singer, model and showgirl who became a major sex symbol, starring in a number of commercially successful motion pictures during the 1950s....
, who begins seeing Kennedy behind the back of her husband, baseball star Joe DiMaggio
Joe DiMaggio
Joseph Paul "Joe" DiMaggio , nicknamed "Joltin' Joe" and "The Yankee Clipper," was an American Major League Baseball center fielder who played his entire 13-year career for the New York Yankees. He is perhaps best known for his 56-game hitting streak , a record that still stands...
.
Kennedy's pompous father, Joseph P. Kennedy, feels Sinatra's mob ties might hurt Jack's chances of defeating Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
in the election of 1960. He insists that Sinatra help the campaign from behind the scenes only; hypocritically, he also asks Sinatra to use those same mob ties to swing the West Virginia unions' support Kennedy's way.
Meanwhile, the Rat Pack continues to enjoy success in Hollywood and Las Vegas, often combining their stage acts for joint performances. They even parlay their friendship into a movie collaboration, Ocean's Eleven
Ocean's Eleven
Ocean's Eleven may refer to:*Ocean's 11 , the original heist film starring all five members of the Rat Pack*Ocean's Eleven , a remake of the above film with George Clooney, Brad Pitt, and Matt Damon...
, working and playing together at the same time, enjoying wine, women and song.
Davis is sometimes secretly hurt by the racist jokes of their stage act, especially after his girlfriend, actress May Britt
May Britt
May Britt is a Swedish actress who had a brief career in the 1950s in Italy and later in the United States. She retired from the screen after she married Sammy Davis, Jr. in 1960.-Career:...
, insinuates that the rest of the Pack is laughing at him, not with him. Davis has a more serious brush with racism when he and Britt announce their engagement, which results in a mixed-marriage protest in front of Davis's hotel. Davis day-dreams about scaring the protesters away with a song and dance routine in which he wields a gun. But he concedes the possible political repercussions of an interracial marriage. He postpones the wedding to avoid hurting Sinatra, who had agreed to serve as best man.
In the White House, President Kennedy seeks to renew his friendship with Sinatra. The two go sailing and plan for Kennedy to stay at Sinatra's Palm Springs
Palm Springs
Palm Springs is a desert city in CaliforniaPalm Springs may also refer to:* Palm Springs, Florida* Palm Springs, Hong Kong, a residential development in Yuen Long, Hong Kong* Coachella Valley, also known as the Palm Springs area...
residence during an upcoming West Coast presidential trip. Thrilled by the idea, Sinatra returns home and arranges for a guest compound to be built for Kennedy and his entourage.
However, the FBI finds a potential mafia link to the White House through a woman, Judy Campbell
Judith Exner
Judith Exner was an American woman who claimed to be the mistress of U.S. president John F. Kennedy and Mafia leaders Sam Giancana and John Roselli. She was also known as Judith Campbell Exner.-Early life:...
, who shared phone calls, and possibly affairs, with both Kennedy and mob boss Sam "Momo" Giancana after being introduced by Sinatra to each. Kennedy's brother, attorney general Bobby Kennedy, insists that the President cancel his stay at Sinatra's house and cut off all ties to the entertainer. This enrages Sinatra, who had sunk a lot of money and time into the renovation and had been at least partially responsible for Kennedy's being elected president.
Sinatra takes out his wrath on Peter Lawford, who as Kennedy's brother-in-law was Sinatra's direct link to the White House. Lawford finds himself repeatedly serving as a messenger between Sinatra and the Kennedys, including JFK's secret dalliances with Monroe, and he is sick of it. Lawford dreads delivering the news of Kennedy's decision to cancel his visit to Sinatra's house and stay instead with Bing Crosby
Bing Crosby
Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby was an American singer and actor. Crosby's trademark bass-baritone voice made him one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century, with over half a billion records in circulation....
, a Republican. A furious Sinatra physically throws Lawford out of his home and vows never to forgive him.
The movie depicts this incident as the beginning of the end of the Rat Pack's influence in both politics and entertainment.