Throughout his long career, with a cocktail in one hand and a cigarette in the other, Dean Martin was the iconic epitome of the carefree, smooth operator. On December 12, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment celebrates the multi-talented Martin with the DVD debut of The Dean Martin Double Feature including Who Was That Lady?, co-starring Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh and How to Save a Marriage (and Ruin Your Life),
co-starring Stella Stevens. Dino uses his inimitable style to demonstrate what made the '60s swing with these wacky comedies of marital mix-ups.
In Who Was That Lady?, Martin stars opposite real-life husband and wife Tony Curtis (Some Like it Hot, Don't Make Waves) and Janet Leigh (Touch of Evil, Psycho). Curtis enlists the help of his friend Martin when his wife (Leigh) demands a divorce after catching him kissing one of his students. The guys cook up a cover story that Curtis is working undercover for the FBI, and that the kiss was part of a sting to catch a spy. The gullible Leigh buys the wild fabrication and later, unwittingly touches off a melee that is filmed by TV news crews. Some real Russian spies assume Curtis really is an FBI agent, and kidnap the trio, which kick starts a series of madcap plot twists. Directed by George Sidney (Annie Get Your Gun, Bye Bye Birdie), the film also stars Barbara Nichols (Sweet Smell of Success, Pal Joey), Larry Storch (TV's "F Troop") and Joi Lansing (TV's "The Beverly Hillbillies").
Martin also headlines the bedroom farce How to Save a Marriage (and Ruin Your Life). Single, swinging lawyer David Sloane (Martin) tries to circumvent his friend Harry's (Eli Wallach from Baby Doll and The Misfits) extramarital affair by romancing his secretary, Carol (Stella Stevens from The Nutty Professor and The Poseidon Adventure). However, David has seduced the wrong woman; Harry has actually been fooling around with Muriel (Anne Jackson from Lovers and Other Strangers). When David tells Harry that he's stolen his mistress, Harry isn't sure what's going on, but the message has the intended effect, and Harry patches things up with his wife Mary (Katherine Bard). But when Carol and Muriel compare notes, they decide that something is fishy, and the two draw up a series of demands - Muriel insists that Harry leave Mary and marry her, while Carol wants David to make it legal with her. Directed by Fielder Cook (TV's "The Member of the Wedding"), the film also stars Jack Albertson (Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, TV's "Chico and the Man") and Shelley Morrison (TV's "Will & Grace").