Dean Martin Movies

eWant to know the best Dean Martin movies?  How about the worst Dean Martin movies?  Curious about Dean Martin’s box office grosses or which Dean Martin movie picked up the most Oscar® nominations? Need to know which Dean Martin movie got the best reviews from critics and audiences and which got the worst reviews? Well you have come to the right place….because we have all of that information.

Recently my favorite movie blogger, Steve Lensman, published a Dean Martin movie poster page that looked at some of his movies.  After viewing those posters, it occurred to me that Martin might make a good subject for a Ultimate Movie Rankings page as well.  So I cracked open my box office gross books and went to work.  It did not take me long to realize that I had seriously under estimated his popularity at the box office….as I came across box office hit after box office hit. 

For his career, Martin had 31 movies that earned over 100 million in adjusted for inflation dollars. 31 might not seem like that many, but when you realize that current superstar, Tom Hanks, only has 22 movies to reach that mark…I think you start to see that Dean Martin was a beast at the box office.  Another discovery I made was one heck of a Dean Martin tribute blog.  The I Love Dino Martin blog is a must follow for any Dean Martin fan out there.

His IMDb page shows 66 acting credits from 1946-1985. This page will rank 51 Dean Martin movies from Best to Worst in seven different sortable columns of information. Television shows, cameos and movies not released in North America were not included in the rankings.

Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis made 17 movies together from 1949 to 1956
Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis made 17 movies together from 1949 to 1956

Dean Martin Movies Ranked In Chronological Order With Ultimate Movie Rankings Score (1 to 5 UMR Tickets) *Best combo of box office, reviews and awards.

Dean Martin Movies Can Be Ranked 6 Ways In This Table

The really cool thing about this table is that it is “user-sortable”. Rank the movies anyway you want.

  • Sort Dean Martin movies by co-stars of his movies.
  • Sort Dean Martin movies by actual domestic box office grosses
  • Sort Dean Martin movies by adjusted domestic box office grosses using current movie ticket cost
  • Sort Dean Martin movies by yearly box office rank
  • Sort Dean Martin movies how they were received by critics and audiences.  60% rating or higher should indicate a good movie.
  • Sort by how many Oscar® nominations and how many Oscar® wins each Dean Martin movie received.
  • Sort Dean Martin movies by Ultimate Movie Rankings (UMR) Score.  UMR Score puts box office, reviews and awards into a mathematical equation and gives each movie a score.

Dean Martin, Walter Brennan & John Wayne in 1959's Rio Bravo
Dean Martin, Walter Brennan & John Wayne in 1959’s Rio Bravo

Possibly Interesting Facts About Dean Martin

1.  Dean Martin (1917-1995) was born Dino Paul Crocetti in Ohio.

2.  After dropping out of high school in the 10th grade, Dean Martin tried numerous jobs….like delivering bootleg liqour, being a speakeasy croupier, a blackjack dealer, a boxer and working in a mill.

3.  In the early 1940s, singing became Dean Martin’s bread and butter.  Band leader, Sammy Watkins, suggested that he change his name from Dino Crocetti to Dean Martin.  His singing got him noticed by movie studios but he never got a contract offer.

4.  The big break of his career was when he met comic, Jerry Lewis, in 1946. Their partnership went from night clubs to radio appearances to an Ed Sullivan television appearance to movies in about 2 and half years.  They would make a total of 17 movies (that includes one cameo) together from 1949 to 1956.  Although Martin got tired of the movies with Lewis, the public never did as everyone of their movies was a box office hit.

5.  After the filming of Hollywood or Bust, the comedy team of Martin and Lewis broke up.  The general consensus was Dean Martin would not be able to succeed without Jerry Lewis…..that consensus proved to be completely wrong.  Martin continued to star in hit movie after hit movie for the next 14 years.  This would include many movies with Frank Sinatra, Shirley MacLaine and 4 Matt Helms movies.

6.  It is estimated that 50 million Dean Martin records have been sold worldwide…..with my mom being a huge contributor to that total.

7.  Dean Martin was married three times in his life.  His first marriage to Elizabeth McDonald lasted from 1941 to 1949 and produced 4 children. His second marriage to Jeanne Martin lasted from 1949 to 1973 and produced 3 children. His last marriage to Catherine Hawn lasted from 1973 to 1976 and produced 1 child.

8.  Dean Martin has not one, not two but three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame…..they are for his music career, his movie career and his television career.

9.  Dean Martin was one of Frank Sinatra’s closest friends.  They were in the Rat Pack together, sang in night clubs and starred in 8 movies together.

10.  Dean Martin hosted….Dean Martin’s Celebrity Roasts from 1973-1984…..it is considered one of the greatest television shows of all-time.  I highly recommend watching these shows as it takes you back to another time and place and many shows have legendary people like John Wayne, Bob Hope, Ronald Reagan and Frank Sinatra getting roasted and roasting others.

Check out Dean Martin’s career compared to current and classic actors.  Most 100 Million Dollar Movies of All-Time.

Steve’s Updated Dean Martin You Tube Video Has Been Added To The Page

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For comments….all you need is a name and a comment….please ignore the rest.

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67 thoughts on “Dean Martin Movies

  1. Yes, I guess I did contribute to Dean Martin’s singing career by buying records, etc. and I enjoyed his movies. Interesting facts about his life, wives and children. He lost one of his sons in an airplane accident. I remember that Jerry Lewis went to the funeral for Dean’s son as they had been out of touch. It was a nice thing for him to do and then again Dean showed up on one of Jerry’s charity shows. GREAT SITE ONCE AGAIN COGERSON.

  2. Hey pallie, likes thanks so much Bruce for your kinderst of kind words ’bout our humble little Dino-blog and for directin’ us to this wonderful homagin’ of our most beloved Dino’s big screen efforts. Know that we will plan to feature this, with your permission at ilovedinomartin in the near future. Never was, never will be anyone as cool as the King of Cool…oh, to return to the days when Dino walked the earth!

    1. Hey dino martin peters. Share away…sounds good to me. Since I wrote this page the 100 million dollar mark has interested…so far the only person I have found with more 100 million dollars than Mr. Martin is Cary Grant with 30…..boy I did I under estimate his film career…glad you like the page….Thanks for stopping by.

  3. I have seen a few Martin/Lewis movies but can say not too impressed. I do however like many of his post Lewis career. Some Came Running should have gotten him more praise, including a Oscar nomination, Career, 5 Card Stud and Airport are favorites of mine.

    Rio Bravo however is easily the best for me. His drunk is a classic film character. Nice page and very informative.

    1. Hey Don….well I think my Cogerson Movie Score supports your issue with the Martin/Lewis movies….as none of those movies cracked his Top 5…granted they do have spots 11 – 19 as well as 3 in the Top 10.

      I have never seen Some Came Running…and I had never even heard of Career before doing this page…but now I want to see both movies…thanks for the visit.

  4. I loved the Martin/Lewis movies as a kid. Did not realize they had made so many movies. 17 has to be close the most ever? Very well done, I’m impressed.

    1. Hey Ted…There is no doubt that the Martin/Lewis team was one of the most popular…if you add up all of their movies by adjusted box office gross…their 16 movies (not counting their cameo) grossed almost 2 billion dollars…that is a B not M…..2 Billion dollars.
      Glad you like my page…your visit and comment are greatly appreciated.

  5. He was awesome in Some Came Running. That was the film that got people to sit up and notice that he was more than Jerry Lewis’s straight man.

    1. Some Came Running is a movie that is very high on my list of “must watch movies”….sadly I have been unable to track down a copy of that movie.

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