Bobby Darin: Beyond the Song; Bobby Darin: Mack Is Back!

Beyond the Sea is by no means a great movie, but director-star Kevin Spacey's 2004 film did revive interest in Bobby Darin. Born Walden Robert Cassotto in New York in 1936, dead of a chronically weak heart in 1973, Darin was an ambitious and versatile songwriter, musician, actor, and performer--maybe a little too versatile, as his efforts to appeal to fans of Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, and even Bob Dylan (calling himself Bob Darin, he sang folky protest songs towards the end of his career) no doubt confused those who'd rather categorize and pigeonhole than allow a gifted performer the creative space to do what he wanted. In Bobby Darin: Beyond the Song, a host of notables (everyone from Connie Francis and Andy Williams to Darin's son, Dodd) sing his praises, combined with enough clips to support their contention that Darin really could do it all: sing, play several instruments, write songs, dance, even act well enough to earn a supporting actor Oscar nomination for Captain Newman, M.D. in 1963. Some of the segments are a hoot: an extended bit with Jimmy Durante, a TV performance of “Rock Island Line” during which Darin is reading the lyrics off the palms of his hands (!), a complete and very swingin' rendition of “Mack the Knife,” various shots (with rather poor sound and visuals) from a gig at the Cocoanut Grove in L.A., a superb “If I Were a Carpenter” that's considerably slower than the hit record version, and so on. Of course, it wasn't always good to be Bobby Darin: his marriage to actress Sandra Dee was ill-fated, lasting just six years, and he was shattered when he learned toward the end of his life that the women he thought were his sister and mother were in fact his mother and grandmother, respectively. The fact that it was a given, medically-speaking, that he would die young, also gave Darin's career a certain undeniable urgency. Sure to appeal to Darin's fans, this is recommended. Aud: P.Bobby Darin: Mack Is Back!, the March 1973 Los Angeles concert that was also Darin's last recorded performance, provides a reasonably entertaining overview of this freewheeling talent. Here we see the finger-snappin', jive-talkin' hipster who combined Sinatra's saloon singer sophistication with Presley's blues/rock/country/R&B chops, singing hits like Darin's own “Splish Splash,” the lovely “If I Were a Carpenter” (one of several Tim Hardin songs Darin recorded during his folk phase), and “Beyond the Sea,” as well as the inevitable “Mack the Knife” (which is awkwardly tacked on to the end and appears to come from another show entirely). Darin's at the top of his game, telling jokes and stories, doing impressions, and playing guitar, piano, and even some creditable blues harp. Yeah, the vibe occasionally veers toward slick, Vegas-style vacuity, but that's who Darin was--nine months later, he died, putting an end to a career that, while relatively short, was still good enough to land him in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. DVD extras include a rarely-seen home movie, vintage Cocoanut Grove footage, clips of Darin guest-starring on TV, a discography, and trailers for two of Darin's feature films. Recommended. Aud: P. (S. Graham)