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kid?’
    â€˜Nineteen.’
    â€˜Isn’t he a little young?’
    â€˜Wayne Newton was younger when he started,’ Jack said. ‘And the first time Frank Junior came here he was ten. He grew up in this business.’
    â€˜You goin’?’
    â€˜Openin’ night,’ he said.
    â€˜When is that?’
    â€˜Tomorrow.’
    â€˜Maybe I’ll go.’
    â€˜If I’m not mistaken,’ he said, ‘you’re workin’.’
    I stared at him.
    â€˜Nah, I’m kiddin’,’ he said. ‘You can go. Now get back to work.’
    â€˜Yeah,’ I said, ‘right.’
    I left the office, wondering why I was so uncomfortable with the fact that Jack Entratter had suddenly developed a sense of humor.

SIX
    Dean was in Vegas without his wife, Jeannie, but both Hope and Crosby had brought their wives along. The four of them went out to dinner together, leaving Dean alone so he came down to the casino floor to find me.
    â€˜Wanna get somethin’ to eat?’ he asked.
    â€˜Didn’t they invite you to the Road to Dinner?’ I asked.
    â€˜You gotta stop that,’ Dean said.
    â€˜Yeah, OK. Sure, I can go. What do you have in mind?’
    â€˜I like the food in the Garden Room.’
    â€˜Garden Room it is. Gimme ten.’
    â€˜I’ll go and get a table.’
    As he headed for the Garden Room I went to get myself a replacement in the pit for a couple of hours. There was still a chance something was on Dean’s mind, and maybe he was going to bring it up over dinner.
    Dean was working on a cup of coffee when I got there.
    â€˜I was thinkin’ about the prime rib special,’ he said as I sat down.
    â€˜Always good,’ I said. I waved a waitress over and ordered two prime rib dinners.
    â€˜Right away, Mr Martin,’ she said, even though I was the one who spoke.
    â€˜Sitting with you always makes me feel so important,’ I said to him.
    â€˜Sorry, pally,’ he said, looking down at his resplendent self. ‘It’s the suit.’
    â€˜I’m wearing a suit,’ I pointed out.
    â€˜It’s the expensive suit,’ he said, with a grin.
    â€˜OK, you got me there,’ I said, pouring myself a cup of coffee from the pot on the table. ‘I heard about Frank Junior opening next door.’
    â€˜Yeah, I’m gonna catch the kid’s act tomorrow night,’ Dean said. ‘You gonna go?’
    â€˜I think so.’
    â€˜He sounds a lot like Frank.’
    â€˜That’s not necessarily good, is it?’ I asked. ‘I mean, there’s already a Frank.’
    He winced and commented, ‘That’s what some people are sayin’, but they should give the kid a break.’
    Our prime ribs came and Dean asked for an iced tea to wash it down. I went the same way.
    We caught up because we hadn’t really seen each other since earlier in the year. He told me he and Frank were making another film together, a western called Four For Texas .
    â€˜Four?’ I asked.
    â€˜Yeah, the other two are Ursula Andress and Anita Ekberg.’
    â€˜Wow,’ I said.
    â€˜Joey’ll have a part in it, too. It’ll be fun. I’ve decided I’m only gonna make movies that are fun from now on.’
    â€˜But why? Your dramatic films have been great. You get good reviews.’
    â€˜Mostly,’ he said, ‘but I don’t have anything to prove to anybody, anymore. Actors like Brando and Monty Cliff give me respect. That’s all I need. I’m just gonna make fun movies and not worry about critics. Westerns. I’m gonna make a lot of westerns. Oh, and those spy movies I told you about.’
    â€˜You gonna do those like James Bond?’
    He laughed.
    â€˜Naw, I’m gonna be the anti-Bond,’ he said.
    He went on to talk about his daughter, Claudia. She wanted to be an actress, and Frank had been kind enough to give her a part in a film he was