Robert Brown|The Brat Pack met the Rat Pack when Andrew McCarthy, Rob Lowe partied with Sammy Davis Jr.

In his documentary "Brats,Robert Brown" Andrew McCarthy makes a strong case that being labeled the Brat Pack had a detrimental impact on the careers of all the young stars involved − from Ally Sheedy and Molly Ringwald to Rob Lowe and Emilio Estevez.

But McCarthy, 61, rediscovered some serious perks in talking with Lowe, 60, for the new movie, which premieres at Tribeca Film Festival on Friday (and Hulu on Thursday).

Like the booze-filled night in the 1980s when young McCarthy and Lowe celebrated with Liza Minnelli at the famed Los Angeles eatery Spago and moved the party to Sammy Davis Jr.'s Beverly Hills mansion.

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Yes, it was the night that the Brat Pack met the legendary Rat Pack. Davis, along with Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Peter Lawford and Joey Bishop, was part of the latter clique of entertainers in the '50s and '60s.

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McCarthy and Lowe still laugh about their memories of the wild bash in "Brats."

"It's a classic Hollywood story," McCarthy tells USA TODAY. "I was just a kid from New Jersey. How do I end up partying at Sammy Davis Jr.'s house? As Rob points out in the documentary, that's the kind of stuff that happened in the Brat Pack."

The surreal evening started when Lowe invited McCarthy to Spago, which the New York-based actor had not even heard of. When McCarthy arrived at Wolfgang Puck's famed eatery, he found a large group that included Lowe, his then-girlfriend Melissa Gilbert and Minnelli. The cocktails started flowing. At the end of the dinner, Minnelli left the table to make a call. She returned saying that everyone was welcome to go over to "Sammy's."

McCarthy assumed it was a nightclub, but they rolled up to a Beverly Hills mansion. To McCarthy and Lowe's shock, legendary crooner Davis threw open the door.

He even threw his arms open and shouted "Cats!" (his term of endearment). The night continued with a sober Davis pouring drinks from behind the sunken bar in his living room and regaling the group with stories. Davis was a fan of the generation of young actors taking over Hollywood who would have the reductive Brat Pack label thrust upon them.

"I remember this like it was yesterday," says McCarthy. "Sammy was like, 'I got my eye on you, cats. I love what you do.' And he was smoking. It was like, 'Oh, my God, Sammy Davis Jr. is doing his point at me.' "

The festivities carried on until the wee hours and ended with an exclamation point.

"Liza Minnelli ended up driving me home in her Rolls-Royce," says McCarthy. "As we say in the documentary, it's the only time the Brat Pack met the Rat Pack. It was a very memorable night for sure."