Category: Classic Films

Classic Films · horror

The Birds

LizLockeLeave a comment
Image: The Birds, 1963

I used to think my biggest fear in life was birds. The claws, the beaks, the unpredictability: all of it nightmare fodder.

Then came Birdfy.

Thanks to this incredible technological advancement, I now have a tiny camera in our backyard owl house which produces content more interesting and engaging than most of the Best Picture nominees. Have I officially entered my birding era?? One final test remains: watching Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds (Disc/Download) without covering my eyes or hiding under a blanket.

Without Tippi Hedren’s iconic green suit, I might not have given The Birds a fair shot. But the Edith Head design is pure 1960s perfection, so I guess I can suffer through avian attacks in the name of fashion. Thankfully, Hedren doesn’t change her wardrobe for basically the entire movie. Don’t get me started on what kind of wacko buys a pair of lovebirds for a man she just met in a pet store, drives them sixty miles to his house on the coast, BREAKS INTO THE HOUSE to leave the birds, then decides to stay in his ex-girlfriend’s guest room without so much as a change of underwear. Like, what was the plan here??? This woman is wild. I’m not sure if her mere presence sends the local birds into a tizzy, or if it was the adorable green lovebirds (were they jealous of the flamboyance? mad about the gilded cage?), but something makes them want to commit murder. Hitchcock does a great job of building tension before each attack, starting with one bird, then two, then ten, then suddenly fifty or a hundred. They arrive faster than anyone expects, leaving the humans utterly defenseless. Tippi and her doomed green suit never stood a chance.

Brandy seems to be the liquor of choice for the shell-shocked residents of Bodega Bay, and there’s something lovely about the idea of snuggling up next to a fireplace in Northern California with a warming glass of spirits… as long as that fireplace doesn’t become an entry point for hundreds of murderous sparrows. While watching The Birds, I recommend drinking this riff on the Jungle Bird, the Bodega Bay Bird.

Bodega Bay Bird

2 oz brandy

¾ oz Campari

¾ oz simple syrup

1 oz lime juice

1 oz pineapple juice

Pineapple leaves (garnish)

Combine all ingredients except leaves in a shaker with ice. Shake well to chill, then strain into a glass filled with fresh ice. Garnish with more crushed ice on top, and pineapple leaves.

Bodega Bay Bird

I’m happy to report that my eyes remained open throughout this entire movie, even during the horrific scene where Tippi is pecked and scratched by live crows. Maybe it’s the fact that my nervous system has already been completely destroyed and desensitized after fifteen months (and counting) of American fascism, but somehow, a bunch of birds doesn’t seem that scary anymore. The owls picked a perfect time to move in. Cheers!

NOTE: If you’re a fan of physical media, I highly recommend this Alfred Hitchcock box set. It’s a great collection at a very reasonable price, and you’ll never again have to rely on the whims of tech oligarchs to watch your favorite Hitch flicks!

Classic Films · Musicals

Carmen Jones

LizLockeLeave a comment
Image: Carmen Jones, 1954

Sometimes, a movie couple is so electric, you don’t even need to hear what they’re saying in order to feel the chemistry. It happened for me this week with Dorothy Dandridge and Harry Belafonte in the Otto Preminger film Carmen Jones (Disc/Download), and although I admit to being left cold by the music and thin plot, these two actors started a five-alarm fire on that CinemaScope screen.

I’ve long been a fan of Harry Belafonte’s “Calypso” album, so don’t get me started about what a disappointment it was that his Carmen Jones singing voice was dubbed. In an alternate universe, he and Dorothy Dandridge put out a normal, non-operatic soundtrack album that matched the tone and setting of the film, and that soundtrack would have been a hit. Perhaps I need to put this movie on, turn the sound off, and crank up “Calypso” on the Hi-Fi? It certainly wouldn’t interfere with my love of the DeLuxe color costumes, or the sexy way Dandridge “untwists” Belafonte’s belt, or the way these two make even the worst flophouses look like romantic love shacks. She may not want to see this ex-fly boy cooped up, but I don’t mind it if he’s cooped up with her.

The thing I enjoy most about this movie is that it takes the French opera Carmen and plops it into the American South circa WWII. Not only is it great to see so much Black representation onscreen, but it also highlights women’s contributions to the war effort. Carmen works at a North Carolina parachute factory, so let’s toast her and Joe with this Caribbean Parachute cocktail.

Caribbean Parachute

1 1/2 oz light rum

1/2 oz Amaro Montenegro

3/4 oz lime juice

1/2 oz simple syrup

1 egg white

4 oz chilled tonic water

Add all ingredients except tonic water to a shaker. Shake vigorously until combined and frothy, then add ice. Shake again until chilled. Pour three ounces of tonic water into a Collins glass, then strain the contents of the shaker into the glass. Top with the rest of the tonic water, until the mixture foams up just past the rim of the glass. Garnish with a pineapple leaf (optional).

This is a gorgeous, fun cocktail, and perfect for those times when you’re running low on ice! I can absolutely picture Carmen drinking a few of these in that ramshackle nightclub with Husky Miller, dancing the night away in a pink dress and big gold hoops… while a Harry Belafonte album plays in the jukebox (just let me have my fantasy). Cheers!

Classic Films · Comedies

My Man Godfrey

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Image: My Man Godfrey, 1936

I don’t know about you, but I could really use a Godfrey: a charming, steadying presence who brings me breakfast in the morning, makes me cocktails at night, does the dishes, and generally takes care of all life’s pesky details so I can focus on being fabulous. Because I’m not wealthy enough to afford a real-life Godfrey, I must make do with the fictional one in My Man Godfrey (Disc/Download).

As one of the most iconic screwball comedies of the 1930s, My Man Godfrey plays the grumpy/sunshine romance trope to perfection. William Powell stars as Godfrey, a “forgotten man” (read: homeless) who is plucked off an East River garbage dump as part of a gross high-society scavenger hunt. At first he resists the idea of going to a fancy soiree at the Ritz as someone’s “prize”, but then, when he realizes he could ensure the ditsy, pretty Irene Bullock (Carole Lombard) triumphs over her awful sister Cornelia, he relents. It’s an opportunity to tell off the 1%, but it’s also a chance to help a stranger. And Godfrey, it turns out, thrives on being helpful. After winning the trophy, Irene hires him to be the new Bullock family butler, a task not for the sensitive or soft. Godfrey runs the gauntlet of spoiled, hysterical women, and manages to come out the other side with his dignity intact. What the women who order him around don’t realize, however, is that Godfrey is one of them! He’s secretly a wealthy trust-fund baby who’s already rejected the life of the rich and idle. And this is how Godfrey stays one step ahead of everyone throughout the whole movie—he knows their game, and he’s already won it.

A great butler is one who anticipates your every need before it even enters your head. Morning coffee? Check. Stock tips? Check. Scathing comeback for your bitchy sister? Check. Let’s toast Godfrey with this Prohibition-era cocktail that’s perfect for a man born to serve, the Leave It to Me.

Leave It to Me

1 ½ oz gin

1 tsp raspberry syrup

1 tsp lemon juice

¼ tsp maraschino liqueur

Fresh raspberry (garnish)

Combine gin, raspberry syrup, lemon juice, and maraschino liqueur in a shaker with ice. Shake to chill, then strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a fresh raspberry.

After Godfrey leaves the Bullock family, he opens a swinging nightclub called The Dump. Not only does it give jobs to other “forgotten men”, but it also provides housing for them! Now that’s what I call true service (and possibly, the greatest name for a bar, ever). Cheers!

Classic Films · Musicals

A Star is Born

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Image: A Star is Born, 1954

Because I’m in the middle of an editing project right now (fiction, not film), I thought it might be fun to look at a movie that’s had its share of editing drama. George Cukor’s 1954 version of A Star is Born (Disc/Download) was famously trimmed down by Warner Bros. to accommodate additional screenings, then later restored with some of the missing footage, plus audio and film stills. The resulting three-hour epic is certainly iconic, but it makes me wonder: was it worth it?

This cautionary Hollywood tale has been produced four times so far (the most recent being the Bradley Cooper/Lady Gaga version), and by now, we’re all familiar with the general plot of A Star is Born. In this version, a talented but undiscovered singer/actress named Esther Blodgett (Judy Garland) gets plucked out of obscurity by movie star Norman Maine (James Mason), resulting in a doomed love affair as her career takes off and his gradually recedes due to uncontrolled alcoholism. Cukor takes his time telling this story, adding musical numbers that don’t do much to advance the plot, though they definitely showcase the star power of Garland. Her best moments are when she’s stripped down, not in costume, singing in a tiny jazz club, or in her own Malibu living room, with no orchestra or soundstage in sight. It makes me wonder if Warner’s wasn’t onto something when they cut a couple of those splashy numbers. Just because you can add more razzle-dazzle doesn’t mean you should. The quiet scenes between Garland and Mason are what make me fall in love with this movie—everything else feels like a distraction.

Sadly, alcohol is the main villain of this story, no matter the era or version. Norman is so charming and wonderful when he’s sober, but when he’s drinking… look out. However, if you’re inclined to moderation, there’s no reason you can’t enjoy a tipple with this. While watching A Star is Born (1954), I recommend drinking this Maine Squeeze cocktail.

Maine Squeeze

2 oz gin

1 oz Cointreau

1 oz fresh orange juice

½ oz lemon juice

Orange twist or dried orange slice

Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice, and shake to chill. Strain into a coupe glass, and garnish with a twist of orange or dried orange slice.

Although I love the music and pacing of the 2018 A Star is Born the most, this 1954 version is miles ahead when it comes to style. The gowns are incredible, the CinemaScope colors burst off the screen, and it’s fun to watch my favorite era of the Hollywood studio system come alive, with all its glamour and backstage machinations. Maybe, if you’re a supreme Judy Garland fan, you’ll love the restored musical numbers. As for me, however, I think a little editing can make even the biggest stars shine brighter. Cheers!

Classic Films · Sci Fi

Beneath the Planet of the Apes

LizLockeLeave a comment
Image: Beneath the Planet of the Apes, 1970

It’s that time of year again: my annual Planet of the Apes marathon! I’ll be consuming all ten movies in three days, plus countless banana cocktails. I’ve covered a couple of them on Cinema Sips before, but now seems like a particularly good time to travel deep down into the weird apocalyptic world of Beneath the Planet of the Apes (Disc/Download).

Taking place immediately after Charlton Heston slams his fist onto a beach and screams, “DAMN YOU ALL TO HELL!!!”, this movie feels like an answer to his call. Humans are indeed, damned to hell. Actually, they’re down in a former New York City subway station, communicating through mental telepathy, wearing skin masks to hide their radiation burns, and worshiping at the altar of a nuclear bomb. But before the movie moves underground, another astronaut touches down on Future Earth to look for the missing Colonel Taylor. Newcomer Brent (James Franciscus) makes his way to Ape City, clashes with the gorillas, and befriends the always-delightful Dr. Zira and Cornelius. Once he manages to find the fallen city of New York, he finds Taylor, and together, they must stop the mutant humans from launching their nuke and destroying the world. It’s dark, it’s strange, and it’s absolutely a movie for these times.

Even though Dr. Zira makes her hatred of bananas known in Escape From the Planet of the Apes, I’m compelled to use it in this week’s cocktail because Beneath the Planet of the Apes is probably the most bananas movie in the franchise. While watching this film, I recommend drinking a Brûléed Banana Daiquiri.

Brûléed Banana Daiquiri

2 oz aged rum

½ oz banana liqueur

1 oz lime juice

¼ oz simple syrup

Banana slice

Pinch of brown sugar

Pineapple leaf

Combine rum, banana liqueur, lime juice, and simple syrup in a shaker with ice. Shake to chill, then strain into a coupe glass. For the garnish, take a slice of banana and sprinkle a pinch of brown sugar on top. Heat sugar with a torch or flame until bubbly and caramelized. Spear it onto a cocktail pick and rest it on the pineapple leaf.

You’ll notice the bubbling brown sugar on this banana looks very similar to the skin of the mutant humans after centuries of radiation poisoning. After every Ape movie, I always ask myself: is this really our future? Sadly, with the recent reemergence of nuclear energy and threats of war, Beneath the Planet of the Apes is starting to look less and less like science fiction.

Classic Films · Dramas

Love Affair

LizLockeLeave a comment
Image: Love Affair, 1939

I don’t know about you, but I’m tired. Now that the holiday hosting is nearly finished, all I want to do is lay on the sofa with a cocktail and a comfort watch. Even though Love Affair (Disc/Download) was a new-to-me pick in 2025, it’s a film that’s been retold so often, it feels like an old friend at this point. Or perhaps, an old lover.

Starring Charles Boyer and Irene Dunne as a pair of star-crossed paramours who meet aboard a cruise ship, Leo McCarey’s original film sparkles in a different way than his remake An Affair to Remember. The dialogue seems looser, more natural, with Dunne and Boyer sharing flirtatious banter as they enter a romance that seems impossible from the start. She’s a nightclub singer, he’s a playboy who dreams of painting, and as is the case for so many young creatives, two struggling artists put together do not equal one lavish champagne budget. But nevertheless, they decide to try. They shrug off the relationships of convenience like a mink stole on a warm summer day and agree to meet six months later at the top of the Empire State Building. I think you know where this goes, so I won’t rehash the ensuing melodrama, but boy, does it make my heart clench. I don’t know if men “get” this movie, but I definitely do.

While on the cruise, the lovers try in vain to stay away from serious topics, trying to keep everything “beautiful and bubbling like pink champagne”. Life, as they find out, doesn’t work that way. But in movies, we can wish for it anyway. While watching Love Affair, I recommend drinking this Pink French ’75.

Pink French ’75

1 oz pink gin

1 oz simple syrup

3/4 oz fresh lemon juice

Pink Champagne

Lemon twist (garnish)

Pour gin, simple syrup, and lemon juice into a shaker with ice. Shake to chill, then strain into a champagne flute. Top with pink Champagne, and garnish with a lemon twist.

If wishes are the dreams we make when we’re awake, then my wish for 2026 is that we all carve out time for more pink champagne moments. Life can be heavy, hard, and full of disappointment, but that just makes it even more essential to celebrate the tiny wins and joys where we can. Reality may not be beautiful and bubbly all the time, but for the length of a classic comfort watch, it can be. Cheers!

Classic Films · Comedies · Holiday Films · Uncategorized

We’re No Angels

LizLockeLeave a comment
Image: We’re No Angels, 1955

If you want to get me excited to watch a movie, all you have to do is tack on VistaVision before the opening credits. Paul Thomas Anderson has been bringing the format back into the zeitgeist with his 2025 release One Battle After Another, but there are so many classic films that benefited from its vivid colors and wide aspect ratio. One of these is the 1955 Christmas movie, We’re No Angels (Disc/Download), starring Humphrey Bogart, Peter Ustinov, and Aldo Ray as a trio of escaped convicts on Devil’s Island.

I confess, I had to look up Devil’s Island on a map to see what kind of setting we were dealing with. Turns out, it’s solidly in what I like to call “Rum Country”, off the coast of French Guiana in the Atlantic ocean. In 1895, our three main characters escape from the island’s penal colony and take refuge in a general store. They convince the manager to let them fix the roof, with the intention of robbing him blind. But then, they get sucked into the manager’s family affairs, soon realizing they enjoy selling unnecessary junk to customers, cooking a (stolen) Christmas dinner, and menacing some evil relatives. But the true MVP of this movie is Adolphe the snake, who has no lines, but is the most integral to the plot. An honorary “fourth angel”, he’s judge, jury, and executioner all in one.

Because of the film’s tropical setting, I’m inclined to make a Tiki cocktail. There’s a great scene of a woman buying a bottle of Chartreuse for her Christmas celebration, and if you can find some these days, that’s reason enough to throw a party. While watching We’re No Angels, I recommend drinking A.C. Davidge’s 1949 classic, the Palm Breeze.

Palm Breeze

½ oz lime juice

½ oz dark Jamaican rum

½ oz white crème de cacao

¾ oz yellow Chartreuse

1 tsp grenadine

Gummy snake (suggested garnish)

Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake to chill, then strain into a coupe glass. Garnish with a gummy snake.

It’s fun to watch these tough guys get into the holiday spirit on a tropical island, and for that reason, I think We’re No Angels would make a great double feature with Donovan’s Reef. Just remember to keep the rum flowing and watch your wallet…  

Cheers!

Classic Films

Written on the Wind

LizLockeLeave a comment
Image: Written on the Wind, 1956

In my house, it’s just not fall until I’ve watched at least one Douglas Sirk movie. No other director does changing leaves and soaring orchestral scores quite like the master of women’s pictures, and Written on the Wind (Disc) is a prime example of his iconic style. By the end of this movie, I’m ready to pop the collar on my flannel shirt and find the nearest picturesque pond.

Written on the Wind is a natural fit for Cinema Sips because somebody is holding a cocktail in nearly every scene. Robert Stack and Dorothy Malone play spoiled boozehound siblings, while Rock Hudson and Lauren Bacall try to temper the siblings’ wild ways. Rock loves Lauren, Lauren loves Robert, Dorothy loves Rock, Robert loves liquor, and this quadrangle is one delicious Texas soap opera. Rock is maybe the hottest geologist to ever set foot on an oil rig, and it’s easy to see how Dorothy Malone’s character Marylee could self destruct over her unrequited love for him. She has all the best scenes in the movie, leaning over cars and divans with a glass in her hand like the world bores her to death. But it’s all a front: she’s just a lonely girl who wants her brother’s best friend to view her as more than a kid sister. And in Rock’s case, she’ll be waiting forever.

Robert Stack makes his last drunken stand on a pint of corn whiskey, and since I happen to have a jar that’s been waiting for just such a scene, it seems like a good time to use it. Maybe if I drink enough, I won’t shudder at the part where he swings the door wide open on a windy night, allowing ALL THE LEAVES TO BLOW INSIDE. The absolute horror! While watching Written on the Wind, I recommend drinking this Cinnamon Apple Mule.

Cinnamon Apple Mule

1 ½ oz Sugarland Shine Dynamite Cinnamon moonshine

1 oz spiced apple cider

1 oz lime juice

4 oz ginger beer

Dried lime wheel

Build drink over ice, stirring to combine. Garnish with a dried lime wheel.

It wouldn’t be a Douglas Sirk picture without stunning costumes and sets, and Written on the Wind‘s are certainly gorgeous. At one point, Robert Stack flies Lauren Bacall down to Miami on a whim and stocks her hotel room with every gown, evening bag, and cosmetic she could possibly need. I was rooting for her to marry him right then and there, morals be damned, but this classy dame made him wait another twenty-four hours. He may be an alcoholic mess, but the man has good taste. Cheers!

Classic Films

The Blue Gardenia

LizLockeLeave a comment
Image credit: The Blue Gardenia, 1953

Happy Noirvember to all who celebrate! Since most of the classic film community is spending this month watching private investigators, ragged newsmen, alcoholics, and suspicious dames, I’m getting in on the action with the terrific Tiki noir, The Blue Gardenia (Disc/Download). What makes a “Tiki Noir”, you ask? Well, when the main character drinks too many Pearl Divers and wakes up next to a dead body, I think that qualifies.

Set in 1950s Los Angeles, The Blue Gardenia incorporates the Tiki culture that was all the rage at the time by setting a pivotal scene in a South Seas restaurant at the corner of Hollywood and Vine. Switchboard operator Norah Larkin is enjoying a solo birthday when she opens a letter from her Korean soldier sweetheart, only to find she’s been dumped. Depressed, she accepts an invitation to dinner at the hippest spot in town from a man she doesn’t know. The Blue Gardenia is pretty much my dream movie bar, complete with peacock chairs, Cantonese food, and Nat King Cole on the piano. As she gets blackout drunk in the Coral Room, a lecherous Raymond Burr makes his move. He convinces her to come back to his place, attempts to have his way with her, and in all the chaos and confusion (thanks to Fritz Lang’s skilled direction and lighting), we know somebody gets knocked out, we know there’s a metal fireplace poker, but we don’t know who does what to whom. When Norah wakes up and sees her dead date, she has no idea: is she a killer, or an innocent person in the extremely wrong place at the wrong time?

The drink served at the Blue Gardenia is called a Polynesian Pearl Diver, but it doesn’t look like any Pearl Diver I’ve ever seen (see my Goonies post as example). This one has the traditional Navy Grog ice cone, and what looks like a rum floater on top. I assume Don the Beachcomber was not a technical advisor here, but it looks like a tasty concoction nonetheless. While watching The Blue Gardenia, try my interpretation of this film’s lethal cocktail, the Polynesian Pearl Diver.

Polynesian Pearl Diver

1 ½ oz gold Puerto Rican rum

½ oz Demerara rum

¾ oz Gardenia Mix*

1 oz orange juice

¾ oz lime juice

1 dash Angostura bitters

¾ oz Kraken dark spiced rum (floater)

Ice cone (garnish)

Lime wheel and cherry (garnish)

Insert an ice cone with straw into a glass and fill surrounding area with crushed ice. Set aside. Blend gold rum, Demerara rum, gardenia mix, orange juice, lime juice, and bitters with 4 oz crushed ice in a blender or drink mixer. Strain contents through a wire mesh sieve into prepared glass. Top with a floater of Kraken dark spiced rum, and add a lime wheel and cherry for garnish.

*Gardenia Mix:

1 oz honey

1 oz unsalted butter

1 tsp cinnamon syrup

½ tsp Allspice liqueur

½ tsp vanilla syrup

Put all ingredients in a bowl, and whip vigorously until smooth and creamy.

Anne Baxter seems to love this one- a little too much!

Beyond the terrific Tiki cocktail plot point, I adore this movie because parts of it are reminiscent of a Golden Girls episode. Norah lives with two other women, one a “Blanche” type going out on the town every night, the other a bookish, whipsmart “Dorothy”. I guess that makes Norah the “Rose”: dumb enough to go out with a man she hardly knows and drink a pint of rum. These girls are always there for each other, through bad dates, broken engagements, tough days at the telephone switchboard, and murder charges. Now that’s what I call being a friend. Cheers!

Classic Films · Comedies

Arsenic and Old Lace

LizLockeLeave a comment
Image: Arsenic and Old Lace, 1944

Before watching the beloved classic Arsenic and Old Lace (Disc/Download), I never would have believed any one movie could contain so many random topics such as serial killers, the Panama Canal, plastic surgery, Niagara Falls, etc. Frank Capra has made me a believer in the oddball, the screwball, and heck, even baseball! Let’s pour a drink and unpack this weird, wonderful film.

Cary Grant starts the movie at the NYC marriage license bureau, about to get hitched to the loveliest girl-next-door, Elaine. Ironically, he is also the author of a book about why men should never get married. Before Mortimer can leave town on his honeymoon, he first has to check in with his elderly aunts to share the good news. While at their home, he discovers the dead body they stashed in the window seat, still awaiting its proper burial in the basement. The aunts have been poisoning their lodgers for years, and Mortimer’s brother has been aiding and abetting, under the delusional persona of Teddy Roosevelt. He thinks all the victims died of Yellow Fever while digging the Panama Canal, which apparently runs through their Brooklyn basement. Things get weirder still when a Frankenstein look-alike shows up at the house, who turns out to be psychotic eldest brother Jonathan. He’s accompanied by plastic surgeon Dr. Einstein (the always-creepy Peter Lorre), and yet another dead body in the trunk of his car. Cary Grant is the glue that keeps this madcap story from going completely off the rails, and even though his performance is about as broad and hammy as I’ve ever seen from him, he’s the level-headed one in a family of lunatics.

My favorite part of the movie is every time Teddy makes a run up San Juan Hill, shouting, “CHARGE!!!” as he dashes up the staircase. Before he gets carted off to the Happy Dale mental asylum, let’s toast him with this appropriately named classic cocktail that’s probably a little safer than the aunts’ elderberry wine. While watching Arsenic & Old Lace, I recommend drinking a Roosevelt.

Roosevelt

1 ¾ oz dark rum

½ oz dry vermouth

¼ oz orange juice

1 barspoon simple syrup

Orange Twist

Combine dark rum, vermouth, orange juice, and simple syrup in a shaker with ice. Shake to chill, then strain into a chilled coupe. Express the orange peel over the glass, then use as a garnish.

This is a perfect movie for Halloween because not only does it take place on October 31st, but there’s a delightfully spooky cemetery, a Boris Karloff look-a-like, and a lot of unexpected visitors knocking on the door. If you’re looking for more of a treat than a trick, give Arsenic and Old Lace a watch. Cheers!