Category: Classic Films

Classic Films · Comedies

Blackbeard’s Ghost

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Image: Blackbeard’s Ghost, 1968

Leave it to Walt Disney to predict the pirate Tiki bar craze way back in the 1960s. Sixty years later, Polynesian carvings and Japanese fishing lanterns are out; cobwebs and Jolly Rogers are in. Let’s lean into the swashbuckling trend with this week’s pick Blackbeard’s Ghost (Disc/Download).

Starring Peter Ustinov as the cursed pirate Blackbeard, and Dean Jones as the only person who can see his spirit in a haunted New England inn, Blackbeard’s Ghost was the last live action film Walt Disney personally oversaw before his death in 1966. I love that Dean Jones is paired again with Suzanne Pleshette (the two having previously worked together on another favorite The Ugly Dachshund), and even Elsa “The Bride” Lanchester appears as an elderly spinster trying to save the struggling inn. Beyond the stacked cast, the fantastic production design features a hotel made out of cobbled-together pirate ships, and it makes me wonder if the folks behind the Magic Kingdom’s Beak and Barrel lounge looked to this classic film when designing the space. Who wouldn’t want to drink rum with a bawdy pirate ghost before hitting up the Jungle Cruise?

As the characters of this movie quickly discover, if you can’t stop Captain Blackbeard’s morally and legally questionable hijinks, you may as well join him. To me, this means drinking all the rum via a Tiki cocktail that is perfectly pirate-themed and incredibly potent. While watching Blackbeard’s Ghost, I recommend making a Skull & Bones.

Skull & Bones

1 ½ oz 151-proof demerara rum

½ oz aged gold rum

¾ oz lime juice

½ oz passion fruit syrup

½ oz grenadine

6 drops Pernod

1 dash Angostura bitters

1 cup crushed ice

Pineapple leaf and cherry (garnish)

Combine liquid ingredients in a blender with ice. Blend at high speed for about five seconds. Pour into a mug or glass. Add more crushed ice to fill, and garnish with a pineapple leaf and cherry.

Blackbeard’s Ghost is such a fun movie, and it’s a great choice if you want to escape into a world of non-frightening spirits, witches, and fortune tellers. Cheers to making it through another October, and to all the cinematic ghosts that kept us laughing and imbibing.

Classic Films · horror

Carnival of Souls

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Image: Carnival of Souls, 1962

This week, I’m thrilled to partner with The Cinematic Crypt on a cocktail for the podcast’s October movie pick, Carnival of Souls (Disc/Download). This podcast has been one of my favorite classic film resources over the past several years, and I’m thrilled it’s finally back with bonus video content. So thrilled, in fact, that I willingly subjected myself to a movie that skirts the line of how much horror I can handle.

Although a film about a woman haunted by ghosts and visions she can’t explain sounds terrifying, viewers who generally don’t enjoy scary movies will still find a lot to like here. I’d describe this as “art house horror” because it places more emphasis on spooky visuals and sound rather than the grotesque or violent. Nobody gets murdered, and no body parts are hacked off. Instead, the terror comes from not knowing if what you’re seeing is real, or even if you are real. It’s an interesting concept in our current age of AI and deep fakes, and it makes me think harder about what I want in my entertainment these days. Do I want plain, unobstructed truth, or do I want to be kept purposely off-balance?

One of my favorite parts of the film is when the lead character Mary Henry discovers an abandoned amusement park on the shores of the Great Salt Lake, only to find it filled with spirits waiting for her to join in their dance. It’s as though the lake has preserved them in time, and it has me yearning for a perfectly briny cocktail. While watching Carnival of Souls, I recommend drinking this Salt Lake Spritz.

Salt Lake Spritz

1 oz gin

1 oz dry vermouth

½ oz olive brine

1 dash orange bitters

3 oz club soda

Olive garnish

Fill a wine glass with ice, and add the gin, vermouth, olive brine, and bitters. Stir gently to combine, then top with club soda. Garnish with an olive.

If you’re looking for a moody, gothic watch that’s seasonally appropriate but won’t keep you up at night, Carnival of Souls is for you. And don’t forget to check out The Cinematic Crypt to discover more secrets lurking in this film’s buried coffin. Cheers!

Classic Films · horror

The Bride of Frankenstein

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Image: The Bride of Frankenstein, 1935

Well, it’s here: my least favorite movie season. October is always a fraught time for someone who doesn’t like horror, and I often have difficulty finding seasonal movies that won’t keep me up at night. If you’re in a similar situation, don’t fret—I’ve found some delightful spooky flicks that are far more campy than creepy. Kicking things off is the James Whale 1935 classic, The Bride of Frankenstein (Disc/Download).

I came to this film thanks to a recent episode I recorded for Hollywood Kitchen about Elsa Lanchester. Playing both Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley and The Bride, Lanchester is the perfect bookend to this story about a creature looking for a mate. As Frankenstein’s monster lumbers about the countryside, evading angry villagers, enacting revenge on the ones who hurt and betrayed him in the first movie, he is also searching for connection. He finds it in the form of a blind hermit who invites him in for a drink, a smoke, and a meal. Turns out, the Monster likes to party! He realizes he needs a more permanent companion and eventually partners with the evil Dr. Pretorious, who has his own plans to create new life. Dr. Frankenstein gets roped in once again, like an aging cop who’s “gettin’ too old for this shit”, and together, they rig up the lightning bolt lab to bring life to a mishmash of artificial organs and cadaver parts. The result? A bandaged Elsa Lanchester emerging off the operating room table, all wild hair and angry hissing. As all those Las Vegas Bride-themed slot machines now proclaim: she’s alive!!!!!

I enjoy this sequel even more than the 1931 original Frankenstein, mainly because it deals with the complexities of connection. The Monster doesn’t want to be alone anymore, but what is the true cost of a relationship? While watching The Bride of Frankenstein, I recommend drinking this Date with Death.

Date with Death

2 oz gin

1 oz lemon juice

1 oz Medjool date syrup

2 dashes walnut bitters

Dash of egg white

Combine gin, lemon juice, date syrup, bitters, and egg white in a shaker. Shake vigorously for about thirty seconds, then add ice. Shake for another thirty seconds, then strain into a coupe glass. Garnish with a twist of lemon.

This cocktail is inspired by Elsa Lanchester’s Date Torte recipe, as prepared for Hollywood Kitchen. It combines all the flavors from the dessert, plus a splash of Pretorious’s favorite tipple: gin. As the Monster proclaims, “Drink… goooood!” Cheers, to a new world of gods and monsters.

Classic Films · Musicals

The Pajama Game

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Image: The Pajama Game, 1957

Happy Labor Day to all you Cinema Sips readers! As an Elder Millennial raised on Newsies and Norma Rae, I never let this day pass without a little fanfare. It’s a celebration of the contributions and sacrifices made by the workers of America, many of whom are currently protesting the lousy economic policies that funneled so much of our money up to the billionaire CEOs. In other words, we are currently living through The Pajama Game (Disc/Download). Doris to the rescue!

If you’re looking for a movie about labor unions, you won’t find a prettier one than The Pajama Game. At the Sleeptite Pajama Factory in Cedar Rapids, IA, workers come to the factory in colorful A-line dresses, heart-shaped pin cushions, and a spring in their step. As they sing about the dreamy new Superintendent, whom Doris Day is definitely NOT in love with (yet), the women swish their polka dots, stripes, and ric-rac in time to the fabulous Bob Fosse choreography and catchy songs. In a classic rom-com trope, Day plays the chairwoman of the Grievance Committee (read: labor union) who clashes with the handsome new Superintendent (read: middle manager). He must come over to her side if they’re to have any chance of a romance, which is easy to do once he discovers their boss has been stealing money already allocated for the workers’ 7.5-cent raises. This movie may have been made in the fifties, but damned if it isn’t still relevant in 2026.

In The Pajama Game, Doris loves her apples almost as much as she loves fighting The Man. Let’s welcome fall with this refreshing Hernando’s Honeycrisp Sangria!

Hernando’s Honeycrisp Sangria

1 ½ oz brandy

3 oz white wine

1 oz apple juice

½ oz lemon juice

½ oz cinnamon syrup

Honeycrisp apple slices + cinnamon stick (garnish)

In a shaker with ice, combine brandy, white wine, apple juice, lemon juice, and cinnamon syrup. Shake to combine, then strain into a collins glass filled with fresh ice. Garnish with apple slices and a cinnamon stick.

In true Doris form, my favorite star is no-nonsense and driven when it comes to protecting the interests of her friends and co-workers. Sure, they make cute pajamas, but there’s nothing cute about the mistreatment they’ve suffered at the hands of management. This is a frothy, stylish confection of a movie, yet it still serves as a reminder that you can’t have the top without the bottom. Cheers!

Classic Films · Musicals

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes

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Image: Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, 1953

There’s been a lot of Marilyn Monroe chatter this summer in honor of the star’s 100th birthday, and while I was lucky enough to celebrate her at my local theater with a screening of The Misfits, this week I want to highlight one of her most joyous movies, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (Disc/Download). Between Marilyn’s iconic musical numbers and the dancing muscle-bound men, I can’t remember when I’ve had so much fun!

While Marilyn certainly makes a splash as showgirl Lorelei Lee, the part might not have worked nearly as well without the chemistry between her and costar Jane Russell. They are two singing, dancing, former “little girls from Little Rock” with very different tastes in men. When Lorelei hooks a millionaire’s son, the two set off on a pre-wedding cruise to Paris, initially unaware that they’re being watched by the millionaire’s private eye. Lorelei schemes to land an even bigger fish with even more diamonds at his disposal, while gal pal Dorothy enjoys a buffet of hot men. Although Dorothy’s official job is chaperone, she astutely points out: “Nobody chaperones the chaperone.” Pretty soon she’s flirting with her buff Olympian shipmates and catching the eye of the handsome PI. The movie doesn’t take itself too seriously, and you shouldn’t either. Just lean into the vibes, and you’ll be okay.

Recently, I came across a cocktail in the Mr. Boston bar book that has Marilyn written all over it. From its pink hue, to its showgirl roots, this fizzy beverage is like Lorelei Lee in a glass. While watching Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, I recommend drinking a Floradora cocktail.

Floradora

2 oz gin

1 oz lime juice

1/2 oz raspberry syrup

Ginger beer, to top

Dried lime, garnish

Add gin, lime juice, and raspberry syrup to a shaker with ice, and shake to chill. Strain into a highball glass filled with fresh ice. Top with ginger beer, and garnish with a dried lime.

Anyone who knows me knows I have a pet peeve about annoying child actors, but I’m happy to report that young George Winslow is like the Macaulay Culkin of the 1950s; I keep expecting him to order a plain cheese pizza for one! Ultimately, this movie is a reminder that when life gets hard, I simply need to put Gentlemen Prefer Blondes in my movie arsenal and let Marilyn make everything better. Whether covered in diamonds or a fabulous leopard cape, she always brings the light. Bottom’s up!

Classic Films · Dramas

The Long, Hot Summer

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Image: The Long, Hot Summer, 1958

I’ve been saving The Long, Hot Summer (Disc/Download) for a week when I absolutely cannot stand the Texas heat another second, and well folks, this is that week. Seasonal affective disorder has set in, and the only cure is Paul Newman’s abs.

Sharing similarities with movies like Picnic and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, The Long, Hot Summer features Newman in the role of Ben Quick, a falsely accused barn burner and mysterious drifter who lands in a small Mississippi town. He quickly makes an impression on the only daughter of the local bigwig, Clara Varner (played by Newman’s real-life love Joanne Woodward), soon ingratiating himself into her dysfunctional mess of a family. The chemistry between Newman and Woodward is electric, and even when she’s putting on a good show of hating this cocky ne’er-do-well, you can tell she’s also wildly attracted to him. And honestly, who wouldn’t be? The man performs the simple act of eating a watermelon, and I’m a puddle.

In Frenchman’s Bend, Mississippi, people spend most of the day either toiling in the fields or sitting on a veranda with an icy cold beverage in hand. I know where I’d be in this scenario, and I also know what drink I’d be holding. While watching The Long, Hot Summer, get hot and bothered with this Barn Burner cocktail.

Barn Burner

2 oz bourbon

1 oz lemon juice

1/2 oz hot honey syrup (1:1 ratio Mike’s Hot Honey® to water)

4 oz ginger beer

Dried lemon wheel (garnish)

Combine bourbon, lemon juice, and hot honey syrup in a shaker with ice. Shake to chill, then strain into a tumbler filled with fresh ice. Top with ginger beer and stir gently to combine. Garnish with a dried lemon wheel.

I normally loathe movies where everyone is sweaty, but when it’s Paul Newman standing shirtless outside the town schoolmarm’s bedroom, complimenting her reading glasses and promising to waltz with her under the moon, I don’t mind it one bit. Joanne was smart to lock that down when she did. Cheers!

Classic Films

A Kiss Before Dying

LizLocke2 Comments
Image: A Kiss Before Dying, 1956

If my beloved A Summer Place had taken a very different turn in the third act, it might have resulted in a version of this week’s Technicolor noir, A Kiss Before Dying (Disc/Download). I’m trading the windswept beaches of Pine Island for the desert vistas of Tucson to see what happens when a girl really gets in “trouble”.

Dropping us right into the melodrama, the film opens with a college student (Robert Wagner) who’s just found out his girlfriend (Joanne Woodward) is pregnant, and he is not happy about it. He promises to marry her, but secretly, he’s also checking out poison books from the library and skulking around the chemistry department. When she refuses to take the poisoned pills he gives her, he lures her to a rooftop on their wedding day. In a flash, the girlfriend goes splat, and the murderer coolly walks away. The rest of the movie is a cat-and-mouse game wherein the girlfriend’s sister starts asking questions, never realizing the man she’s begun dating is the same man who pushed her sister off a roof and made it look like a suicide. Robert Wagner is extremely good at playing a sociopath—someone akin to a charming conman from a Patricia Highsmith novel.  Except he’s no Ripley; the audience feels no sympathy for this guy.

My favorite scene in the movie occurs in the historic Pago Pago Lounge, a Tucson Tiki bar opened in 1947. I’ve seen pictures in various books, but it’s extra exciting to see it in a Hollywood production. I’m not sure what the characters have in their glasses, but I know I’ll be sipping on the bar’s eponymous drink, the Pago Pago Punch.

Pago Pago Punch

2 oz orange juice

1 ½ oz lime juice

1 ½ oz grapefruit juice

1 ½ oz honey syrup (1:1 ratio honey to water)

2 oz dark Jamaican rum

2 dashes angostura bitters

Place all ingredients in a shaker filled with plenty of crushed ice. Shake to chill, then pour entire contents unstrained into a pilsner glass. Garnish with a dried orange and swizzle stick.

Tiki bars are the perfect place to discuss murder because they usually involve dim lighting, soft music, and liquor to loosen your inhibitions. It makes sense they’d pop up in so many film noirs, and it’s always a pleasure to see these architectural touchstones of the Tiki movement come alive onscreen. A Kiss Before Dying invites us to escape into a world where bright Technicolor hides sinister plots, and the only safe place is next to a tropical fish tank, hunched over a cocktail. Cheers!

Action/Adventure/Heist · Classic Films

Hell’s Angels

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Image: Hell’s Angels, 1930

If you’ve seen Martin Scorsese’s 2004 Howard Hughes biopic The Aviator, then you’re likely somewhat familiar with this week’s pick, Hell’s Angels (Disc/Download). As a fun experiment, I decided to watch them both back-to-back, to see whether the backstage drama depicted in The Aviator resulted in a Hughes film that stands the test of time. Happily, or rather, unhappily for reasons we’ll get to later, I’m here to report it does.

The film begins with three college friends: German Karl, and two English brothers, Roy and Monte Rutledge. They think they’ve all got more carefree Oxford days ahead of them, but what none of them realize is that they’ll soon be fighting on opposite sides, both in World War I and in pursuit of the affections of a fickle young woman: a braless, flawless Jean Harlow. Roy and Monte both think they have a shot with her, but she’s only interested in having fun while she’s still alive to have it (a statement that would prove to be horribly prescient given the actress’s death from kidney failure at the age of twenty-six). Roy becomes disillusioned with love while Monte becomes disillusioned with military service, realizing too late he and his fellow fighter pilots are merely pawns for politicians and privateers. He wonders why he and his brother are putting their lives on the line in the night patrol when the people sending them to the battlefield are home safe in their beds. It’s in this skepticism of war that the movie stays current, nearly a hundred years later. I’d imagine there are a lot of military personnel and their loved ones asking this very same question right now.

I’ve been wanting to feature the Jean Harlow cocktail on Cinema Sips for a while, and Hell’s Angels is the perfect pairing because in this breakout role, Jean likes liquor, she likes men, and she’s not afraid to declare it. While watching Hell’s Angels, I recommend slipping into something more comfortable to enjoy the classic Jean Harlow cocktail.

Jean Harlow

1 ½ oz light white rum

1 ½ oz red sweet vermouth

1 dash orange bitters

Orange twist

Combine rum, vermouth, and bitters in a shaker with ice. Stir to chill, then strain into a coupe glass. Express the oils from the orange twist over the glass, then rest on the side.

Even if you think a war flick is not for you, Hell’s Angels is worth watching for its technical achievements alone. A silent film that had to be reshot for sound, it also mixes black & white footage with scenes in Multicolor processing, plus tinted frames. Not to mention the incredible (and dangerous) aerial stunts that took the lives of several pilots, and all those fluffy, precious clouds. This is a historical record of what was newly possible in cinema in the late-1920s/early-1930s, and also of what happens when one crazy guy just keeps throwing money at the problem. Cheers!

Classic Films · Dramas

Picnic

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Image: Picnic, 1955

In my professional opinion, summertime calls for fruity cocktails and shirtless classic film heartthrobs. This week’s film Picnic (Disc/Download) is full of hot people who can’t handle their passion or their liquor, and I think of it as a precursor to my other favorite movie in this hyper-specific genre, Splendor in the Grass. William Inge has always been the king of summer lust.

On first glance, the town in this movie gives me goosebumps because it looks so similar to where I spent my summers in rural Ohio. The actual location is Kansas, but it could be any Midwestern town where houses come with a big backyard, a nosy old woman or two, and a wholesome charm that makes you feel safe enough to ride a bike through the streets with no adult supervision. In Picnic, this wholesomeness contrasts with the dangerous new energy introduced by a handsome drifter (William Holden). He catches the eye of his old chum’s girlfriend (Kim Novak), and works an unmarried, old-maid school teacher (Rosalind Russell) into a drunken lather. Holden and Novak have amazing chemistry, and it makes sense why they’d both throw their lives down the drain for a chance at passion: a life without it would be no life at all.

The movie gets its title from the town’s Labor Day picnic, and what’s a picnic without a giant wall of watermelon?

This cocktail is summer in a glass, and it’s the perfect choice to cool you off when William Holden starts looking too damn hot. While watching Picnic, I recommend drinking this Watermelon Cosmo. 

Watermelon Cosmo

½ cup fresh watermelon juice

2 oz vodka

¾ oz Cointreau

½ oz lime juice

Mint sprig, fresh watermelon (garnish)

Pulse seedless watermelon cubes in a blender until you have about a cup. Strain through a fine mesh sieve, and put ½ cup strained juice in a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Add vodka, Cointreau, and lime juice. Shake until chilled, then strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a cube of fresh watermelon and a sprig of mint.

Picnic is a film that demands to be seen on the big screen, and until I get the opportunity to experience its full CinemaScope brilliance, the living room will simply have to do. No bugs, plenty of cocktails, and no chance of sunburn—my favorite kind of picnic. Cheers!

Classic Films · Comedies

Operation Petticoat

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Image: Operation Petticoat, 1959

What’s better than being trapped on a submarine with Cary Grant and Tony Curtis in the middle of the Pacific Ocean? Being trapped on a pink submarine with Cary Grant and Tony Curtis in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. This week, Blake Edwards makes military service look downright enjoyable in the 1959 romp, Operation Petticoat (Disc/Download).

We all have our favorite iterations of Cary Grant, but to me, the actor is at his best while playing a grumpy hero who is awkward around women. It’s not that he doesn’t know what to do with a woman; it’s that he doesn’t know what to do with a woman in this particular situation. It’s fun to see Cary try to squeeze past buxom actresses in the narrow, cramped hallways of a submarine, just as it’s fun to watch them wreak havoc on his calm, orderly operation. This navy commander simply wants to get through the South Pacific in one piece, but to do it, he needs every bra, girdle, and can of pink paint he can find. He also needs a man who knows how to get things, and since Morgan Freeman was unavailable, he’s stuck with playboy/petty thief Tony Curtis in dress whites.

When the crew runs out of time to cover their pink paint job with boring old grey, they act horribly embarrassed, but I think it’s fantastic. Why shouldn’t they have the prettiest sub in the fleet? While watching Operation Petticoat, I recommend drinking this boozy version of a “Pink Drink”, the Sea Tiger.

Sea Tiger

1 oz fresh lime juice

1 oz unsweetened coconut cream

2 oz pineapple juice

1 oz dragon fruit syrup

3 oz gold Puerto Rican rum

1 oz PAMA pomegranate liqueur

8 oz crushed ice

Combine all ingredients in a blender. Blend for five to ten seconds, then pour into a Tiki mug or glass. Garnish with a flower.

Something I love about this movie is how the female characters bring this submarine to life. Sure, it’s fun to watch Tony Curtis foil Cary Grant’s plans for a professional, by-the-book military operation, but it’s even more entertaining to watch a gaggle of pretty nurses send him into a tizzy. Turns out, pink really is his color. Cheers!