Category: Musicals

Classic Films · Musicals

Pal Joey

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Image credit: Pal Joey, 1957

I’ve never been a fan of musical theater, so you’ll have to forgive me for being late to the Rogers & Hart party. It wasn’t until I watched Richard Linklater’s Blue Moon that I realized how many of my favorite tunes were penned by this legendary songwriting duo. In this week’s film Pal Joey (Disc/Download), we get to watch them performed by three Classic Hollywood stars at peak hotness: Frank Sinatra, Kim Novak, and Rita Hayworth.

If you enjoy showbiz musicals, then you’ll definitely enjoy this one about a scheming singer (Sinatra) who romances a wealthy widow (Hayworth) to build his dream nightclub, all while secretly falling in love with his chorus girl neighbor (Novak). Novak appears aloof before lighting up the screen in numbers like “My Funny Valentine”, while Hayworth is a haughty firecracker from start to finish. She’s supposed to be the villain in this love triangle, but I can’t help but respect the former stripper who has landed the role of respectable Nob Hill society woman, and isn’t eager to give it up. Sure, she dangles the nightclub “Chez Joey” over Sinatra’s head to get him into her bed, but one gets the sense she’s spent plenty of time being the powerless one in a relationship and enjoys having the tables turned. Sinatra’s Joey could easily come off as a spineless louse, but he’s so charismatic in these musical numbers, and in the way he teaches his dog to dunk a bagel in coffee (not good for the dog, but still quite cute), that I’m instantly charmed. I want Joey to be my pal by the end.

Much of the movie takes place in a nightclub that references San Francisco’s bygone red-light district, dubbed The Barbary Coast. I’ve been wanting to try this Prohibition-Era cocktail of the same name for a while, so let’s give it a shake. While watching Pal Joey, I recommend drinking a Barbary Coast.

Barbary Coast

1 oz scotch

½ oz gin

¾ oz white crème de cacao

¾ oz heavy cream

Grated nutmeg (garnish)

Shake liquid ingredients with ice, then strain into a chilled Nick & Nora glass. Dust with grated nutmeg.

I’ve got a trip to San Francisco coming up this summer, and now Pal Joey has me even more excited to take a cable car up those hills! I’ll be humming Rogers & Hart’s “Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered”, next to my funny valentine. Cheers!

Classic Films · Musicals

The Bamboo Blonde

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Image credit: The Bamboo Blonde, 1946

I’ve been looking for an excuse to put a terrific cocktail discovered in The Home Bar Guide to Tropical Cocktails on Cinema Sips, and a recent selection by the 2026 Turner Classic Movies Festival turned me on to the perfect pairing. Had I been able to attend the festival in person, The Bamboo Blonde (Disc/Download) would have definitely been on my watch list. But thanks to this drink, I may have had an even better experience at home!

I can always rely on the programmers at TCM to steer me toward delightful movies that don’t always get a lot of attention, and The Bamboo Blonde is the perfect example. Clocking in at just over an hour long, this film features a fun little romance between a nightclub singer (Frances Langford), and a secretly wealthy WWII bomber pilot (Ralph Edwards). In a lot of ways, it reminds me of the kind of picture Doris Day frequently made, where a (singing) woman falls in love with a man hiding his true identity from her. Langford assumes Edwards is merely a brave pilot she connected with one magical night in New York, but when she discovers he comes from a wealthy Bucks Co. family, she feels like she’ll never be good enough for him. She sabotages their relationship by performing a risqué number for the country club set, not realizing there’s nothing she could do to turn him off. He’s as smitten with the chanteuse as he is with the pin-up version painted on the side of his plane.

The Bamboo Blonde gets her stage name thanks to a bunch of horny sailors who could double as Mad Men. They come up with a catchy moniker for their new mascot, and soon the owner of her nightclub is selling every piece of branded crap he can stamp “Bamboo Blonde” onto. Let’s give her a toast with this Bamboo Splitter cocktail (from The Home Bar Guide to Tropical Cocktails).

Bamboo Splitter

1 ½ oz gin

1 oz honey syrup

½ oz Yellow Chartreuse

1 oz white grapefruit juice

3 muddled mint leaves

1 oz freshly squeezed lemon juice

Extra mint (garnish)

Muddle mint leaves in the bottom of a shaker with gin, honey syrup, Yellow Chartreuse, grapefruit and lemon juices. Add ice and shake to combine. Fill a lowball glass with fresh crushed ice, then strain drink into prepared glass. Garnish with fresh mint.

I’ll be sharing one or two more films I watched during my at-home TCM Fest this month, and though I had a fair bit of FOMO from seeing all my friends posting from Hollywood, it was admittedly great to have cocktails, food, and my dog with me through all these movies. Plus, no lines! If, like me, you’re on a budget, taking a weekend at home to watch a curated list of films is never a bad idea. Cheers!

Classic Films · Musicals

Carmen Jones

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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 · 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 · Musicals

Cabaret

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Image: Cabaret, 1972

Every June, July, and August, The Paramount Theatre in Austin, TX does three months of revival programming and cranks their air conditioning down. Waaaaaaay down. Just like a rouged Joel Grey and his beautiful orchestra, my Summer Classic Film Series went out on a high note with 1972’s Cabaret (Disc/Download). A perfect finale to a season of stellar cinema, this musical masterpiece mirrors the joy and inclusivity of my favorite movie theater, as well as the frighting world outside its doors.

I’m a big fan of Bob Fosse as film director, and his trademark elements of sexy dance numbers, quick editing, and dreamy cinematography are a perfect match for this tale of the final hedonistic days of the Weimar Republic. Part of what makes Cabaret so emotionally engaging is that the audience understands what’s coming, even when the characters don’t. We know the slow creep of fascism is headed for Berlin, just as we know the days of public and private freedoms are numbered. Cabaret is proof that there have always been people who don’t conform to the traditional ideas of gender and sexuality, there have always been artists and intellectuals who push boundaries, and they will continue to exist, no matter how hard the intolerant try to erase them.

In the care of Fosse, this film often feels like a hallucination. Joel Grey floats through Berlin’s Kit Kat Klub like a nimble sprite welcoming us to the land of “anything goes”. Liza Minnelli as Sally Bowles sings her heart out, staring off into her own version of Oz, allowing the audience to feel like part of this hopeful dream. Let’s toast this magical place with a cocktail similar to one I enjoyed at the Paramount, the Poet’s Dream.

Poet’s Dream

1 oz Gin

1 oz Dry Vermouth

½ oz Bénédictine

2 dashes Orange Bitters

Lemon twist

Combine gin, vermouth, Bénédictine, and bitters in a shaker with ice. Stir to chill, then strain into a Nick & Nora glass. Garnish with a lemon twist.

Like its twenty-first century audience, the characters of Cabaret all seem to be hurtling toward a violent, uncertain end. We don’t know what will become of Sally, the Master of Ceremonies, and the Kit Kat Klub. We don’t know if Brian will be safe in England once the bombing starts. We don’t know if Fritz and Natalia will be sent to a concentration camp. And maybe that’s why Cabaret feels like such an essential film for these times. It’s a rallying cry to live it up while we can because nobody knows what the future holds. Cheers!

Musicals

Paradise, Hawaiian Style

LizLocke2 Comments
Image Credit: Paradise, Hawaiian Style 1966

In Jeff “Beachbum” Berry’s Tiki tome Sippin’ Safari, the author makes this astute observation: “The worse things get historically, the better things get for Tiki.” I wholeheartedly agree, which is perhaps why I’m planning to attend my first Tiki conference in a few weeks, the Arizona Tiki Oasis. Democracy may be crumbling, the Constitution may have been lit on fire (along with my 401K), but for four days, I get to escape into a mid-century modern hotel with a rum cocktail and a caftan.  The best Tiki bars offer an immersive experience, as do the films I plan on featuring this month. First up: Paradise, Hawaiian Style (Disc/Download).

While not quite as memorable as Blue Hawaii, Elvis’s third cinematic trip to the islands offers a fun, picture-postcard version of Hawaii. Playing a Lothario helicopter pilot, he shuttles businessmen and tourists from island to island along with his buddy and sometimes the buddy’s precocious child (played by the sassy, charming Donna Butterworth). Instead of a girl in every port, Elvis has a girl behind the front desk of every hotel. Eagle-eyed viewers may recognize the now defunct Coco Palms resort from Blue Hawaii featured once again, but there are also some great shots of the bygone Hanalei Plantation resort and its mountain funicular. Imagine, taking a ride straight into the bar! There’s not much happening here in terms of plot, but that’s okay. Sometimes, I just want to see cute 1960s bikinis and pretty scenery. Watching Elvis try to land a helicopter full of dogs is an added bonus.

I tried Sippin’ Safari’s recipe for the Hanalei Plantation’s House Mix, for which you’ll need the following:

4 oz Pineapple Juice

4 oz Guava Nectar

4 oz Orange Juice

4 oz Orgeat

1 oz Simple Syrup

1 oz Passion Fruit Juice

12 oz Lemon Juice

This makes a quart, which I’ve bottled for future cocktails. But while watching Paradise, Hawaiian Style, I recommend drinking this Bali Hai cocktail.

Bali Hai

1 oz White Puerto Rican Rum

2 oz Hanalei House Mix

2 oz Champagne

Combine rum and Hanalei House Mix in a shaker filled 2/3 with ice. Shake to chill, then pour entire contents into a glass. Top with champagne and garnish with a pineapple chunk and flower*.

*I use these washable faux orchids that are so pretty and fun!

Also a great cocktail to enjoy if you’re watching South Pacific, this drink will transport you to Kauai and give new meaning to the movie’s best line: “Are you out of your pineapple pickin’ mind?!” Frankly, you’d have to be to not enjoy Tiki culture. It’s storytelling in cocktail form, and even when the plot is thin, the vibes are everything. Cheers!

Classic Films · Musicals

Top Hat

LizLocke1 Comment
Image credit: Top Hat, 1935

While staring at the refrigerator on a particularly lazy afternoon, I realized I’d somehow acquired all the ingredients for a classic Venetian cocktail, the Sgroppino, without even realizing it. And what’s a girl to do when she’s in the mood to pop some lemon sorbetto into a glass of prosecco? Put on the Fred Astaire/Ginger Rogers classic Top Hat (Disc/Download)!

As anyone who has seen this movie can attest, the “Venice” in Top Hat looks about as authentic as the It’s a Small World attraction at Disney World. I half expect a Mary Blair goat to pop out during one of the dance numbers. But nevertheless, this 1930s screwball musical comedy is everything I love about this period in American cinema: gorgeous gowns, lovely Irving Berlin songs, elegant set designs, and a twisty-turny plot that’s equal parts absurd and charming. The movie starts off on a realistic note (Fred Astaire’s tap dancing is keeping Ginger awake in the hotel room below, and who among us hasn’t been in this situation at 3am??), and from there it devolves into a wild case of mistaken identity, followed by a spur-of-the-moment jaunt from London to Venice. There’s a flamboyant fashion designer chasing after Ginger, a salty butler orchestrating things behind the scenes like a Machiavellian Mr. Belvedere, and my favorite side character of all, the put-upon Madge, who just wants to drink a Horse’s Neck on the Lido in peace.

Speaking of cocktails, I’m mixing up something as frothy as Ginger’s feather gown (the one that apparently caused a great deal of headaches during production and earned her the nickname “Feathers” from thereafter). It’s gorgeous and wildly impractical, so naturally I love it. Let’s pretend we’re in this magical version of Venice with a cocktail that’ll leave you feeling like Fred Astaire just spun you around over the canal. While watching Top Hat, I recommend drinking a Sgroppino.

Sgroppino

1 Scoop of Lemon Sorbetto

4 oz Prosecco

1 oz Limoncello

¾ oz Vodka

Lemon Slice (Garnish)

Combine sorbetto, prosecco, limoncello, and vodka in a small bowl, whisking to combine. Pour into a glass, and garnish with a slice of lemon.

This drink gets its name from the Italian word for “loosening a knot”, and there are always a lot of knots in a screwball comedy. Thankfully, just as we know the cocktail will leave us feeling warm and happy, we know Fred and Ginger will do the same. Cheers!

Classic Films · Foreign · Musicals

The Young Girls of Rochefort

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Image credit: The Young Girls of Rochefort, 1967

If you need a little cinema help to fight the grey skies of winter, then you’ll definitely want to check out this week’s pick, the 1967 French musical The Young Girls of Rochefort (Disc/Download). With a color palette straight out of my fantasies (so much pink!!!!!), fun choreography, and even the inclusion of classic Hollywood musical star Gene Kelly, this confection of a movie will have you longing for French fries, cocktails, and candy-colored days in France.

Starring real-life sisters Catherine Deneuve and Françoise Dorléac as singing twins Delphine and Solange, Jacques Demy’s follow-up to The Umbrellas of Cherbourg is the perfect antidote to that bittersweet tragedy. These girls are fun, carefree, and want nothing more than to go to Paris, fall in love, and pursue their artistic ambitions. Delphine wants to be a dancer, Solange a composer, and unfortunately Rochefort is just too small of a pond. They can’t spend all their days in caftans, gazing out the windows of their pink apartment, lamenting their boredom.  They’ve got to put on matching hats and dresses and get out into the big, bright world! Luckily, Gene Kelly arrives, ready to make Solange’s dreams come true, while Delphine pines for a painter she’s never actually met. Truthfully, this film is full of near misses, right up to the very end. It keeps me yearning for that happy ending, almost as much as I yearn for their wardrobes. And boy, do I yearn.

One of the highlights of this movie, for me, is the twins’ mother’s French fry stand. It sits in the center of the town square, designed with gorgeous Mid-Century Modern details, and by all appearances seems to serve nothing but French fries, coffee, and cocktails. If someone gave me an unlimited amount of money and told me to go make whatever I wanted in the world, I would build an exact replica of this French fry stand. My city would cheer, and I’d be a hero. Unfortunately, I do not have an unlimited budget, so I’ll have to settle for frozen fries and this Gemini Gimlet in my “nice, but not Young Girls of Rochefort Girls nice” Mid-Century Modern home.

Gemini Gimlet

2 oz Pink Gin

1 oz Elderflower Liqueur

½ oz Lime Juice

½ oz Simple Syrup

Lemon Twist

Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake until chilled, then strain into a coupe glass. Garnish with a twist of lemon.

You could certainly make this drink with your favorite clear gin, but I think Beefeater’s Pink Strawberry gin gives it a little more of a Demy flair. I could absolutely picture Delphine sipping one of these at an outdoor table while she fends off the advances of traveling carnies and speculates about the town serial killer. Besides, if you’re the kind of person who dreams, wouldn’t you rather do it in color? Cheers!

Classic Films · Holiday Films · Musicals

The Umbrellas of Cherbourg

LizLocke2 Comments
Image credit: The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, 1964

During a recent conversation with a friend, the subject of 1960s Christmas movies came up. Trying to list my favorites, I quickly hit a wall. Seems the 1940s and the 1990s pretty much cornered the market on holiday flicks. Maybe that’s why I wrote such a lengthy Christmas section into my novel Follow the Sun—I wanted to create a stylish world of silver tinsel trees, Shiny Brite ornaments, and elaborate teased updos. A world of Henry Mancini albums on the hi-fi, fondue on the buffet table, and structured Saint Laurent evening gowns. Like my novel, Jacques Demy’s The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (Disc/Download) only has a brief stopover at Christmas, but it’s memorable enough for me to consider this a holiday film. And not just any holiday film, but the most glamorous one in existence.

Presented in operatic form, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg has a straightforward (albeit tragic) plot. Geneviève (Catherine Deneuve) and Guy (Nino Castelnuovo) are young, gorgeous, and madly in love. They consummate the relationship shortly before Guy leaves for war, and although Geneviève promises she’ll wait for him, her meddling mother forces her to doubt he’s ever coming back. Pregnant and alone, she marries someone else, leaving the father of her child heartbroken upon his return. Eventually, he moves on too, and years later they share a sad reunion under the backdrop of a snowy gas station. With stunning production design and more color than I’ve ever seen in a movie, Umbrellas manages to make a world papered in pink and orange damask impossibly sad and beautiful. As Catherine Deneueve trudges back to her car on that cold Christmas Eve, your heart just breaks for her. This is the definition of a Blue Christmas.

I covered this movie years ago for Moviejawn with a Crème de Violette cocktail, however this was before Empress 1908 gin came into my life. Distilled with butterfly pea flower, this gin has lately given rise to many colorful cocktail experiments. One of my favorite gin botanicals is cinnamon, so I’ll be using it for a holiday twist on a French ’75. While watching The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, I recommend drinking a Cinnamon ‘75*.

Cinnamon ‘75

1 ½ oz Empress 1908 Gin

¾ oz Lemon Juice

½ oz Cinnamon Syrup

1 tsp. Maple Syrup

Champagne, to top

Cinnamon stick garnish

Combine gin, lemon juice, cinnamon syrup, and maple syrup in a shaker with ice. Shake until chilled, then strain into a coupe glass. Top with champagne, and garnish with a cinnamon stick.

*Recipe adapted from Empress Gin website

I like to think the characters of Follow the Sun would have seen this movie upon its release in 1964, and maybe Caroline, drawn to the emotional music score, would have returned more than once. Perhaps Daphne narrowly missed out on the Catherine Deneuve role because of her lackluster singing voice, and she still holds a grudge against Jacques Demy. Maybe it caused them to realize (as it caused me to realize) that the holidays might be painful as we think about those we’ve loved and lost, but nevertheless, there’s still beauty and glamour all around. Joyeux Noël!

Musicals

Bye Bye Birdie

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Image credit: Bye Bye Birdie, 1963

When the temperature becomes unbearable during the long slog of an Austin summer, look for me at The Paramount. I’m not sure how a historic theater manages to have the coldest air conditioning in the entire state of Texas, but there’s nothing better than shivering under that arctic blast as you enjoy a classic film under gilded crown molding. I recently had the pleasure of watching Ann-Margret flutter her arms and hair in front of that famous blue backdrop in Bye Bye Birdie (Disc/Download), and like the ad executives of Sterling Cooper, I quickly fell under the spell of this Technicolor teenage dream.

Inspired by Elvis’s draft into the US Military and the cultural fallout with teen girls across the nation, Bye Bye Birdie is a fun musical full of colorful swing dresses, Dick Van Dyke charm, and pastel princess phones. I could watch this with the sound off and be thoroughly entertained, which speaks to how well the visuals and choreography work together. Paul Lynde is perfect as the put-upon father and wisecracking businessman, always getting the biggest audience laughs with his trademark smirks. And while Elvis is not the person playing teen idol Conrad Birdie (I think we can all agree, it should have been Elvis), Ann-Margret distracts us from this travesty with her pink capri pants and magnetic enthusiasm. To put this in modern moviegoing terms, she is Barbie. Her boyfriend Hugo? He’s just Ken. Possibly, Allan…

Speaking of Hugo, I took inspiration from the popular Hugo Spritz for this week’s cocktail, transporting it from an Italian café to Sweet Apple, Ohio. Perfect for sipping during the Telephone Hour, while watching Bye Bye Birdie, I recommend drinking this Hummingbird Spritz.

Hummingbird Spritz

2 oz Brut Hard Cider

1 ½ oz St. Germain

¼ oz Mint Simple Syrup

2 oz Club Soda

Lemon Slice (dried)

Edible Glitter

Fill a stemmed glass with ice. Add cider, St. Germain, and mint simple syrup. Stir gently to combine, then add Club Soda. Top with a dried lemon slice and sprinkle a pinch of edible glitter.

This drink sparkles as brightly as Birdie’s gold jumpsuit and is extremely refreshing on a hot day (almost as refreshing as that Paramount air conditioning!). If you’re looking to put on a happy face during this never-ending heat wave, I can honestly, sincerely say this movie, and this drink, will do it. Cheers!