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.
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!
Cinema Sips 