Tag: Cinema Sips

Classic Films · Dramas

The Great Gatsby (1974)

LizLockeLeave a comment
Image credit: The Great Gatsby, 1974

With summer officially here, it seems like a great time to revisit a classic story of wild parties, sweaty cocktails, sweatier people, and lightweight linen suits. The Great Gatsby (Disc/Download) has been adapted several times by Hollywood, but my favorite will always be the 1974 version. There’s something so soothing about the soft focus and pastel costumes that watching it is akin to having a lovely dream during an afternoon nap on a screened-in porch.

Starring Robert Redford as Jay Gatsby and Mia Farrow as his long lost love Daisy Buchanan, this adaptation is tonally more faithful to the F. Scott Fitzgerald novel than the more recent Baz Luhrmann cinematic extravaganza. Nevertheless, some disco-era touches manage to sneak in. The sequined head wraps, the dewy makeup, the frenetic, dancing crowds—Gatsby’s mansion may as well have been a Studio 54 outpost. The cast is great, particularly Bruce Dern as Daisy’s philandering husband Tom Buchanan, and Sam Waterston in the role of gentle narrator Nick Carraway, but what this film will most be remembered for are the clothes. Featuring menswear designed by Ralph Lauren, The Great Gatsby ushered in a new era of preppy chic. The movie is long at two-and-a-half hours, but I’m convinced the filmmakers just wanted an excuse to throw another three-piece suit up on the screen. Really, I can’t blame them.

Speaking of linen suits, now seems like a great time to drink a quintessential summer cocktail consisting of gin, cucumbers, and elderflower liqueur. Bright and fresh, this will have you dancing the Charleston in no time. While watching The Great Gatsby (1974), I recommend drinking a White Linen cocktail.

White Linen

2oz Gin

¾ oz St. Germain Elderflower Liqueur

1 oz Lime Juice

2-3 slices cucumber, plus more for garnish

2 oz Soda water

Muddle cucumber at the bottom of a shaker with gin, elderflower liqueur, and lime juice. Add ice, and shake to chill. Double strain into a glass filled with fresh ice, and top with soda water. Garnish with fresh cucumber.

Honestly, the true MVP of this movie is the ice bucket. Because there was no central air conditioning in the 1920s, the only relief for the wealthy elite was a cold cocktail. Ice was essential then, and it still is today. It always amazes me when I show up to a party and the host has all the mixers out, but no ice! If you want to be a helpful old sport like Nick Carraway, make sure to stop for a bag of ice before arriving at your next summer soirée; your fellow partygoers will be paralyzed with happiness. Cheers!

Children's · Classic Films

Pollyanna

LizLockeLeave a comment
Image credit: Pollyanna, 1960

Sometimes, it can be challenging to play the “glad game”. I’ve been thinking about this recently as I approach the one-year anniversary of my novel Follow the Sun being published. I look back on those photos of my launch party and my smiling face as I finally saw my book on a shelf, and I want to go back in time and tell this person: enjoy it because this might be the only day you’ll feel like you’re “enough”. As I wrestle with my thoughts about a book that never really found its audience, and contemplate getting back on the roller coaster again, I think about what Richard Egan says in this week’s pick Pollyanna (Disc/Download): “What this girl really needs is a good shot in the arm of hope.”

In Disney’s first venture into live-action cinema, Hayley Mills plays the perpetually sunny orphan Pollyanna, who is sent to live with her rich spinster aunt Polly. In a town full of jaded, disgruntled people, this little girl is a bright light of positivity. She convinces Agnes Moorehead that it’s far too early to be picking out a coffin, she shows Adolphe Menjou that his knowledge of refracted light is actually really cool, and she helps Jane Wyman find a second chance at love with Richard Egan. With a cast like this, and a heavy dose of melodramatic music, I’m a little shocked this film was not directed by Douglas Sirk. It feels very Sirk, with a dash of Frank Capra. Just like George Bailey, Pollyanna will realize that when the chips are down, and her little white-stocking’d legs are paralyzed after a bad fall off the roof, it’s her community who’s really there for her. They are what she can be glad about, just like I’m glad for mine.

One thing I can say about Harrington (sorry, “Gladtown”) is that the residents really like their ice cream. I didn’t even know ice cream was such a thing at the turn of the century, let alone variations like Sorbet and Frappes! This week, let’s enjoy this sweet pink riff on the Strawberry Frappe, a Ladies Aid.

Ladies Aid

2 oz Beefeater Pink Gin

1 scoop Vanilla Ice Cream

3/4 oz Lemon Juice

1/4 cup Milk

3-4 Strawberries, sliced

3/4 cup crushed ice

Strawberry (garnish)

Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Pour into a glass with one large ice cube, and garnish with fresh strawberry.

I am all too aware of how many wonderful manuscripts never make it out of an agent’s slush pile, and therefore I’ll always be glad mine miraculously made it through the gauntlet of luck, timing, and craft to land with a major publisher who put so much care into the editorial and design process (not to mention the stellar audiobook version, which totally made me cry happy tears!!!). I am also glad that the wonderful people who did read Follow the Sun have reached out with their positive reactions and let me know my work meant something to them. I’m glad I still have this blog, which brings me so much joy and stress-relief week after week. I’m glad that by publishing this book, I saw my Cinema Sips community grow even more, because as it turns out, people who like to read also like movies and cocktails. I’m glad I have people in my life encouraging me to try, try again. Maybe, just maybe, I’m playing the game after all. Cheers!

Dramas

Challengers

LizLocke3 Comments
Image credit: Challengers, 2024

I’ve seen a lot of articles lately about the death of the Hollywood blockbuster, and why people aren’t going to the movies anymore. There are several factors at play (unruly audiences/zero rule enforcement, lack of movies that people actually want to see, bad marketing, short theatrical windows, outrageous ticket and concession prices, etc., etc.), but allow me to take you on a little journey of how I came to finally watch this week’s Cinema Sips pick, Challengers (Download), and what it says about our current cinema landscape.

For a little backstory, over the past four weeks, I saw six movies in the theater. Three were classics playing at revival cinemas, but nevertheless, May was a banner month for new releases. Challengers has long been on my watch list because I know I can count on director Luca Guadagnino to deliver gorgeous actors on the cusp of stardom, a lot of sexual tension, beautiful cinematography, and a fantastic score/soundtrack. However, I had to wait a few weeks after release day because there were so many other great movies out at the same time, and my husband didn’t want to watch what he called, “two baby birds fighting over a worm.” 🙄 So our date night involved The Fall Guy, which was also great, and I have zero regrets. But at long last, one Sunday afternoon when I’d finally set aside two precious hours to watch this sexy tennis drama solo, I found myself at the local multiplex. I stepped up to the counter, requested a ticket for Challengers, only to realize… I had the wrong time. Or the wrong theater. I’m still not sure. Walking back to the hot car, I was beyond disappointed. I felt like the crowded spring release schedule had finally beaten me. Until I realized… I can rent this on a streaming app! All was not lost.

So in the end, what was my Challengers experience like? I sat in my silent, air-conditioned house, where nobody was on their cell phone, and nobody felt the need to talk to their seatmate at full volume about what they were having for dinner later. I paused the movie if I had to go to the bathroom. I saved $20 on popcorn and had a lovely cheese plate instead. I made a refreshing cocktail to sip while I watched attractive people take off more and more of their clothes and get sweatier as their game(s) went on. I let the Trent Reznor/Atticus Ross score wash over me, knowing I’ll probably add the vinyl release to my soundtrack collection one day. I contemplated center-parting my hair like Zendaya. I thought about all the little things left unsaid in this movie, and how refreshing it was to be trusted to fill in the blanks. I felt happy somebody finally made something that was not a reboot or a prequel or part of a franchise. I felt grateful for the option of streaming because while I love seeing things in the theater, and I plan to keep showing up for the movies that mean something to me, sometimes life gets in the way. And sometimes, you just really want to watch it with a cocktail.

Speaking of, Luca Guadagnino films always lend themselves to cocktail experimentation (like the Lime Daiquiri in A Bigger Splash or the Peach Collins in Call Me By Your Name), and Challengers is no exception. I’ve been wanting to use honeydew in something for a while, and this movie gave me a great excuse. While watching Challengers, I recommend drinking a Love-All. Cheers!

Love-All

1 1/2 oz Reposado Tequila

1 oz Honey Syrup (1:1 ratio honey to water)

1 oz Lime Juice

6 Honeydew Melon Balls (divided)

3 oz Prosecco

Muddle three melon balls in the bottom of a shaker with lime juice and honey syrup. Add tequila and ice, and shake to chill. Strain into a glass with fresh ice, and top with prosecco. Garnish with more melon balls.

Classic Films · Comedies

What a Way to Go!

LizLockeLeave a comment
Image credit: What a Way to Go!

It’s so comforting when you find an instant-favorite classic film because it proves that no matter how many things you’ve seen, there will always be gems waiting to be discovered. Such was the feeling I got from watching the 1964 Shirley MacLaine dark comedy What a Way to Go! (Disc/Download), a movie that had me asking: where has this been all my life??? If you long to live in a pink world and watch nothing but “Lush Budgett” productions, this is the flick for you.

Starring MacLaine as a widow four-times over, and Dick Van Dyke, Paul Newman, Robert Mitchum, and Gene Kelly as the husbands who find success as well as comically tragic deaths after falling for her, What a Way to Go! is a perfect illustration of the old phrase, “Behind every great man is an even better woman.” All Louisa wants is a simple life in the country with a man who will put their relationship first. Unfortunately, she happens to have great ideas that spur these paupers into action, turning them all into selfish, foolhardy multi-millionaires. Her bank account grows with each reading of the will, until she’s left distraught and alone with nothing but a closet full of Edith Head gowns and a garish pink mansion to keep her company. And by garish, I of course mean ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS. The cast is outrageously perfect, from the sweet Van Dyke, to Newman playing a sexy bearded artist, to Mitchum as the charming CEO with a fabulous private jet, to a tap-dancing Gene Kelly. Frankly, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a finer collection of male specimens. I hope Shirley had as great a time making this one as I did watching it!

If you want an excuse to drink a pink cocktail, and you’ve seen both Barbie and Barb and Star approximately 1,000,000 times already, then here’s another one to add to the rosé oeuvre. Note: I’m using the seasonal Hendrick’s Flora Adora in this, which has distinct notes of rosewater. If using regular gin and you want that flavor, add a few drops into the shaker. While watching What a Way to Go!, I recommend drinking this Flaming Lips cocktail.

Flaming Lips

1 ½ oz Hendrick’s Flora Adora Gin

1 oz Raspberry Orange (or Blood Orange) juice

½ oz Orange Liqueur

1 oz Lemon Juice

¾ oz Coconut Cream

2 oz Sparkling Rosé

Dried orange slice (garnish)

Combine gin, orange liqueur, orange juice, lemon juice, and coconut cream in a shaker with ice. Shake until chilled and blended, then double strain into a coupe glass. Top with Sparkling Rosé and garnish with a dried orange slice.

With all this talk of the cast, I haven’t even gotten to the best part of the movie: the costumes. With a budget fit for Hollywood royalty, Ms. Head obviously went nuts. Pink chinchilla coats! Backless dresses! Mod bikinis! Gowns dripping with diamonds! Louisa may have wanted a simple life, but I prefer her nuzzling Robert Mitchum in an oversized champagne coupe wearing nothing but an Elvira wig. This is pure cinema. This is: Lush Budgett. Cheers!

Dramas

Capote

LizLockeLeave a comment
Image credit: Capote, 2005

Truman Capote is having a moment. I’m sure he’d be loving all the fuss over Ryan Murphy’s splashy mini-series FEUD: Capote vs. The Swans, though he would probably have some hilarious, cutting critiques as well. One wonders if he would have preferred the small screen Capote played by Tom Hollander, or the big screen Capote played by Philip Seymour Hoffman. I certainly have my favorite, and it’s the one in this week’s pick Capote (Disc/Download).

A movie I didn’t fully appreciate when it came out in 2005, I’ve since revised my opinion after watching Richard Brooks’ 1967 gripping adaptation of Capote’s novel In Cold Blood. Also, I just really miss Philip Seymour Hoffman. As Joni Mitchell famously sang, “You don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone,” and boy is that true in the case of this once-in-a-generation actor. I look at the films I list as enduring favorites, and he’s often in the cast. Capote is the role that won him a much-deserved Oscar, in a year when the competition was particularly fierce (Heath Ledger in Brokeback Mountain fierce!). Hoffman masterfully captured the false bravado Capote showed to the world, with his witty bon mots and perpetually full martini glass, but also the private torture of always feeling like an outsider. The conflict between wanting fame and fortune while knowing it would come at the cost of his personal relationships, and perhaps his humanity. Certainly, his sobriety. Capote shows us the author was always playing a cat-and-mouse game, sometimes with himself, sometimes with the subjects of his “non-fiction novel”, and eventually it caught up with him. He gave the world what it craved, but at what cost?

Legend has it, Truman Capote’s favorite drink was a vodka screwdriver, dubbed his “orange drink”. Because this film focuses on the writing of In Cold Blood, let’s sub in traditional orange juice with blood orange juice, and round it out with a dash of Cointreau. While watching Capote, I recommend drinking this Bloody Screwdriver.

Bloody Screwdriver

2 oz Vodka

½ oz Cointreau

5 oz Blood Orange Juice

Dried Blood Orange Slice (garnish)

Combine vodka, Cointreau, and blood orange juice in a shaker with ice. Shake until chilled, then strain into a highball glass filled with fresh ice. Garnish with a dried blood orange slice.

I tend to enjoy films about writers because, well, I am one. It’s comforting to see some of my own struggles up on the screen. Capote gifts us with not one writer, but two, with the inclusion of Catherine Keener as Capote’s childhood friend and soon-to-be wildly famous author Harper Lee. I relate to her discomfort with the business of selling one’s work as much as I relate to Capote’s feelings of insecurity. He puts on a brave face at his readings, but the camera captures a slight tremble and deep breath before he takes the stage. Afterward, it’s all cocktails and confidence. But before, we’re not so different as you might think. Cheers!

Action/Adventure/Heist · Classic Films · Comedies

Pulp Fiction

LizLocke3 Comments
Image credit: Pulp Fiction, 1994

This week marks my official return to the Turner Classic Movies festival in Hollywood, and to say I’m beyond excited would be an understatement. Four days of sitting in a movie theater, phone turned off, notifications silenced, while watching classic films = my ideal vacation. Alas, because I’m incapable of turning down a Doris Day screening, I’ll miss the big opening night gala for Pulp Fiction (Disc/Download), a movie I guess we’re calling a classic now, which I guess in turn makes me also a classic.  If I can’t see it at the festival, the next best thing is watching at home with a cocktail.

I remember when Pulp Fiction was first released and everyone lost their minds over the triumphant return of Travolta, a twisting Uma Thurman, and a Royale with cheese. Quentin Tarantino’s script was hailed as a masterpiece, and the indie film scene was suddenly on fire. I still have mixed feelings about the film overall, but I can appreciate it for heralding in a new era of the auteur. Tarantino would go on to make (in my opinion) better films like Inglourious Basterds and Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood, but nevertheless, Pulp Fiction proved that his was a unique voice and we’d all better sit down and listen to whatever story he wanted to tell. This particular story meanders to a lot of places (a diner, drug dens, a cheesy Hollywood restaurant, a pawn shop dungeon, multiple bathrooms, etc.), but it all comes together by the end. That’s what I appreciate most about the movie—not the individual chapters, but how they fit together as a whole.

My favorite scene takes place at Jack Rabbit Slim’s, a restaurant populated by 1950s entertainer impersonators. John Travolta and Uma Thurman drink a milk shake, enter a dance contest, and trade some punchy dialogue over cigarettes and steak . Sure, Uma does cocaine in the bathroom, but it’s all fairly wholesome. While watching Pulp Fiction, I recommend drinking this Martin & Lewis Milk Punch (with a twist!)

Martin & Lewis Milk Punch (with a twist!)

1 oz Half-and-Half

1 oz Bourbon

½ oz Orange Liqueur

½ oz Honey Syrup (1:1 ration honey to water)

1/4 tsp Vanilla Extract

3-4 dashes Orange bitters

Pinch of Pumpkin Pie Spice (garnish)

Orange twist (garnish)

Combine Half-and-Half, Bourbon, Orange Liqueur, honey syrup, vanilla extract, and bitters in a shaker with ice. Shake vigorously until well chilled. Place a large ice sphere or cube in a glass and strain in the drink. Garnish with orange twist and a pinch of pumpkin pie spice.

This drink references a lot of things in the script (the “Five-dollar Shake”, the twist contest, Honey-bunny and Pumpkin), and the sweetness is almost ironic when you hold it up to the film’s major plot points. Maybe that’s why I like the Jack Rabbit Slim’s scene so much—it’s a nice rest stop on the road to depravity. Or, maybe I just like watching John Travolta shake those hips. Cheers!

Classic Films · Comedies

Please Don’t Eat the Daisies

LizLockeLeave a comment
Image credit: Please Don’t Eat the Daisies, 1960

In the wake of last week’s Ishtar revelation, I’ve been thinking more about professional criticism and its impact on the arts. I’m also two-thirds of the way through my Doris Day complete filmography watch, and happily, these two things converge with Doris’s follow-up film to Pillow Talk, Please Don’t Eat the Daisies (Disc/Download).

Starring David Niven as a New York theater critic and Doris Day as his long-suffering wife (boy does she suffer…), this film is part social satire and part retro HGTV makeover show. As Niv takes a slow trip on the “downalator” toward negativity and pithy quips in his column, Doris is left to raise their four rambunctious sons- one of whom she keeps in a literal cage (not that I blame her). She is also tasked with smoothing over disagreements between critic/playwrights, moving the household from the city to the suburbs, renovating a mansion that looks like a former residence of The Munsters, looking the other way when a floozy actress tries to seduce her husband, putting on a charity play for her new town, and doing it all while looking like Doris-freaking-Day. Perfectly tailored outfits, perfect hair, perfect makeup, and perfect hats. Always, the hats. When her husband admonishes her for calling herself a housewife, saying she’s so much more than that, she replies, “So is every other housewife.”  Even her dialogue is perfect. Part of me wishes she’d just leave the husband, leave the kids, and run off with the local non-binary veterinarian.

This is a great movie to watch with a cocktail because there are plenty of Sardi’s scenes, plenty of cocktail parties, and plenty of times when I want to throw a drink at David Niven. While watching Please Don’t Eat the Daisies, I recommend drinking this Gin Daisy.

Gin Daisy

2 oz Gin

¾ oz Cointreau

¾ oz Lemon Juice

¼ oz Grenadine

Splash of Soda Water

Lemon twist and fresh mint (garnish)

Combine gin, Cointreau, lemon juice, and grenadine in a shaker with ice. Shake until chilled, then strain into a glass filled with fresh ice. Top with a splash of soda water, and stir gently to combine. Garnish with a lemon twist, fresh mint, and a daisy (optional).

Eventually, Niv realizes he’s being an ass both in his column and in his personal life and goes crawling back home, where Doris is waiting with open arms. I will say, as much as I have my reservations about this couple on paper, on film the pairing is electric. The two actors have terrific chemistry, and it’s a joy to see Doris in a sexier role than she’d typically played before her breakthrough in Pillow Talk. Although the critical mass at the time gave this film a tepid response, this modern critic enjoyed it more than I expected to. I’d even go so far as to call it a “Hooten Holler”-in’ good time (see, you can still make jokes and be nice). Cheers!

Classic Films · Comedies

Ishtar

LizLockeLeave a comment
Image Credit: Ishtar, 1987

One of the great mysteries of our world is how some films get universally maligned (or even worse, ignored), while others are lauded to the ends of the earth. I’ll never understand how most of the “Best Picture” winners of the past twenty years made it to the Dolby stage, just as I’ll never understand how Ishtar (Download) is often regarded as one of the biggest movie disasters of all time. If my post has a rallying cry, it is this: JUSTICE FOR ISHTAR!!!!

Inspired by the Bob Hope/Bing Crosby road movies of the 1940s, Elaine May’s update on the classic concept features Warren Beatty and Dustin Hoffman as a pair of Simon & Garfunkel wannabes who agree to perform at a Marrakesh hotel. The two stars have amazing chemistry together, and when I tell you there were tears of laughter streaming down my face as they performed their terrible lounge act, complete with bongo drums and electric keyboard, it is not an exaggeration. These actors are hilarious, but it’s May’s direction and keen eye in the editing room that makes them hilarious. As evidenced in her debut film A New Leaf (another favorite of mine), she knows the exact moment to cut for perfect comedic effect. I’m ready to follow these guys wherever their musical journey leads, even into a confusing Middle Eastern conflict I still don’t fully understand. The thing is, you don’t need to. All you need to do is give in to the experience of watching Warren Beatty wrestle a blind camel through the desert as Dustin Hoffman is circled by buzzards. The fact that he’s wearing Ralph Macchio’s wardrobe castoffs from The Karate Kid truly completes the picture. Like Ishtar itself, this movie is a state of mind.

For some reason, I spent most of my life thinking this film was three hours long and exclusively shot in the Sahara desert. Maybe I thought it was a Lawrence of Arabia spoof? At any rate, I’m happy to report the desert scenes only comprise a fraction of this under-two-hours gem, though they still make me a little hot and uncomfortable. Lyle Rogers may not be able to handle his bourbon, but I sure can. This week, cool off with a Moroccan Mint Julep.

Moroccan Mint Julep

2 oz Bourbon

½ oz Cardamom Clove Syrup

Fresh Mint

Crushed Ice

Muddle 8-9 leaves of mint in the bottom of a shaker with the cardamom syrup. Add bourbon and crushed ice. Stir to combine. Top with more crushed ice and a sprig of fresh mint.

There are probably a lot of reasons this film got panned on its initial release, most of them leading back to misogyny. When a woman has the audacity to demand time and money to make her vision a reality, it often doesn’t go over well in Hollywood. There are many other things that happened during this film’s production, however before you go down that particular rabbit hole of Wikipedia, watch Ishtar. Form your own opinion. But remember: honest and popular don’t go hand-in-hand. Cheers!

Dramas

Hope Floats

LizLockeLeave a comment
Image credit: Hope Floats, 1998

Here in Central Texas, the bluebonnets are blooming, the weather is perfect, and the music is live. Seems like a great time to watch the Smithville, TX-set Hope Floats (Disc/Download) because the only thing missing from this picture is Harry Connick Jr. two-steppin’ in a cowboy hat.

Jilted on national television, forced to move back into her childhood home with her angry, precocious daughter in tow, Birdee Pruitt (Sandra Bullock) is realizing too late that she may have peaked in high school. Back then, she was Queen of Corn, perched on a parade float and cheering at the high school football games for her future ex-husband. Now, she’s a single mom with no job prospects, facing a town full of people who either pity or hate her. Luckily, Birdee still has a great mother (Gena Rowlands) to help her through this rough patch by fixing her up with the local hot handyman/secretly-very-gifted home builder (Connick Jr.). If you miss the romance films of the ‘90s that featured grown adults and quirky townsfolk, then this is the film for you. Truly, it doesn’t get quirkier than a house full of taxidermy animals in doll clothes. My kingdom for a “scaredy-cat”!!!

Although this week’s cocktail was intended for the golf course, if I’m honest, I’m probably never going to be writing about Tin Cup or The Legend of Bagger Vance. Sorry, to all the movie-loving golfers out there; maybe there’s still hope for Caddyshack. While watching Hope Floats, I recommend drinking this Birdie cocktail.

Birdie

2 oz Gold Rum

½ oz Cointreau

½ oz Pineapple Juice

½ oz Simple Syrup

½ oz Orange Juice

½ oz Lime Juice

Fresh Mint

Muddle a few mint leaves in the bottom of a shaker with lime juice. Add the other ingredients, plus ice, and shake until chilled. Strain into a martini glass, and garnish with more fresh mint and a lime twist.

As saccharine as this movie can be at times, I still love the line, “Beginnings are scary, endings are usually sad, but it’s the middle that counts the most.” When it comes to publishing, I’ve had some endings in the past year, I’m currently in the scary beginning stages of something new, and also right in the middle of a long-gestating project. But that’s life, right? Things don’t always happen in the manner or order you thought they would, and we just have to keep hoping it’ll all work out the way it’s supposed to. Cheers!

Classic Films · Comedies · Uncategorized

The Palm Beach Story

LizLockeLeave a comment
Image credit: The Palm Beach Story, 1942

What’s smitten, kittens? This week I’m writing to you from the Treasure Coast of Florida, where the Lilly Pulitzer is abundant and the cocktails are strong. Of course I had to revisit the Preston Sturges classic The Palm Beach Story (Disc/Download) prior to my trip down here, though thankfully, my transportation did not include a Pullman train car with the Ale & Quail club. I also did not step on any millionaires, alas.

Starring Joel McCrea and Claudette Colbert as Tom and Gerry Jeffers, the unhappily married couple at the center of this screwball comedy, The Palm Beach Story is the type of zany movie that makes you wonder if Sturges was just making it up as he went along. There are characters that, while memorable, seem to go nowhere, as well as a crazy intro involving twins, a kidnapping, and a wedding. Keep in mind, this is all in the first 60 seconds! My suggestion- make your cocktail before the opening credits and settle in, knowing not everything will make sense, but everything will be funny. This is the kind of film that gets better and better with each viewing, and one I appreciate for its plethora of scene stealers. From the deaf “Wienie King” to the sarcastic and horny Princess Centimillia, to the unfortunate bartender forced to dodge bullets and saltines, there is literally nobody on this screen who isn’t interesting to watch.

In terms of cocktails, I will spare you the “Prairie Oyster” Colbert drinks on the train because I’m not not exactly one for raw egg yolks and Worcestershire. Instead, join me in imbibing a classic Palm Beach cocktail, which will definitely appeal to the Negroni lovers out there.

Palm Beach

2 1/2 oz Gin

1/2 oz Sweet Red Vermouth

1 oz Fresh Squeezed Grapefruit Juice

Maraschino cherry and dried citrus wedge (for garnish)

Combine gin, vermouth, and grapefruit juice in a shaker with ice. Shake until chilled, then strain into a martini glass. Garnish with a cherry and dried citrus wedge.

If 2020-2022 was my Billy Wilder period, then 2023-2024 is fast becoming my Preston Sturges era. I can’t get enough of his imaginative plots, the social commentary, and all that brilliant dialogue. This isn’t the first Sturges film on Cinema Sips, and it won’t be the last. But Snoodles, it might just be the craziest. Cheers!