Tag: classic movie

Classic Films · Musicals

Pal Joey

LizLockeLeave a comment
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 Rodgers & 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 Rodgers & Hart’s “Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered”, next to my funny valentine. Cheers!

Classic Films · Musicals

Romance on the High Seas

LizLocke3 Comments
Image credit: Romance on the High Seas, 1948

In a few week’s time, I’ll be packing my bags for an ocean voyage to the kiddie-filled sands of Castaway Cay. Not being an experienced cruiser, I decided to spend this month taking advice from the movies. What to pack? What to drink? What, exactly, is a Lido Deck? To get me started, I’m turning to my movie fairy godmother Doris Day. She tends to have the answers to most of life’s dilemmas, and I found a lot of great tips in her delightful debut role in Michael Curtiz’s Romance on the High Seas (Disc/Download).

Tip No. 1: Nobody dresses the first night out.

Apparently, cruisers wear business casual instead of formal on their first trip to the dining room. Poor Doris, posing as a rich society lady as part of this crazy woman’s attempt to catch her husband cheating, is excited to get doll’d up, and makes the major faux pas of wearing a GORGEOUS ice blue silk gown on her first night at sea. This would send anybody else running back to their stateroom, but not Doris. She just pastes on a smile and walks confidently up to the maître d’ because goddamn it, she looks great, and she’s hungry. Except… she missed her seating time. People might not dress in their finest, but they show up when they’re supposed to.

Tip No. 2: You can make a meal out of pretzels and potato chips.

Turns out, the bar is the place to be on a cruise ship. Not only is it quiet and practically empty during the dinner hour, but bartenders will bring you snacks. Lots and lots of snacks. And if you’re lucky, a nightclub singer with the voice of an angel will appear out of nowhere to sing a melancholy tune.

Tip No. 3: Always overtip

This is just a great rule no matter where you are, land or sea. The society woman who hired Doris might be suffering from an extreme case of paranoia, but she’s still a class act. She makes sure to provide Doris with plenty of cash to tip the boat crew; after all, she wouldn’t want word to spread that she’s cheap. The horror!

Tip No. 4: If you’re distressed, just walk into any bar and tell the server you want to get higher than a kite.

These are not words I ever expected to hear coming out of Doris Day’s mouth, but I applaud the way she advocates for herself. Pretending to be someone she’s not while falling in love with the private investigator hired to trap her is difficult enough, but then her bandleader beau from New York boards the ship at the next port of call! I really can’t blame her for wanting to check out for a night.

Speaking of ports of call, this ship visits some really exciting places. Cuba and Rio are great stops, but Trinidad looks like a lot of fun too! Let’s toast Doris’s Caribbean adventure with Giuseppe González’s recipe for a Trinidad Sour.

Trinidad Sour

1 1/2 oz Angostura Bitters

1/2 oz Rye Whiskey

3/4 oz Lemon Juice

1 oz Orgeat

Lemon Twist

Combine bitters, whiskey, lemon juice, and orgeat in a shaker with ice. Shake until chilled, then strain into a coupe glass. Garnish with a lemon twist.

Although I’m not sure the Disney Wish will give me the same opportunities for cocktails and couture I’d find on other voyages, I can still take a page out of Doris’s book and make this trip something memorable. She doesn’t board the ship with intentions to find love or a gig in the lounge, but somehow she pulls off both. So I guess I’ll leave it here with Tip No. 5: Keep an open mind. Cheers!

Classic Films · Dramas

Cool Hand Luke

LizLockeLeave a comment
Image Credit: Cool Hand Luke, 1967

I’ve never been a fan of movies featuring dusty, sweaty actors, but when that movie contains Paul Newman and his impressive abs, all bets are off. Cool Hand Luke (Disc/Download) is an ironic title for a movie about an extremely hot man in an extremely hot place, but I’ve since realized there are a lot of ways to be cool. Leave it to this icon to school us.

I suppose winter is a great time to watch a film about a sweltering prison camp in the Deep South because you’ll really want to stick your head in a snowbank after Luke’s forth or fifth trip to “the box”. I don’t know what I expected going into this, but it wasn’t a Shawshank-esque tale of a maligned prisoner rising up against his sadistic guards. Frankly, I didn’t know work camps like this existed in the prison system after WWII. Paul Newman is perfect in his role as the smart, charismatic Luke because the viewer falls under his spell right along with his fellow prisoners. We believe that Luke is the one guy who can escape this hellhole because his smile, his zen attitude, his tenacity in an egg-eating competition tells us so. He doesn’t have much in the world, but he’s got the one thing that matters—grit.

Speaking of eggs, I’ll admit I had a hard time watching Luke chow down on fifty of the hard-boiled variety, his abs slowly disappearing under a sulfurous cloud of bloat. I like eggs, particularly in a cocktail, but only in moderation. While watching Cool Hand Luke, enjoy this classic egg-white cocktail, the Rum Sour.

Rum Sour

2 oz dark rum

¾ oz Lemon Juice

¾ oz Maple Syrup

1 Egg White

Combine rum, lemon juice, maple syrup, and egg white in a shaker without ice. Shake vigorously for ten seconds, then add ice. Shake for another thirty seconds to chill, then strain into a coupe glass.

With a strong supporting cast that includes Academy Award winner George Kennedy, Dennis Hopper, and Harry Dean Stanton, this classic film is one I wished I’d watched sooner. Don’t let the dust and sweat turn you off—this is a damn cool flick. Cheers!