Tag: Edith Head

Classic Films · Dramas

A Place in the Sun

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Image credit: A Place in the Sun, 1951

This week, I’m in the mood for beautiful gowns, retro bathing suits, a Tiki dinner party at the lake, and maybe a little murder. A Place in the Sun (Disc/Download) satisfies all these cravings, making it my perfect summer watch.

You’ve probably seen the dress designed by Edith Head and worn by Elizabeth Taylor—the one with the dozens of tiny white flowers covering the bust.

You may have also seen the funny gif of Elizabeth collapsing into a heap on her bedroom floor (director George Stevens must have had a thing about her suddenly fainting because he made her do it again in Giant). But what you might not already be familiar with is the nuanced performance turned in by Montgomery Clift, who makes us question our own ideas of right and wrong; of guilt and innocence.

George Eastman starts out with a menial job at his uncle’s bathing suit factory, determined to work hard and earn a promotion one day. But when he begins an empty affair with his poor, vulnerable co-worker (Shelley Winters) while secretly pining for wealthy socialite Angela Vickers (Elizabeth Taylor), he loses a bit of our sympathy. And yet… there’s a part of me that just wants Shelley to go away so he can be with the dazzling one. And boy, does Elizabeth dazzle, with her eyelashes and her gowns and her speedboats. The director often shoots her in close-up, and it has a hypnotizing effect on the audience. We would do anything to see more of her; of course George would feel the same.

I knew this was probably a champagne movie, and definitely a martini movie, but I didn’t realize it’s also a Tiki movie! It makes perfect sense the wealthy family in this would throw a Polynesian-inspired dinner party, as the film was made during the height of the South Seas craze. Complete with leis and pineapple serving bowls and a live steel guitar player, it’s like the characters all decamped to Trader Vic’s for the night. Let’s celebrate this fabulous turn with a Tiki variation on the Vesper martini. While watching A Place in the Sun, I recommend drinking a Loon.

Loon

2 oz London Dry Gin

¼ oz Cocchi Americano

¼ oz PAMA Pomegranate Liqueur

Stir all ingredients together in a shaker with ice, and strain into a coupe glass. Garnish with a twist of lemon and a flower.

The novel this film is based on is titled An American Tragedy, and indeed the film is a tragedy, despite its wistful title change. It declares that the one making the bathing suits will never be the one wearing the bathing suits; that the American Dream is a myth for so many. Seventy-four years later, we’re still following the same old script.

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!

Classic Films · Musicals

Fun in Acapulco

LizLockeLeave a comment
Image credit: Fun in Acapulco, 1963

Cinema Sips is traveling this week, to 1960s Acapulco! If the question ever arises of where and when I would go if I had a time machine, at the top of the list would be this glittering resort town in the era of movie stars, margaritas, and luxury hotels. And no film makes it look as glamorous as the Elvis Presley classic Fun in Acapulco (Disc/Download).

As with most Elvis movies, we’re given a fairly thin plot and almost zero character development. However, there are beaches! And Edith Head dresses! And a charming song “Margarita” that I would love to play on a vinyl record during my next cocktail hour. But back to the clothes. Ursula Andress’s costumes are a technicolor feast for the eyes, and I wish I could find even one or two of these ensembles in current retail shops. Elvis does a decent job of playing a PTSD-suffering former circus performer, whose only solution to overcoming his fear of heights is to dive from the famous Acapulco cliffs. He also gets a gig singing in a hotel nightclub, along with a daytime job as their lifeguard. I’m not even complaining about this paper-thin excuse to show Bond Girl Andress in a bikini again because I enjoy nothing more than a good swimming pool scene, and this movie is full of them.

Something else this movie is full of is margaritas! Frankly, I don’t think the prop guy had ever seen a margarita before making this because the ones in the movie look like salt-rimmed coupes of water. Loyal readers of Cinema Sips (or literally, anyone who’s ever been to a Mexican restaurant) know better. So this week, let’s make a cocktail worthy of The King- the Cadillac Margarita.

Cadillac Margarita

1 ½ oz Anejo Tequila

¾ oz Fresh Lime Juice

¾ oz Agave Nectar

½ oz Grand Marnier

Lime Twist

Combine tequila, lime juice, and agave nectar in a shaker with ice. Shake until chilled, then strain into a glass filled with fresh ice. Slowly float the Grand Marnier over the top. Garnish with a lime twist.

I find that this movie only improves with repeat viewings, especially once you stop trying to make sense of the plot and just enjoy the pretty scenery and hilarious songs. “No Room to Rhumba in a Sports Car” is a personal favorite, as Elvis laments the difficulties of getting it on with a female matador in her tiny vehicle. Viva el amor, indeed. Cheers!

Classic Films · Dramas

Rear Window

LizLockeLeave a comment
Image credit: Rear Window, 1954

There’s nothing like a hot, humid night to make you want to cool off with an effortlessly chic film and icy cocktail. Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window (Disc/Download) may take place during the dog days of summer, but it never fails to chill me to the bone.

With a main character loosely based on real-life celebrity/lifestyle photographer Slim Aarons, this movie seems tailor made to fit my mid-century sensibilities. But throw in a tense murder mystery, voyeurism, and Hitchcockian suspense, and this Edith Head-flavored eye candy becomes a masterpiece. I’ve always loved Jimmy Stewart in a Hitchcock film because it’s an opportunity for cinema’s favorite everyman to dig a little deeper. As we see him lock eyes with a killer across the courtyard, it becomes apparent—this Jimmy has a dark side. One that compels him to watch his neighbors with the lights off, studying their movements, becoming involved in their dramas from afar. He can joke with Thelma Ritter and flirt with his socialite girlfriend, but there’s no denying the slight element of criminality to his behavior. Watching isn’t murder, but it’s still a violation.

Speaking of Thelma Ritter, I’d like to toast this 20th Century Queen of “Telling it Like it Is”. As the nurse who tends to Jimmy’s  L. B. “Jeff” Jeffries and his broken leg, she admonishes his semi-creepy voyeur habits while simultaneously musing about body disposal and blood spatter. Murderinos unite! When the action heats up, cool down with this Peeping Tom Collins.

Peeping Tom Collins

2 oz London Dry Gin

1 oz Lemon Juice

1 oz Ginger Liqueur

1/2 oz Simple Syrup

Club Soda to top

Lemon Wheel for garnish

Build drink over ice, stirring to combine. Garnish with a lemon wheel.

With just a hint of a spicy kick from the ginger liqueur, this drink will make you aware of how hot it is outside, but grateful you have air conditioning (unlike the poor folks in this Greenwich Village apartment complex). And be sure to watch out for a scene in which three people swirl brandy for about ten minutes straight, literally hypnotizing the viewer. If this was Hitch’s brand of misdirection, consider me duped. I have no idea what happened in that scene, other than the fact that Grace Kelly likes to aerate her alcohol and wear chunky charm bracelets. Cheers!