Tag: holiday film

Classic Films · Holiday Films

Bachelor Mother

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Image credit: Bachelor Mother, 1939

Anyone who has read my book knows that I harbor deep fantasies of spending New Year’s Eve with David Niven. Always the life of the party, you know you’re in for a good time with this cheeky sophisticate. Lucky for us, if we time it just right, we’re able to ring in the New Year with Niv by watching him in the delightful classic holiday film Bachelor Mother (Disc/Download)!

This is one of those wonderful pictures like The Shop Around the Corner, or Christmas in Connecticut, that’s still able to resonate with modern audiences due to its sparkling script and screwball antics. Ginger Rogers is a terrific comedienne, playing a New York shopgirl who’s just been handed a pink slip for her temporary holiday gig in the toy section of a big department store. Devastated, she’s on her way home when she sees a baby left on the steps of an orphanage. She takes it inside out of the cold, and the employees mistake her for the baby’s mother. Despite her protests, they manage to find out where she works and convince her boss (David Niven) to keep her employed even after the holidays so she can support herself and the baby. Hijinx ensue as she tries again and again to give the baby back, but eventually she’s forced to accept this situation and make the best of it. Meanwhile, Niv (beginning the movie as a rich playboy) starts to develop a fondness for this woman, and their obvious chemistry at a swanky NYE party makes him realize he’s falling for her.

If you’re hoping for some iconic Ginger Rogers moves, then you’re in luck because she puts on quite the show in a dance contest at the Pink Slipper. An ironic name, given that she’s just been handed a pink slip and needs the prize money to make up for that lost paycheck! Since I happen to love pink cocktails and gimlets, let’s combine the two. While watching Bachelor Mother, I recommend drinking a Pink Slipper.

Pink Slipper

2 oz Gin (I used Tanqueray Rangpur Lime)

1 oz Cranberry Juice

1 oz Lime Juice

1 oz Simple Syrup

Fresh cranberries (garnish)

Combine all liquid ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake until chilled, then strain into a glass. Garnish with fresh cranberries.

Clocking in at less than ninety-minutes, this is the perfect movie to watch when you need a little break over the holidays, but don’t have a ton of time. With its tinker toys and screwball comedy, this delightful rom-com will leave you feeling downright giddy. Cheers!

Classic Films · Dramas · Holiday Films

An Affair to Remember

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Image credit: An Affair to Remember, 1957

If, like me, you’ve run out of Douglas Sirk films to watch, yet still feel the powerful pull of the melodrama, look no further than this week’s Cinema Sips pick An Affair to Remember (Disc/Download). With its beautiful 1950s gowns, sappy dialogue (“Winter must be cold for those with no warm memories…”), and romantic cruise ship setting, Leo McCarey has picked up where Sirk left off. Just let me grab my fur stole and champagne coupe- it’s time to set sail.

Starring Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr as star-crossed lovers who randomly meet on a European voyage, this film has me yearning for the days when cruising the high seas meant high fashion and sophisticated cocktails instead of buffet lines and Legionnaire’s. Kerr’s stateroom is MASSIVE, like a perfect mid-century modern time capsule, and it’s a wonder she leaves the room at all. But of course, she must leave it if she’s going to bump into the suave Cary Grant, playing American playboy Nickie Ferrante, who has one foot down the alter and another in a starving artist’s loft. He “paints pictures” the way Rock Hudson “renovates barns” in All That Heaven Allows, but I guess it doesn’t matter what hobby you turn to when you’re that good looking. People will buy whatever it is he’s selling.

Because Nickie’s family roots are in a villa along the French Riviera, I’m bringing in some Mediterranean flavors with this festive drink. While watching An Affair to Remember, I recommend drinking a Pink Champagne Life cocktail.

Pink Champagne Life

1 oz fresh-squeezed Clementine juice

4 oz Pink Champagne

2 dashes Orange Bitters

1 Sprig Rosemary

1 Clementine peel

Add clementine juice, champagne, and bitters to a coupe, stirring gently to combine. Garnish with a sprig of rosemary and clementine peel.

Although parts of this movie take place at Christmas, I’ve struggled to define it as a “Christmas Movie”. I suppose if you’re looking for an excuse to drink more champagne around the holidays, you may as well pop this one in. After all, Cary always looks great near a Christmas tree. Cheers!

Comedies · Holiday Films

The Ref

LizLockeLeave a comment
Image credit: The Ref, 1994

Never has there been a more requested holiday film in the history of Cinema Sips than this week’s pick, The Ref (Disc/Download). After finally watching it, I understand why. In a year when we’ve all essentially been held hostage inside our homes, it makes sense that people would want to watch a Christmas film about a couple held hostage inside their home. This is exactly the type of dark yuletide comedy we need right now.

In a lot of ways, The Ref reminds me of a stage play. Most of the action takes place in one setting, the dialogue is quick and clever, and the choreography within the larger group scenes is perfectly executed. Denis Leary plays a cat burglar on the run after a botched jewelry heist (for those of you who’ve seen To Catch a Thief, picture the complete opposite of Cary Grant), but before he can set sail for the Caribbean, he’s got to hide out in the home of a bickering Connecticut couple on the brink of divorce. It was a little jarring to see Kevin Spacey in…well…anything, but as Lloyd, the eye-rolling, sarcastic husband of Judy Davis’s snobby, perpetually unhappy Caroline, he really pulls me into this scene of marital discord. There are a lot of side plots that seemingly go nowhere, but overall I appreciate the way this film uses Christmas to highlight the absurdity of wealthy suburban America. These people are heinous on a normal day, but throw Christmas into the mix and you’re one ugly pair of L.L. Bean slippers away from total meltdown.

Something I can personally relate to in The Ref is the bourgeois tendency to “try something new” for your holiday meal. I’m thinking in particular of the time I thought it would be fun to make Spanish Tapas for Easter. In The Ref, Caroline’s absurd theme is Scandinavian Christmas, resulting in a smorgasbord of unpronounceable dishes. Let’s celebrate her good intentions with this traditional Swedish Glögg. If you want to get very authentic, you can throw in some Aquavit. But if you’re like me and don’t want to be stuck with a bottle of Aquavit for the next twelve months, bourbon will do just fine.*

Swedish Glögg

1 bottle Red Wine

1 ½ cups Bourbon

½ cup brown sugar

Zest of 1 orange

2 tablespoons raisins

1 tablespoon cardamom pods

2 tablespoons fresh ginger, sliced

1 Cinnamon stock

8 Cloves

Garnish: Blanched, slivered almonds, raisins, or dried cranberries

Combine all ingredients except the garnish in a pot on the stove. Heat, and let simmer for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat, and let it steep for an hour. Finely strain to remove the spices, and reheat to warm. Put a few almonds and raisins in the bottom of each serving glass, and pour in glögg.*

This might seem like a lot of prep for a drink, but really, what else are you doing this year? And if you’re trapped at home with a spouse you’ve come to detest, maybe you need a whole pot of this stuff to get through the holiday. So Merry Christmas, and let’s hope that by next year we’ll all be on a boat to Jamaica. Cheers!

*Note: If you’re pressed for time, and/or incredibly lazy about making things on the stove, you can always warm up some Trader Joe’s Winter Wassail Punch and throw in some red wine and bourbon. Still festive, still delicious, and extremely easy.