Tag: Howard Hawks

Classic Films · Dramas

Only Angels Have Wings

LizLockeLeave a comment
Image credit: Only Angles Have Wings, 1939

Those who follow the Cinema Sips Instagram account know I love spending Friday night with a cocktail, a pizza, and movie from my Uncle Len’s Criterion Closet. Several weeks ago, I posted about watching Only Angels Have Wings (Disc/Download) and was overwhelmed by the response I received from fans. After getting over my grievance that so many of y’all were holding out on me with your recommendation, I decided the best gift I could give to lovers of this Howard Hawks classic was a cocktail pairing.

Starring Cary Grant as the owner of an air mail service in the fictional South American port town of Barranca, Only Angels Have Wings is kind of like the TV show Wings, except you never really know if the pilots are coming back for episode 2.  The geography in this part of the world makes flying difficult, and planes are forced to travel blindly through thick banks of fog. Jean Arthur arrives on a banana boat (literally, a boat carrying bananas, not the bouncy, inflatable water activity for drunk spring breakers), and after charming a couple of the American pilots, this sunshine meets her grumpy match in the form of Cary Grant’s weathered airman Geoff. He’s got no time for flirting, and no interest in forming attachments when life is so precarious. Just ask his ex, played by a young Rita Hayworth. Of course Jean wears him down, and one bullet wound later, he’s ready to risk something even scarier than a dangerous flight: his heart.

The tropical setting of this movie lends itself nicely to a tiki-inspired cocktail, and lucky for us, Don the Beachcomber came up with an appropriately named one just a couple years after the film was made. While watching Only Angels Have Wings, I recommend drinking a Test Pilot.

Test Pilot

1 ½ oz Dark Rum

¾ oz Light Rum

½ oz Cointreau

½ oz Lime Juice

½ oz Falernum

1 dash Angostura Bitters

6 drops Pernod

Maraschino cherry (garnish)

Combine ingredients in a blender with a cup of ice. Blend for about five seconds, until the ice is crushed but not liquefied. Pour into rocks glass, add more crushed ice if needed, and garnish with a maraschino cherry.

Director Howard Hawks does a terrific job with the aerial sequences in this movie, but it’s the horrific bird strike that really had me on the edge of my seat. It’s easy to see why Only Angels Have Wings is so popular among classic film fans because not only is it great to look at, but it maintains a high level of suspense throughout. My friends in cinema, if you wanted me to fall in love with this movie, all you had to do was ask. Cheers!

Classic Films · Comedies

Bringing Up Baby

LizLockeLeave a comment
Image credit: Bringing Up Baby, 1938

So a leopard, a dog, and a paleontologist walk into a bar… Not really, but this week’s film Bringing Up Baby (Disc/Download) definitely feels like one long, preposterous joke you tell after a few strong drinks.  From Cary Grant in a frilly bathrobe, to Katharine Hepburn hanging off the edge of a Brontosaurus skeleton, the hits just keep on coming.

Directed by Howard Hawks, this fast-talking screwball comedy shows what happens when a buttoned-up paleontologist (Grant) meets his match in a flighty, chaotic socialite (Hepburn). She steals his golf ball and his car, he laments the cruel twist of fate that sent this #hotmessexpress careening into his ordered life, and before you know it, they’re ripping each other’s clothes off. Things get really crazy when a “tame” leopard gets delivered to Hepburn’s mansion, the family dog buries a priceless dinosaur bone, and the circus comes to town. I love any movie with a fast-paced plot and rapid dialogue, and it doesn’t get faster (or zanier) than this. Having been a longtime fan of the Grant/Hepburn pairing in The Philadelphia Story, it’s fun to see them in the meet-cute stage of a relationship, as opposed to bickering divorcees. Almost as though Bringing Up Baby is the prequel to their later film, back when this onscreen couple was just figuring out how to be “yar”.

Fans of The Thin Man will probably recognize doggie star “Skippy”, who achieved even greater fame as Nick and Nora Charles’s pooch Asta. Here he plays George, a pampered scoundrel who likes to steal bones and hide them all over his owner’s sprawling estate. One such bone is the missing piece to Cary Grant’s prized Brontosaurus skeleton, so while you’re watching Bringing Up Baby, I recommend joining the fun with this Skeleton Key cocktail.

Skeleton Key

1 ½ oz Bourbon

¾ oz Elderflower Liqueur

½ oz Lemon Juice

4 oz Ginger Beer

8 dashes Angostura Bitters

Combine bourbon, elderflower liqueur, and lemon juice with ice in a Collins glass. Stir to combine and chill, then top with more ice, and ginger beer. Stir, and top with eight dashes of Angostura Bitters.

Fizzy and sweet, the drink also has a bit of a bite to it, mirroring the sharp tongues of our hero and heroine. For witty banter, hilarious physical comedy, and chemistry that’s off the charts, give these screwballs a watch. Cheers!