Tag: Kim Novak

Classic Films · Musicals

Pal Joey

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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 · Holiday Films

Bell, Book and Candle

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Bell Book and Candle
Image credit: Bell, Book and Candle, 1958

For all you Vertigo fans out there, consider this my Cinema Sips Christmas gift to you. Maybe you’ve longed for more of Kim Novak’s eyebrows. Or an aging, tan Jimmy Stewart. Or that weird hypnotic lighting. Bell, Book and Candle (DVD) covers all the bases. Plus, there are the added bonuses of a beatnik Jack Lemmon playing the bongo drums, and a very expressive Siamese cat. Happy Holidays to all!

Although the film starts on Dec. 24th and stars Mr. Christmas himself, Jimmy Stewart, It’s a Wonderful Life this is not. Kim Novak plays a witch who falls for a book publisher (Stewart), and she must decide whether to give in to love and become mortal, or keep her powers and lose him. The pair’s onscreen chemistry is every bit as sizzling as it was in Vertigo, and even though this is meant to be a romantic comedy, there’s something dark and powerful between these two actors. They’re sexy without even trying to be, and I am totally under their spell.

The movie takes a strange turn when Jimmy Stewart’s publishing house courts an expert on Mexican witchcraft. While it seems like an unnecessary plot element, I still love Ernie Kovacs in this role. (Let’s face it, I love Ernie Kovacs in any role). While watching Bell, Book and Candle, I recommend drinking a Mexican Séance.

Mexican Séance

1 ½ oz Patron XO Coffee Liqueur

1 ½ oz Chameleon Cold Brew Coffee- Mexican flavor

1 ½ oz Egg Nog

¾ oz Crème de Cacao

2-3 dashes chocolate bitters

Orange twist

Combine ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake until chilled, then strain into a coupe glass. Garnish with a twist of orange.

Mexican Spell

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the production design and costuming. Bell, Book and Candle is a perfect time capsule of 1960’s Greenwich Village style, from capri pants to mid-century modern furniture. Jimmy Stewart’s office, covered in floor-to-ceiling bookshelves and featuring a gorgeous vintage couch, is the stuff of book lovers’ dreams. Witchcraft never looked so appealing. Cheers!

Classic Films

Vertigo

LizLocke2 Comments

Image credit: Universal Studios, 1958, Vertigo
Image credit: Universal Studios, 1958, Vertigo

While planning an upcoming trip to San Francisco, I felt inspired to watch a film that beautifully captures the scenery, the history, and the mystery of this city. I settled on the Alfred Hitchcock classic Vertigo, which is sometimes remembered more for Jimmy Stewart’s odd Technicolor acid trip dream sequence, but in my mind will always be remembered for a beautiful Kim Novak throwing herself into the San Francisco Bay as the Golden Gate Bridge frames the scene. It’s a dark, confusing tale that manages to make even sunny California seem downright sinister. Furthermore, it’s the rare movie where Jimmy Stewart is a bit of a creep, hobbled by his fear of heights and a strange attachment to a lost love. He’s not exactly a villain, but making your new girlfriend dye her hair and dress up like your old dead girlfriend is definitely on the disturbing side.

In Vertigo (DVD/Download), Jimmy Stewart plays retired police detective Scottie Ferguson, who is hired by an old college friend to investigate the friend’s wife, played by Kim Novak (long before Botox and surgery froze her face- see 2014 Academy Awards). She is suspected of either being insane, or of actually being inhabited by the soul of a long-dead woman named Carlotta Valdes. Of course Scottie falls for her, shortly before she appears to throw herself out of the bell tower of an old California mission. The plot is initially a bit confusing, but Hitchcock manages to brilliantly weave everything together so that in the end it all makes perfect sense. Jimmy Stewart turns in a performance that’s intense and manic (I’d go so far as to call him the Nicolas Cage of the 50’s in this), and the Edith Head costumes for Kim Novak are so wonderful that I would gladly trade places with her for a day (though only as Madeleine Elster and not cheap, tawdry Judy).

My cocktail pairing for Vertigo is a San Francisco classic. Many believe that this drink was first served in the United States at San Francisco’s famed Buena Vista Café, the recipe having been brought over from Ireland by travel writer Stanton Delaplane. I’ll certainly be stopping at the Buena Vista to sample the real thing, but in the meantime, while watching Vertigo, I recommend making an Irish Coffee.

Irish Coffee

1 cup hot coffee

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1 ½ oz Irish Whiskey

Heavy cream, slightly whipped

Pour piping hot coffee into a warmed glass mug until it is about ¾ full. Add the brown sugar and stir until dissolved. Blend in Irish Whiskey. Top with the whipped heavy cream by pouring gently over the back of a spoon. Serve hot.

Irish-Coffee

This drink will warm you up as Hitchcockian suspense sends shivers up and down your spine, and images of foggy evenings and the woman in the grey wool suit make you colder just watching them. I’m sure Kim Novak and Jimmy Stewart could have definitely used a couple of Irish Coffees after their dip in the San Francisco Bay. Watching this film reminds me what a master filmmaker Hitchcock was, and it makes me even more excited to visit the city where ghosts and intrigue mingle with fog and warm whiskey. Cheers!