Tag: Shirley MacLaine

Classic Films · Comedies

Being There

LizLockeLeave a comment
Image Credit: Being There, 1979

My annual summer road trip has officially commenced, this time taking me to one of the most famous homes in America, and filming site of an essential movie within our cinematic history: A Biltmore Christmas.

Just kidding!

Although I love that delightful Hallmark Christmas flick, the real claim to fame for Vanderbilt’s opulent American castle is the 1979 Hal Ashby classic Being There (Disc/Download). I can only hope Shirley MacLaine’s infamous bearskin rug is part of the standard tour.

In this social and political satire, Peter Sellers plays a simple-minded gardener named Chance, who through a series of miscommunications and accidents, is brought to the home of a wealthy political operative. Believing Chance-the-Gardener to be “Chauncey Gardiner”, wise businessman and philosopher fallen on hard times, the Rands (Melvyn Douglas and Shirley MacLaine) adopt Chauncey into their rarefied world. Soon, this former gardener is spouting nonsense on television, having tête-à-têtes with the President, and fostering diplomacy with the Soviet Ambassador. His name is even batted around for the nomination in the next presidential election! At our present moment where America’s political future is on the shakiest of ground, Being There makes the viewer wonder: did Democracy ever exist in the first place? Or have powerful people always been throwing darts into the void, hoping to hit a malleable, naïve pawn whom the public would, if not love, at least not hate? And is that the best we can hope for, even now?

Because Chance’s true love is his garden, it seems appropriate to make a something from my own garden this week. About the only thing I’m capable of growing in the summer is a pot of basil, which lends itself to a flavorful cocktail syrup. While watching Being There, I recommend drinking this Honey Bee-ing There Basil Martini.

Honey Bee-ing There Basil Martini

1 ½ oz London Dry Gin

1 oz Honey-Basil simple syrup

¾ oz Lemon Juice

2 dashes Orange Bitters

2 oz Sparkling wine

Fresh Basil Leaf, Honeycomb (Garnish)

To make simple syrup, combine ¼ cup honey with ¼ cup water, adding 4-5 basil leaves. Simmer on the stove until honey is dissolved. Turn off heat. Allow basil leaves to steep as the syrup cools, then strain out the leaves. Next, in a shaker filled with ice, combine gin, prepared syrup, lemon juice, and bitters. Shake until chilled, then strain into a coupe glass. Top with sparkling wine, and garnish with a fresh basil leaf and honeycomb.

Most people remember the final shot of Being There, where Peter Sellers seems to walk on water with that familiar Biltmore symbol of American excess silhouetted off in the distance. Maybe a man pure of heart and free of ambition is what the country needed at that time, and maybe that’s what it still needs. Or maybe we just need someone capable of tending the garden. Cheers!

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 · Comedies

Irma la Douce

LizLockeLeave a comment

Irma la Douce
Image credit: Irma la Douce, 1963

If you love the colorful costumes and sets of classic Hollywood musicals, but can’t abide characters spontaneously bursting into song, then Irma la Douce (Disc/Download) is your movie.  Starring Jack Lemmon as a police officer-turned-pimp and Shirley MacLaine as his prostitute love, this sixties gem is a Billy Wilder film on steroids.  Big visuals, big acting, big run-time—it’s a massive commitment.  But once you give into the world of the Hotel Casanova, you’re in for a real cinematic treat.

When we first see Irma, slouching against a doorway with that little dog under her arm, you instantly know—this is a woman who has seen it all, and just doesn’t give a sh*t anymore.  She views her profession for what it is (a job), and would never allow herself to be swept away by a sappy romance. Even when she “falls” for down-on-his-luck Nestor Patou, it’s with an eye-roll and a shrug.  I see glimpses of this character in Maggie Gyllenhaal’s fabulous work on HBO’s The Deuce, and at times Irma seems almost feminist in her attitudes.  She may have a boyfriend, but that doesn’t mean she’s ready to stop working.  And thus, her boyfriend has to come up with an asinine scheme, pretending to be an English lord, wearing a silly disguise, working multiple jobs so he can afford to pay  for her time, all so she doesn’t sleep with other men.  This relationship seems doomed from the start, but with a sparkling script by Wilder and winning performances by Apartment co-stars Lemmon and MacLaine, somehow it just works.

Included within the elaborate sets built for this film is a charming bar Chez Moustache, where the pimps come for their union meetings and working gals pop in for a pastis between clients.  You could certainly join them in a straight shot of this herbal spirit diluted with a little water, but I prefer mine in a cocktail.  While watching Irma la Douce, I recommend drinking this Cocktail X.

Cocktail X

1 ½ oz Calvados apple brandy

1 oz Cointreau

½ oz Pastis

1 ½  oz Pineapple Juice

Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice.  Shake until chilled, then strain into a chilled coupe glass.

Cocktail X

Yes, this film is long. Yes, it’s absurd.  But it’s fun to see the intersection of classic MGM musical and 1960s visual style.  There’s teased hair, plastic heart sunglasses, and movie streets too beautiful to be real, but there is also a heartfelt message about the changing social attitudes within the time period Irma la Douce was made.  As wise Moustache says of the business of sex work, “Love is illegal – but not hate. That you can do anywhere, anytime, to anybody. But if you want a little warmth, a little tenderness, a shoulder to cry on, a smile to cuddle up with, you have to hide in dark corners, like a criminal.”  Leave it to a bartender to speak the truth. Cheers!

Comedies

In Her Shoes

LizLockeLeave a comment

in-her-shoes
Image credit: In Her Shoes, 2005

I’ve featured director Curtis Hanson’s films LA Confidential and Wonder Boys on Cinema Sips in the past, but this week I’m excited to write about one of his less-frequently lauded movies In Her Shoes (DVD/Download). An unconventional choice for Hanson, this quasi-rom com could have veered off into Hallmark Channel territory, but with his skilled hand it became a beautiful film about the relationship between sisters, the joy and pathos of aging, and the quest we’re all on to find professional fulfillment. The fact that it features sugary pink drinks and designer shoes, well, that’s just icing on the cupcake.

Adapted from the wonderfully fun novel by Jennifer Weiner (one of my personal favorite writers), In Her Shoes is about two sisters (Toni Collette and Cameron Diaz) who have a falling out, and struggle to find their way back to each other.  Along the way they reunite with a long-lost grandmother (played by Shirley MacLaine), and discover the love and self-confidence both had always lacked. Sure there’s some romance, a lot of cute shoes, and bikini shots of Cameron Diaz after she moves into her grandma’s retirement community. But there are also some great scenes about the struggles many of us face in life, and that really triumphant moment when finally, at last, you figure out what you’re meant to do. Watching this movie just makes me hopeful.

In an effort to bond with her too-cool-for-school adult granddaughter, Shirley MacLaine spends an evening watching Sex and the City and drinking cosmos. It’s a cliche, but I’m sorry, cosmos are delicious!  And for this movie, the drink fits. While watching In Her Shoes, I recommend drinking a Cosmopolitan.

Cosmopolitan

1 ½ oz Vodka

1 oz Cranberry juice

½ oz Cointreau

½ oz fresh lime juice

Lime wedge

Combine all ingredients in a shaker filled with ice. Shake until chilled, then strain into a martini glass. Garnish with a lime.

cosmopolitan

What always delighted me about this film was the spot-on depiction of Florida retirement communities. As a child of Florida snow-birds, I’ve always daydreamed about just running away to the land of early bird specials, white pants, water aerobics, and cocktail hour. It’s only the lack of decent Tex-Mex there that stops me. Fortunately, I’ve got In Her Shoes to remind me of what I’m missing. Cheers!

Classic Films

The Apartment

LizLockeLeave a comment

Photo Credit Mirisch Corporation, 1960
Photo Credit Mirisch Corporation, 1960

Happy New Year from Cinema Sips! What a fabulous excuse to drink a cocktail. Tonight, I’m screening one of my favorite films, Billy Wilder’s The Apartment. This picture takes place over the holiday season in Mad Men-era New York City, and ends with a climactic New Years Eve. What better way to ring in 2014 than with a sparkling cocktail and the sparkling chemistry between Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine in this wonderful classic film. Additionally, the cocktails are certainly flowing in this movie, so I can think of no better film to end 2013 on than this one.

The Apartment tells the story of Jack Lemmon’s character C.C. Baxter, a lowly employee of a large life insurance firm. In order to work his way up in the firm, he lends his apartment out to company executives and their mistresses. Things turn sour when he realizes that one of those mistresses is the woman he’s already fallen for, adorable white-gloved elevator operator Shirley MacLaine. Although there is a lot of humor in this film, there is quite a lot of darkness too. MacLaine does a wonderful job of playing the wounded “other woman”, who is both funny and devastatingly sad at the same time. Jack Lemmon is charming with his bowler hats and tennis racket-strained spaghetti, yet his character also harbors a dark suicidal past. Billy Wilder’s script is perfect as usual, filled with witty banter and charming outdated phrases. Oh to be Shirley MacLaine with her cute little white gloves and her frozen daiquiris in a basement tiki bar- I love it all.

For my cocktail tonight, I’m referencing the multitude of martinis that are drunk during the course of this film, as well as the champagne that makes the final scene so climactic. I’m adding a splash of Cassis liquor to make it a bit more festive and sweeter, and just a hint of lemon to bring out the fruitiness of the champagne. This drink is similar to a Kir Royale, only with an addition of vodka and lemon. In this film, the most shocking thing of all is not that C.C. Baxter lets numerous men and women have trysts in his bed, but rather that he lives in an absolutely HUGE apartment in New York City, for which he pays a mere $85 a month. To that end, I’m serving up the Low Rent Royale Martini tonight.

1 ½ oz vodka

½ oz Cassis liqueur

Champagne or dry sparkling wine

Lemon twist

Shake vodka and cassis liqueur together over ice, and strain into a chilled glass. Top with Champagne and lemon twist.

kir-royale-martini

I hope you enjoy this sparkling cocktail as much as I do, and with any luck The Apartment will make you laugh while simultaneously tugging at your heart strings. Whether you already have your someone special to kiss at midnight, or you’re still looking for that person, this film makes me hopeful that good things are ahead. At least drinks-wise anyway. Happy New Year, and cheers!