Today, I have, what I call, my sippy cup which is filled with 1 part orange juice and 3 parts soda water which has been my go to drink for decades now. Of course, back in the day, I would imbibe …often and have been cut off in more than one bar but those are other stories for another day. I loved the summers for hanging out with my friends, dancing every weekend with a screwdriver in my hand. There have been many films where the drinks are free flowing starting with the Thin Man series which I love, but I chose 3 other films that fit the bill.
1. SWING TIME-1936
I love musicals ( duh!) and the Astaire/Rogers musical is a great one with many gob-smacking dance numbers. Along for the ride are the staples that appeared in many of their films which included Helen Broderick, Edward Everett Horton and the supreme, Eric Blore. Astaire plays a famous dancer ( again…Duh!) and gambler who wants to marry but her dad won’t allow it unless he can come up with $25,000. His friends don’t want him to marry and do whatever it takes to screw things up. Astaire meets Rogers and sparks fly which goes the usual route of boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl back. In the meantime, you love how his friends do whatever they can to screw things up for him and Blore does it with great aplomb while holding a drink in his hand all the time. I love this character actor who deserves better recognition these days. He is so, so funny as the always inebriated friend.
2. MY MAN GODFREY-1936
Talk about a screwball comedy! This is one of the best that stars William Powell who is picked up by Carole Lombard, in the city dump as a homeless man for the Scavenger hunt her elite, rich friends are having. Before you can say, Holy insensitive, rich a-holes, Carole hires Godfrey as their Butler and he is now living at the wacky household that can make anyone go insane. The mother is constantly pixelated, Carole’s sister is a bitch, the dad is trying to keep things together and deal with his wife’s musical protege who is enjoying his freeloading ways. Carole is the younger daughter who knows Godfrey loves her and does everything to get him to admit this. During one party scene, Godfrey imbibes while serving drinks and it is quite hilarious. Carole is luminous and it’s always sad to know she won’t live much longer dying in a plane crash in 1942. This is a zany comedy that I enjoy watching.
3. THE PARTY-1968
Never mind when I was in my 20s, I would love to go to this party today! I think all 3 of these films are politically incorrect today but, I don’t care because they are funny especially this film that stars Peter Sellers as a bumbling, would be Indian actor( from India not Native American), who destroys a film set costing thousands. Somehow, he gets invited to a Hollywood party which is a party that is wild, to say the least. You have a very funny dinner scene, dancing, drinking, elephants, romance and Steve Franken as one of the butlers who keeps drinking the left over wine becoming quite drunk. This character actor, from film and TV is hilarious in a basic silent role stealing the scenes from Peter Sellers, not an easy feat. It’s a party I would go to in a minute especially when there are suds galore.
What party scenes can you think of?
Hi Birgit!
ReplyDeleteSwing Time is my favorite of the Astaire/Rogers musicals, though all are terrific movies. This one just has an extra little snap. ADORE Eric Blore!! No matter how big or small his role is whenever he shows up in any movie he makes it better.
It’s not my favorite of the screwball genre (that would be Libeled Lady) but My Man Godfrey is a lot of fun thanks to a wonderful cast but especially Carole Lombard. It’s nice to know that she and Bill Powell respected each other’s talent so much that they insisted on the other being cast even though they were no longer married. Alice Brady is hilarious as her flibbertigibbet mother (I’m sure that when she won her Best Supporting Actress Oscar a few years later for her fine but ordinary performance in “In Old Chicago” it was a makeup for her losing for this really worthy piece of work, well that and the fact that it was known that she was fatally ill with cancer.
I wasn’t crazy about “The Party” but I’m not the biggest Peter Sellers fan either. He was a talented man and there are times when he’s gold, but others were he’s a bit much for me. I don’t recall him in this particular film, but I do like Steve Franken. He’s one of those dependable character actors who toil away doing excellent work while the stars get all the attention.
The first movie about overtippling that came to me was a fun underknown 1935 comic mystery with a great cast (Edward Arnold, Robert Young, Constance Cummings, Reginald Denny, Edward Brophy (one of my favorite character actors) and one of the great unsung actresses of pre-codes Sally Eilers) titled “Remember Last Night?” A rich young couple who lives in an amazing Art Deco house have a party where all the guests tie one on and then the next morning when one of them turns up dead no one can remember anything…enter detective Arnold and his bumbling assistant Brophy.
Next would have to be that crazy party that Holly Golightly throws in Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961) where hats are set on fire, a woman laughs hysterically at her reflection only to be weeping the next time we see her and all sorts of other craziness.
Lastly there would be Peter O’Toole in My Favorite Year (1982) where he’s in the bag for most of the movie but particularly when he crashes that elegant party by falling from the roof and dangles from a fire hose and then nonchalantly asks for a light when they reel him in. He’s brilliant in that film.
Haha - yes, the Thin Man series was notorious for glorifying alcohol. These are all good too. Love that last video! ☺ The first thing that came to mind was the opening scenes from "Topper", when Cary Grant and Constance Bennett went bar hopping and were kicked out because the staff wanted to go home.
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