Booze News: AFI's 10 Top 10

Film fanatics, mark your calendars! The American Film Institute’s annual “100 Years...” special will air Tuesday, June 17th from 8-11 PM ET on CBS.

After the Academy Awards, the AFI’s special is the television event I most look forward to each year. This time around, the producers have changed up the show a bit. Instead of 100 films related to a single genre, they will feature the AFI's 10 TOP 10 – the top ten films in ten different genres: animation, fantasy, science fiction, gangster, western, sports, romantic comedy, courtroom drama, mystery, and epic films. Each of the 10 film genres will feature a different host, and the films in each list will be selected by over 1500 leaders in the film community.

What? No “soused cinema” top ten?!! Well, at least alcohol spills over onto all of the above genres.

If you register at the AFI’s website, you can check out all of the past AFI lists and download the ballot for this year’s show: http://connect.afi.com/site/PageServer?pagename=100YearsList

If I was voting within the top ten categories, the following would be my #1 picks. What are your choices?

Animation -- Pinocchio (1940)

Fantasy -- Babe (1995)

Science Fiction -- 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

Gangster -- Miller’s Crossing (1990)

Western -- The Wild Bunch (1969)

Sports -- Horse Feathers (1932)

Romantic Comedy -- The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek (1944; Not only the funniest romantic comedy--My personal favorite film!)

Courtroom Drama -- Anatomy of a Murder (1959)

Mystery -- Chinatown (1974)

Epic -- Lawrence of Arabia (1962; Not really an American film, but the AFI includes it on their ballot; so I’ll include it as well. Besides, it’s about the only epic that isn’t yawn-inducing.)

The Miracle of Morgan's Creek (DVD)

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Review: Papa’s Delicate Condition (1963)

USA/C-98m./Dir: George Marshall/Wr: Jack Rose/Cast: Jackie Gleason (Jack Griffith), Glynis Johns (Ambolyn Griffith), Linda Bruhl (Corrie Griffith), Charles Ruggles (Anthony Ghio), Laurel Goodwin (Augusta Griffith)

In the history of television, Jackie Gleason was one of the all-time biggest stars (in terms of both popularity and tonnage). Unfortunately, he never achieved the same level of success on the big screen. In movies, Gleason faired best in supporting roles, such as his dramatic turns in The Hustler (1961) and Requiem for a Heavyweight (1962) or his scene-stealing mugging in Smokey and the Bandit (1977). Overall, Gleason’s leading roles were few and ill-fitting; but he found a superb showcase for his talents as the soused center of Papa’s Delicate Condition.

This charming family film, based on the childhood remembrances of silent film actress Corrine Griffith, stars Gleason as Jack Griffith, a fun-loving railroad supervisor and family man. Jack’s “delicate condition” referred to in the title is the state of intoxication; and when the old boy is in his cups, he concocts outrageous ideas, including buying a drug store in order to obtain a key to the liquor cabinet. Jack’s love of the bottle is only rivaled by his devotion to his youngest daughter, Corrie (Linda Bruhl), who shares his strong will and love of Dixieland jazz. Unfortunately, Jack and Corrie’s shenanigans often run counter to the wishes of Jack’s socially-conscious wife (Glynis Johns).

Gleason is the whole show in Papa’s Delicate Condition, but his outsized personality carries the film effortlessly. Of course the role was no great stretch. Gleason was well-known as a free-spending, jazz-loving drunk in real life. The part also contained an added comfort level in that it included aspects of two of the Great One’s most popular TV characters--the grandiose scheming and marital strife of Ralph Kramden combined with the boozing and bombast of Reginald Van Gleason III. Surprisingly, although the role appeared to be tailor made for the Great One, Gleason only procured the part when Fred Astaire became unavailable.

As for the merits of the movie, it is a pleasant enough, nostalgic, family comedy--somewhat similar to the type of Disney films that Hayley Mills starred in during the Sixties. It also has the feel of a musical with very little music (Gleason does get to belt “Won’t You Come Home Bill Bailey” and drunkenly slur the Oscar-winning song “Call Me Irresponsible”). However mild the script, Jackie Gleason’s charismatic performance elevates this flick to a soused cinema “must see.”

Drinks Consumed--Whiskey and beer

Intoxicating Effects--Sneaking sips, harmonizing, slurred speech, and staggering

Potent Quotables--AMBOLYN: When your father’s had too much to drink…
CORRIE: Medicine.
AMBOLYN: Well, uh, we’ll call it that for the time being. When he has too much medicine, he does foolish things; and that keeps us apart.

Video Availability--Legend Films in conjunction with Paramount has released Papa's Delicate Condition on DVD with an excellent print, in its original widescreen ratio.

Similarly Sauced Cinema--Like Jack Griffith, Harold Diddlebock (Harold Lloyd) gets drunk and buys a circus in The Sin of Harold Diddlebock (1947).

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Review: The Fatal Glass of Beer (1933)

The Fatal Glass of Beer
Uploaded by pissbaby

USA/B&W-21m./Dir: Clyde Bruckman/Wr: W.C. Fields/Cast: W.C. Fields (Mr. Snavely), Rosemary Theby (Mrs. Snavely), George Chandler (Chester Snavely), Richard Cramer (Officer Posthlewhistle)

A Note: The Fatal Glass of Beer is an extremely funny short subject. If you haven’t seen it, I’d highly recommend watching and savoring the film before reading my synopsis below. Analysis tends to kill comedy, and my description is no exception.

Relegated to secondary roles at Paramount Pictures, W.C. Fields made a deal with comedy kingpin Mack Sennett to create and star in a series of shorts based on his popular stage sketches. The Sennett films gave the Great Man an opportunity to showcase his considerable comic skills and to present his humor in pure, undiluted form. After producing The Dentist, a risqué (yet alcohol-free) comedy classic that sent censors into apoplectic spasms, Fields chose to base his second short on “The Stolen Bonds,” a sketch that skewered stilted stage melodramas. In adapting the sketch for the screen, W.C. stretched the satire even further. The Fatal Glass of Beer not only lampooned the leaden dialogue and wooden acting of histrionic theater; it made fun of the filmmaking process that went into producing the short itself.

The film is set in the frozen north of the Yukon territories, where a prospector, Mr. Snavely (Fields), prepares to return home. Before Snavely is able to depart, he receives a visit from an officer of the Mounties (Richard Cramer), who requests that the prospector sing him a morally instructional song that Snavely has written about his son Chester (George Chandler). Mr. Snavely obliges the officer with a temperance ballad detailing how drinking a single glass of beer led to Chester’s downfall and eventual imprisonment. The prospector then bids his friend adieu and heads “over the rim” to his cabin home and the arms of his wife (Rosemary Theby). It isn’t long after the couple have been reunited that they receive a surprise in the form of their son Chester. The prodigal has returned to the nest.

The plot of The Fatal Glass of Beer (what little there is of one) hardly matters, because all of the humor lies on the surface. Field’s artificial, mannered line readings and off-key warbling of the temperance song are hilarious. Even funnier are the many jabs the film takes at studio moviemaking, including Field’s attempts to interact with bad back-projection, cheap props, and the obviously artificial snow that is thrown in his puss each time he declares, “It ain’t a fit night out for man nor beast.” Ironically, although The Fatal Glass of Beer poked fun at temperance sermonizing and wooden theater of past decades, the short turned out to be ahead of its time. The audiences and critics of the day complained about the poor production values of the short, not understanding the self-referential humor.

Luckily, the film has survived for new audiences to appreciate, and many today (this critic included) consider it the funniest short subject ever made. Although only a single mug of beer is consumed in the film, it receives “Booze Movies” highest recommendation.

Drinks Consumed--Beer

Intoxicating Effects--Staggering, delirium tremens, and destruction of property

Potent Quotables--MR. SNAVELY (singing): They tempted him to drink, and they said he was a coward, ‘til at last he took the fatal glass of beer. When he found what he’d done, he dashed the glass upon the floor; and he staggered through the door with delirium tremens.

Video Availability--Fields shorts are in the public domain and have been released by multiple companies. The best presentation can be found on the Criterion Collection DVD, W.C. Fields: 6 Short Films.

Similarly Sauced Cinema--Fields ridiculed temperance dramas once again in The Old Fashioned Way (1934), in which he plays the head of a theatrical company putting on a production of The Drunkard.

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Booze News: Hammered Heroes

"Give me a scotch. I'm starving." -- Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark in Iron Man (2008)

It appears that the summer of the hammered hero is upon us. First, with The Forbidden Kingdom Jackie Chan played a variation on the type of drunken master that trained him back in the days of, well, Drunken Master.

Now, Robert Downey Jr. stars as the scotch-lovin' millionaire playboy Tony Stark in the incredibly entertaining Iron Man.

Then later this month, everyone's favorite hard-drinking heroine, Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen), returns in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

Of course, we'll have to wait until July for what looks to be the most supremely soused superhero, Hancock (Will Smith flying unsteadily through the air with a bottle of whiskey in hand).

Ron Perlman has even stated that Hellboy hits the bottle in the upcoming sequel.

Below is a list of release dates for summer flicks that may be of interest for lovers of booze movies.

Currently in theaters: The Forbidden Kingdom, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, and Iron Man

May 22: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

July 2: Hancock

July 4: Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson

July 11: Hellboy II: The Golden Army

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Booze News: Bob and Doug McKenzie Return to the Small Screen!

Okay, this technically isn't movie-related, but it's joyous news just the same. Dave Thomas and Rick Moranis are set to return to the roles of beer-crazy brothers Bob and Doug McKenzie in an animated series scheduled to premiere in January 2009! Beauty, eh?

A Canadian network is already lined up, and an American outlet should be announced soon. Click on the video above (courtesy of quickstopentertainment.com) for a preview, you hoser.

Strange Brew (DVD)

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Booze News: May TCM Booze Movies Schedule

Month after month, Turner Classic Movies provides the finest programming for soused cinema fanatics (and for film lovers of all stripes). In May, the whiskey will be flowing freer than ever, as TCM salutes legendary crooner and Jack Daniels advocate, Frank Sinatra. Ol’ Blue Eyes will own Sunday and Wednesday nights on the network, with a retrospective of 40 of his films and TV specials.

I’ve listed some highlights of TCM’s Sinatrafest below (including a showing of all of the Rat Pack films on May 21st). There are a number of additional “booze movies” scheduled on the network next month, so they are listed as well.

By the way, I’m considering making this a monthly feature. If you find the schedule useful, let me know. I’d also appreciate comments if you know of soused cinema screenings coming up on other networks.

Cheers,

garv

All Times Eastern

2 Friday

12:45 PM Country Girl, The (1954)

While Der Bingle drinks, his wife, Grace Kelly, eyes another man. Cast: Bing Crosby, Grace Kelly, William Holden. Dir: George Seaton. BW-104 mins

2:30 PM High Society (1956)

Musical version of The Philadelphia Story. Whatta swell party this is. Cast: Bing Crosby, Grace Kelly, Frank Sinatra. Dir: Charles Walters. C-107 mins, Letterbox Format

1:36 AM Short Film: Drunk Driving (1939)

BW-21 mins,

3 Saturday

4:15 PM Moulin Rouge (1952)

Absinthe anyone? Toulouse-Lautrec fights to find love despite his physical limitations. Cast: Jose Ferrer, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Colette Marchand. Dir: John Huston. C-119 mins

4 Sunday

8:00 PM Frank Sinatra: A Man and His Music (1965)

Sinatra’s swingin’ 60’s TV music special. Dir: Dwight Hemion. C-50 mins

11:00 PM Frank Sinatra: A Man and His Music (1965)

(Watch it again if you’re drunk enough.)

7 Wednesday

8:00 PM From Here To Eternity (1953)

Enlisted men in Hawaii fight for love and honor on the eve of World War II. They also drink. Cast: Burt Lancaster, Montgomery Clift, Frank Sinatra. Dir: Fred Zinnemann. BW-118 mins

8 Thursday

4:30 PM Thunder Road (1958)

Drive-in moonshine classic. Cast: Robert Mitchum, Gene Barry, Keely Smith. Dir: Arthur Ripley. BW-93 mins

6:15 PM Entertainer, The (1960)

A third-rate vaudevillian uses liquor and young women to escape the pressures of changing times. Cast: Laurence Olivier, Brenda de Banzie, Joan Plowright. Dir: Tony Richardson. BW-104 mins, Letterbox Format

9 Friday

8:15 AM Cat On A Hot Tin Roof (1958)

A dying plantation owner tries to help his alcoholic son solve his problems. Cast: Elizabeth Taylor, Paul Newman, Burl Ives. Dir: Richard Brooks. C-108 mins, Letterbox Format

11 Sunday

8:00 PM Frank Sinatra: A Man and His Music, part 2 (1966)

Frank Sinatra, joined by his daughter Nancy, performs a set of classics. Cast: Frank Sinatra, Nancy Sinatra. Dir: Dwight Hemion. C-50 mins

11:00 PM Frank Sinatra: A Man and His Music, part 2 (1966)

(Drink. Swing. Repeat.)

12:00 AM Guys And Dolls (1955)

A big-city gambler bets that he can seduce a Salvation Army girl (with the help of Bicardi). Cast: Marlon Brando, Frank Sinatra, Jean Simmons. Dir: Joseph L. Mankiewicz. C-149 mins, Letterbox Format

12 Monday

6:00 PM African Queen, The (1951)

A gin-swillin’ skipper and a spirited missionary take on the Germans in Africa during World War I. Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Katharine Hepburn. Dir: John Huston. C-105 mins

11:15 PM Slight Case Of Murder, A (1938)

Gangsters, murder, comedy, and beer. Cast: Edward G. Robinson, Jane Bryan, Allen Jenkins. Dir: Lloyd Bacon. BW-85 mins

14 Wednesday

11:30 AM Kissin' Cousins (1964)

Elvis and moonshine. Cast: Elvis Presley, Arthur O'Connell, Yvonne Craig. Dir: Gene Nelson. C-96 mins, Letterbox Format

10:15 PM Marriage on the Rocks (1965)

Frank and Dino in a so-so romantic comedy. Cast: Frank Sinatra, Deborah Kerr, Dean Martin. Dir: Jack Donohue. C-109 mins, Letterbox Format

12:15 AM High Society (1956)

(It’s still a swell party.)

18 Sunday

8:00 PM Frank Sinatra: A Man and His Music + Ella + Jobim (1967)

Frank Sinatra is joined by Ella and Jobim for the second of his 1960s television specials. Cast: Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Antonio Carlos Jobim. Dir: Michael Pfleghar. C-60 mins

9:00 PM Pal Joey (1957)

The quintessential Sinatra film! An opportunistic singer woos a wealthy widow to boost his career. Cast: Frank Sinatra, Rita Hayworth, Kim Novak. Dir: George Sidney. C-109 mins, Letterbox Format

11:00 PM Frank Sinatra: A Man and His Music + Ella + Jobim (1967)
(Play it again, Frank.)

2:00 AM Joker Is Wild, The (1957)

Sinatra portrays boozin’ singer/comic Joe E. Lewis. Cast: Frank Sinatra, Mitzi Gaynor, Jeanne Crain. Dir: Charles Vidor. BW-126 mins

19 Monday

8:00 PM Hobson's Choice (1954)

A pub-lovin’ widower fights to control the lives of his three strong-willed daughters. Cast: Charles Laughton, John Mills, Brenda De Banzie. Dir: David Lean. BW-107 mins,

20 Tuesday

11:30 AM Philadelphia Story, The (1940)

Jimmy Stewart gets drunk. Cast: Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn, James Stewart. Dir: George Cukor. BW-112 mins

5:15 AM Harvey (1950)

Stewart drinks again! Cast: James Stewart, Josephine Hull, Cecil Kellaway. Dir: Henry Koster. BW-104 mins,

21 Wednesday

8:00 PM Ocean's Eleven (1960)

The Rat Pack plans to rob a Las Vegas casino. Cast: Frank Sinatra, Peter Lawford, Sammy Davis, Jr.. Dir: Lewis Milestone. C-128 mins, Letterbox Format

10:15 PM Sergeants 3 (1962)

The Rat Pack goes West. This hasn’t aired on television in over 20 years. Cast: Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr. Dir: John Sturges. C-112 mins

12:15 AM Robin And The 7 Hoods (1964)

The booziest of the Rat Pack films. Cast: Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr. Dir: Gordon Douglas. C-123 mins, Letterbox Format

2:30 AM 4 For Texas (1963)

Frank and Dino are rival saloon owners. Cast: Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Charles Bronson. Dir: Robert Aldrich. C-115 mins, Letterbox Format

4:45 AM Some Came Running (1958)

Good dramatic turns from Frank, Dino, and Shirley. Cast: Frank Sinatra, Shirley MacLaine, Dean Martin. Dir: Vincente Minnelli. C-136 mins, Letterbox Format

25 Sunday

8:00 PM Frank Sinatra: Ol' Blue Eyes is Back (1973)

Ol' Blue Eyes confidently delivers a slate of quintessentially Frank tunes. Cast: Frank Sinatra, Gene Kelly. Dir: Marty Pasetta. C-60 mins

11:00 PM Frank Sinatra: Ol' Blue Eyes is Back (1973)

(His eyes are just as blue the second time around.)

26 Monday

6:00 AM Wings (1927)

Buddy Rodgers gets drunk in this Oscar-winning silent. Cast: Richard Arlen, Charles "Buddy" Rogers, Clara Bow. Dir: William A. Wellman. BW-139 mins

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Review: The Bottom of the Bottle (1956)

USA/C-88m./Dir: Henry Hathaway/Wr: Sydney Boehm/Cast: Van Johnson (Donald Martin), Joseph Cotten (Patrick “P.M.” Martin), Ruth Roman (Nora Martin), Jack Carson (Hal Breckinridge), Margaret Hayes (Lil Breckinridge)

The Bottom of the Bottle is a fine example of the kind of slick, Cinemascope soap that was popular in the 1950’s. Joseph Cotton stars as Patrick “P.M.” Martin, a social-climbing rancher/lawyer living in the Mexican border town of Nogales, Arizona. P.M.’s oh-so-important community standing, as well as his already dicey marriage, is put in jeopardy when his alky brother Donald (Van Johnson) appears on his doorstep. Not only is Donald an unpredictable drunk; he’s also is a fugitive, having escaped from the pen with five years left on his sentence. Donald is desperate to cross the Santa Cruz River into Mexico, where his destitute wife and children await him. However, with the river impassable due to a downpour, the two brothers must find a way to cohabitate while old grudges, guilt, and thirsts bubble to the surface.

Incorporating dipsomania, marital strife, social anxiety, and heaping helpings of “brother’s keeper” Biblical overtones, The Bottom of the Bottle is anything but subtle. In fact it is often ridiculous. Still, the movie is consistently entertaining in the way that only an overblown sudser can be. It doesn’t hurt that the picture is skillfully directed with fine use of the Cinemascope frame and Deluxe color palate by old pro Henry Hathaway. First-rate performances by a never-better Van Johnson, always-reliable Joseph Cotten (in a thanklessly unlikable role), and honey-voiced Ruth Roman (as Cotten’s wife) also lend strong support.

For soused cinema enthusiasts, The Bottom of the Bottle provides a cocktail with plenty of kick. As P.M. warns his younger brother early on, “I just wanted to say that you’ll see plenty of drinking inside. It goes on most of the time during the storm from one house to another.” He isn’t lying. Temptation lies everywhere--even in a neighbor’s doorbell, which plays “How Dry I Am.” Catch this surprisingly entertaining gem if you can.

Drinks Consumed--Whiskey (Scotch and bourbon), gin (martini), and various unknown cocktails

Intoxicating Effects--Staggering, stumbling, bickering, destruction of property, public disturbance, hangover, and the shakes

Potent Quotables--DONALD: Mr. Jenkins, sir.
JENKINS: Yes, Mr. Bell.
DONALD: Would you oblige me please with a double double?
JENKINS: Anything in particular?
DONALD: Alcohol, alcohol.

Video Availability--The Bottom of the Bottle has never been commercially released on video.

Similarly Sauced Cinema--Van Johnson also got his drink on in The Big Hangover (1950), although usually unintentionally.

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