Booze News: Laurel & Hardy finally arrive on U.S. DVD!

Greetings, fellow inebriates,

Lovers of soused cinema and slapstick comedy rejoice! On October 25th, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy's classic sound-era shorts and features will be released in a 10-DVD box set! While these films have long been available in Europe, this is the first time most of the duo's talkies will be released in the United States.

The contents of the set have not been announced in full, but it is said to contain 58 shorts and features from 1929-1940. This should include many alky-centric classics, such as Blotto (1930), Them Thar Hills (1934), and the boy's classic teamings with the dean of drunk character actors, Arthur Housman -- Scram (1932), The Live Ghost (1934), The Fixer-Uppers (1935), and Our Relations (1936).

This is a collection that no self-respecting soused cinema enthusiast should be without! For those interested in the full details (and why wouldn't you be), below is the press release:

"TIMELESS SOUND-ERA FILMS FROM THE LEGENDARY HAL ROACH LIBRARY DEBUT IN ONE EXTRAORDINARY DVD SET
FOR THE FIRST TIME IN THE U.S.

LAUREL & HARDY: THE ESSENTIAL COLLECTION

Digitally Remastered And Digitally Restored, Loaded With Over Two Hours Of Special Features, The Spectacular 10-Disc Set Arrives October 25 From RHI Entertainment And Vivendi Entertainment

UNIVERSAL CITY, CA – Celebrating the genius of the most beloved comedy team of all time, LAUREL & HARDY: THE ESSENTIAL COLLECTION debuts in a stunning 10-disc set on October 25, 2011 from RHI Entertainment and Vivendi Entertainment. With a comedic style that defined an era and created a legacy that is still celebrated today, 58 of Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy’s talking shorts and feature films, produced under legendary movie mogul Hal Roach from 1929 through 1940, are now available for the first time in the U.S. all together in one magnificent collection.

Transferred in high definition for the first time and digitally enhanced for home viewing in the finest quality available to date, the set contains favorites that have been enjoyed for generations including Helpmates, Hog Wild, Another Fine Mess, Sons of the Desert, Way Out West, and the Academy Award® winning* film The Music Box.

LAUREL & HARDY: THE ESSENTIAL COLLECTION comes housed in collectible, book-style packaging with an extensive, detailed film guide. The set also boasts over two hours of special features including exclusive, never-before-seen interviews with comedy legends Dick Van Dyke, Jerry Lewis, Tim Conway and more, who discuss the enduring impact and influence of Laurel and Hardy.

Additional features include commentaries by Laurel and Hardy aficionados, along with a virtual location map that allows viewers to take an interactive tour of the iconic places in and around Los Angeles where Laurel and Hardy filmed. Available for the suggested retail price of $99.98, LAUREL & HARDY: THE ESSENTIAL COLLECTION showcases some of the most cherished and hilarious films in cinema history and is a must-have for comedy fans and collectors everywhere.

BASICS
Price: $99.98
Street Date: October 25, 2011
Order Date: September 20, 2011
Catalog Number: RH3021
Language: English
Running time: 1941 minutes
Rating: NR"

The official Website of this DVD set: LAUREL & HARDY: THE ESSENTIAL COLLECTION

Cheers,
garv

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Review: Cocktail (1988)

USA/C-104m./Dir: Roger Donaldson/Wr: Heywood Gould/Cast: Tom Cruise (Brian Flanagan), Bryan Brown (Doug Coughlin), Elisabeth Shue (Jordan Mooney), Kelly Lynch (Kerry Coughlin), Gina Gershon (Coral), Ron Dean (Uncle Pat)

Cocktailmanages to present the worst of the 1980’s--greed, machismo, feathered hair, annoying pop songs, and general douche-baggery--in a tight 104-minute package. For those lucky enough to have missed the movie (or the decade for that matter), I would advise steering far clear of this glossy piece of trash. Instead, let me take the bullet for you. I had to watch Cocktail in documenting the booziest films of all time. There is no way for me to un-watch it. Let my trauma serve as a warning to keep other viewers from suffering the same fate.

Tom Cruise smugly swaggers through the flick as Brian Flanagan, an army veteran freshly out of the service, who is looking to make it rich in NYC. When he is unable to find a lucrative position, due to his lack of education and experience, he takes a bartending job at T.G.I. Friday’s. Initially, Flanagan doesn’t know a Singapore Sling from a Kamikaze, but the experienced bartender, Doug Coughlin (Bryan Brown), helps the newbie master mixology and numerous flashy bar tricks. Soon Brian and Doug’s showboating saloon skills are in such demand that they move up to a trendy nightclub, serving yuppies and heiresses with big hair. However, the friendship/partnership breaks up due to a bet over Flanagan’s girlfriend (Gina Gershon).

Three years later, Brian is tending bar and juggling bottles in Jaimaca, while trying to save up money to open his own place. There he falls for a vacationing blonde, Jordan Mooney (Elisabeth Shue). Around this time, Doug also shows up in Jamaica with a hot, rich wife (Kelly Lynch) that has a proclivity for wearing skimpy swimsuits that show off her buttocks. Flanagan manages to torpedo his relationship with Jordan through another bar bet with Coughlin; and then a bunch of other stuff happens, but I’m guessing by now that you’ve lost interest.

Cocktail is loud, slick, and vapid--the cinematic equivalent of junk food. The filmmaking and actors are competent, but the dialogue Cruise and company are forced to recite is so laughably bad that it is impossible to take any of it seriously. I kept waiting for Crow T. Robot and Tom Servo to show up make fun of the proceedings, but I ended up having to rag on the flick myself.

There are adult beverages galore on display in Cocktail, and the film is undeniably important in drink culture for helping to popularize flair bartending, which involves tossing around bottles and bar tools while preparing mixed drinks. Still, the film is only recommended for the most stout-hearted of soused cinema enthusiasts. Others beware.

Drinks Consumed--Beer, Red Eye cocktail (beer, tomato juice, spices, & egg), Turquoise Blue cocktail (Bacardi rum, Blue Curacao, & pineapple juice), Daiquiri (rum, lime juice, sugar, & crushed ice), Champagne, white wine, Lois XIII brandy, and various unnamed cocktails

Intoxicating Effects--Stumbling, harmonizing, soused sex, brawling, passing out, and hangover

Potent Quotables--FLANAGAN (offered a shot of cognac): I’ll stick with the brew.
COUGHLIN: Beer is for breakfast around here. Drink or be gone.

Video Availability--Cocktail Blu-rayand DVD(Buena Vista)

Similarly Sauced Cinema--Elisabeth Shue went on to co-star in a much better alky-centric flick, Leaving Las Vegas (1995).

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Booze News: PROHIBITION is coming!

Greetings, fellow inebriates,

Today, as I was perusing a local book store, a paperback edition of Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition by Daniel Okrent caught my eye. As a devotee of alky-related pop culture, I was naturally intrigued--even more so when I read the callout on the cover:

"FEATURED IN KEN BURNS' PBS DOCUMENTARY PROHIBITION"

After a bit of digging I discovered that Prohibition is a three-part, five-and-a-half-hour documentary by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick (who worked together previously on The Civil War, Baseball, Jazz, The War, and other projects). It is scheduled to air at a yet unnamed date in the fall. Color me intrigued.

When I know more, you'll know more. In the meantime, here is a sneak preview of the series from PBS:



More info on the upcoming series can also be found here: http://www.pbs.org/kenburns/prohibition/

Cheers,
garv

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Review: The Public Enemy (1931)

USA/B&W-84m./Dir: William A. Wellman/Wr: Kubec Glasmon, John Bright, and Harvey Thew/Cast: James Cagney (Tom Powers), Edward Woods (Matt Doyle), Jean Harlow (Gwen Allen), Donald Cook (Mike Powers), Robert O’ Connor (Paddy Ryan), Beryl Mercer (Ma Powers), Murray Kinell (Putty Nose), Mae Clarke (Kitty)

The U.S. government’s prohibition of alcohol in the 1920’s had the unintended effect of making the fortunes of some of the nation’s most notorious gangsters. A decade later, Hollywood’s exploitation of the violence and drunken depravity of the Prohibition-era jump-started the careers of several of the screen’s most popular leading men, including the immortal James Cagney.

Cagney first found his way to the screen in Sinner’s Holiday (1930), a film adaption of Penny Arcade, a play in which the young vaudeville hoofer turned actor had starred as a bootlegger. Warner Brothers originally hired Cagney to a three-week contract to replicate his stage performance in this single film, but after witnessing his natural screen presence, they hired him to a seven-year contract. Four films later, Cagney starred in another vehicle about Prohibition bootlegging, The Public Enemy (1931). It would launch the diminutive tough guy to superstardom.

Based on an unpublished novel, Beer and Blood, The Public Enemy contains plenty of both. It tells the story of two friends from working class families, Tom Powers (Cagney) and Matt Doyle (Edward Woods), who find that petty theft is more lucrative than working a regular job, like the one held by Tom’s disapproving brother, Mike (Donald Cook). When World War I erupts, Mike is one of the first to volunteer, but Tom stays behind to support his Ma (Beryl Mercer) through his thievery. Prohibition provides Tom and Matt with an even more lucrative criminal enterprise--running bootleg beer. The public’s thirst for illegal alcohol brings Tom and Matt wealth, semi-respectability, and loose women. Unfortunately, it also brings violence and hails of machine-gun fire when a rival gang tries to move in on their territory.

Watching The Public Enemy today, it is obvious that James Cagney was destined to be a star. His performance as Tom Powers is brutal, electric, and charismatic, and he has a naturalism that outmatches his more experienced costars (most of whom come across as stilted, hammy, or both). However, Cagney almost didn’t get to play the part. Edward Woods was originally hired as Powers, and Cagney was supposed to play the supporting role of Matt Doyle. Fortunately, director William Wellman recognized that Cagney was the more dynamic of the duo, and he swapped the actors’ roles after filming had already commenced. It was a genius move, because Cagney absolutely dominates the screen with his forceful performance. No matter what awful things Tom Powers does in the film, from smashing a grapefruit in Mae Clarke’s face to gunning down men in the back, you can’t help but root for him, because Cagney is so appealing.

The movie itself has aged well. Unlike many films of the early Thirties, there is nothing static about The Public Enemy. The camera is constantly moving, the camera placement and compositions are imaginative and effective, and the movie advances at a brisk pace. The picture has also lost none of its power to shock eighty years after its original release.

The Public Enemy is one of the best movies Hollywood ever produced about the Prohibition era. It should be considered essential viewing for lovers of soused cinema.

Drinks Consumed--Beer, whiskey, and champagne

Intoxicating Effects--Sneaking sips, passing out, staggering, soused sex, hangover, and memory blackouts

Potent Quotables--TOM: Ain’t you got a drink in the house?
KITTY: Well not before breakfast, dear.
TOM: I didn’t ask you for any lip. I asked if you had a drink.

Video Availability--The Public Enemy is available as a standalone DVD or as part of the Warner Gangsters Collection Volume 1 (DVD) (6-Pack).

Similarly Sauced Cinema--Cagney gets pulled into the bootlegging business again in The Roaring Twenties (1939).

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Booze News: Miscellaneous Summer News Items

Greetings, fellow inebriates,

The summer is nigh upon us, and I have a handful of headlines to pass along that may be of interest to soused cinema enthusiasts:

• Miss Trivia App on Sale: Firstly, cocktail goddess and friend of Booze Movies, Cheryl Charming has a iPhone/iTouch/iPad drink trivia app, Miss Trivia, which contains 5000 questions in five fizzy categories. One of the categories, "Celebrity Cocktails," is specifically centered on adult beverages in film. For a limited time, the app can be purchased at a special discount price of just 99 cents. You'd be fool-hearty not to buy Cheryl's app at that price, so let's show her some love. You can find more info and a download link for Miss Trivia at http://www.misscharming.com/app.htm.

• Soused Summer at the Cineplex: We're only a few weeks into the summer movie season (summer apparently starts in late April now), and we've already been treated to some alky-centric gems. We've witnessed the god of thunder drink Stellan Skarsgård under the table in Thor, Will Ferrell has portrayed a down-on-his luck boozer in Everything Must Go, and Kristen Wiig has gotten pickled on a plane in Bridesmaids (all of which have garnered good reviews). This week Johnny Depp returns to the role of rum-sodden Captain Jack Sparrow (although the early word has been decidedly disparaging for Pirates 4). This is quite a promising start for a soused summer at the cineplex. Now, if they'd only start offering cocktails at the concession stand, we'd really have something.
  

• The Thin Man Greenlit: Speaking of Johnny Depp, I posted an item back on October 30th that the actor was interested in rebooting the classic Thin Man series with director Robb Marshall. Apparently, the picture is going forward with Depp portraying the perpetually potted Nick Charles. There's no word yet as to who is being considered to play Nora, Nick's loyal wife and drinking companion. Of course, Depp has remakes of Dark Shadows and The Lone Ranger (as Tonto) scheduled ahead of The Thin Man, so Nora's casting is likely a long way off. While I can't imagine any two actors capturing the same kind of electric chemistry that William Powell and Myrna Loy displayed, the idea of this remake doesn't fill me with disgust in the way Russell Brand's take on Arthur did. I like Depp, and with the right Nora (Winona Ryder, perhaps) the project could be a tipsy treat.
  

That's all for now. I'll be back soon with a review of James Cagney's star-making prohibition classic, The Public Enemy (1931). Until then...

Cheers,
garv

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Review: The Secret of Santa Vittoria (1969)

USA/C-140m./Dir: Stanley Kramer/Wr: William Rose & Ben Maddow (based on a Robert Crichton novel)/Cast: Anthony Quinn (Italo Bombolini), Anna Magnani (Rosa), Virna Lisi (Caterina Malatesta), Hardy Krüger (Capt. Von Prum), Sergio Franchi (Tufa), Renato Rascel (Babbaluche), Giancarlo Giannini (Fabio)

In the late 1950’s and early 1960’s, Stanley Kramer was Hollywood’s message man, having directed such sober, thought-provoking fare as The Defiant Ones (1958), On the Beach (1959), Inherit the Wind (1960), and Judgment at Nuremberg (1961). However, L.A.’s most moralistic auteur was also capable of working in a lighter tone, as evidenced by his 1963 mega-comedy It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. After that foray into slapstick, Kramer combined his didactic moralizing with light comedy for the fondly remembered (but merely passable) interracial love story Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (1967) and then again (more successfully this time) for the forgotten vino-centric gem The Secret of Santa Vittoria (1969).

The latter film is set during World War II in the small wine-producing village of Santa Vittoria. When news reaches the town that Prime Minister Benito Mussolini has died, the municipality’s biggest lush, Italo Bombolini (Anthony Quinn), climbs the water tower to paint over the name of the fascist leader. This act of drunken courage prompts the townspeople to imprison their fascist counselmen and elect Bombolini their new mayor. While Bombolini initially enjoys the respect that comes with his new position, he finds headaches aplenty when the German army threatens to occupy and loot the town. The thought of losing the stores of 1,317,000 bottles of wine fills the town’s wino-in-chief with dread, so he concocts a plan to hide a million bottles from the invading Nazis.

Running 140 minutes, The Secret of Santa Vittoria comes across as a bit bloated. The main problem is the film tries to cover too many storylines--the plot to fool the Nazis, Bombolini’s estrangement from his wife (Anna Magnani), an affair between the local Contessa (Virna Lisi) and an army deserter (Sergio Franchi), what to do with the imprisoned Fascists, etc. The picture’s pace is also a bit too languid at times, especially during the romantic subplots. However, the positives far outweigh the negatives in this enjoyable, lighthearted serio-comedy.

Chief amongst the movie’s merits is Anthony Quinn’s bombastic, big-hearted performance as Bombolini, which consistently pushes the picture back into gear every time it begins to drag. While Quinn is a formidable spotlight-stealer, much of the cast matches his energy, especially Anna Magnani as his ball-busting wife, Renato Rascel as Bombolini’s right-hand man on the town counsel, and a youthful Giancarlo Giannini as a rabble-rousing college student. Hardy Krüger also makes a fine antagonist as the semi-civilized Nazi commander, Captain Sepp Von Prum.

The technical aspects of the movie are also quite accomplished, including beautiful cinematography from frequent Fellini collaborator Giuseppe Rotunno and music from It’s A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World composer Ernest Gold. The lushness in the look and feel of the film makes even the slowest sections of the story enjoyable to watch.

Soused cinema enthusiasts are strongly encouraged to seek out this lesser-known gem. It goes down nicely with several goblets of a full-bodied red.

Drinks Consumed--Wine and more wine

Intoxicating Effects--Sneakin sips, depression, public disturbance, and hangover

Potent Quotables--VON PRUM: Where’s the wine?
BOMBOLINI: Sir, I have told you. I promise you. There is no wine.

Video Availability--The Secret of Santa Vittoria - Widescreen DVD (United Artists)

Similarly Sauced Cinema--The residents of Todday, a small island off the coast of Scotland, race to save 50,000 cases of whiskey from a sinking ship in Whisky Galore (a.k.a. Tight Little Island, 1949).

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Review: The Country Girl (1954)

USA/B&W-104m./Dir: George Seaton/Wr: George Seaton (based on the play by Clifford Odets)/Cast: Bing Crosby (Frank Elgin), Grace Kelly (Georgie Elgin), William Holden (Bernie Dodd), Anthony Ross (Phillip Cook), Gene Reynolds (Larry), Jacqueline Fontaine (Lounge singer)

Genial crooner B-B-B-Bing Crosby and porcelain princess Grace Kelly took 180-degree turns from their familiar screen personas for the Hollywood adaptation of the Clifford Odets’ play, The Country Girl. Crosby set aside his easy-going charm to dive into darker Lost Weekend-esque emoting, while Kelly de-glamorized as his dowdy, long-suffering wife. Both the risky performances and the soapy story (a drunken has-been attempting one last shot at the big time) had the luster of assured Oscar-bait. As expected, both Der Bingle and the princess scored Academy Award nominations, and Kelly even took home the coveted statuette.

The story centers upon a Broadway musical in the making. When the star of the production is fired, the show’s director, Bernie Dodd (William Holden) gambles on hiring Frank Elgin (Bing Crosby), a washed-up, balding actor-singer with a bad reputation as an unreliable boozer. In hiring Elgin, Bernie discovers that the alky’s domineering wife Georgie (Grace Kelly) comes as part of the package. While the woman-hating director blames the Missus for Elgin’s weaknesses, in reality, she is only thing keeping the actor from slipping into a pit of self-loathing and depression. Will Georgie be able to keep Frank’s fragile psyche from unraveling or is another bender in the offing? Actually, it’s all rather predictable.

In many ways, The Country Girl has not aged well. The script (which won the Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar) is trite and overly melodramatic, employing obvious plot contrivances such as the loss of a child, the love triangle, and the triumph over personal demons. The soapiness of the story isn’t helped by the fact that director George Seaton occasionally lets his actors stray too far into histrionics. In addition, the play within a play, “The Land Around Us,” which the company is trying to mount, consistently comes across as a turkey. It is hard to believe that any star, let alone a broken-down drunk, could breathe life into a musical with no memorable songs. The only musical number that truly shines in the film is an impromptu number that has nothing to do with the show in question--a drunken duet in a bar between Bing and lounge-singer Jacqueline Fontaine.

The Country Girl remains watchable today mainly due to the curiosity value of Bing and Grace’s against-type performances. While both can be caught acting at times, it is interesting seeing each of them in an unfamiliar context. Overall, the experiment is a success. However, the one truly great performance in the film is given by William Holden, one of the most reliable screen actors in Hollywood history.

While The Country Girl is a bit of a slog at times, there is enough that is interesting and good in the picture to ultimately recommend it. It also is an important title in the “alcohol-as-disease” canon, which should be enough reason for soused cinema enthusiasts to give it a once-over.

Drinks Consumed--Beer, 44-proof cough medicine, and whiskey

Intoxicating Effects--Sneaking sips, depression, harmonizing, public disturbance, destruction of property, and jail time

Potent Quotables--BERNIE: Frank, there are as many reasons for drinking as there are drinkers, but there are only two reasons why a drinker stops--he dies or he decides to quit, all by himself.

Video Availability--The Country Girl DVD (Paramount)

Similarly Sauced Cinema--Bing and Grace re-teamed in 1956 for High Society, the champagne-soaked remake of The Philadelphia Story (1940).

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