Beer, wine, whiskey, and cocktails in movies illustrate everything from people having a boozy, brawling good or bad time, to the affectations of high society, to the ravages of alcoholism. In some cases a particular drink is identified with a certain film; in others consumption of vast quantities of anything seems to be the goal. Here are some examples from movies you may have seen.
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Boilermaker: “Open a can of Budweiser, dump out about an eighth of the can, top it off with Jim Beam, bend your elbow and knock it back.” Such are instructions for making the Buttermaker Boilermaker from Walter Mathau in The Bad News Bears.
- White Russian: Jeff Bridges, stoner-hero of The Big Lebowski, mixes vodka, Kahlua, and half-and-half into what he calls “Caucasians” throughout this hardboiled mystery film, masquerading as a bowling comedy, with a cowboy narrator. A box-office flop when it opened, this bizarre Coen brothers film has been raised to cult status by its legions of passionate fans.
- Martini: William Powell and Myrna Loy as detectives Nick and Nora Charles seem dedicated only to drinking many martinis and great quantities of Scotch in The Thin Man and its five sequels. Solving crimes is almost incidental and such a bother. “It’s putting me way behind in my drinking,” Nick says.
- Beer: Playing a crude, vulgar, sloppy frat boy, John Belushi is the original party animal in Animal House. He instigates a beer-swilling toga party, a cafeteria food fight, and a host of other gross-out college pranks. It’s disgustingly hilarious and based on the actual college days of the film’s writers.
- Cosmopolitan: Sarah Jessica Parker and her pals drink these throughout the Sex and the City series and have made it a modern classic. Created by Miami bartender Cheryl Cook and named after Cosmopolitan Magazine, the Cosmo contains citrus vodka, Cointreau, fresh lime juice, and cranberry juice resulting in a cocktail so pink and appealing that orders for it soon come from all over the bar.
- Chianti: Anthony Hopkins gives disturbing culinary advice in Silence of the Lambs: “A census taker once tried to test me. I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice Chianti.” At the movie’s end he also says: “I do wish we could chat longer, but I’m having an old friend for dinner.”
- French 75: Made with gin, sugar, lemon juice and topped with champagne, this cocktail is as bittersweet as the movie in which it appears: Casablanca. “Here’s looking at you, kid.”
- Rye: In Lost Weekend, Ray Milland has bottles of rye whiskey stashed all over the house: under the furniture, in the chandelier, hanging out the window on cords. He goes on a four-day bender and reduces himself to desperation over finding $2.50 to buy another bottle. His delirious insights are sometimes marvelous. Movies of a similar nature include Susan Hayward in I’ll Cry Tomorrow, Jack Lemmon in Days of Wine and Roses, and Nicolas Cage in Leaving Las Vegas.
- Manhattan: To mobsters, jazz music, Marilyn Monroe, cross-dressing Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon, add whiskey, sweet vermouth, and bitters. Top with a cherry and you have Some Like It Hot. What’s not to like?
- Whiskey: Western movies often feature woozy cowboys guzzling generic whiskey from the bottle, sliding bottles with great accuracy down the bar, breaking them over someone’s head, or throwing them to smash the back-bar mirror. In Cat Ballou, Lee Marvin plays the unrepentant quintessential whiskey-soaked cowboy with the added bonus of a drunken horse. When accepting his Academy Award for the role Marvin said: “Somewhere in Wyoming there’s a horse that deserves half of this.”
- Vesper: James Bond orders this martini variation of gin, vodka, and Kina Lillet only in Ian Fleming’s 1953 novel Casino Royale. Daniel Craig goes through “six of them” in Quantum of Solace, otherwise Bond sticks to regular gin and vodka martinis and an occasional beer.
- Absinthe: French wine companies and Prohibition advocates in the early 1900s spread rumors that absinthe was poisonous, hallucinogenic, and addictive. It was soon banned in most countries but in fact, absinthe is no more dangerous than any other alcohol. Most bans have been lifted in recent years but Ewan McGregor in Moulin Rouge! does not help matters. From his first sip he is beset by dizzying hallucinations of the green fairy from the bottle’s label. It’s more Hollywood misinformation.
- Cognac: Peter O’Toole, as a swashbuckling past-his-prime movie star, guzzles cognac through a week of trying to restart his career in My Favorite Year. Based largely on liquor-fueled misadventures of Errol Flynn and John Barrymore, O’Toole gives a charismatic and triumphant performance.
- Pinot Noir: Paul Giamatti road-trips through Santa Barbara wine country in Sideways drinking great quantities of Pinot and other wines. He fancies himself a connoisseur, knows the lingo and technique, but mostly he’s a pretentious drunk. The movie’s popularity raised Pinot Noir from obscurity and liquor stores across the country saw their wine sales rivaling and surpassing those of beer. For another great wine movie, see Alan Rickman in Bottle Shock.
- Orange Whip: Made with rum, vodka, cream, and orange juice, John Candy ordered Orange Whips in Blues Brothers and gave this drink a huge boost in popularity. See it; try it.
- Singapore Sling: This cocktail of gin, cherry brandy, Benedictine, and pineapple juice is a favorite of Johnny Depp in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Playing gonzo-journalist Hunter Thompson, Depp brings to life the greed, intemperance, personal gratification and other narcissistic values Thompson and his drug-addled friends believe are the core of the “American Dream.” It’s a psychotically rambling and generally nutso story of excess and the 60s drug culture.
- Scotch: Dudley Moore is Arthur, a good-natured millionaire motoring through Scotch, martinis, beer, champagne and whatever else is handy. He’s to marry the daughter of another millionaire but chooses a waitress instead. So it’s love or $750 million dollars; what to do? “You look terrible, Arthur,” someone says to him. “That’s because you’ve never seen me sober,” he replies.
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Booze Movies: The 100 Proof Film Guide
Famous Cocktails and Drinks in the Movies