The Drinks of Hollywood Blvd, or TCM 2013: A Booze Odyssey
Booze and the movies go way back. From the self-medicating part-time hooker heroine of 1931’s “Safe in Hell” — a highlight of 2013’s Turner Classic Movies Festival — to the lovable dipsomaniacs of “The Thin Man” and “Harvey” and on into more recent times with such frequently soused superheros as James Bond and Tony Stark, the movies have glamorized alcohol. When Hollywood wanted to, it could make habitual drunkenness charming, funny, and, of course, sexy.
While the movies once celebrated cigarette smoking as well, modern day Hollywood Boulevard makes it tricky for smokers to indulge in their passion, give or take some hookah bars and a medical marijuana “clinic.” Booze, however can be obtained with great ease. All you need is plenty of ready cash or a clean credit card or two and you can have your fill of cocktails.
And that’s exactly what I did between classic, near classic, and merely really interesting movies the weekend of the 2013 TCM Fest. What follows is a (relatively) brief journal of the drinks I found going up and down the boulevard we call Hollywood the final weekend of April.
Now, I should add that this listing is my no means exhaustive and is, with one exception, limited to cocktails one can purchase on Hollywood Boulevard proper, no side streets allowed, within an easy walk of Sid Grauman’s old Chinese and Egyptian Theaters and the legendary Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, the heart of Hollywood and the home base of the TCM Fest.
Posted in: Entertainment, Food & Drink, Lifestyle, Movies, Vices
Tags: Bob's Frolic Room, Bonnie and Clyde, booze, booze for guys, booze for men, Chinese Theater, Christian Brothers Brandy, Christoph Waltz, cocktail recipes, cocktails, DeKuyper Triple Sec, Delirium Noel, drink recipes, Fukuburger, Funny Girl, Happy Hour, Harvey Wallbanger, Hendrick's Gin, Hollywood, Jalapeno Margarita, James Bond, Last Tango in Modena, Last Tango in Paris, liquor, liquor for guys, liquor for men, Manny Aguirre, Musso and Frank, Nick and Nora Charles, Nick Charles, On the Waterfront, Safe in Hell, Shnozberry Pie, spirits, spirits for guys, spirits for men, Spotlight on Booze, TCM Fest, The Library Bar, the Martini, the Sidecar, The Tonight Show, Turner Classic Movies, Turner Classic Movies Film Festival, vodka martini, Wood and Vine