Best-ees 2.0

Because I love movies so much, and because I couldn’t think of anything philosophical to write about, and because the recent news has been nothing but downers making topical pieces no fun, I offer you the second installment of the Best-ees; movie awards that matter.

One might consider this the testosterone version because the subjects relate to manly themes; booze and speed.  So get set to be educated, entertained and disgruntled.

And now, the categories:

Best Martini Reference in a Movie

Martini, the drink of the Greatest Generation; no business lunch would have been consummated without it.  It was a deceptive charmer.  Served in a quaint little glass (today’s offerings by comparison are served in margarita sized glasses), it was high-octane fuel perfectly designed for lubricating mega-deals.  America’s economic comeback from the great depression was built on the three martini lunch.  Watch any movie from 1947 to 1965 and some character will take a dip in this concoction of gin and vermouth, “No mixer for me, thanks.  I don’t want my liver to suffer a slow, painful death.  I’ll just take it out right here.”  The nominees:

Father of the Bride (1950 – Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer)  One of Spencer Tracy’s funniest roles.  Usually lauded for his dramatic work, his subtle, bumbling portrayal of a family patriarch who has lost all control over his daughter Katherine’s (Elizabeth Taylor) impending wedding is genius.

Planning to show his social prowess as host at the engagement party, Stanley T. Banks (Spencer Tracy) prepares a tray of martinis for the expected guests.  As the guests wander into the kitchen they pass on the prepared libation in favor of their own preferences necessitating Stanley serve as bartender.  By the time he has met all of his guests’ alcohol needs the soiree has run its course and he emerges from the kitchen to be scolded by his wife, Ellie (Joan Bennett) for having reneged on his social obligations.

Goldfinger (1964 – United Artists)  Clearly a cultural icon, this movie became the template for the cool, sophisticated man.  You might be confused as Goldfinger was not the first in the series of movies.  But it was the first in which Bond uttered the famous phrase.

In print, the phrase “Shaken, not stirred” first appears in the novel Diamonds are Forever (1956) though Bond does not speak the line until the novel Dr. No (1958).  The movies were not produced in the same order as the novels were written.  Goldfinger (1959) was the seventh novel of twelve and two short story anthologies.  But it was the third film and made the franchise an international sensation.  The moment happened aboard Auric Goldfingers executive jet.  Bond (Sean Connery) was being held at gun point by Pussy Galore (Honor Blackman).  An uncredited Korean stewardess (yeah, I know, sexist… but it was the sixties) asks bond if she can get him anything to which he replies, “Just a drink. Martini, shaken not stirred.” There is no mention of vodka, very dry or lemon twists.  So go ahead gents, drink your martinis the way God intended, made with gin and olives; and practice in the mirror, “Bond.  James Bond.”

The Apartment (1960 – United Artists)  This movie is a treasure.  Directed by Billy Wilder it was nominated for ten Academy Awards, winning five including Best Writing (original screenplay), Best Director and Best Picture.  The picture is a bitter-sweet story about modern mores.  The primary characters are C.C. Baxter (Jack Lemon), Fran Kubelik (Shirley MacClaine) and Jeff D. Sheldrake (Fred MacMurray).  The premise is that bachelor C.C. Baxter hopes to improve his chances for promotion by allowing his workplace superiors use of his apartment as a trysting site for their extramarital activity.  It is a dark comedy and you fans of the 1960s TV show My Three Sons will never think of Fred MacMurray in quite the same way.

The martini reference in the film does not involve the main characters.  C.C. arrives home to find that this particular evening’s lothario-in-residence still occupies the nest and his drunken conquest is not yet ready to fly.  As Al Kirkeby (David Lewis) attempts to hustle his date, Sylvia (Joan Shawlee) out of the apartment, she asks, “What’s the panic?  I’m going to have another martooni!”  And ever since, the martooni has been defined as: “The last in a long series of martinis drinked.”

And the winner is…

Goldfinger

Thanks to Ian Fleming, martinis, the epitome of cool, have resurged in popularity.  I don’t know why, they taste terrible.  Have you ever tasted straight gin?  The only reason gin ever gained any popularity was as an additive to make tonic water palatable.  And the sole purpose of tonic water (quinine) was to fight the effects of malaria on the sub-continent.  Rue Britannia!

Best Car Chase in a Movie

Car chases have become a staple of the action movie.  Some movies are built solely around a featured car chase.  There is something about squealing tires and throaty exhaust that gets the adrenaline flowing even while seated in the relative safety of a movie auditorium.  The list of also-rans is long indeed.  From the Keystone Cops to the Fast and Furious franchise, there are dozens if not hundreds of films that feature a car chase.  During the mid nineteen sixties, there emerged a whole genre of car chase films which posited the rebellious hot-rodder as counter culture hero.  Then in the nineteen seventies, Burt Reynolds stole the concept and turned it into a parody of itself with the Smokey and the Bandit series and others.  But the best chases have always been cops vs. criminals.  The nominees:

Bullitt (1968 – Warner Bros.)  This is the dean of car chase movies. It featured San Francisco Police Lt. Frank Bullitt (Steve McQueen) chasing a couple of hit men around the city for ten minutes or so that really did nothing to further the plot, which was lame anyway. The real stars of the show were Bullitt’s 1968 390 cid Ford Mustang GT (325 hp) and the baddies’ 1968 440 cid Dodge Charger (375 hp).

True to form, the chase starts out when Bullitt notices that the assassins are following him.  He makes a break, then maneuvers himself to become the pursuer of the pursuers.  Now maybe I am missing some subtlety of plot here, but why didn’t the bad guys just shoot Bullitt when he was walking to his car?  Because, that would have denied us the experience of what some consider the gold standard of car chases.  And of course, they resolve the pursuit by having the overmatched villains run their Dodge into a gas station resulting in a visually spectacular (if not somewhat predictable) explosion.

Blues Brothers (1980 – Paramount Pictrures)  The outgrowth of a musical sketch from a January 1976 episode of the comedy program NBC’s Saturday Night (the name Saturday Night Live belonged to ABC as the title of a prime time variety show hosted by Howard Cosell, which predictably failed in its first season.  Rights to the title were purchased and officially adopted by the NBC show in March of 1977, two years after its debut), the brainchild of Dan Aykroyd and James Belushi grew to include a blues anthology LP and the movie.

Among the many scenes that have become iconic, perhaps the most side-splitting is the car chase in which Jake (Belushi) and Elwood (Aykroyd) try to elude Illinois State Police by driving their retired police cruiser, the Blues mobile, through an enclosed shopping mall.  Notwithstanding the technical excellence of the chase stunts, the true genius is the deadpan dialogue of the brothers’ observations on the current trends in mass retailing. It is enhanced by an instrumental version of “I Can’t Turn You Loose” (Otis Redding) as the background music.  The chase location was an authentic abandoned shopping mall in Harvey, Illinois.

The French Connection (1971 – Twentieth Century Fox)  Unlike Bullitt, this movie had a good plot.  Perhaps the fact that the story was based on a real-life narcotics smuggling case is why.  This was a breakthrough role for Gene Hackman garnering a Best Actor Oscar.  In all the film was nominated for eight Academy Awards; awarded five including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Writing.  Oh yeah, and there was a car chase; well sort of.

NYPD Narcotics Detective Popeye Doyle (Gene Hackman), the target of a failed assassination attempt, gives chase to the would-be killer who eludes him by boarding a NYC elevated train.  To keep up, Doyle commandeers a civilian vehicle and gives chase on the streets of Brooklyn.  Interesting feature of a car vs. train chase… you know where the train is going to go!

And the winner is…

The French Connection

I know.  I can here you die hard Steve McQueen fans threatening revolt out there.  But truth is the Bullitt chase seems sterile compared to The French Connection.  Super-car vs. super-car; now when is that going to happen anywhere in real life?  The stunts in The French Connection were so tight, that the collisions seen in the film were not scripted but driving errors left in to enhance the drama.  And let’s not forget the train wreck.  The vehicle part of the chase ends when the hijacked train (the suspect has ordered the train operator not to stop at the stations) rams into another train.  And there’s more… Doyle (Hackman) shoots the bad guy dead.  Bullitt just drove his Mustang to the car wash.

Well, I hope you enjoyed this chapter of the Best-ees.  If you have any categories of movie trivia you would like me to address for Best-ees consideration, just throw me an e-mail.  I have opinions on everything!