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CONTENTS
COVER
TITLE PAGE
COPYRIGHT
DEDICATION
FOREWORD BY MARK A. VIEIRA
INTRODUCTION: ON THE SILVER TRAY
PRE-CODE EXPLORED

SINFUL SIPS AND DEMON DRINKS: COCKTAILS INSPIRED BY

PRE-CODE HOLLYWOOD
The Divorcee / Balanced Account
Hell’s Angels / Platinum Blonde
Anybody’s Woman / The Better Wife
Morocco / Legionnaire
Little Caesar / Bronze Peacock
Dracula / Count Draiquiri
The Easiest Way / Love & Money
Dance, Fools, Dance / Love on Approval
Strangers May Kiss / Stranger’s Kiss
The Public Enemy / Tom Powers
Night Nurse / My Pal Rye
The Last Flight / Last Flight
Bad Girl / Coney Island Roller Coaster
Safe in Hell / Lady from New Orleans
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde / J & H
Shanghai Express / Shanghai Lily
This Is the Night / Javelin
Scarface / First Ward
Red-Headed Woman / Lil Red
Million Dollar Legs / Georges & Angelas
Love Me Tonight / Flat on My Flute
Bird of Paradise / Stiff Water
Blonde Venus / Blonde Venus
Red Dust / Red Dust
One Way Passage / Passage to Paradise
Three on a Match / Three on a Match
Trouble in Paradise / Lubitsch Touch
Call Her Savage / Greenwich Village
The Sign of the Cross / Naked Moon
Island of Lost Souls / House of Pain
The Bitter Tea of General Yen / Lotus Blossom
She Done Him Wrong / Diamond Ring
42nd Street / Rose-Colored Glasses
Our Betters / Lady Pearl
King Kong / King Kong
Gold Diggers of 1933 / Pettin’ in the Park
Cocktail Hour / Kansas Romanov
Baby Face / Fuzzy Wuzzy
Midnight Mary / Midnight Mary
Dinner at Eight / The Berry-More
Footlight Parade / Here Kitty Kitty
Flying Down to Rio / Hotel Hibiscus
Queen Christina / Serenade in a Snowstorm
Design for Living / Love Triangle
Search for Beauty / Olympian
Mandalay / Jardin d’Orient
It Happened One Night / It Happened One Morning
Tarzan and His Mate / Tarzan’s Mate
Murder at the Vanities / Cocktail for Two
The Thin Man / Asta

THE SIDEBOARD: A MANUAL FOR MAKING MIXED DRINKS

BOTTLES, PANTRY RECOMMENDATIONS, AND TOOLS
A FEW PRE-CODE-ERA COCKTAILS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
DISCOVER MORE
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 TO ALL WHO THIRST FOR
WHAT IS OUT—OF—BOUNDS,
MAY THIS BOOK KEEP YOU IN
HIGH SPIRITS.

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Explore book giveaways, sneak peeks, deals, and more.

Tap here to learn more.

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OceanofPDF.com
Barbara Stanwyck defends herself with a bottle in Baby Face.

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 FOREWORD
MARK A. VIEIRA

Cocktails were the essential ingredients of pre-code cinema. Like

sex and violence, cocktails were both forbidden and ubiquitous. They
were forbidden by Prohibition and ubiquitous because people
wanted them. Witness the “pint of ale and a pint of champagne”
Robert Montgomery orders at an Art Deco bar in Strangers May
Kiss, the “Paradise Cocktail” a bartender deftly mixes in One Way
Passage, and the martinis William Powell shakes to a two-step in
The Thin Man. What would pre-code be without demon drink?
Alcohol was more than essential to the era. It was the elixir of life.
Even when pre-code films posed as morality tales, immoral
behavior sold tickets, so drink in hand, these films glorified the sins
they punished. In Dance, Fools, Dance, well-bred William Bakewell
is ruined by a bootlegging career. In The Public Enemy, slum kid
James Cagney steals alcohol barrels from a warehouse, the first
step to ill-gotten affluence. In Call Her Savage, Clara Bow’s
rampages are preceded—or followed—by drunkenness. Hollywood
made it clear that the slide to hell was lubricated with liquor.
Amid all the dancing, drinking, and debauchery, no one—then or
now—stopped to ask the obvious question: Why vilify Will Hays,
Jason Joy, and Joseph Breen for being the enforcers of the
Production Code? They had been hired to do a job. Why did
filmmakers fight them so hard when their bosses had authorized
them to do exactly what they did? The studios were, in a sense, in
bed with the enemy, the reviled “censors.” Out of necessity, the two
sides forged a relationship. They fought and made up. Both sides
compromised. But more often than not, the filmmakers prevailed.
Pre-code films had a brazen, provocative energy that resonates
ninety years later.
After viewing pre-code movies, many assume that the 1930s was
an unbridled decade. In fact, it was a conservative time, constricted
by economic depression and repressed by Victorian values.
“Community standards” prevailed over Hollywood creativity; thus,
few people saw these films as we see them now, complete and
uncut. They were often edited by state censor boards, local censors,
and even by theater owners. Audiences in the “dry” state of Kansas,
for instance, rarely saw an on-screen cocktail consumed; most of the
drinking scenes were snipped before the film arrived at the theater.
This left plenty of celluloid on the Kansas censors’ floor; drinking was
a pre-code constant. Drink drove stories and provided plot points. It
sometimes drove characters to the brink of destruction, but more
often, pre-code films handled drinking with a comic touch. In Gold
Diggers of 1933, flirtatious Fay Fortune (played by Ginger Rogers, a
real-life teetotaler) uses champagne to maintain her health, asserting
with a smile, “My doctor recommends it.” By late 1933, most of the
country was smiling and sipping, too.
During the first three years of the Great Depression and the
frightening first quarter of 1933, Hollywood’s goal was to entertain
the audience. The code’s concern was not to stimulate that
audience. Despite these contradictory objectives, the film industry
survived this dark period. Movies provided an escape for the weary
American, who may have been short of cash but could justify a
quarter for a big-screen romance. By comparison, entering a
speakeasy and ordering a cocktail would have been difficult
(especially for the rural population), and a little more expensive; a
basic cocktail started at twenty-five cents and ranged to fifty cents.
Thanks to this book, you need not choose between drink and
entertainment. André Darlington has created fifty cocktail recipes to
pair perfectly with his movie selections, fifty of the most intoxicating
titles from the short-lived but prolific pre-code era. From Morocco to
Midnight Mary, from Safe in Hell to Scarface, let this book be your
guide. Pick up your swizzle stick and stir up the excitement
Hollywood created between 1930 and ’34.
 Start the evening with cocktails, like Gaston in Trouble in
Paradise. Rattle your shaker in time with Nick in The Thin Man. Take
a swig from your flask like Lil in Red-Headed Woman. Stock up on
the gin, the absinthe, the bitters, and the soda. Raise a glass to the
frivolity of these films, but remember: although sin is the most
important element in a pre-code cocktail, you can enjoy it
responsibly.
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Fredric March offers Gary Cooper liquid refreshment.

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 INTRODUCTION

ON THE SILVER TRAY

The book you now hold in your hands features fifty movies from the
“pre-code” era, defined as the four-year span when the film industry
had a production code, but the studios chose to ignore it. The films
of this era are untamed and suggestive, as if we are seeing
American culture of a bygone time unvarnished. Compared to
Hollywood films of the so-called Golden Era, pre-code movies are
like forbidden fruit—especially when spiked with that harbinger of
mischief, the cocktail.
Pre-code films are set against a complicated backdrop: from
March 1930 when the Production Code was adopted, to July 1934,
when the code was reconstituted; from Herbert Hoover and
Prohibition to Franklin Roosevelt and legal liquor. The landmark
pictures that bookend this period are The Divorcee and The Thin
Man. Luckily for us, because the films overlap with the end of
Prohibition, we get to see Prohibition-era cocktail culture as well as
Hollywood at its most brazen. For more on the significance of pre-
code cinema, see the “Pre-Code Explored” section that follows. For
the complete picture readers are also encouraged to refer to another
book in the TCM library, Forbidden Hollywood.
Let’s turn our attention to the cocktails because there are
important things to note. First, while pre-code films overlap with the
final years of Prohibition, what we see on-screen up to the full repeal
in December 1933 is surprisingly similar to what we see after. This is
because Prohibition helped determine film settings; it is no accident
there are so many border-crossings, yachts, speakeasies, and
foreign cities in these films. It is not merely a display of upper-class
mobility (although it is that, too); characters in Europe, Asia, South
America, and the Caribbean could be shown drinking. Second, while
cocktails are sometimes employed to support plot or to reveal
character, much of pre-code imbibing is “smart” drinking: cocktails
are being presented as fashionable. This was specifically addressed
by the code and technically forbidden.
There is a certain conceit in creating cocktails inspired by 1930s
films because we know, more or less, what drinks were popular at
the time. Ninety years later, they are still popular. Drinks like the
French 75 and the martini show up in the historical record and on-
screen. These are noted in the headnotes when they appear. I have
also listed some of my favorite historical cocktails of the era here.
The mixed drinks I have created for this book are inspired by
some of the most enjoyable and fascinating pre-code movies. The
recipes employ period ingredients in formulations that pay homage
to characters, locations, and scenarios in the films. Think of these
cocktails as lost cousins that could have been consumed at the time.
They are what we imagine are in the chalices offered on silver trays
to eager recipients. Of course, this also means the ingredients
featured in this book can make other 1930s-era cocktails, a journey I
hope you will continue alongside more exploration of pre-code
cinema.
Platinum blonde Jean Harlow became a defining actress of pre-code
Hollywood.

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Harlow is unrepentant in Red-Headed Woman.

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 PRE-CODE EXPLORED

Hollywood, at first insulated from the Depression that had gripped

the nation after the stock market crash of 1929, had its own crisis.
Studios were losing money and were in political danger. Regional
censor boards, goaded by local governments, were deleting
“objectionable” scenes from films. Worse, the industry was being
threatened with censorship by religious and political reformers, all of
whom had the ear of Congress. Alcohol had been outlawed in 1920,
so it was not unthinkable that Congress could create a national
censor board and take away Hollywood’s freedom to express itself.
In 1922, Hollywood responded to these threats by creating a
trade protection organization, the Motion Picture Producers and
Distributors Association (MPPDA), and appointing a watchdog
named Will Hays. However, there were no significant changes, and
the newly introduced “talking pictures” in 1928 included racy
dialogue and suggestive scenes. By 1929, Hays was so embattled
that he recruited Catholic priests and scholars to collaborate with
studio heads on a workable “code” of guidelines for film content.
In March 1930, the eight major studios signed the Motion Picture
Production Code. This would ensure “clean pictures” and keep the
bluenoses at bay. It should have worked—but the country was
sliding into a Depression. As the box office plummeted, studios
largely ignored the agreement and turned to sex, violence, and
political themes to keep audiences’ attention. No one took the code
seriously, and Hollywood was making adult movies that could be
seen by anyone.
Viewers who think all “old movies” are discreet and well-
mannered look at pre-code as an alternate universe. How can what
is happening on-screen be happening—back then, now, or at all? By
1932 Americans were asking the same question. Will Hays and the
MPPDA were falling down on the job if they could allow “immoral”
pictures. Hays, in turn, chastised his Hollywood officers. The Studio
Relations Committee (SRC) was the agency empowered to approve
screenplays and finished films—in essence applying the 1930 code.
The SRC was overseen by Jason Joy, a reasonable censor who
thought potentially offensive elements in a film could be adjusted or
softened rather than simply chopped out. He believed in the integrity
of the story. Not surprisingly, the studios took advantage of Joy’s
good nature and made increasingly transgressive films.
Pre-code films were not made in a vacuum. They reflect the times
in which they were made. For the first few years of the Depression,
President Herbert Hoover repeated the catchphrase, “Prosperity is
just around the corner.” Americans did not want hollow catchphrases;
they wanted stability. In 1932, voters elected Franklin D. Roosevelt.
The New Deal reforms of his tenure brought stability to America, and
in early 1933 his administration ended Prohibition.
Meanwhile, Hollywood was growing more brazen, leading
Catholic groups to form a National Legion of Decency, naming
wicked films and exhorting churchgoers to avoid them. The motion
picture industry was not immune to consumer reform—a Catholic
boycott in spring 1934 cost Hollywood tens of thousands of dollars.
The industry had no choice but to comply. In July 1934, the major
studios signed a reconstituted code. This one had “teeth,” as its
militant administrator, Joseph Breen, proudly declared, and was duly
enforced until 1968. Thus ended four years of cinematic impunity.
 A post-Prohibition, pre-code scene from The Thin Man.

Fortunately, nearly a century later films of the “pre-code” era

survive as a rollicking, endlessly entertaining view of the world of the
early 1930s for new generations to reevaluate and enjoy. Cheers to
that!
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 THE DIVORCEE

Actress Norma Shearer heralded a new era of women’s stories in

movies with her portrayal of a confident young wife named Jerry.
Upon learning that her husband, Ted (Chester Morris), has cheated
on her, Jerry explores her own sexuality with Ted’s best friend, Don
(Robert Montgomery). Naturally, while Ted claims his dalliance did
not “mean a thing,” he is outraged at her indiscretion. The two
divorce, and Jerry transforms into a party girl while Ted drowns his
sorrows in drink.
Startlingly, this is all the plot one needs in order to know that in
The Divorcee (1930) the female lead is portrayed not only as self-
supporting and having an extra-marital affair but also as having a
healthy sexual appetite. Director Robert Z. Leonard’s film is that
proverbial scratch of the needle across cinema history as all eyes
turn to a sympathetic portrayal of a woman facing patriarchal
hypocrisy. The occasion is monumental, as if Shearer announces in
this role that a twentieth-century woman—with her right to vote and
new-found economic independence—has finally arrived as an equal.
And with her arrival, everything has changed; relationships on-
screen become modern and many cinema characters who follow in
Jerry’s wake in the 1930s are characters who feel contemporary.
Norma Shearer emerges from the world of men with a
cocktail.
 Lover Don (Robert Montgomery) eyes the married couple.

“I’ve balanced our accounts.”

—JERRY MARTIN (PLAYED BY NORMA SHEARER)

The Divorcee was nominated for Best Picture, and Shearer, wife of
M-G-M production chief Irving Thalberg, won an Academy Award for
her performance. She would go on to find the very edge for female
roles in more films such as A Free Soul and Strangers May Kiss
(here) while earning an additional four Best Actress nominations
along the way.
Cocktails pervade The Divorcee, a gin-soaked drama if there ever
was one. The film has an eye firmly trained on the New York City in-
crowd and their habits. In this case, “in” turns out to be very boozy
indeed, despite liquor’s illegal status at the time. Raise a glass to the
arrival of the modern American woman, resplendent in her long silk
gowns and Art Deco settings.
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 A marriage of equals.

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 “I’ve balanced our accounts.”
—JERRY MARTIN (NORMA SHEARER)

Before the “dry” version took the world by storm in the mid-twentieth
century, martinis boasted more vermouth. Equal- parts martinis have come
back into vogue and are a perfect way to balance the account in one’s glass.
Consider this an equal- parts martini with the inclusion of a Parisian
interlude (Jerry looks for Ted three times in the City of Light). It is also an
ideal cocktail for movie night because it scales up easily for a group and
can be batched in advance.

1 ounce London Dry gin

1 ounce dry vermouth
1 ounce Lillet Blanc
2 dashes orange bitters
Lemon peel, for garnish

Stir gin, dry vermouth, Lillet Blanc, and bitters with ice and strain into
a cocktail glass. Garnish with a lemon peel.

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 HELL’S ANGELS

Actress Jean Harlow’s big break was Howard Hughes’s sprawling

aerial film Hell’s Angels (1930). As party girl Helen, she displays all
the guilt-free sexuality that would become her signature; she was the
hottest new thing to arrive on the screen that year.
Begun as a silent film, Hell’s Angels was shut down when the
“talkie” revolution swept Hollywood in 1928. Hughes then reshot the
technically advanced project. Censors were not thrilled that the new
sound technology allowed audiences to hear actors say “goddamn
it,” “son of a bitch,” and “for Christ’s sake.” Aside from its frank
depictions of both war and sexuality, the film was praised for its
masterly flight scenes and today is hailed as one of the great aerial
movies of all time.
 Harlow’s hair would distract any aerialist.

Harlow’s debut was explosive. She famously asks, “Would you be

shocked if I put on something more comfortable?” The line is funny
but also key to understanding what made Harlow so provocative.
With other pre-code women, sex serves an ulterior motive: career,
status, equality, and survival. With happy-go-lucky Harlow, sex is
solely for fun and pleasure. She is both revelation and revolution.
Admittedly, when Harlow’s blonde locks first grace the screen, her
acting could use some work. Most of her fans were too fascinated by
her appearance to care about her acting. She had a unique look; as
she began to lighten her hair, she was dubbed “the Platinum
Blonde.” A few films later, in 1932’s Red-Headed Woman (here),
Harlow learned to act.
 Harlow in something more comfortable.

“Would you be shocked if I put on something more comfortable?”

—HELEN (JEAN HARLOW)

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 Jean Harlow and Robert Williams.

Harlow purportedly had a favorite drink, a kind of rum martini. It was

equal parts rum and sweet vermouth with a dash of orange bitters, and the
combination is named after her. Taking a cue from the actress’s personal
mix, this is a made-for-movie version. The cocktail has visual appeal to
burn and is a delight with all kinds of foods.

2 ounces white rum

1 ounce dry vermouth
1 bar spoon elderflower liqueur, such as St-Germain
Maraschino cherry, for garnish

Stir rum, dry vermouth, and elderflower liqueur with ice. Strain into a
cocktail glass and garnish with a cherry.
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 ANYBODY’S WOMAN

Directed by Dorothy Arzner, the first female member of the

Directors Guild of America, Anybody’s Woman (1930) follows lawyer
Neil Dunlop (Clive Brook) as he accidentally marries his burlesque
dancer neighbor Pansy Gray (Ruth Chatterton) while on a bender. At
least they already know each other; Dunlop represented Gray in
court for indecency. Let’s conclude Pansy is a bit short on feather
boas and more of a stripper. Either way, there is plenty of lounging in
gauzy nightgowns with a shapely leg slung over the arm of a chair,
which is how Dunlop spied Pansy through a window in the first place.
What could be another poor-harlot-meets-rich-man plot à la Pretty
Woman, instead gets the Depression-era treatment with a heavy
dose of class consciousness and recognition of a woman’s limited
opportunities in 1930. Pansy is disillusioned with her marriage
prospects, her career prospects, and modern life in general; suicide
is mentioned as an option and sometimes seems to be just a scene
away. Arzner’s multilayered take on a familiar romantic setup offers a
lot of social commentary before the predictable denouement: low-
class Pansy proves herself to be, despite appearances, the best
option for comfortably middle-class Dunlop.

“I’ve made up my mind I’m never going to get that lit again.”
—PANSY GRAY (RUTH CHATTERTON)

Like so many early “talkies,” Anybody’s Woman can be stilted,

and its pacing prevents the plot from achieving a comedic clip, yet it
is always lifted along by a sharp script and relatable acting. Ruth
Chatterton’s ferocious performance is typically gutsy (see also
Female and Dodsworth); she was both an early aviator and a
successful novelist.
Halfway through the film, a butler brings cocktails in small glasses
sporting gold rims. Likewise, fortify yourself with this complex nip.
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Paul Lukas and Ruth Chatterton.
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 Ruth Chatterton was also a pilot and a novelist.

Anybody’s Woman was based on a short story by Gouverneur Morris

entitled “The Better Wife.” Here, the better wife fills a Nick & Nora glass
(see “Glassware” here) neatly with just a bit more flavor and pizzazz than
other wives. Astute imbibers will notice that the mix is a martini variation,
but one with enriching elements.

1½ ounces London Dry gin

1½ ounces dry vermouth
1 bar spoon Luxardo maraschino liqueur
1 dash orange bitters
1 dash Angostura bitters

Stir gin, dry vermouth, maraschino liqueur, and bitters with ice. Strain
into a Nick & Nora or a cocktail glass.
Dorothy Arzner was the first woman member of the
Directors Guild of America and the first woman to
direct a sound film.

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 MOROCCO

Sultry and world-weary singer Amy Jolly (Marlene Dietrich) arrives

in Mogador, Morocco, from Paris to perform at Lo Tinto at the same
time as the Foreign Legion marches into town. Among the troops is
handsome legionnaire Tom Brown (Gary Cooper), to whom Jolly
finds herself attracted despite his womanizing. Meanwhile, a wealthy
suitor (Adolphe Menjou) pursues her. This setup, however, does not
convey director Josef von Sternberg’s ability to tell a story with light,
shadow, sound, silence, and subtle glances.
The film that made Marlene Dietrich a star, Morocco (1930), also
garnered her only Academy Award nomination. It was a jaw-dropping
first encounter. This is one of the first movies in which a leading lady
kisses another woman. Perhaps even more startling to audiences at
the time, the actress appears for her cabaret number in a men’s top
hat and tailcoat. This is Dietrich in all her pansexual, gender-bending
glory. She is at once exotic and provocative, femme fatale and
feminist.
It stands to reason that upheaval in societal roles would be reflected
in clothing, and pre-code films are full of references to brassieres (as
opposed to more constrictive Victorian corsets) and loaded with
workaday calf-length dresses. But Dietrich catapults over the
incremental fashion changes begun in the 1920s and announces
herself as something else entirely: mannish and apparently bisexual.

“Every time a man has helped me, there has been a price. What’s
yours?”
—AMY JOLLY (MARLENE DIETRICH)

Remarkably, Dietrich’s gender-bending performance in Morocco was

largely accepted by her new American audience. It was when she
showed up off-screen similarly adorned in a tux at the premiere of
The Sign of the Cross (upstaging the film’s cast) that the media went
wild. The reaction was mixed. The public condemned her but also
ordered so many women’s versions of men’s suits that tailor shops
were forced to turn away business. Dietrich was forbidden. She was
a sensation.
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Marlene Dietrich in her signature top hat and tails.
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Dietrich and Cooper made for good publicity.
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 Amy Jolly (Marlene Dietrich) and her legionnaire (Gary Cooper).

Dubonnet is a bittersweet, fortified wine developed for the Foreign Legion

as a way to make quinine palatable to malaria-prone troops. There are a
few classic cocktails that call for it, and Dubonnet makes an interesting
substitute for sweet vermouth in drinks such as Manhattans and negronis.
This mix brightens the digestif with lemon and mint, ideal for a hot day
under a North African sun.

1 ounce brandy
1½ ounces Dubonnet
¾ ounce fresh lemon juice
½ ounce honey syrup (see recipe below)
Mint leaf, for garnish

FOR THE HONEY SYRUP

1 cup water
½ cup honey

Shake brandy, Dubonnet, lemon juice, and honey syrup with ice.
Strain into a cocktail glass and garnish with a mint leaf.

In a small saucepan over medium-high heat, heat water until just

boiling and add honey. Remove from heat and stir until combined.
Transfer to a sealable jar and let cool. Honey syrup will keep up to 2
weeks, sealed, in the refrigerator.
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 LITTLE CAESAR

The first of an electrifying trio of gangster films—the others being

The Public Enemy (here) and Scarface (here)—Little Caesar (1931)
was a smash hit. Edward G. Robinson plays Caesar Enrico
Bandello, a small-time gangster who moves to Chicago with his
boyhood friend Joe (Douglas Fairbanks Jr.), who wants to be a
dancer. That tidbit is the viewer’s first hint that this is not simply the
tale of a couple of crooks; the film’s theme of unspoken and
unrequited homosexual attraction is not subtle (although no writer or
producer connected with the film would ever admit it). When Joe
finds Broadway success in addition to dance partner Olga (Glenda
Farrell), Caesar is consumed by jealousy. What unfolds is a story of
crime, ambition, betrayal, and smoldering passion—all told in a
sleazy, gritty style by director Mervyn LeRoy.
Audiences went wild for the movie, and for Robinson, who came to
define the gangster on-screen with a volcanic-yet-taut screen
presence and swarthy looks (not dissimilar to the infamous Al
Capone’s). Robinson is gigantic in the film, chewing up scenes and
etching into memory his famous last line, which he delivers from the
gutter while facing the camera: “Mother of mercy, is this the end of
Rico?” It is hard to imagine another actor pulling off a performance
that is impactful both for its intensity and sheer oddity.
The gangster film threatened traditional values because viewers
were encouraged to identify with criminals. At the onset of the
Depression, audiences were more than happy to do it; after all, who
were businessmen but criminals who could afford lawyers, and what
were the police but another gang?
Some of the movie’s memorable action—that is, drinking and
dancing—takes place at a nightclub named the Bronze Peacock. We
can imagine what the spot might have served in early 1930s
Chicago.
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The birth of the gangster film.
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The Italian digestif Fernet-Branca famously appears in the Prohibition-era
Hanky Panky cocktail. Created by bartender Ada Coleman at the Savoy
Hotel, her mix added depth of flavor to what is essentially an early martini
variation (gin and sweet vermouth). Here, Fernet builds on grenadine for a
complex cocktail that could have been enjoyed at the Bronze Peacock.

1½ ounces bourbon whiskey

1½ ounces sweet vermouth
¼ ounce grenadine
1 bar spoon Fernet-Branca
Orange peel, for garnish

Stir whiskey, sweet vermouth, grenadine, and Fernet-Branca with ice

and strain into a rocks glass with ice. Garnish with an orange peel.
 Raise a glass to… gangsters.

JOE MASSARA (DOUGLAS FAIRBANKS JR.):

“We’re in love with one another. Don’t that mean nothing.”

RICO (EDWARD G. ROBINSON):

““Nothing. Less than nothing. Love. Soft stuff!”
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A tale of jealousy.
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 DRACUlA

It is difficult now to comprehend the impact of Bela Lugosi’s

interpretation of Bram Stoker’s vampire character. More than ninety
years later, Dracula is an icon in popular imagination, and it is Lugosi
in this film who made it so with his dazzling and terrifying
performance. Lugosi is the archetype upon which the entire vampire-
inspired universe is built.
Dracula exchanges fluids with everyone, but this is not even the
most censorable aspect of the film. What gets tested in the pre-code
horror genre are the foundations of civilization itself; Dracula raises
questions about heaven, hell, and the nature of evil. Like
Frankenstein, Island of Lost Souls (here), and other films of the era,
major questions are posed: What is natural and unnatural? Is God
dead? Who is the devil? Is there meaning in the universe or is there
only void? Big issues. Ready the popcorn.
Dracula (1931), a horror story with no incidental music and almost
no comedic element, was a big risk for a major studio.
 Bela Lugosi created Dracula as we know the character
today.

The bet paid off for Universal, however, and the film was both a
box-office and critical success, lighting the way for further
explorations of the dark. Lugosi, for his part, contributed one more
creature for us to fear in the night.
The Studio Relations Committee—Hollywood’s censorship board
—did not object to the content of the film, but to an epilogue that was
removed for fear it encouraged belief in the paranormal. In the
original version, actor Edward Van Sloan appears from behind a
curtain and tells the audience: “When you get home tonight and the
lights have been turned out and you are afraid to look behind the
curtains—and you dread to see a face appear at the window—why,
just pull yourself together and remember that after all, there are such
things as vampires!”

A horror film with little comedic element was a big risk for a studio.

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 RENFIELD (DWIGHT FRYE):
“Aren’t you drinking?”

COUNT DRACULA (BELA LUGOSI):

“I never drink… wine.”

This crimson cocktail would certainly interest Count Dracula. While today
daiquiris are most often made with simple syrup, the use of grenadine
adheres to old formulations—though not as old as Dracula himself. You will
find this a helpful mix for steeling one’s nerves against a frightening castle
atmosphere in the Carpathian Mountains.

1½ ounces white rum

1 ounce fresh lime juice
½ ounce grenadine

Shake rum, lime juice, and grenadine with ice. Strain into a cocktail
glass.
Lugosi taking a bite.

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 THE EASIEST WAY

Laura Murdock (Constance Bennett) is growing up in squalor and

“the easiest way” out of it is a sugar daddy. Much to the chagrin of
her sister, Peg (Anita Page), and brother-in-law, Nick (Clark Gable),
Laura becomes the kept woman of wealthy, older businessman
William Brockton (Adolphe Menjou). After falling for a jaunty reporter
more age-appropriate (Robert Montgomery), Laura must choose
between love and money. Spoiler: Because she starts two-timing her
beaus, she gets neither.
Sleeping one’s way into luxury (or just a meal) is a common pre-
code theme, and Bennett spends plenty of time in her nightgown
reminding viewers that she might as well use her looks to secure a
better life. The film is smart and features enough great acting, Adrian
gowns, and Art Deco sets to pull off what is essentially a long
morality play. Plus, there is redemption for Laura in the end; despite
losing both love and money, the film concludes with the uplifting
return of the prodigal daughter to a family at Christmastime.
 Who wouldn’t use these looks to get ahead?

The Easiest Way (1931) was a hit and helped make Constance
Bennett a talkie-era star, even though (or perhaps because) local
censor boards cut copious amounts of footage from the film. Clark
Gable, the future “King of Hollywood,” makes one of his first on-
screen appearances, notable for its brutish masculinity. The film feels
modern not only for its subject but also for characters who are all
self-aware and sensible about Laura’s sexual arrangements; her
suitor does not flinch at the idea that she’s being kept, but simply
suggests she end the other relationship before he offers marriage.
The Great Depression was no time for romantics, making realists of
both Hollywood characters and audiences.

Cocktails with a sugar daddy.

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Another day at work.
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“Would you rather me have given you a ring? I made a payment on
a lot instead!”
—NICK FELIKI (CLARK GABLE)

Sometimes fate offers a choice between stability or romance. Luckily, with

this greenish cocktail (representing money) garnished with a red cherry
(love), you do not have to choose. Chartreuse is a French herbal liqueur
that appears in several Prohibition-era (and earlier) drinks, such as the
Last Word and Bijou. Here, it is joined by elderflower liqueur for a kiss of
extra sweetness.

1 ounce London Dry gin

1 ounce green Chartreuse
½ ounce elderflower liqueur
½ ounce fresh lemon juice
Maraschino cherry, for garnish

Shake gin, Chartreuse, elderflower liqueur, and lemon juice with ice.
Strain into a cocktail glass and garnish with a cherry.

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 DANCE, FOOLS, DANCE

Strip down to your underwear and prepare to get wet because

Dance, Fools, Dance (1931) opens with a yacht party during which
guests jump overboard for a moonlight swim, bootleg cocktails in
hand. The delight in this Jazz Age scene was short-lived because
the joyous and carefree world of the 1920s comes to an end in the
stock market tumble of 1929. This is the last party for these spoiled
trust-funders; Bonnie Jordan (Joan Crawford) sees the stress of the
crash take the life of her father and leave her and brother Rodney
(William Bakewell) penniless. Bonnie would rather be independent
and work than marry, and she becomes a newspaper reporter. Her
brother, meanwhile, takes a less studious path and gets mixed up
with bootleggers.

Joan Crawford leading a dance number.

 A delightful Jazz Age scene.

“All right, stand by, everybody, and off with your clothes!”
—BOB TOWNSEND (LESTER VAIL)

The setup is perfect for the drama that is to unfold: the cub
reporter infiltrates her own sibling’s gang. Elements of the gritty
script are based on real-world events such as the Saint Valentine’s
Day Massacre and the 1930 murder of reporter Jake Lingle. Clark
Gable plays the cruel but dynamic and irresistible gang boss.
This is the first of eight films Crawford and Gable would make
together, Crawford having picked Gable personally to play opposite.
In their moments on-screen together, the two exude the sensuality
and wit that would make them one of the most successful acting
pairs in Hollywood. Watch them strut, sparkle, and tussle.
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 LOVE on APPROVAL
MAKES 2

As if a bootlegger main character and a mixed-company late-night swim

was not scandalous enough, one of the film’s themes is premarital sex. Or
as Bonnie might describe the philosophy: try first and buy later. Both agree
it should only ever be “love on approval.” Note the cocktail consumed out
of a teapot around minute eight. This is a drink for two that can be similarly
served.

4 ounces brandy
2 ounces dry vermouth
1 ounce fresh lemon juice
½ ounce grenadine
2 lemon wheels, for garnish

Shake brandy, dry vermouth, lemon juice, and grenadine with ice.
Strain into teacups (or a teapot), and garnish individual cups with a
lemon wheel.

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Crawford picked Gable for the film.
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 STRANGERS MAY KISS

A heady mix of feminism, premarital sex, and tragedy with a dose

of steamy romance, Strangers May Kiss (1931) opens with a
smooch so passionate it nearly crashes an airplane. Like The
Divorcee (here), the film is based on an Ursula Parrott novel and
stars Norma Shearer and Robert Montgomery. This time, Shearer
plays Lisbeth, a secretary who decides to have premarital sex with a
journalist, Alan (Neil Hamilton), even though he is not her fiancé.
That would be Steve (Robert Montgomery), who is fine being
cuckolded as long as she’s happy and he’s allowed his liquor.
While the younger generation accepts this arrangement, Lisbeth’s
aunt Celia (Irene Rich) is not so tolerant or modern; when she
discovers her husband is unfaithful, she jumps from a window to her
death. Shaken by the suicide, Alan and Lisbeth hightail it to Mexico,
where looking into each other’s eyes while donning sombreros does
not cure Alan’s wanderlust. Alan leaves, and a heartbroken Lisbeth
heads to Europe to sleep her way across the continent while wearing
increasingly revealing gowns.
In The Divorcee Shearer claims she is merely settling accounts,
and both parties of the couple are miserable after their split, but
Strangers May Kiss features Shearer unchained. Lisbeth’s sex drive
takes center stage, becoming both plot and problem, and we witness
an ugly scene in which Alan denounces her for becoming the
“promiscuous” object of continental gossip.
Admittedly, Alan’s hypocrisy and Lisbeth’s sudden guilt over her
actions gets a bit thick, but fabulous sets and Adrian gowns make
the movie look like an Art Deco painting. Strangers May Kiss is a
sumptuous display of precisely what makes pre-code enjoyable:
stars flouting conventions while on the move and looking marvelous.
Drinks in hand, natch.
“I’m in an orgy, wallowing in it, and I love it.”
—LISBETH (NORMA SHEARER)

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Neil Hamilton and Norma Shearer in Mexico.
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Steve is happy as long he is allowed to drink and Lisbeth is happy.
OceanofPDF.com
 STRANGER’S KISS
A trip to Mexico does not kindle sufficient romance between Alan and
Lisbeth, but the sojourn makes for a great opportunity to try a south-of-the-
border-inspired champagne cocktail. Champagne cocktails appear to be
Lisbeth’s favorite, and she notably orders one when she and Steve meet in
Europe. She receives a large version with an ice cube (he orders a
shandygaff, composed of beer and ginger ale). Toast to freewheeling travel
in warm climes with this refresher.

1 ounce blanco tequila

½ ounce crème de cassis
¼ ounce fresh lime juice
1 ounce sparkling wine

Shake tequila, crème de cassis, and lime juice with ice. Strain into a
cocktail glass with an ice cube and top with sparkling wine.

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 THE PUBLIC ENEMY

Bursts of live machine-gun fire punctuate director William

Wellman’s The Public Enemy (1931), a vicious gangster biography in
which bootlegger Tom Powers (James Cagney) luxuriates in his ill-
gotten gains: bespoke suits, custom cars, and Jean Harlow for a
moll. Playing a character devoid of feeling save lust and
vengefulness, Cagney is the ultimate villain-turned-hero, who, unlike
Robinson’s Rico in Little Caesar (here), kills for the fun of it. If Rico is
a fascinating creep audiences could not stop watching, Tom is a
lovable sociopath with whom we identify: he was scarred by a brutal
upbringing. Consequently driven to grab power, Tom is the American
self-made everyman in a gangster bowler and overcoat.
 Harlow as the dream gangster girl.

Brutal and explosive, The Public Enemy shocked audiences. As

the amoral Tom, James Cagney punches, kicks, and shoots his way
to the top. There is the infamous scene in which he stuffs a
grapefruit into the face of his girlfriend (Mae Clarke). In the next
room, Edward Woods is in bed biting Joan Blondell’s earlobe. There
is also Tom’s final moment in which he collapses and admits, “I ain’t
so tough.” Despite romanticizing gangster life, or likely because of it,
the film’s reception was overwhelmingly positive; a New York theater
showed the film 24 hours a day. Cagney portrays a sadistic criminal,
but he has courageously pulled himself out of the urban underclass.

James Cagney discovering if Mae Clarke likes grapefruit.

The censors gave a big thumbs-down to the emerging “hard-

boiled” realism in the film, passing it on the basis of its instructive
value. The moviegoing public ensured that The Public Enemy’s box
office outdid even Little Caesar. Real-life gangster Al Capone
weighed in: “These gang pictures, that’s terrible kids’ stuff. They’re
doing nothing but harm the younger element of the country. I don’t
blame the censors for trying to bar them.” Rich.
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 “Well, I can drink it as long as you can pour it.”
—TOM POWERS (JAMES CAGNEY)

The ingredients in this cocktail pay homage to Powers’s biography; he grew

up in an Irish gang in Chicago, and we know he likes grapefruit for
breakfast. This is a Chicago-style Prohibition drink that includes nods to
Tom’s background as well as the tastes of gangsters like Capone.

1 ounce Irish whiskey

½ ounce fresh grapefruit juice
½ ounce Campari
¼ ounce Luxardo maraschino liqueur
1 ounce sparkling wine
Lemon peel, for garnish

Shake whiskey, grapefruit juice, Campari, and maraschino liqueur

with ice. Strain into a cocktail glass, top with sparkling wine, and
garnish with a lemon peel.

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 NIGHT NURSE

Mortie (Ben Lyon) is the hero in Night Nurse (1931), saving the day
in a twisted tale of poisoned children and scheming chauffeurs. This
is surprising because Mortie is also a bootlegger. However, when the
plot is killing children for financial gain by drug-addicted doctors and
greedy socialites, a criminal hero may be the least alarming thing
about this dark ride. Fasten your seat belts.
Nurse trainee Lora Hart (Barbara Stanwyck) is being shown the
ropes at a hospital by Maloney (Joan Blondell) when she takes up
work as a night nurse for Mrs. Ritchey (Charlotte Merriam). Ritchey
retains violent chauffeur Nick (Clark Gable) for her dirty work—read
sexual relations—but that isn’t the half of it. When the housekeeper
tips off Lora about a plot to starve Mrs. Ritchey’s children in order to
get their inheritance, it is time for the intrepid nurse to intervene.

“My pal rye, it’s swell for cleaning teeth.”

—NURSE LORA (BARBARA STANWYCK)

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Nurse Lora (Barbara Stanwyck) gets ready for work.
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 Night Nurse features an inordinate amount of undressing.

Fast-talking, hard-nosed Barbara Stanwyck is the star of this

twisted drama, delivering an electric performance. In pre-code style,
she and fellow nurse Joan Blondell spend an inordinate amount of
time dressing and undressing from their nurse outfits. However,
there is a lot more that is gratuitous in this film, including some
knockout punches and plenty of sexual innuendo. It is a topsy-turvy
tale where support staff and petty criminals are revealed to be the
true moral compass of society as opposed to the upper class, which
is revealed to be decadent and devious. This was a Depression-era
attitude, and Night Nurse is the film to express it.
Note that while the recipe below is based on one of Barbara
Stanwyck’s lines, actress Joan Blondell inspired a cocktail named
after her (see here) that is equal parts gin, dry vermouth, and
Bénédictine, with a few drops of absinthe and a dash of Angostura
bitters.
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 My Pal Rye
Plucky nurse Lora proves her drinking bona fides with a great line: “My
pal rye, it’s swell for cleaning teeth.” As luck would have it, there is a rye-
centric cocktail named Old Pal, which likely appeared in print for the first
time in the late 1920s. In most recipes, the drink is a combination of rye,
dry vermouth, and Campari. This riff takes things in a slightly softer
direction.

1½ ounces rye whiskey

1 ounce Lillet Blanc
½ ounce Campari
1 dash orange bitters
Orange peel, for garnish

Stir whiskey, Lillet Blanc, Campari, and bitters with ice and strain into
a cocktail glass. Garnish with an orange peel.
A chauffeur’s job is never done.

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 THE LAST FLIGHT

Former flying ace Cary Lockwood (Richard Barthelmess) cannot

hold a cocktail steady due to a war injury to his hands. It is a tough
handicap to have in glittering Jazz Age Paris, where martinis,
champagne cocktails, and sidecars flow fast. Lockwood’s former tail
gunner and buddy Shep (David Manners) is not much better off; he
deveoped a nervous tic under his eye when their plane went down.
Together, the two cope with their traumas by barhopping in the City
of Light. Joining in their dissolution are pals Bill (John Mack Brown)
and Francis (Elliot Nugent), American reporter Fink (Walter Byron),
and the quirky, pretty Nikki (Helen Chandler).
Full of absurd wordplay and non sequiturs, the sharp script—
along with director William Dieterle’s fast camerawork—captures the
open-ended aimlessness of nights out with friends. The restless
changes of scenery, the silly horseplay (the character Bill literally
tackles a horse), and hours of drinking are seasoned with the
frankness, razzing, and conflict that happens when hanging out with
a small group for long periods of time. Of course, smoldering
beneath all the superficial frivolity and lightheartedness is
disillusionment. The film is a magnificent portrait of the damaged
postwar “Lost Generation,” emulating writers like Hemingway and F.
Scott Fitzgerald; there’s even a bullfight.
Living the good life at the bar.
 Put that gun down and have another drink.

There is a fun morning cocktail scene when the gents order

prairie oysters as a hangover cure, as well as an intimate moment
when Shep and Nikki sip Picon Citrons, but it is their rounds of
cocktails while out carousing that grab attention.

CARY LOCKWOOD (RICHARD BARTHELMESS):

“How ’bout a cocktail?”

SHEP LAMBERT (DAVID MANNERS):

“Not a bad idea at that.”
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 LAST FLIGHT
The Film’s running gag about vanilla is the inspiration for this champagne
cocktail. Whenever Nikki gets confused, she responds, “I’ll take vanilla.”
Well, how ’bout it. Here is a vanilla-inflected champagne cocktail that will
start off any night with friends right. The vanilla syrup employed here is a
useful recipe to keep on hand for other drinks, especially around the
holidays. Try it in an Old Fashioned, for instance.

¾ ounce London Dry gin

¼ ounce vanilla syrup (recipe below)
5 ounces sparkling wine
Lemon peel, for garnish

FOR THE VANILLA SYRUP

1 cup water
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

In a champagne flute, combine gin and vanilla syrup. Top with

sparkling wine and garnish with a lemon peel.

In a small saucepan over medium-high heat, heat the water until

boiling. Remove from the heat. Add the sugar and vanilla and stir
until combined. Transfer to a sealable jar and let cool. Syrup will
keep in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

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 BAD GIRL

Sex pervades Bad Girl (1931). It is on everyone’s mind, and

everyone wants it. But as we all are warned in middle school, the
consequences of even looking at someone of the opposite sex is
pregnancy. In this case “spooning” until 4 a.m. finds working-class
lovers Dorothy Haley (Sally Eilers) and Eddie Collins (James Dunn)
expecting and married within weeks.
Shot on a small budget, Bad Girl was a huge hit and earned
director Frank Borzage his second Best Director Academy Award.
The film launched unknown actors Eilers and Dunn to stardom with
its open-eyed portrayal of sexual relations in hard economic times.
While the film’s title leads one to believe the story will be salacious,
what shines through is a heartfelt view of a couple’s daily struggles.
This is a sympathetic study of common problems in early married
life.
There are some wonderful moments in Bad Girl, chief among
them luminous shots of Coney Island, where Dorothy meets Eddie.
These culminate in a first-person shot of one of the amusement
park’s roller coasters. Also notable is a staircase scene involving a
drunk, a neighbor, a prostitute, and Limburger cheese. Then, to
apply the cherry atop this pre-code sundae, watch for Dorothy in a
negligee while her friend’s eight-year-old son checks out the goods.
 Sally Eilers went on to a big career in the 1930s.

“You can’t watch a girl hard enough to keep her good if she don’t
want to be.”
—DOROTHY HALEY (SALLY EILERS)

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Dorothy (Sally Eilers) and Eddie (James Dunn) share a happy moment.
OceanofPDF.com
 CONEY ISLAND ROLLER
COASTER
Fun shots of Brooklyn’s Coney Island open the film, paying particular
attention to its roller coasters. America’s first enclosed amusement park,
Coney Island opened in 1895 and was connected by subway in 1920, which
allowed the middle and lower classes access. Roller coasters also made
their appearance in the 1920s, and the biggest of all was the Cyclone, built
in 1927. This Coney Island–inspired cocktail is a blend of popular period
ingredients, with the three cherries representing the popular roller coaster.

2 ounces white rum

¾ ounce orange juice
½ ounce raspberry syrup (recipe below)
1 bar spoon Luxardo maraschino liqueur
3 maraschino cherries, for garnish

FOR THE RASPBERRY SYRUP

1 cup water
1 cup sugar
1 cup fresh raspberries

Shake rum, orange juice, raspberry syrup, and maraschino liqueur

with ice. Strain into a cocktail glass and garnish with cherries.

In a small saucepan, bring water to a boil. Remove from heat, add

sugar, and stir to combine. Add raspberries, and mash thoroughly
with a potato masher. Let mixture macerate 1 hour and strain into a
sealable jar. Raspberry syrup will keep up to 2 weeks in the
refrigerator.
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 SAFE IN HELL

The opening shot of Safe in Hell (1931) pans up Gilda Carlson’s

legs to her garters, a popular camera move in pre-code film. Next,
we watch as our chain-smoking New Orleans hustler goes into a
room to turn a trick, only to discover the guy waiting for her is ex-
boyfriend Piet Van Saal (Ralf Harolde), who forced her into
prostitution. What else can she do but hit him in the head with a
bottle?
To escape, Gilda (Dorothy Mackaill) heads to a Caribbean island
that has no extradition agreement with the United States. She is safe
—in hell—with a party of other criminals seeking similar tropical
asylum. When Van Saal shows up (he faked his own death), our
heroine successfully kills him. She cannot sleep her way out of this
jam with the island’s jailer Mr. Bruno (Morgan Wallace) because she
has promised to be faithful to her ex-boyfriend-turned-fiancé Carl
Erickson (Donald Cook).
It will not come as a surprise that Safe in Hell was deemed “not
for children” at the time of its release; its subject is a cash-strapped,
homicidal hooker on an island of lascivious fugitives. The sordid plot
is given wonderful atmospheric assistance by director William
Wellman’s backlot re-creation of the oppressively hot and boring
tropics. Everyone sweats in hell, and Wellman makes sure the
audience feels each miserable, sticky drip.

“Sure this ain’t the YMCA?”

—GILDA CARLSON (DOROTHY MACKAILL)

Of special note in the film are a couple key 1930s Black actors.
Harlem Renaissance songwriter and director Clarence Muse plays
the hotel porter. Famed silent-era actress Nina Mae McKinney,
known for her standout role in King Vidor’s Hallelujah, plays Leonie,
the cheerful, sexy concierge, and the film benefits from her rendition
of the 1931 standard “When It’s Sleepy Time Down South,” which
was co-written by Muse.
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Not what they mean when they say “hit the bottle.”
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 LADY FROM NEW ORLEANS

Gilda Carson enjoys a cocktail while on the phone.

Gilda needs a cocktail that is both a little bit New Orleans and a lot
Caribbean. Enter this pineapple-inflected twist on a classic Nola drink, the
Vieux Carré. Legendary bartender Walter Bergeron invented the Vieux
Carré in the 1930s. This alluring gem is named after an alternative working
title for the film.

1 ounce brandy
1 ounce sweet vermouth
¾ ounce pineapple juice
¼ ounce Bénédictine
1 dash Peychaud’s bitters
Pineapple leaf, for garnish

Shake brandy, sweet vermouth, pineapple juice, Bénédictine, and

bitters with ice. Strain into a rocks glass with ice and garnish with a
pineapple leaf.

Maybe hell isn’t so safe.

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 DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE

Dr. Henry Jekyll (Fredric March) is thirsty—thirsty for his fiancée

Muriel Carew (Rose Hobart), to be exact. In fact, it is possible to
read the entire plot of director Rouben Mamoulian’s innovative 1931
film as a study of sexual repression. The film is based on the short
novel by Robert Louis Stevenson, but sculpts the story of addiction
into a Freudian tale in which sexual desires lead to disaster. The
story line is a reflection on the age in which the movie was made, a
cipher for the obsessions and fast-changing mores of the 1930s.
From the outset, we are informed that Muriel’s father, Brigadier
General Sir Danvers Carew (Halliwell Hobbes), waited five years to
marry her mother. Dr. Jekyll is having a hard time waiting eight
months and is being tempted by siren Ivy Pearson, who is played by
actress Miriam Hopkins in all her garter-legged glory. The setup
prepares us for a generational clash between the Victorian model of
delayed gratification and the Depression model of instant
gratification. Many pre-code films frankly include premarital sex. This
one takes another approach and shows what happens when it is
forbidden. Smartly cast Fredric March won an Academy Award for
his portrayal of a man frustrated in love—and ruined by sex.

DR. LANYON (HOLMES HERBERT):

“Perhaps you’re forgetting, you’re engaged to Muriel.”

DR. JEKYLL (FREDRIC MARCH):

“Forgotten it? Can a man dying of thirst forget water? And do you
know what would happen to that thirst if it were to be denied
water?”
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The message of the film is clear: sexual frustration leads to murder.
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Ivy Pearson (Miriam Hopkins) makes herself irresistible.
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The film’s action centers around alchemy, a potion to be exact. Let’s call it a
cocktail. Jekyll consumes it the first time in the name of science. The second
occasion is recreational; he is in despair because Muriel still refuses to
marry him (read: have sex) without her father’s consent. The concoction
causes Jekyll to transform from his nobler self into an impulsive animal.
This cocktail is similarly divided but do not worry; you do not have to stand
in front of a mirror to watch its effects.

2 ounces applejack
1 ounce fresh lemon juice
½ ounce honey syrup (see here)
¾ ounce red wine

Shake applejack, lemon juice, and honey syrup with ice and strain
into a rocks glass with a large ice cube. Float the red wine on top of
the drink by pouring it slowly over the back of a bar spoon.
Fredric March contemplates his next drink.

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 SHANGHAI EXPRESS

Marlene Dietrich is Shanghai Lily, a notorious courtesan making

her way across China in the middle of a civil war in 1932’s Shanghai
Express. Her train and its passengers are taken hostage by Henry
Chang (Warner Oland), a warlord who takes a fancy to Lily. Captain
Harvey (Clive Brook), a brain surgeon who happens to be Lily’s
former lover, is aboard and on his way to an important surgery. Will
Chang release them?
It does not take a brain surgeon to predict that our courtesan will
be forced to make a choice between her ex-lover’s safety and fidelity
to him. She offers herself to Chang in order to save Harvey, but as
luck would have it, fellow prostitute Hue Fei (Anna May Wong) is
also on the train and stabs the warlord first. Finale: Doc realizes Lily
is, in fact, faithful.
While the film’s hooker-with-a-heart-of-gold plot might be as thin
as a pre-code blouse, it is a sumptuous vehicle for Marlene Dietrich,
who is once again directed by her discoverer and mentor Josef von
Sternberg (see Morocco here and Blonde Venus here). The
costuming is extravagant, the camerawork glorious, and the hit film
went on to be nominated for three Academy Awards, including Best
Picture and Best Director; it won Lee Garmes the Academy Award
for Best Cinematography.
Traveling in style.

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Hue Fei (Anna May Wong) sacrifices herself to save the day.
OceanofPDF.com
The old flame with Doc Harvey is rekindled.
OceanofPDF.com
 SHANGHAI LILY
CAPTAIN HARVEY (CLIVE BROOK):
“I wish you could tell me there’d been no other men.”

SHANGHAI LILY (MARLENE DIETRICH):

“I wish I could, Doc, but five years in China is a long time.”

What does a courtesan drink on a train traveling across China? This blend
of rum, lemon, and mint is a good answer. It is a glamorous cocktail of
mystery and complexity. The added touch of absinthe and vanilla offers a
singular flavor combination that is not soon forgotten.

2 ounces white rum

1 ounce lemon juice
¼ ounce absinthe
¼ ounce crème de menthe
¼ ounce vanilla syrup (see here)

Shake rum, lemon juice, absinthe, crème de menthe, and vanilla

syrup with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.

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 THIS IS THE NIGHT

Cary Grant plays a cuckold in his debut performance in This Is the

Night (1932). Returning unexpectedly from the Summer Olympics,
Grant’s character Stephen discovers that his wife, Claire (Thelma
Todd), is about to embark on a romantic vacation to Venice with her
well-to-do lover Gerald (Roland Young). To hide the scheme from
Stephen, Gerald pretends he is taking his own wife, hiring out-of-
work Germaine (Lili Damita) to act the part. The two couples sojourn
in Italy together and, through various hijinks, Claire rekindles her
passion for her husband while Gerald falls in love with his pretend
wife.
Featuring a continental flare, musical numbers (Cary Grant can
sing), and a running gag in which Claire’s evening gown is ripped
away by a car door, This Is the Night is a sophisticated and saucy
comedy. Legend has it Grant hated this first big role; he thought his
character’s easy acceptance of his wife’s infidelity was not
believable, and he nearly quit Hollywood over it. Luckily, with a little
encouragement from friends and an ironclad contract with
Paramount, Grant went on to make more pre-code classics (see
Blonde Venus here and She Done Him Wrong here) and became
one of the great leading men of Hollywood history.
 Everyone finds love in the end.

“This problem is going to be very absorbing. What are you

absorbing?”
—STEPHEN MATHEWSON (CARY GRANT)
 Cary Grant disliked his role as a cuckold and nearly quit Hollywood over it.

Although This Is the Night lost money, Paramount made many

more sexy comedies with similar templates, such as Trouble in
Paradise (here) and Design for Living (here). The studio realized the
juxtaposition of European locales and loose morals were a winning
match.
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 Charles Ruggles plays with Cary Grant’s javelin.

MAKES 2
Cary Grant’s character is an Olympic javelin-thrower, which is where this
cocktail gets its name. The inspiration is Venice, and no trip to the city is
complete without sampling its famous cocktails: the Bellini, the Aperol
Spritz, and the Sgroppino, to name a few. Hailing from as early as the
sixteenth century, the Sgroppino is named after sgropin, or the knots in
one’s stomach following a big meal. Thought to aid digestion, the drink has
become one of the city’s signatures. This version respects Stephen’s
preference for Scotch.

1 ounce blended Scotch whisky

3 ounces prosecco
½ ounce cream
2 scoops lemon sorbet
2 dashes orange bitters
Lemon peels, for garnish
Combine Scotch, prosecco, cream, sorbet, and bitters in a chilled
bowl and stir without ice until frothy. Pour into wineglasses and
garnish with lemon peel.
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 SCARFACE

Set in Chicago and inspired by gangster Al Capone, the Howard

Hughes–produced Scarface (1932) was one of the most violent films
of the era. What little charm James Cagney’s Tom Powers displayed
in The Public Enemy (here) is absent from actor Paul Muni’s
character, Antonio Camonte. In fact, pathological “Tony” seems to
derive physical pleasure from firing his tommy gun.
Drawing on the legend of the Borgias, Ben Hecht’s script gives
his murderous hero a case of unrequited incest. Tony has a powerful
fixation on his sexy sister, Cesca (Ann Dvorak), and when he finds
her living with his best friend, Guino (George Raft), Tony assumes
the worst and kills him. No one has time to tell Tony that his sister
and his friend have just been married.
Scarface, directed by Howard Hawks, was actress Ann Dvorak’s
big debut. She would go on to make several films displaying her no-
nonsense, urban-girl charisma (see Three on a Match, here). As for
Paul Muni, he had another great film the same year, the notable I Am
a Fugitive from the Chain Gang, and was nominated for an Academy
Award.
 Scarface was the most violent gangster film to date.

Scarface signaled the end of the gangster genre. It went too far
with its detailed re-creations of real gangland murders. While praised
by critics, the cold and sinister film was trimmed to several different
versions to appease the censors and was regarded as too
unpleasant by most audiences.
“They’ll be shooting each other like rabbits for control of the
booze business!”
—BEN GUARINO (C. HENRY GORDON)

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Paul Muni talks to a disheveled Ann Dvorak.
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A night out with drinks.
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 FIRST WARD
The film opens the morning after a big party thrown by the First Ward, an
area that in the 1930s included what is now Chicago’s Loop. There is
evidence cocktails were named after city wards, such as the Ward 8, thought
to have been created in Boston in 1898. A few decades later, Esquire
magazine listed it as one of the best cocktails of 1934. The classic Boston
mix is the loose inspiration for this creation, which pays homage to
Chicago’s (historic) First Ward.

2 ounces bourbon whiskey

½ ounce fresh lemon juice
½ ounce fresh orange juice
¼ ounce Luxardo maraschino liqueur
1 bar spoon absinthe
Lemon peel, for garnish

Shake whiskey, lemon juice, orange juice, maraschino liqueur, and

absinthe with ice. Strain into a cocktail glass and garnish with a
lemon peel.

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 RED-HEADED WOMAN

Batten down the hatches. Here comes hurricane Harlow. Red-

Headed Woman (1932) was originally scripted by F. Scott Fitzgerald
and Marcel de Sano, but producer Irving Thalberg brought in writer
Anita Loos (also see Midnight Mary here) to lighten the story’s mood.
The film stars platinum blonde Jean Harlow, who dyes her hair red in
the film’s opening scene while cackling, “So gentlemen prefer
blondes, do they? Ha!”
Off we, and Harlow’s clothes, go as gold digger Lillian “Lil”
Andrews wrecks her boss Bill’s (Chester Morris) marriage and then
tries to force her way into high society by a bit of trickery with tycoon
Charles Gaerste (Henry Stephenson). Through a private detective,
Bill learns Lil is sleeping with not only Charles but also the
handsome chauffeur (Charles Boyer), and he sensibly returns to his
ex-wife. Lil shoots Bill for this bout of sanity, but he survives, and she
moves on to an elderly Frenchman. Hurricane Harlow has passed.
Lil shows off her wedding ring.

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Harlow in all her glory.
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 Bill offers Lil a refreshment.

Introduced to audiences in Hell’s Angels (here), Harlow made

Red-Headed Woman as her first film after her falling-out with
Howard Hughes. It is a saga of naked ambition laying waste to social
norms. Lil wants status, and she is going to get it by hitting below the
belt and showing that it is not a man’s world anymore. Audiences
went wild for Lil, and Harlow earned recognition as both a
comedienne and a star.
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 GAERSTE (HENRY STEPHENSON):
“You won’t be long, will you, dear?”

LIL ANDREWS (JEAN HARLOW):

“I’ll be up at cocktail time.”

LIL RED
Taking redhead Lil as inspiration, this crimson number is a seductive mix
with a real kick. It is just the ticket for anyone who grew up on the wrong
side of the tracks but who wants to play in the big leagues. There is plenty
of alcohol for added chutzpah, along with a spicy finish.

1½ ounces London Dry gin

1 ounce sweet vermouth
¼ ounce Cointreau
2 dashes Peychaud’s bitters
Orange peel, for garnish

Stir gin, sweet vermouth, Cointreau, and bitters with ice. Strain into a
rocks glass with a large ice cube and garnish with an orange peel.

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 MILLION DOLLAR LEGS

Welcome to the imaginary country of Klopstokia, where the chief

exports are goats and nuts. Hailed as one of the funniest movies
ever made, the bizarro Million Dollar Legs (1932) is an anarchic
cross between Looney Tunes and Monty Python. The story follows
fast-talking traveling brush salesman Migg Tweeny (Jack Oakie)
who, finding himself in Klopstokia, runs into Angela (Susan Fleming)
on a street corner and instantly falls in love. Angela turns out to be
the daughter of the president (W. C. Fields) of this obscure and debt-
ridden country.
Hoping to woo Angela and win her father’s approval, Migg
conjures a plan to have his brush manufacturer sponsor a
Kloptstokian Olympic team. However, rebellious cabinet members
plot to have femme fatale Mata Machree (Lyda Roberti) seduce
members of the team and thwart the scheme.
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Jack Oakie is surrounded.
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Early in the film we learn that all men in Klopstokia are named George
(except, for some reason, Angela’s younger brother, Willie) and all women
are named Angela. Since we are told all the residents are also either goats
or nuts, try this cocktail, which is a perfect pairing for both. A goat cheese,
such as chèvre, accompanied by walnuts, is an ideal match for this
herbaceous and lemony mix.

1 ounce brandy
1½ ounces Riesling wine
¼ ounce fresh lemon juice
½ ounce honey syrup (see here)
1 sprig fresh thyme, for garnish

Shake brandy, Riesling, lemon juice, and honey syrup with ice.
Strain into a cocktail glass and garnish with a thyme sprig.
 W. C. Fields (right) contemplating his next lift.

“So, you’re the woman no man could resist. You blondine,

overstuffed cooch-dancer!”
—ANGELA (SUSAN FLEMING)
 An expensive leg.

Surreal and silly, Million Dollar Legs is a satire of Herbert

Hoover’s broken America, but also a daffy send-up chock-full of
contemporary in-jokes meant for hip audiences. Plus, it is hard to
miss the film’s self-aware riff on reality by casting Polish actress
Lyda Roberti pretending to be Swedish actress Greta Garbo by way
of playing real-world spy, Mata Hari—herself a Dutch woman who
pretended to be Malaysian. It is a lot of lunacy, and that is the point.
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 LOVE ME TONIGHT

Lauded as one of Hollywood’s first musical masterpieces, what

Love Me Tonight (1932) lacks in choreographed song-and-dance
numbers, it makes up for in seamless intertwining of music and
narrative. Directed by Rouben Mamoulian and featuring songs by
Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart, the film stars Maurice Chevalier
and Jeanette MacDonald. The pair made four musicals together, this
being the only one not directed by Ernst Lubitsch (see here) .
Charming Parisian tailor Maurice Courtelin (Chevalier) is owed
money by aristocrat Viscount Gilbert de Varèze (Charles Ruggles),
so he decides to visit Gilbert’s castle in order to collect. There he
encounters Varèze’s uncle, Duke d’Artelines (C. Aubrey Smith),
d’Artelines’s sex-hungry niece (Myrna Loy), and the beautiful
Princess Jeanette (MacDonald). Fearful his uncle will be angered by
his debt, Gilbert introduces the tailor as his friend Baron Courtelin,
whereupon Jeanette promptly falls in love with him. When later (but
not much) caught in a state of undress with the princess, Maurice
must reveal his identity by sewing her clothes back together. Will she
love the poor tailor despite his lack of station?

PRINCESS JEANETTE (JEANETTE MACDONALD):

“Count, I’m going to bed.”

COUNT DE SAVIGNAC (CHARLES BUTTERWORTH):

“I just came up to join you!”
The film features a number of cheeky and surprising moments,
chief among them the editing work for the song “Isn’t It Romantic?”
during which the tune is passed through a montage to characters in
various locales. The result feels less like the often-static musicals of
the era and more like the first-ever music video. With Charlie
Ruggles, C. Aubrey Smith, and Charles Butterworth on hand, there
are great ensemble moments, but Myrna Loy—who would go on to
become famous in films such as The Thin Man (see here)—
positively gobbles up her scenes. When asked if she ever thinks
about anything other than men, she answers, “Oh, yes! Schoolboys.”
Regrettably, the version of Love Me Tonight that has been passed
down to us is missing a few censored minutes of her reprise of the
song “Mimi.” The section was removed because the lyrics were too
risqué.

Myrna Loy (left) steals her scenes.

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FLAT ON MY FLUTE

Charles Butterworth as an amorous flutist.

 Maurice Chevalier measuring Jeanette MacDonald.

After climbing a ladder outside Princess Jeanette’s bedroom, would-be

suitor Count de Savignac falls into the garden and proclaims, “I’ve fallen
flat on my flute!” Loosely based on the Between the Sheets cocktail, which
was purportedly served in French brothels as an aperitif in the 1930s, this
drink will wet the whistle of any amorous flutist.

¾ ounce London Dry gin

¾ ounce white rum
¾ ounce Cointreau
¼ ounce fresh lemon juice
2 ounces sparkling wine
Orange peel, for garnish
Shake gin, rum, Cointreau, and lemon juice with ice and strain into a
champagne flute. Top with sparkling wine and garnish with an
orange peel.
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 BIRD OF PARADISE

With scanty Polynesian costumes and implied beach sex, director

King Vidor’s South Seas romance Bird of Paradise (1932) is a racy,
tropical fantasy. For additional entertainment purposes, the film
offers sea turtle surfing, mouth-to-mouth feeding, grass surfing (with
feral pigs), shark attacks, and killing fish with tennis rackets.
When Johnny Baker’s yacht appears on the shores of a nameless
tropical island in the Pacific, he is saved from certain death by
beautiful native Luana (Dolores del Río), the chieftain’s daughter.
Johnny (Joel McCrea) falls in love with her, even though she is
betrothed to another, steals her away, and the two retreat to an even
more remote island until a local volcano erupts. Only through ritual
can Luana save her people from the fiery blast, so she sacrifices
herself while Johnny sails away back to civilization.
While Dolores del Río’s naked swim (she was wearing a sheer
suit) caused public outcry at the film’s release, today we cocktailers
clutch our pearls at another scene; in an unthinkable act, the
members of the yacht party toss their ice overboard to astonish
island natives. It makes for a big mixed-drink-related scene and sets
up the tragic narrative of a civilized (cocktail drinking) Romeo and a
native (fruit eating) Juliet who enjoy a brief passion before their
respective worlds rend them apart. Of course, the true forbidden fruit
was the love affair between Johnny and Luana, a verboten interracial
liaison.
Promotional ad promising burning passion and a volcanic climax.
 Are you tied up here often?

Mexican actress Dolores del Río went on to appear in more

successful films, Flying Down to Rio (see here) and Madame Du
Barry. Joel McCrea acted in a few other ribald films before eventually
making an illustrious career in Westerns. Neither he nor his
companions ever abused ice similarly on-screen again.
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 “Johnny, you’re out of luck. No blondes.”
—CHESTER (RICHARD GALLAGHER)

Ice is called “stiff water” in the film, which is the inspiration for this
tropical drink that would not be out of place in an island paradise. Think of
the mix as a refreshing, boozy slushie where ice chunks are part of the
appeal. To make crushed ice, use a Lewis bag and mallet (see here) or
blender.

¾ ounce dry curaçao

1 ounce cream of coconut
¾ ounce fresh lime juice
¼ ounce dark rum
Freshly grated nutmeg, for garnish
Mint sprig, for garnish

Shake rum, curaçao, cream of coconut, lime juice, and dark rum
vigorously with ice. Pour into a rocks glass with ice and garnish with
nutmeg and a sprig of mint.
Dolores del Rio and Joel McCrea
topless at the waterfall.

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 BLONDE VENUS

Marlene Dietrich’s box-office superstardom continued with Blonde

Venus (1932), a perfect vehicle for her wide-ranging talents. She is
magnificent as she journeys through the film’s locations: Paris, Long
Island, and skid row in New Orleans.
Playing Helen Faraday, a housewife who must return to the stage
to pay her sick husband’s medical bills, Dietrich’s character becomes
mistress to wealthy politician Nick Townsend (Cary Grant). When her
husband, Ned (Herbert Marshall), returns from treatment and
discovers she has been unfaithful, he kicks her out of the house.
Faraday flees with their young son, and, at a particularly low point,
we see her trading sex for a meal to feed her child. Realizing this is
no life for her son, she surrenders him to Ned and leaves for Paris to
work in the cabarets and becomes an international star.
 Dietrich stretching her legs.

The plot is flimsy, but it serves the purpose of the Hollywood star
vehicle: it provides the opportunity for director Josef von Sternberg to
capture his muse in ever-greater costumes and in increasingly
atmospheric sets. Highlights include some wild scenes, such as
Dietrich emerging from a gorilla costume and then donning a white
Afro. Plus there are three musical numbers, including the outrageous
song “Hot Voodoo,” in which Faraday intones, “burn my clothes, I
want to start dancing, just wearing a smile.” From the opening
skinny-dipping scene to Dietrich caressing female dancers while in
her signature top hat and tails, the movie exerts an intense sexuality
that is surprising even today. The film is campy, emotional, dramatic,
and a total spectacle—and, of course, the same can be said of its
lead actress.
 Cary Grant visiting the dressing room.

“So you’re the Blonde Venus. Don’t tell me you thought of that
label all by yourself.”
—“TAXI BELLE” HOOPER (RITA LA ROY)

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Just one of the boys.
OceanofPDF.com
 BLONDE VENUS
One kiss of this platinum cocktail and you will be hooked. It is lively and
attention-seeking, just like Dietrich. White grape juice provides a novel
sweet twist that gives the mix a certain je ne sais quoi. Beware, a few sips
and you might want to burn your clothes and dance.

1½ ounces white rum

½ ounce Cointreau
1 ounce white grape juice
1 dash orange bitters
Orange peel, for garnish

Stir rum, Cointreau, grape juice, and bitters with ice. Strain into a
cocktail glass and garnish with an orange peel.

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 RED DUST

Perhaps the most notable of the pre-code “tramp-in-the-tropics”

films, Red Dust (1932) exudes the kind of hot and steamy
atmosphere that leads to a volatile love triangle between a lusty
farmer and two women of very different character. Watch next to a
fan to cool down.
Good-hearted prostitute Vantine (Jean Harlow), on the run from
the Saigon police, shows up during monsoon season at a rubber
plantation managed by virile Dennis Carson (Clark Gable). The two
have a playful affair until engineer Gary Willis (Gene Raymond) and
his classy wife, Barbara (Mary Astor), arrive, prompting Carson to
send both Vantine and Willis away so he can seduce Barbara.
Barbara falls for Carson, but he has second thoughts. Scorned, she
shoots him, and Vantine gets her (injured) man. Directed by Victor
Fleming, Red Dust is campy and delightfully entertaining.
The film is famous not only for confirming the stardom of both
Gable and Harlow—it is one of six movies the two would make
together—but because a month into filming, Harlow’s husband Paul
Bern committed suicide in what erupted into one of the great
scandals of early Hollywood. The tragedy did not tarnish the
actress’s platinum career, however, and a few weeks later she was
back in front of the camera.
Harlow would enjoy superstardom for another five years before
dying of kidney disease at the ripe age of twenty-six. Twenty years
later, Gable would reprise his rubber-grower role in director John
Ford’s remake of the film (Mogambo), which moves the farm to
Africa from Indochina and swaps in Ava Gardner and Grace Kelly,
respectively, for Harlow’s and Astor’s roles. Director Victor Fleming
would go on to make two of the most iconic American movies of all
time, The Wizard of Oz and Gone with the Wind.
Harlow’s infamous bathing scene.
 Clark Gable admires Jean Harlow’s negligee.

“You can check the wings and halo at the desk.”

—VANTINE (JEAN HARLOW)

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 Clark Gable admires Mary Astor’s negligee.

In a scene with Dennis drinking at a table, the overseer Mac mentions a

yearly shipment of Byrrh. Byrrh is a French fortified wine consumed as an
aperitif before dinner. It contains the anti-malarial drug quinine and would
have been available in French Indochina (it has been imported to the
United States since 2012 but can be difficult to find). This homage to the
film Red Dust re-creates some of Brryh’s refreshing flavors with more
common ingredients and is a perfect long drink for hot days. Dennis would
approve.

1½ ounces red wine

¾ ounce white rum
¾ ounce white grape juice
3 ounces club soda
Orange peel, for garnish

In a highball glass, combine wine, rum, and grape juice over ice. Top
with club soda and garnish with an orange peel.
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 ONE WAY PASSAGE

Doomed love is the subject of the adorable cruise-ship romance

One Way Passage (1932). One of the best “four-hankie” tearjerkers
of the pre-code era, the film’s pacing, mood switches, and charm
prevent viewers from questioning the illogical plot. Dan Hardesty
(William Powell) and Joan Ames (Kay Francis) meet in a Hong Kong
bar and hit it off while each conceals a vital piece of information; he
is wanted for murder, and she is fatally ill.
The plot is set in motion with a cocktail, and overseeing the fateful
encounter of the lead characters is a Hong Kong bartender (Mike
Donlin). He makes the duo a “paradise cocktail” that becomes a plot
thread. The trouble is, sleuthing fans of the film have misidentified
this as the Paradise cocktail from Harry Craddock’s Savoy Cocktail
Book (1930). Craddock’s mix of gin, apricot brandy, and orange juice
—essentially a fancy gin and juice—is decidedly not what is
prepared before us on-screen.
In the film, the bartender stirs-slash-frappés a clear drink, adds
something from another glass, prepares a chilled glass with a rim of
either salt or sugar, pours in the still-clear liquid, and then adds both
an olive and a twist on top. The bartender also utters something to
the effect of “Gotta wait a minute to let the oil sink in,” presumably
referring to the olive brine because he has not twisted the citrus yet.
Even if we weren’t so off the mark visually, the bartender also
explains he was making a similar drink when the earthquake hit San
Francisco in 1906—too early for it not to show up again until
Craddock’s book thirty years later.
We can assume that the point of all the drink-making is to help set
the scene, and not to present a known cocktail from the canon.
Either way, One Way Passage is one of the great cocktail-featuring
films of any age. Zippy dialogue, funny characters, and even the
inevitable ending make for a touching romance that exudes a breezy
magic.

“No more parties, no more cigarettes, no more dancing, and no

more cocktails!”
—THE DOCTOR (FREDERICK BURTON)

Kay Francis and William Powell enjoy Paradise cocktails.

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 PASSAGE TO PARADISE
Olives likely made their way into mixed drinks in the late nineteenth century
and first appeared in print as “Queen olives,” indicating the large Spanish
variety grown around Seville. There are scant few early classic cocktails
that are garnished with both an olive and a twist, but one such recipe comes
from 1906 (the same year as the San Francisco earthquake). Dubbed the H.
P. Whitney cocktail, it was named for millionaire Harry Payne Whitney and
is similar to what we see constructed on-screen. The mix features a
wonderful play between citrus and brine, and even works with a sugared
rim.

2 ounces London Dry gin

2 ounces London Dry gin
1 ounce dry vermouth
1 bar spoon kirschwasser
1 dash orange bitters
Orange peel, for garnish
Cocktail olive, for garnish

Stir gin, dry vermouth, kirschwasser, and bitters with ice. Strain into a
cocktail glass and garnish with an orange peel and an olive.

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 THREE ON A MATCH

Mervyn LeRoy’s Three on a Match (1932) crammed headlines,

history, sociology, sex, alcohol, drugs, adultery, kidnapping,
blackmail, and suicide into sixty-three minutes, as well as Humphrey
Bogart, Lyle Talbot, Glenda Farrell, and of course, Warren William.
The title refers to a trio of childhood friends, wild Mary (Joan
Blondell), studious Ruth (Bette Davis), and snobby Vivian (Ann
Dvorak). The jinx of lighting three cigarettes from the same match
will come to haunt one of them, but which?
America was gripped by the March 1932 kidnapping of Charles
Lindbergh’s baby and the heroic aviator’s search for his child. When
Three on a Match was released in October 1932, the child’s body
had been found but no arrest had been made. The American public
was not ready for a kidnapping film and that goes a long way in
explaining the initial negative reaction to LeRoy’s fast-paced and wild
drama.
 Bette Davis as Ruth Wescott, Joan Blondell as Mary Keaton, and Ann
Dvorak as Vivian Revere, all lighting their cigarettes on the same match.

The story follows Ruth, Mary, and Vivian, now all grown up. Vivian
is doing the best of the three because she married successful lawyer
Robert Kirkwood (Warren William). Unfortunately, she is also the
least happy. Vivian leaves Robert for gambler Michael Loftus (Lyle
Talbot) and takes her child, Robert Jr. (Buster Phelps), with her. She
then becomes a drug addict but in a moment of rare enlightenment
returns the boy to his father. Meanwhile, her debonair lawyer
husband has created a thrupple for himself by falling in love with her
friend Mary and hiring her other friend Ruth as a governess. It all
ends badly when Vivian’s boyfriend kidnaps Robert Jr. for ransom in
order to pay off his debts to gangster Ace (Edward Arnold). As all the
bad choices lead to tragedy, Humphrey Bogart (in an early role as
gangland heavy Harve) arrives on the scene and presides over the
film’s intense denouement.
 The “King of Pre-Code,” William Warren, looks over
the leading ladies in an ad for the film.

With Three on a Match, director LeRoy continued a streak of films

blistering with social critique—from Little Caesar (here) to I Am a
Fugitive from a Chain Gang. He would also bring a Depression
sensibility to his musical comedy Gold Diggers of 1933 (here) in the
astonishing Busby Berkeley number, “Remember My Forgotten
Man.”
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 THREE ON A MATCH
“Will ya stop remindin’ me of heaven, when I’m so close to the
other place?”
—MARY KEATON (JOAN BLONDELL)

Mary, Ruth, and Vivian each have something to love in this three-part
cocktail. The mix highlights the camaraderie between fruity sloes and
whiskey along with herbaceous vermouth. Sloe gin, made from the fruit of
the blackthorn plant, was popular before Prohibition and appears in drinks
such as the Charlie Chaplin (see here) and the Sloe Gin Fizz. It is a great
cocktail to drink with friends—just remember, it’s bad luck to light three
cigarettes with one match.

1 ounce sloe gin

1 ounce rye whiskey
1 ounce sweet vermouth
3 maraschino cherries, for garnish

Stir sloe gin, whiskey, and sweet vermouth with ice. Strain into a
cocktail glass and garnish with cherries.

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Vivian Revere (Ann Dvorak) leaps to her death.
OceanofPDF.com
 TROUBLE IN PARADISE

Miriam Hopkins, “the Georgia Peach,” was the favorite of two great
Paramount directors, playing a dancehall girl in Rouben Mamoulian’s
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (see here) as well as a feisty jewel thief in
Ernst Lubitsch’s comedy Trouble in Paradise (1932). Lubitsch would
also go on to cast her as the throbbing heart of the ménage à trois in
Design for Living in 1933 (see here). It’s easy to see why both were
smitten; she is smart and refined while volatile enough to inhabit
some of the era’s most intense roles (see The Story of Temple
Drake). It is difficult to imagine another actress pulling off the
sparkling-yet-streetwise nuance necessary to match Lubitsch’s mix
of suave and risqué. Her versatility is on full display here in her
breakthrough role.
Ernst Lubitsch is credited with helping create the modern musical
(see 1929’s The Love Parade) as well as the romantic comedy genre
in Trouble in Paradise. The “Lubitsch touch”—a meld of European
sophistication frappéd with sexual innuendo—became a much-
emulated style. The film sizzles with chemistry between the principal
characters while just staying on this side of acceptable. Censors did
not agree; when the code was enforced, Trouble in Paradise was not
seen again until 1968.

GASTON MONESCU (HERBERT MARSHALL):

“How would you start?”

WAITER (GEORGE HUMBERT):

“I would start with cocktails.”
Gaston Monescu (Herbert Marshall), a professional thief and
confidence man masquerading as a baron, meets Lily (Hopkins), a
clever pickpocket. After moving in together, they decide to rob
Madame Mariette Colet (Kay Francis), a wealthy perfume
manufacturer. Kay Francis, the best-dressed woman in Hollywood at
the time, does not disappoint. Fashion and passion ensue as Gaston
must choose between Lily and Mariette in a sexual rivalry decided
more by banter than bedroom.

Herbert Marshall, Kay Francis, and Miriam Hopkins learn three is a crowd.

Like watching a kettle boil in the most stylish way possible,

Lubitsch’s slow-burn masterpiece seems to teach us that life’s
greatest gifts—love and time—are thieves that we enjoy anyway.
Kay Francis enjoys a cocktail.
We’re not in the Garden of Eden anymore in this suggestive ad for the film.

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 LUBITSCH TOUCH
The idea of a “Lubitsch touch” was created by a PR department, so it is
difficult to pinpoint precisely what it is. Legendary director Billy Wilder
said it was “the joke you didn’t expect.” Film journalist Herman Weinberg
argued it has something to do with “utilizing the power of the metaphor by
suddenly compressing the quintessence of [Lubitsch’s] subject in a sly
comment.” All agree the films have wit, nuance, and sophistication. This
cocktail is a tipple inspired by the playful genius.

1½ ounces brandy
1 ounce white rum
½ ounce fresh lime juice
½ ounce apricot liqueur

Shake brandy, rum, lime juice, and apricot liqueur with ice and strain
into a cocktail glass.

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OceanofPDF.com
 CALL HER SAVAGE

Famed silent-movie-era actress Clara Bow stars in this wildest of

wild rides as Texas rich girl Nasa Springer. As if to outdo every over-
the-top film of the era, Bow’s talkie comeback is a cinematic bucking
bronco replete with transparent tops, cross-dressing, prostitution,
attempted rape, sexually transmitted diseases, and S&M. Call Her
Savage (1932) transforms Bow, the sexually liberated “It” girl of the
1920s, into a hot-tempered cat-fighter hell-bent on self-destruction.
Teenaged Nasa rebels against her father Pete (Willard
Robertson) and marries rich playboy Lawrence Crosby (Monroe
Owsley), who ruins her wedding night and abandons her. Just as she
realizes she is pregnant, her father also abandons her, reducing her
to poverty and prostitution. While Nasa is streetwalking for cash, a
child-molesting drunk in her boardinghouse starts a fire that kills her
baby. Meanwhile, a childhood friend, the Native American Moonglow
(Gilbert Roland), is searching for her because her grandfather has
left her an inheritance.

PETE SPRINGER (WILLARD ROBERTSON):

“Why were you whipping him?”

NASA SPRINGER (CLARA BOW):

“I was practicing in case I ever get married.”
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Bow enjoying some “me time” with a bottle.
OceanofPDF.com
 Clara Bow has a whip and knows how to use it.

Call Her Savage is certainly savage. It abounds with violence:

throwing, slapping, punching, whipping, and wrestling. At a
particularly low point, Bow heaves a bottle through a mirror. As the
film, and Nasa, reels from mood to mood, there is always witty
banter to keep the runaway train on the rails, along with some
genuinely hilarious situations. Of particular note is an early—and
conspicuously nonjudgmental for its time—portrayal of
homosexuality set in a Greenwich Village restaurant with a duo of
singing drag queens. None of the movie’s taboo subjects are of vital
importance, however, because the undercurrent of the story is
racism; Nasa is revealed to be half Native American. Her fitting
punishment is to be married to Native American Moonglow, who
happens to be the most handsome and sympathetic character in the
film. Unhinged and uninhibited, Call Her Savage is a pre-code
creation as coarse as its heroine.
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 GREENWICH VILLAGE
It is intriguing that Nasa’s escort Jay Randall (Anthony Jowitt) knows
exactly where to go slumming in New York’s Greenwich Village. The
restaurant episode ends with a brawl almost as extravagant as Marlon
Brando’s in Guys and Dolls, but not before we are treated to singing
waiters dressed as maids. It’s a magnificent scene, and we can imagine that
the patrons of the bar might have been drinking something like this small
cocktail that functions as a shot.

1 ounce London Dry gin

¾ ounce crème de violette (or crème de cassis)
¼ ounce absinthe

Shake gin, crème de violette, and absinthe with ice and strain into a
Nick & Nora or large shot glass.
Just another day in heels and a negligee.

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OceanofPDF.com
 THE SIGN OF THE CROSS

At the outset of Cecil B. DeMille’s The Sign of the Cross (1932),

actress Claudette Colbert lounges naked in a bath of ass’s milk, the
level of which is certainly below that required by censors because
she is clearly exposed. DeMille’s Judeo-Christian epic by way of
romp through ancient Rome devolves from there, hanging on a thin
plot of conversion to Christian values while treating viewers to pagan
orgies and one of the more notorious erotic dances in cinema
history. Then, after the lead characters display their religiosity, they
are summarily eaten by lions.
The question on every viewer’s mind while watching actor
Charles Laughton play Emperor Nero as Rome burns or Joyzelle
Joyner perform her famed lesbian seduction in the “Dance of the
Naked Moon” is how all this is supposed to make anyone reject the
old pagan gods. They are simply too much fun. By comparison,
DeMille’s Christian scenes have all the appeal of a time-share
presentation during which it’s best to refill cocktail glasses.
Brutal and debauched, The Sign of the Cross was a cinematic
landmark and a huge hit. It restored DeMille’s status, which had
been momentarily in question following the failure of two pre-code
oddities, Madam Satan (1930) and The Squaw Man (1931). He
would make more epics, including Cleopatra (1934) and The Ten
Commandments (1956). Unfortunately, The Sign of the Cross’s
success came at a price. Many Catholics felt that DeMille had
appropriated the mythology of the Christian martyrs in order to glorify
paganism. Negative publicity about this film and numerous others in
1933 led to the formation of the Catholic Legion of Decency, which
played a pivotal role in the reconstitution of the code. This film is
almost directly responsible for increased censorship in later years;
paganism and sexual license could not be so alluring. Additionally,
the Circus Maximus scenes—Amazons beheading pygmies, bears
being speared, tigers eating humans—horrified theatergoers. During
the opening week in New York City, women in the audience not only
screamed; some fainted, and more walked out. The reissue of the
film was held up until Paramount cut all the “immoral” content;
thankfully for us, the DeMille Estate and the Packard Foundation
restored the censored scenes in 1993.

“Dacia, you’re a butterfly with the sting of a wasp. Take off your
clothes. Get in here and tell me all about it.”
—EMPRESS POPPAEA (CLAUDETTE COLBERT)

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Claudette Colbert having a drink while in the bath.
OceanofPDF.com
 Excellent acting by Fredric March (Marcus Superbus) and Elissa
Landi (Mercia) impress, even as Laughton steals the film with his
campy take on pure evil. Laughton played a number of crazed
characters in the 1930s, including Dr. Moreau in the infamous Island
of Lost Souls (here).

Fredric March has a drink and Joyzelle Joyner and Elissa Landi do not.

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 NAKED MOON

Nero (Charles Laughton) gives a thumbs-down.

MAKES 6 TO 8 SERVINGS

Cornucopia, the symbol of abundance and fertility, makes its appearance in

the movie’s orgy scenes. The woven baskets are filled with grapes, which
are symbols of plenitude and debauchery to the worshippers of the Roman
god Bacchus. Let wine flow prodigiously with this sangria variation, fit for
watching (or howling at) a naked moon. In a boon to imbibers, The Sign of
the Cross features an intermission for more cocktail-making.

1 (750 mL) bottle red wine

4 ounces London Dry gin
4 ounces white grape juice
4 ounces fresh orange juice
1 lemon, sliced
1 cinnamon stick
1 cup club soda

In a large pitcher, combine red wine, gin, grape juice, orange juice,
lemons, and cinnamon, and cool in the refrigerator at least 1 hour.
Before serving, add club soda and stir to combine.
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 ISLAND OF LOST SOULS

It was not only sexually explicit content or gangster heroes that

concerned the censors; the new horror genre of the 1930s brought
into question the nature of humanity’s relationship to the divine and
cast doubt on the existence of God. In the case of Island of Lost
Souls (1932), Dr. Moreau (Charles Laughton) uses vivisection—
surgery without anesthetic—to meld beasts with humans and create
a race of freakish hybrids. He has, in fact, become God on his island.
The film features sex, violence, and horror all wrapped up in a
gruesome and blasphemous nightmare.
Edward Parker (Richard Arlen) finds himself ship wrecked on an
island inhabited by “strange-looking natives.” Lording it over them is
the whip-wielding scientist Dr. Moreau—played flawlessly by the
inimitable Laughton. These “natives” include the fur-covered Sayer
of the Law (Bela Lugosi) and the bewitching Lota the Panther
Woman. The latter, played by a nineteen-year-old former dental
hygienist named Kathleen Burke (she won the part in a Paramount
contest), became the centerpiece of a sexualized ad campaign. As
part panther, she adds a touch of bestiality to the already-awkward
mix of exoticism and blasphemy.
When Parker walks into a scene of screaming horror in a “House
of Pain,” he decides it’s time to bolt—of course, with the
aforementioned panther-woman, whom he has kissed and now
wants to save. Moreau sinks the escape boat, but luckily Parker’s
fiancée arrives to check up on how her future husband gets on
without her (not so great). The hybrid creatures revolt against their
God-creator—giving Laughton the opportunity to thrash about in one
of pre-code’s most memorable death scenes—while the young
couple sails away.
Sadist Dr. Moreau (Charles Laughton) keeps his creatures at
bay.
 Parker (Richard Arlen) falls for Lota the Panther Woman, played by
Kathleen Burke.

Island of Lost Souls was banned in a multitude of countries and

became one of the most-chopped-up films of the era. No censor
board could tolerate it. Incredibly transgressive, it is also visually
arresting, with an Art Deco laboratory and glowing highlights on
fuzzy shoulders. Much of the film’s philosophical payload concerns
the requisite suffering of God’s creatures, whether human or animal,
and exploring where the line between sentient “us” and “them” lies.
All the silly makeup and the unruly sex-kitten, or panther, are just
more reasons to watch.

“Not to go on all fours, that is the law. Are we not men?”

 —SAYER OF THE LAW (BELA LUGOSI)

Parker’s fiancée, played by Leila Hyams, arrives to see how her beau is
doing. Lota is about to pounce.

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 HOUSE OF PAIN
If you found yourself shipwrecked on an island in the South Seas, this tiki-
inspired cocktail would make a wonderful refreshment. Cinnamon syrup is
an essential ingredient for making tiki drinks and is also great to have on
hand in wintertime for cocktails such as hot toddies. It is available in
grocery stores but also a cinch to make (recipe follows). The spiced syrup
brings out the best in rum, grenadine, and Angostura bitters in this winning
mix.

2 ounces rum
¾ ounce fresh lime juice
½ ounce cinnamon syrup (see recipe below)
1 bar spoon grenadine
1 bar spoon absinthe
1 dash Angostura bitters
Lime wedge, for garnish

FOR THE CINNAMON SYRUP

1 cup water
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Shake rum, lime juice, cinnamon syrup, grenadine, absinthe, and

bitters with ice. Pour into a rocks glass and garnish with a lime
wedge.

In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, bring water, sugar,

and cinnamon to a boil. Remove from heat and strain into a sealable
jar. The cinnamon syrup will keep, sealed, for up to 2 weeks.
OceanofPDF.com
 THE BITTER TEA OF GENERAL
YEN

Director Frank Capra’s bitter box-office flop The Bitter Tea of

General Yen (1933) was denounced upon release because of its
negative portrayal of Christian missionaries. But the film would have
caused an uproar anyway due to its bold portrayal of an interracial
romance. Set in China during the country’s civil war, Megan Davis
(Barbara Stanwyck) arrives in Shanghai to marry her longtime
fiancé, Bob (Gavin Gordon). When she accompanies Bob to help
save a group of orphans, the two get separated and she finds herself
the captive of General Yen (Nils Asther). What ensues is Megan’s
spiritual and sexual awakening. She has an erotic dream about Yen
and even becomes (symbolically, at least) the general’s concubine in
order to replace the one who betrays him—thief Mah Li, played by
Japanese actress Toshia Mori.
A romance starring one of the era’s famous blondes stricken with
Stockholm syndrome was simply too much for American audiences,
and the film was pulled from theaters after just a few days.
Beautifully composed and wonderfully costumed, the movie is a work
of art. In fact, Capra helped define “arty” for the 1930s;
cinematographer Joseph Walker used a variable diffusion lens to
add an aura of intrigue and soft lighting—although the content could
not be softened. The film is a minefield of racial, political, and sexual
issues including non-Asian actor Nils Asther playing General Yen.
The problem is, dismissing the film as merely “progressive for its
time” doesn’t give credit to how subversive it is, calling out American
imperialism, religious zealotry, gender roles, and more.

“East or West, men seldom deviate very far from their main
 passion in life.”
—MEGAN DAVIS (BARBARA STANWYCK)

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An interracial romance was just too much for early 1930s audiences.
OceanofPDF.com
 Barbara Stanwyck, Nils Asther, and Toshi Mori share a moment.

When Stanwyck was asked why the film failed, she said:
“Women’s groups all over the country protested, wrote letters to
exhibitors, saying we were condoning miscegenation.” (Marriage
between races was illegal in thirty states, but the code only specified
romance between “the white and black races.”) Capra was surprised
by his film’s failure but survived the setback and went on to a storied
career. He would make some of the most revered films of all time,
including Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, It’s a Wonderful Life, and It
Happened One Night (see here), earning three Academy Awards for
Best Director out of six nominations.
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Interracial romance would be forbidden by the Production Code a year later.
OceanofPDF.com
 LOTUS BLOSSOM
Famed drinks writer Charles H. Baker visited Shanghai just before the
outbreak of the Chinese Civil War in 1927. He recorded cocktails he found
there in his book The Gentleman’s Companion, which provides the
historical basis for the contents of this drink. The mix is inspired by the
film’s moonlit denouement; before Yen drinks his lethal tea, he addresses
Megan and says that she is “young and pale as a lotus blossom, which
blooms at night.”

1½ ounces white rum

¾ ounce absinthe
½ ounce Luxardo maraschino liqueur
¼ ounce fresh lemon juice
1 egg white

Shake rum, absinthe, maraschino liqueur, lemon juice, and egg white
vigorously with ice. Strain into a cocktail glass.

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OceanofPDF.com
 SHE DONE HIM WRONG

Mae West, the famous playwright of Sex, The Drag, and Diamond
Lil, had already been to jail in New York on obscenity charges before
she ever strutted across the screen in She Done Him Wrong (1933).
Eye-rolling, cooing, and wisecracking her way into American
consciousness, here was a middle-aged woman who threw her
weight around—especially the forward and aft bits—to become the
exaggerated icon of womanliness.
West is Lady Lou, a Bowery barroom singer contending with
multiple gangland suitors plus secret federal agent Captain
Cummings (Cary Grant). Her boss Gus Jordan (Noah Beery),
meanwhile, is running a counterfeiting and prostitution ring. Handling
the complex web of characters with saucy aplomb, West schools us
in how to successfully mix business with pleasure.
West was unique in that she did not play ingenues discovering
their seductive powers while struggling to survive. Her characters
have struck gold already and are understood to have entertained
multiple sex partners. West’s Lady Lou is on the flip side of love and
plays the fairy godmother of the game—one who may still sashay,
but lives by her wits and isn’t afraid to pass on her wisdom. Campy
to the extreme and a one-of-a-kind outsider, West was able to push
sexual boundaries because audiences laughed knowingly along with
her, never either identifying or lusting, but simply in on her big off-
color joke. Her deftness in this regard is a wonder to behold.
 With the arrival of West on-screen, curvy was suddenly in.

Lil is covered in jewelry, but she’ll always take more.

While not Hollywood’s first portrayal of a smart and powerful

woman, none so assuredly always held all the cards. West’s force is
such that the production garnered a nomination for Best Picture; it
was her first and last nod. She Done Him Wrong was successful
enough to help save Paramount from bankruptcy and launch its lead
to superstardom.
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 DIAMOND RING
At the film’s conclusion, Captain Cummings removes all the rings Lady Lou
presumably won from other suitors and slips on a diamond engagement
ring. He will keep her out of jail, but she may be entering another prison
altogether. Although Cary Grant had acted in prior films, Mae West liked to
claim she discovered him. Their chemistry on-screen is as delightful as this
cocktail. Note that Old Tom gin is an older style than the London Dry you
may be used to and adds a touch more sweetness.

1½ ounces Old Tom gin (or substitute London Dry)

½ ounce fresh lemon juice
¼ ounce Luxardo maraschino liqueur
2 ounces club soda
Maraschino cherry, for garnish
Lemon peel, for garnish

Shake gin, lemon juice, and maraschino liqueur with ice. Strain into a
highball glass, top with club soda and garnish with a cherry and
lemon peel.

“When women go wrong, men go right after them.”

—LADY LOU (MAE WEST)

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Mae West liked to claim she discovered Cary Grant.
OceanofPDF.com
 42ND STREET

Early talking films were flooded with one-liners and rapid-fire wit,
reaching fever pitch in films such as director Lloyd Bacon’s
backstage musical 42nd Street (1933). In fact, at one point amid all
the jokes a frustrated Bebe Daniels (playing star Dorothy Brock)
yells, “Enough of the wisecracks!” Audiences and critics adored the
humor. Add musical numbers with mind-boggling choreography by
Busby Berkeley, and 42nd Street was a smashing combination that
soared at the box office.
The movie takes a behind-the-scenes view of a cast and crew’s
heroic attempt to get a flailing production off the ground. Such a
voyeuristic lens was a popular vehicle in pre-code films (see Gold
Diggers of 1933 here and Footlight Parade here); the setup allowed
for plenty of chicanery as well as changing-room revelations.
Julian Marsh (Warner Baxter) has fallen on hard times and is
hoping to mount one last show before retirement. His lead actress,
Dorothy, is divided in her attentions between the show’s financial
backer, Abner Dillon (Guy Kibbee), and struggling actor Pat Denning
(George Brent). Tribulations ensue.
Ruby Keeler as Peggy Sawyer getting dancing directions while Ginger
Rogers as Ann Lowell and the rest of dancers observe.
 Warner Baxter as Julian Marsh surrounded from lower left: Ginger Rogers
as Ann Lowell, Bebe Daniels as Dorothy Baxter, Una Merkel as Lorraine
Fleming, and Ruby Keeler as Peggy Sawyer.

It is hard not to see the plot setup as a metaphor for the struggles
of the Great Depression, the reality of which had broken into
Hollywood’s fantasy world by 1933. Notably, we witness the
character Peggy Sawyer (Ruby Keeler), a fresh-faced hopeful new to
New York City, faint from hunger. However, despite all odds, art
ultimately triumphs and 42nd Street is a record of resilience that
endures as one of the most influential musicals of all time.

JERRY (HARRY AKST):

“It seems that little Lorraine’s hit the bottle again.”

MAC ELROY (ALLEN JENKINS):

“Yeah, the peroxide bottle.”
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 ROSE-COLORED GLASSES
When Peggy is evicted from her apartment, she has no choice but to
accompany Pat (George Brent) to his house. Hoping to seduce her, he offers
(illegal) drinks, saying, “Just a couple of rose-colored glasses. Let’s try
them on and see how the world looks.” We can imagine a rosy cocktail
inspired by the scene that will certainly make the world look better.

2 ounces London Dry gin

¾ ounce raspberry syrup (see here)
½ ounce cream
1 dash orange bitters

Shake gin, raspberry syrup, cream, and bitters with ice. Strain into a
cocktail glass.

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 OUR BETTERS

A biting satire of the upper classes, Our Betters (1933) is based on

a play of the same name by Somerset Maugham. Constance
Bennett plays Pearl Grayston, an American heiress who learns on
her wedding night that her new husband, Lord George Grayston
(Alan Mowbray), married her for money and loves another. Flash-
forward five years and Lady Gray has become a hard and cynical
force in the British aristocracy. She wants to marry off her younger
sister into happier circumstances than her own while juggling two
suitors, benefactor Arthur Fenwick (Minor Watson) and lover Pepi
D’Costa (Gilbert Roland). When Pearl is caught having sexual
relations with the latter in the teahouse on her estate, drama ensues.
Will her circle out her as a cad?
If you thought the days of the idle rich were filled with anything but
pettiness, insecurity, partner-swapping, and catty gossip, you are in
for a disappointment. Maugham, via screenwriters Jane Murfin and
Harry Wagstaff Gribble, paints the portrait of a group so self-
absorbed that its members could be mistaken for today’s social
media influencers—except that Our Betters is amusing. Constance
Bennett is radiant, the supporting cast is flawless, and Tyrell Davis’s
portrayal of a late-arriving dance instructor is perhaps the most
flamboyant gay character of the period.
Presenting homosexuality as fashionable was a risky move for
director George Cukor, whose own sexual orientation was in
question. Cukor would be nominated as Best Director for Little
Women the same year and later became famous for being a
“woman’s director” known for coaxing the best performances from
actresses such as Katharine Hepburn. Cukor also directed lead male
actors to Oscars three times. In Our Betters, we can already see his
attention to dialogue detail, beautiful staging, and smart camerawork
that are signatures in his masterpieces such as Dinner at Eight (see
here), The Philadelphia Story (1940), and My Fair Lady (1964).

“What an exquisite spectacle! Two ladies of title kissing one

another!”
—ERNEST (TYRELL DAVIS)

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Constance Bennett as sophisticated Lady Pearl.
OceanofPDF.com
 Lady Pearl

Late-arriving Tyrell Davis as a dance instructor steals the show.

Named for the heroine of the film—if you can call her that—this cocktail is
a luxurious experience. It is elegant but also a little naughty, a combination
of anisette and gin with a dash of pineapple and apricot. Mint provides
wonderful aromatics. Like its namesake, this beguiling number has a lot of
attitude.

½ ounce London Dry gin

½ ounce absinthe
½ ounce apricot liqueur
½ ounce pineapple juice
1 egg white
Mint leaf, for garnish

Shake gin, absinthe, apricot liqueur, pineapple juice, and egg white
vigorously with ice. Strain into a cocktail glass and garnish with a
mint leaf. Note: It is helpful to smack the mint leaf between the palms
of your hands to release its aroma as the drink is garnished.
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Lady Pearl wearing pearls with Gilbert Roland as smoldering Latin lover Pepi
D’Costa.
OceanofPDF.com
 KING KONG

Few movies enraptured American audiences like King Kong (1933),

maybe the most famous of all pre-code films. It is easy to see why,
since the blockbuster embodies many of the era’s themes; it is a
racial adventure film like Tarzan and His Mate, a nightmare like
Frankenstein, and an interspecies love affair similar to Island of Lost
Souls. Throw in one of cinema’s most relatable nonhuman stars and
it was a recipe for box-office mania.
The ape appears as a coded figure in several early 1930s films,
from Blonde Venus (see here) to The Sign of the Cross (see here),
but none so prominently as Kong. He is a monstrous stand-in for
audiences’ deep-seated fears of sexual violation—one that plays out
before our very eyes between giant Kong and the small, white
maiden Ann Darrow (Fay Wray). Never before had special effects
worked so well in conjunction with sound technology to create a
convincing narrative from what was, essentially, a kinky fever-dream.
Filled with gore and sadism, the film flouted censorship while
presenting a monster from another world smashing into the heart of
civilization.
Kong holding Fay Wray at the elevated train outside the New York theaters.
 Back from the jungle, Fay Wray as Ann Darrow and Bruce Cabot as Jack
Driscoll hang on to the edge of the Empire State Building.

Kong is also a symbol of the financial and cultural chaos of the

Depression. At the time of the film’s release, President Roosevelt
had declared a holiday to stop a run on the banks and America was
in crisis. Audiences felt the monster was close. It is no accident we
witness Kong attacking the Sixth Avenue El right outside
Manhattan’s Radio City theater, where the film played to packed
houses.
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OceanofPDF.com
 KING KONG

Fay Wray as Ann Darrow in King Kong’s paw.

Inspired by a giant ape that climbs the Empire State Building, this unique
cocktail combines whiskey, amaro, and banana liqueur for a kind of
Banana Manhattan. The result is as outsized as Kong and a similarly
formidable force with a playful side.

2 ounces bourbon whiskey

¾ ounce amaro (such as Averna)
¾ ounce banana liqueur
1 dash Angostura bitters

Stir bourbon, amaro, banana liqueur, and bitters with ice and strain
into a rocks glass with a large ice cube.
“It was beauty killed the beast.”
—CARL DENHAM (ROBERT ARMSTRONG)

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 GOLD DIGGERS OF 1933

The heroines of Mervyn LeRoy’s delightful Gold Diggers of 1933

(1933) are three plucky but unemployed chorus girls: Carol (Joan
Blondell), Polly (Ruby Keeler), and Trixie (Aline MacMahon). We
know they are hard up because they steal milk for breakfast the
moment we meet them. But as luck would have it, Broadway
producer Barney Hopkins (Ned Sparks) offers them parts in his new
show—just as soon as he gets money. We are, after all, in the midst
of the Depression. Enter neighbor Brad Roberts (Dick Powell), who
is secretly wealthy and is willing to underwrite the show—if he can
write the songs. The catch is that if Brad reveals his true identity, his
high-society brother J. Lawrence Bradford (William Warren) will
disown him. But do not worry, the showgirls resolve to teach the
snobbish brother a lesson.
Gold Diggers with their violins in the “Shadow Waltz.”
 The ironic number “We’re in the Money.”

Gold Diggers of 1933 has it all; racy dialogue, dance numbers,

extravagant costumes, Art Deco sets, and brilliant acting. Plus,
Warner Bros. let choreographer Busby Berkeley loose to work his
enthralling magic. From the opening gonzo (and ironic) number
“We’re in the Money”—unforgettably performed by Ginger Rogers
with a pig-Latin twist at the end—to the stunningly beautiful and
elegant “Shadow Waltz,” the film is a true spectacle. Watch for
Berkeley’s “Remember My Forgotten Man,” which directly addresses
the Depression. This was the second of Berkeley’s three classic films
of 1933, the others being 42nd Street (here) and Footlight Parade
(here).
This comedic film was a change for director LeRoy, better known
up to that point for gritty dramas like Little Caesar (see here) and
Three on a Match (see here). He brought a realistic undercurrent to
the fantasy. The movie is an essential pre-code film that acts as a
cipher containing all the many elements of the era. It is also delicious
entertainment.
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 PETTIN’ IN THE PARK
The hilarious number “Pettin’ in the Park” features Dick Powell and Ruby
Keeler on a date that grows ever more outlandish and racy. There are cops
on roller skates, a scene in a zoo, seasonal fashion changes, nude women
(in silhouette), and awkward metal-chastity outfits—presumably to prevent
said petting from getting too heavy. Suitably potent and titillating, this
heady mix travels easily if you want to take it to the park for a make-out
session.

2 ounces applejack
½ ounce dry curaçao
½ ounce raspberry syrup (see here)
Raspberry, for garnish

Stir applejack, curaçao, and raspberry syrup with ice. Strain into a
cocktail glass and garnish with a raspberry.

“One more look at him with those bedroom eyes and I’ll break your
leg!”
—TRIXIE LORRAINE (ALINE MACMAHON)

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Joan Blondell as Carol King and Warren William as J. Lawrence Bradford share a
drink moment.
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 COCKTAIL HOUR

Too many cocktails by moonlight and you’ll find yourself on a walk

of shame across a transatlantic liner in last night’s dinner gown is
just one of the lessons of the irresistibly witty Cocktail Hour (1933).
Financially independent advertising illustrator Cynthia Warren (Bebe
Daniels) is the toast of New York’s glittering bohemian crowd when
she sets off for Paris to escape a future of matrimony and
motherhood. Despite being pursued by a number of handsome
suitors, our modern woman isn’t a day at sea before she falls for the
philandering grandson of a corset-maker, William Lawton (Sidney
Blackmer). Only after Warren is deeply hooked is it revealed that
“rotter” Lawton is already married—and his wife approves of his
dalliances.
Life isn’t quite so rosy for free-spirited Warren when the tables of
her liberal sexual mores are turned, but as fate would have it,
Russian countess and concert pianist Olga Raimoff (Muriel Kirkland)
is available to commiserate. Then, because alcohol’s ability to lower
inhibitions is particularly strong on this vessel, only one cocktail is
required for Countess Raimoff to reveal she is a fraud and Tessie
Burns from Kansas.

“I’m going to get so cockeyed tonight that they’ll have to put me to

bed with a sponge.”
—CYNTHIA WARREN (BEBE DANIELS)

Equal parts romp and womance (with a drinking jag to prove it),
Cocktail Hour is as effervescent as the bubbly libations served in its
party scenes. The snappy dialogue is self-aware, there is plenty of
brilliant drunk acting (if it is acting), plus the film sports a bevy of
quirky supporting personalities. All this is tied together with a
beguiling humanness pervading the film’s intimate scenes that
makes the characters feel especially modern. Add a surprise
dramatic ending and the picture delights to the last drop.
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Any time can be cocktail hour.
OceanofPDF.com
 Raise a glass to Cynthia Warren (played by Bebe Daniels).

When Warren’s longtime suitor—and, more or less, boss, since

he is the only buyer for her illustrations—Randolf Morgan (Randolph
Scott), turns up in Europe, he finds Cynthia and Olga in their rooms.
He confides to Olga that he is merely playing hard to get in order to
convince Cynthia to finally agree to marry him. He also knowingly
calls Olga a “Kansas Romanov.”
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 KANSAS ROMANOV
This cocktail’s name is a reference to concert pianist Olga’s real identity as
Tessie Burns from Kansas. Russian-made vodka was rare in the 1930s, and
most cocktail historians cite Dr. No (1962) as its first prominent
appearance in film. However, the clear distillate makes a significant cameo
far earlier, in the film Female (1933), a movie worth seeking out. Here,
vodka is combined with cranberry juice, a product Ocean Spray began
marketing in 1930.

2 ounces vodka
1½ ounces cranberry juice
1 dash Angostura bitters
2 ounces club soda
Lemon peel, for garnish

In a highball glass filled with ice, combine vodka, cranberry juice,

and bitters. Top with club soda and garnish with a lemon peel.
You never know what may happen when you have one too many.

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 BABY FACE

Baby Face (1933) was Warner Bros.’ answer to M-G-M’s Red-

Headed Woman (see here), and Darryl Zanuck’s story matches that
film in intensity while offering a broader philosophical indictment of
1930s society. Life is exploitation, and Lily Powers (Barbara
Stanwyck) knows this firsthand because her saloon-keeper father
has been pimping her out to customers since she was fourteen.
When her father dies, Lily and her coworker Chico (Theresa Harris)
make their way to Manhattan, where Lily finds work at an
international bank. Using sex to get ahead—in overtly phallic
imagery we see her climbing her way to the top of the skyscraper—
our pre-jaded ingenue embarks on conquests of company men
(including a young John Wayne as Jimmy McCoy Jr.) in order to
improve her station.
Lily with Chico (played by Theresa Harris), the only person to whom she is
loyal.
 Lily (Barbara Stanwyck) having a cocktail with her Fuzzy Wuzzy (Henry
Kolker).

Notable in all the sex and scheming, including the seduction of

her lover’s father, is Lily’s ruthlessness. The film does not shy away
from exposing predatory capitalist patriarchy and flips it on its head
in order to show the character’s ascent. Lily is a “fallen woman” who
is a creation of the kind of callous men she preys upon. Censors
were not happy, and scenes were cut at release. In fact, the fully
restored version we are able to see today was not rediscovered until
2014.
Stanwyck gives an arresting performance that makes the
unromantic romance that is Baby Face possible, proving herself to
be the right actress to deliver a searing indictment of the 1930s
amoral financial landscape (it is no accident that the men Lily is
sexually exploiting are bankers). Stanwyck plays one of the coldest,
most scandalous characters of the era, loyal only to her Black
compatriot, Chico, a camaraderie that pushed boundaries, even for a
pre-code film.
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When things do not work out with a lover, Lily preys on his father, the first
vice president of Gotham Trust, J. P. Carter (Henry Kolker). In
conversation, she calls J. P. by his pet name, Fuzzy Wuzzy. This clearly
softens him because when she asks cutely for money, he replies, “My dear,
ask me something difficult.” Get splendidly fuzzy wuzzy with this mix so
delicious it will coax most anyone into doing anything.

2 ounces white rum

½ ounce elderflower liqueur
½ ounce fresh lemon juice
2 drops orange blossom water
1 egg white

Shake rum, elderflower liqueur, lemon juice, orange blossom water,

and egg white vigorously with ice. Strain into a cocktail glass.

“A woman, young, beautiful like you, can get anything she wants in
the world. Because you have power over men! But you must use
men! Not let them use you. You must be a master! Not a slave.”
—ADOLF CRAGG (ALPHONSE ETHIER)

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 MIDNIGHT MARY

Midnight” Mary Martin (Loretta Young) calmly reads Cosmopolitan

during her trial for killing her gangster lover Leo Darcy (Ricardo
Cortez) before he could kill her other lover, Tom Mannering Jr.
(Franchot Tone). She is barely paying attention to her own fate
because she does not expect the trial to go well; given Mary’s
gender and class, things are already stacked against her. She knows
this because, even though she is a good girl at heart, hers has been
a life of poverty and crime. Tom, the son of a wealthy family, pulled
her out of a brothel. She owed him and only killed to defend him—
but the law does not care and here comes a death sentence.
Booze-soaked and violent, Midnight Mary (1933) would be just
another morality play except that murder and divorce lead to a happy
ending. Director William Wellman coaxes a smart and lean story by
Anita Loos into movie magic, convincing us to be sympathetic to a
character trapped by patriarchy. Life was hard for women in the
1930s, and Midnight Mary turns the lack of opportunity into a tale of
redemption.
Wellman creates stylish mayhem in the film with some very long
and passionate kisses, frank discussions of sex, and a pregnancy
out of wedlock. But this is also a drinker’s film, filled with wonderful
vignettes out on the town and in speak-easies. Cocktails abound—
watch for the great scene of Tom and Mary eating leftover turkey
while downing champagne.
Radiant Loretta Young in furs.
Mary (Loretta Young) gets herself in trouble.
Franchot Tone and Loretta Young share a late-night snack.

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 Midnight Mary
A tequila Bloody Mary is a Bloody Maria, the addition of Clamato yields a
Bloody Caesar, and there is a tomato-less version called a Bloodless Mary.
But a Red Snapper? It is a Bloody Mary made with gin, and it predates the
vodka version we know today. The Red Snapper is the inspiration for the
Midnight Mary, a liquid murderess with a touch of glam.

2 ounces London Dry gin

2 ounces tomato juice
½ ounce fresh lemon juice
1 dash Tabasco sauce
1 ounce sparkling wine
Lemon wheel, for garnish

Shake gin, tomato juice, lemon juice, and Tabasco sauce with ice
and strain into a highball glass with ice. Top with sparkling wine and
garnish with a lemon wheel.

TOM MANNERING JR (FRANCHOT TONE):

“Now, what do you suppose made me think of sex?”

MARY MARTIN (LORETTA YOUNG):

“I can’t imagine. Most men never do.”
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 DINNER AT EIGHT

George Cukor’s Dinner at Eight (1933) serves up one of the great

all-star films of the pre-code era (another being the previous year’s
Grand Hotel). Based on a Broadway hit of the same name by Edna
Ferber and George S. Kaufman, its setup is elegant in its simplicity;
Millicent (Billie Burke) and Oliver Jordan (Lionel Barrymore) are
throwing an extravagant dinner party for their wealthy acquaintances
during the height of the Depression.
Brimming with interesting characters, intriguing subplots, and
snappy dialogue, the film culminates in the much-anticipated meal.
Producer David O. Selznick loaded the cast with popular actors all at
various points in their real-world careers, making the movie a meta-
commentary on status and fame. Vaudeville performer Marie
Dressler plays a fading stage actress, and John Barrymore portrays
a washed-up silent film star. These are contrasted with younger cast
members, such as Jean Harlow, who, hot off her lauded role in Red
Dust (see here), demonstrates her comedic chops. The juxtaposition
between young and old stars intentionally highlights the generational
upheaval caused by the swiftly changing social mores of the early
1930s. A beloved film, it is cynical, funny, and honest.

“I’m drunk, and I know I’m drunk, but I know what I’m talking
about.”
—LARRY RENAULT (JOHN BARRYMORE)

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It is cocktail time with Grant Mitchell as Ed Loomis, Louise Closser Hale as
Hattie Loomis, Jean Harlow as Kitty Packard, Wallace Beery as Dan Packard,
Edmund Lowe as Dr. Wayne Talbot, Madge Evans as Paula Jordan, and Billie
Burke as Millicent Jordan.
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OceanofPDF.com
 THE BERRY-MORE
The brothers Barrymore, along with sister Ethel, were the third generation
of a legendary acting family from Philadelphia. The three siblings only
appeared in one movie together, 1932’s Rasputin and the Empress, but
the two brothers costarred in four other films, including Night Flight and
Grand Hotel. This ode to the Barrymore family is based on a once-popular
post-prandial concoction called café au kirsch. The three raspberries
represent the siblings.

1 ounce brandy
¾ ounce kirschwasser
¾ ounce raspberry syrup (see here)
¾ ounce espresso
1 egg white
3 raspberries, for garnish

Shake brandy, kirschwasser, raspberry syrup, espresso, and egg

white vigorously with ice. Strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with
raspberries.

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 FOOTLIGHT PARADE

Cats! Former Broadway musical director Chester Kent (James

Cagney) has turned into a prologue producer—prologues being live
numbers that run before the main feature in movie theaters. He is
hot on an idea that involves cats. To impress his business partners
and a client, Kent and his company must rehearse and perform three
new musical numbers.
Famous for gangster roles such as in The Public Enemy (see
here), Cagney campaigned for the role of Chester Kent. A former
vaudeville performer, Cagney demonstrates his singing and dancing
chops in a twenty-minute spectacle topped with “Shanghai Lil,” which
opens with a drunk Kent looking for his prostitute girlfriend in an
opium den. The third of choreographer Berkeley’s standout musicals
of 1933, Footlight Parade is most famous for “By a Waterfall,” an
extraordinary number featuring three hundred synchronized
swimmers. Poking the eye of the authority, the film includes a censor
character, a boob (played by Hugh Herbert) who has the job
because of nepotism.
 Kent has an idea involving cats.

By turns silly, sexy, and smart, Footlight Parade features a cast at

the top of their game; Cagney and Joan Blondell (playing Kent’s
assistant) make the show but are ably assisted by Ruby Keeler, Dick
Powell, and Frank McHugh. The film was a smashing success at the
time and remains one of the great musical spectacles. Be sure to
look for the pre-code wink when Blondell calls her roommate Vivian
Rich (Claire Dodd) a bitch. Meow.
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James Cagney lobbied for the part of Chester Kent. Here he stands with four
Busby Berkeley dancers.
OceanofPDF.com
 HERE KITTY KITTY
All cats love cream, and even more so when it is crème de menthe and
crème de cacao. Here is a dreamy, creamy combination that makes for a
perfect film-watching companion. To get the most out of a mint leaf, slap it
between the palms of your hands. It’s like catnip for cocktailers.

1¼ ounces bourbon whiskey

1 ounce crème de cacao
¾ ounce crème de menthe
Mint leaf, for garnish

Shake whiskey, crème de cacao, and crème de menthe with ice and
strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a mint leaf.

“I wouldn’t beef about being locked up with the man I love!”

—NAN PRESCOTT (JOAN BLONDELL)

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Dancers creating a human fountain for the number “By a Waterfall.”
OceanofPDF.com
 FLYING DOWN TO RIO

Flying Down to Rio (1933) features scantily clad showgirls strapped

to the wings of biplanes doing aerial stunts. If that does not pique
curiosity, the film is also the first on-screen pairing of Fred Astaire
and Ginger Rogers. Not yet stars, the two play supporting roles to
Gene Raymond as band leader Roger Bond and Dolores del Río
playing Brazilian beauty Belinha De Rezende. But the dance duo
steals the show.
The movie features a nightgown-thin plot in support of an exotic
locale (Rio), an exotic actress (del Río), and an exotic dance (the
Carioca). When girl-crazy band leader Bond meets Belinha in Miami,
he follows her to Brazil by securing an engagement at the Hotel
Atlântico in Rio de Janeiro. As luck wouldn’t have it, Belinha is
already engaged to Bond’s good friend Julio (Raul Roulien). But this
is nothing a stopover on a deserted island can’t fix. The
aforementioned aerial show is a hit and secures the financial future
of his soon-to-be wife’s hotel.
The film promises showgirls performing on airplanes.
 Couples enjoying cocktails while others dance.

The story is an excuse for magical performances, like Roulien’s

“Orchids in the Moonlight” and Rogers’s “Music Makes Me,” which
conveniently blames music for loss of sexual control. However, it is
the Astaire-Rogers number “Carioca” that made audiences go wild
for the film and launched the famed pair we know today. It is worth
noting that the professional partnership of the two performers
endeared the duo to audiences at the time. Sure, they can dance,
but they also work together as equals. Astaire and Rogers would go
on to make eight more films in the 1930s.
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 HOTEL HIBISCUS
The film opens at the Hotel Hibiscus in Miami, where Roger Bond and his
Yankee Clipper Band are playing. Flavorful hibiscus flowers are used to
make tea and can be found in grocery stores and online. Steeped with sugar,
the flowers also make an excellent flavored syrup for cocktails. Have this
refreshing mix in hand as the band strikes up a tune in the hotel’s Date
Grove.

2 ounces white rum

¾ ounce fresh lime juice
½ ounce hibiscus syrup (see recipe below)
1 dash Angostura bitters
Lime wheel, for garnish

FOR THE HIBISCUS SYRUP

1 cup water
1 cup sugar
½ cup dried hibiscus petals

Shake rum, lime juice, hibiscus syrup, and bitters with ice and strain
into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a lime wheel.
In a small saucepan over high heat, bring water to a boil. Remove
from heat, add sugar and stir to combine. Add hibiscus and let steep
for 15 minutes. Strain into a sealable jar. Hibiscus syrup will keep up
to 2 weeks, sealed, in the refrigerator.

“What do these South Americans got below the equator that we

don’t?”
—BELINHA’S FRIEND (UNCREDITED)
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 QUEEN CHRISTINA

Garbo burst onto the talkie scene in 1930’s Anna Christie with the
words, “Gimme a whiskey, ginger ale on the side. And don’t be
stingy, baby.” Her portrayal of a brooding, working-class woman
made the film the highest-grossing feature of the year, and it set the
tone for hard-edged, down-to-earth pre-code women. As perhaps the
biggest star of the age, Garbo was a sensation on the order of the
Beatles or Elvis, and other actresses followed in her wake.
In Rouben Mamoulian’s Queen Christina (1933), Garbo plays a
Swedish princess as a liberated, cross-dressing modern woman.
This was old news for Garbo, who had already introduced pants to
women’s apparel when she appeared wearing her lover’s clothes in
1929’s The Single Standard. By 1933, it was not just fashion that she
was liberating but sexuality as well; the film features not only
extramarital sex but includes an undeniable lesbian subtext. Look for
the scene where Garbo proclaims she is going to “die a bachelor”
while she is wearing men’s clothes.
Garbo and John Gilbert quickly go from fruit to forbidden fruit.
 Garbo disguised as a man enjoying a drink in a bar.

Queen Christina has come of age but eschews marriage out of

devotion to her country. One night she slips away (dressed as a
man, naturally) and finds herself at an inn sharing a room with
Spanish envoy Antonio (John Gilbert). He is traveling to see the
queen on behalf of his king. While Christina reveals she is a woman,
she does not share that she is the queen, and the two sleep
together. When the inn is snowbound, the blissful tryst lasts a few
days.
Back at court, after Antonio discovers her identity, Christina takes
him as her lover to the disappointment of her counselors (and a
former lover). The romance ends tragically, but also triumphantly for
this bisexual, cross-dressing heroine who remains elegant and
selfless to the end. Sophisticated and smart, Mamoulian’s film is an
ode to the most unorthodox and independent of film stars.

“It’s all a question of climate. You cannot serenade a woman in a

snowstorm. All the graces in the art of love, the elaborate
approaches that will make the game amusing, can only be
practiced in those countries that quiver in the heat of the sun.”
—ANTONIO (JOHN GILBERT)

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As the marquee of the Astor Theatre makes clear, Garbo was queen.
OceanofPDF.com
 SERENADE IN A SNOWSTORM
“You can’t serenade a woman in a snowstorm,” says Antonio, although he
seems to do a pretty good job wooing Queen Christina anyway. This
cocktail is a romantic engagement between Swedish and Spanish elements,
aquavit and sherry. The two work well together, the caraway from the
aquavit melding with the fruitiness and nuttiness of the sherry. It just might
be a love match.

1½ ounces aquavit
1½ ounces manzanilla sherry
¼ ounce Luxardo maraschino liqueur
1 dash Angostura bitters
Orange peel, for garnish

Stir aquavit, sherry, maraschino liqueur, and bitters with ice. Strain
into a rocks glass with a large ice cube and garnish with an orange
peel.

OceanofPDF.com
 DESIGN FOR LIVING

In a loose adaptation of a scandalous Noel Coward play, three

young adults decide that a ménage à trois is their ideal arrangement
in director Ernst Lubitsch’s racy Design for Living (1933). Living
carefree in Paris, painter George Curtis (Gary Cooper) and
playwright Tom Chambers (Fredric March) meet radiant and
mischievous illustrator Gilda (Miriam Hopkins) on a train. Even
though she is being pursued, and likely supported, by businessman
Max Plunkett (Edward Everett Horton), Gilda moves in with the
starving artists and falls in love—with both of them.
When George and Tom discover that Gilda has been two-timing
them, the three form a “gentlemen’s agreement.” It is a very frank
cinematic moment when they decide their situation will work only if
there is “no sex.” Of course, things bubble over between Gilda and
George when Tom goes away to London. Then Gilda sleeps with
Tom when he returns. By now, only Plunkett has not received Gilda’s
favors, and she marries him on the rebound from George and Tom.
By the end of the film, Hopkins has left her husband, and the love
triangle is happily reunited in a cab together while the three
smirkingly renew their “no sex” vows.
Design for Living may be subdued compared to more explicit
movies of the time, but it explodes convention; three young people
are shown living sexually and financially carefree lives during the
Depression, and they do not give a damn about conventional things
like marriage. What’s more, the successful businessman (and
husband) Plunkett, who represents traditional American values, is
the butt of all the jokes. It’s enough that some historians cite this as
the most subversive pre-code film.

“Immorality may be fun, but it isn’t fun enough to take the place of
100 percent virtue and three square meals a day.”
—MAX PLUNKETT (EDWARD EVERETT HORTON)

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A painter and a playwright meet a mischievous illustrator on a train.
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Three young people decide a threesome is the best arrangement.
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 LOVE TRIANGLE
The love triangle was one of director Ernst Lubitsch’s favorite setups, and
they develop in a number of his films. The famous three-part cocktail of the
1930s was the sidecar, and its namesake vehicle also neatly fits three
passengers. In keeping with the classic triangular recipe, this racy drink is
equal parts.

1 ounce bourbon whiskey

1 ounce apricot liqueur
1 ounce fresh lemon juice
Lemon wheel, for garnish

Shake whiskey, apricot liqueur, and lemon juice with ice. Strain into a
cocktail glass and garnish with a lemon wheel.

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 SEARCH FOR BEAUTY

Inspired by the financial success of the 1932 L.A. Olympic games,

cons Larry Williams (Robert Armstrong) and Jean Strange (Gertrude
Michael) conspire with publisher Dan Healy (James Gleason) to buy
the bankrupt magazine Health & Beauty and turn it into a
moneymaking “skin” rag. To get past censors and put a legitimate
spin on the enterprise, they enlist Olympian Don Jackson (Buster
Crabbe, a real-life 1932 Gold Medal winner) and Barbara Hilton (Ida
Lupino, making her American debut at sixteen). Then the cons
launch a “health farm” that will actually be a brothel where rich
Hollywood types can meet young, ahem, fitness talent.
If this sounds like an ideal setup for a lot of hijinks and uncovered
skin, it is. The film sports plenty of YMCA-military-style group
exercises as well as locker room scenes of male nudity. In one
scene there are at least four men showering naked, likely a pre-code
record. Never mind that Barbara’s underage cousin—or, in this case,
more underage cousin—Sally (Toby Wing) is caught table-dancing
erotically at a party. Not to worry, she is saved from elderly lechers
by Barbara filling in for her. Everyone is objectified in this romp
dedicated to bulging muscles and bouncing flesh. There is even a
climactic Busby Berkeley–inspired number that features dancers in
tight gym outfits suggestively raising flagpoles together.

“There’s nothing wrong with sex, Dr. Rankin, as long as it leads

to… uh… what it leads to.”
—LARRY WILLIAMS (ROBERT ARMSTRONG)

Likely the wildest thing about Search for Beauty (1934)—other

than the fact that it was ever made—is that the film spoofs predators
exploiting young actors for sex and profit while itself being such an
exploitation. Welcome to pre-code satire. Please remember to lift
your jaw off the floor.
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Ida Lupino was just sixteen in her debut. She went on to star in classics such as
High Sierra.
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Milk punches have been around since the 1600s and became popular in the
1700s. They have returned to favor in recent years as imbibers have become
enamored with their great texture and flavor. Think of them as a boozy
precursor to the milkshake. A punch is exactly what every Olympian needs
to maintain a healthy physique, and this one has enough chocolate and
cherry to please all doubters.

2 ounces bourbon whiskey

3 ounces whole milk
½ ounce crème de cacao
½ ounce Luxardo maraschino liqueur
1 dash Angostura bitters
Freshly grated nutmeg, for garnish

Shake whiskey, milk, crème de cacao, maraschino liqueur, and

bitters vigorously with ice. Strain into a rocks glass and garnish with
nutmeg.

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 MANDALAY

Marjorie Lang, known as Spot White—real name Tanya Borodoff

(Kay Francis)—is traveling by riverboat to Mandalay, Burma. She
was abandoned in Rangoon by her lover, Tony Evans (Ricardo
Cortez), and forced to become a “hostess” in a brothel run by
gangster Nick (Warner Oland). When authorities close in on the
business (and her), she uses her allure to extort the police
commissioner (Reginald Owen) and books passage on the riverboat
to find an anonymous life elsewhere.
The trouble is, ex-lover Tony shows up on the boat and tries to
force her to return with him to be a “hostess,” this time in his brothel.
But Marjorie is Spot White no longer, and the once-naive girl has
taken control of her life. She is a free woman and has become as
clever in her dealings as she is radiant in her evening gowns.
Tanya Borodoff (Kay Francis) is forced by Tony Evans (Ricardo Cortez) to
be a “hostess” in Nick’s (Warner Oland) brothel.
 Tanya (Kay Francis) transformed into Spot White.

Michael Curtiz’s Mandalay (1934) is ostensibly a film about

redemption and self-determination, but along the way it becomes
one of the darkest of all pre-code tales. Spot White, when confronted
with the prospect of returning to sexual servitude, and sensing an
opportunity, simply behaves practically—spoiler: she murders Tony
and gets away with it.
Ultimately, White is punished for her crime, or, rather, she
punishes herself by going on a suicide mission to assist with an
outbreak of a deadly fever. It is a poignant sacrificial ending, one that
Curtiz would later famously employ in Casablanca.
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 JARDIN D’ORIENT
When Tony takes Marjorie out on the town, their carriage passes under a
sign that reads “Jardin d’Orient.” They arrive at Nick’s, the “best supper
place in Rangoon.” The spot, full of fancy clientele in suits and gowns—
plus dancing girls for sale—will change Marjorie’s fate forever. Cinnamon
is native to Burma and brings luxurious spice to this plush champagne
cocktail.

1 ounce white rum

½ ounce cinnamon syrup (see here)
1 bar spoon Cointreau
4 ounces sparkling wine

In a champagne flute, combine rum, cinnamon syrup, and Cointreau.

Top with sparkling wine.

SPOT WHITE (KAY FRANCIS):

“Haven’t we met before, Colonel?”

COLONEL THOMAS DAWSON (REGINALD OWEN):

“No, this is my first look at you.”

SPOT WHITE:
“Is it overwhelming you?”
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Spot White (Kay Francis) needs a top-up.
OceanofPDF.com
 IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT

One of the most famed and beloved of all pre-code movies, director
Frank Capra’s It Happened One Night (1934) won every Academy
Award for which it was nominated and is the first of three movies in
history to win the “Big Five.” The film is a masterpiece, crackling with
wit and positively oozing charm.

“Remember me? I’m the fellow you slept on last night.”

—PETER WARNE (CLARK GABLE)

Spoiled heiress Ellen “Ellie” Andrews (Claudette Colbert) has

married scheming cad King Westley (Jameson Thomas) against the
wishes of her father (Walter Connolly), so her father has whisked her
away on his yacht. Ellie escapes and finds herself penniless—as
well as mostly useless in the real world—as she makes her way to
New York City to be reunited with her beau. Along the way, she falls
in with rapscallion reporter Peter Warne (Clark Gable) who offers to
help reunite her with her husband in exchange for an exclusive story.
Not to spoil things, but despite initial animosity, they fall for each
other.
Adventure story, buddy flick, romance, and comedy all in one,
Capra manages to weave several Depression-era subplots together
to reveal the main characters’ worldviews. In fact, the film
consistently addresses the country’s yawning class divide.
Everything Ellie and Peter argue about is a result of their social
stations, and by the end each has shared and revised their class
perspectives. Of particular note is spoiled Ellie’s relationship to food.
When we meet her, she is on a hunger strike because her father is
keeping her from Westley. She even refuses a piece of steak—
unthinkable in hungry 1934 America. However, after a few days on
the road with Peter, Ellie learns to relish dunking a doughnut in black
coffee.
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Hunger on the road means eating carrots.
OceanofPDF.com
Clark Gable plays rapscallion reporter Peter Warne.
OceanofPDF.com
The first film to win the “Big Five” at the Academy Awards.

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 IT HAPPENED ONE MORNING
Dunking a doughnut in coffee is an important transformation in the film,
indicating the moment when Ellie learns to enjoy the simple things in life.
Re-create the scene with this coffee cocktail that is certain to wake you up
on the right side of the bed. Add a fresh doughnut garnish, and it is a little
bit of heaven.

1½ ounces rye whiskey

1 ounce Kahlua
¾ ounce espresso
¼ ounce honey syrup (see here)
Doughnut, for garnish

Shake whiskey, Kahlua, espresso, and honey syrup with ice. Strain
into a cocktail glass and garnish with a doughnut.

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 TARZAN AND HIS MATE

Let’s get this safari started. A follow-up to 1932’s successful Tarzan

the Ape Man, Tarzan and His Mate (1934) ups the ante with a more
suggestive title and even fewer clothes on lithe Jane. Tarzan
(Olympic swimmer Johnny Weissmuller) and Jane Parker (Maureen
O’Sullivan) now live happily—out of wedlock—in the jungles of Africa
with their pet chimpanzee, Cheeta. Harry Holt (Neil Hamilton) has
returned with business partner Martin Arlington (Paul Cavanagh) for
ivory, but also to coax Jane to return to civilization. In fact, they bring
her a tent full of elegant gowns to tempt her. Loyal Jane demurs and
stays with her primitive man (and in her jungle G-string).
The loads of flesh on display got the censors’ attention, the most
egregious instance being nude swimming (courtesy of body double
Olympian Josephine McKim). In the famed scene, Tarzan tosses
Jane from a tree and what little clothes she has on are torn off. In no
hurry to get out of the refreshing pool, she goes for one of the longer
skinny-dips on film. This swim is often cited as an example of why
the code was enforced a few months later, in July 1934.

“You know, you’re the first woman I ever had to coax into an
evening gown.”
—MARTIN ARLINGTON (PAUL CAVANAGH)

Despite increased censorship, the Tarzan franchise continued to

be an enormous success; Maureen O’Sullivan played Jane in a
couple more films, and Johnny Weissmuller played his character
again ten times, until 1948.
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Jane, played by Maureen O’Sullivan, wears less than ever in this sequel.
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Tarzan carries his “mate”; even the film’s title bothered the censors.
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 TARZAN’S MATE
This tropical cocktail is optimal for watching Tarzan and Jane romp
through the jungle. It features rum, which was a popular Prohibition spirit
because it was easy to smuggle into US ports from the Caribbean. It pairs
here with pineapple juice and lime, with the addition of vanilla to round out
the appeal.

2 ounces rum
1 ounce pineapple juice
½ ounce fresh lime juice
¼ ounce vanilla syrup (see here)
1 dash Angostura bitters
Lime wheel, for garnish

Shake rum, pineapple juice, lime juice, vanilla syrup, and bitters with
ice and strain into a rocks glass with ice. Garnish with a lime wheel.

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 MURDER AT THE VANITIES

Released just six weeks before the code went into effect, Murder at
the Vanities (1934) features half-naked chorus girls, topless chorus
girls popping up from marijuana leaves, and chorus girls covered in
blood. There is also a song dedicated to marijuana, a song about the
end of Prohibition, and Duke Ellington with his orchestra by way of a
grand finale.
Jack Ellery (Jack Oakie) is trying to put on a lavish show when
someone attempts to murder one of his stars, Ann Ware (Kitty
Carlisle). Police Lieutenant Bill Murdock (Victor McLaglen) arrives on
the set but is less interested in the case than the ladies, and before
long another star, Rita Ross (Gertrude Michael), and private
investigator Sadie Evans (Gail Patrick), are also murdered. High-
energy and demented, the hilarious mess of a film was a
disappointment at the box office. However, it is an unmissable pre-
code spectacle.
As if deliberately flaunting forbidden content, Murder at the
Vanities is awash in bawdy dialogue, murder, and boundary-pushing
scenes that seem to test just how much flesh and lewdness could be
put on-screen. Turns out a lot—that is, until two months later when
the code was enforced. But before the era came to an end, this
murder mystery–meets–backstage musical offered an unrestrained,
harebrained hoot that culminates in hot jazz.
 Chorus girls are in trouble in this behind-the-scenes whodunit.

“Them babies look like they got clues or something.”

—BILL MURDOCK (VICTOR MCLAGLEN)

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Duke Ellington and his band make for quite a finale.
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Chorus girls in swimsuits, furs, and top hats.
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 COCKTAIL FOR TWO
MAKES 2

It is a rare moment when cocktails are the subject of a show tune as they
are in “Cocktails for Two,” performed by Carl Brisson. So if you find
yourself “in some secluded rendezvous / That overlooks the avenue / With
someone sharing a delightful chat / Of this and that / And cocktails for
two”—this two-serving delight is exactly the right mix.

2 ounces London Dry gin

2 ounces dry vermouth
1 ounce apricot liqueur
¾ ounce honey syrup (see here)

Stir gin, dry vermouth, apricot liqueur, and honey syrup with ice and
strain into two cocktail glasses.

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 THE THIN MAN

Prohibition, the so-called Noble Experiment, ended on December 5,

1933. The Thin Man, often hailed as the greatest of all cocktail-
centric movies, released the following spring. The film features tipsy
Nick Charles (William Powell) and his wife, Nora (Myrna Loy), a
lovable couple who spend their days engaging in witty banter while
sipping fancy drinks—when not chugging directly from the bottle.
Written by noir maestro Dashiell Hammett of Maltese Falcon fame,
The Thin Man is lighter than his normal fare and one of cinema’s
most playful mysteries, thanks to the adaptation by husband-and-
wife team Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett.

“The important thing is the rhythm. Always have rhythm in your

shaking. Now, a Manhattan you shake to foxtrot time, a Bronx to
two-step time, but a dry martini you always shake to waltz time.”
—NICK CHARLES (WILLIAM POWELL)

Nick Charles is a retired private detective who has grown

accustomed to a life of luxury, thanks to his wealthy wife, Nora, a
high-society heiress. Inventor Clyde Wynant (Edward Ellis)
disappears and is a prime suspect in the murder of his mistress,
Julia (Natalie Moorhead). Wynant’s daughter, Dorothy (Maureen
O’Sullivan), tries to enlist Nick to investigate, but he is reluctant to
get involved, even though Nora craves some vicarious excitement.
Charles relents when he realizes Police Lieutenant John Guild (Nat
Pendleton) is coming to all the wrong conclusions. In order to resolve
the case, Nick decides the best course of action is to invite all the
suspects for dinner, making for a delightful grand finale.
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William Powell proposes a toast at his holiday party.
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 A fast-paced romantic comedy brimming with chilled drinks and
crackling dialogue, The Thin Man enamored audiences at the time,
and the team of Powell and Loy went on to make five more Thin Man
films together. What really hooked audiences was the astonishing
rapport between Nick and Nora; their marriage works, and the two
wisecrackers are true partners. Maybe cocktails are the secret to
marital bliss, after all. The films were so popular, there is a style of
cocktail glass named after the intrepid duo, the Nick & Nora (see
here).

Maureen O’Sullivan as Dorothy and William Powell as Nick show off their
cocktail-drinking skills.
There are so many cocktails in the film that even Asta gets a hangover.

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 ASTA
With all the drinking in The Thin Man, a little hair of the dog will be
necessary. This cocktail honors the Charleses’ wire fox terrier, Asta. The
famous pooch (his real name was Skippy) appeared in The Thin Man series
but also in The Awful Truth (1937) and Bringing Up Baby (1938). The
expression “hair of the dog” comes from a time when hair from a rabid dog
applied to a wound was thought to cure its bite. While a hangover chaser
can be pretty much anything, several period remedies include fresh
ingredients such as lemon juice to revive the senses. Note that this cocktail
is also perfect for holiday parties.

Absinthe, to rinse
1 ounce white rum
½ ounce Cointreau
½ ounce dry vermouth
¾ ounce fresh lemon juice
¼ ounce vanilla syrup (see here)

Rinse a Nick & Nora or cocktail glass with absinthe. Shake rum,
Cointreau, dry vermouth, lemon juice, and vanilla syrup with ice and
strain into the prepared glass.

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OceanofPDF.com
 THE SIDEBOARD
A MANUAL FOR MAKING MIXED DRINKS

MEASURING
For a drink to taste balanced, use a jigger to measure ingredients.
This ensures you make a consistent drink every time—and you can
recalibrate with precision if something is too sweet or too sour. You
can always free-pour later if you really think you’ve nailed your
recipe and technique.

ICE AND ICE TRAYS

Ice is an integral part of cocktail-making. Ice can take on “off” flavors
from your freezer if left too long. Be sure to use fresh ice, and it
helps to use filtered water. Silicone ice cube trays will allow you to
make perfect squares and large cubes (see tool recommendations
here).

GARNISH
Garnish isn’t just for looks. A spritz of lemon zest over a drink adds
aroma and flavor—and changes the cocktail. Have your garnish
handy so you’re not searching for it after you’ve made a drink.

FRESH CITRUS
Don’t use bottled juice. Fresh citrus will enliven your cocktails
immeasurably. See pantry recommendations for juicers (here).

HOW TO RINSE A GLASS

Add a bar spoon of spirit to a glass. Then tilt the glass and roll it to
evenly distribute the spirit and coat the inside. Discard extra liquid—
or don’t, depending on your preference.

CREATING A SALT OR SUGAR RIM

Run the edge of a citrus wedge along the lip of a glass so the juice
moistens the rim. Invert the glass and dip it onto a plate of salt or
sugar. Tap the glass a couple of times to dislodge excess.

WHEN TO STIR
Cocktails that are made up of spirits—think martinis and Manhattans
—are stirred. Combine stirred cocktails and ice in a mixing glass and
stir with a bar spoon until the cocktail is chilled, at least 35 to 40
seconds.

WHEN TO SHAKE
When a cocktail recipe calls for citrus, eggs, or milk, combine
ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake vigorously to emulsify the
ingredients. To prevent ice chunks or other particles in the cocktail,
the drink is then strained using a Hawthorne strainer (see here).

HOW TO MUDDLE
Drinks with citrus, sugar cubes, or herbs such as mint are sometimes
muddled. When muddling herbs, use a wooden muddler (see here)
to gently express the oils from the leaves—do not pulverize herbs
into tiny bits.

HOW TO BATCH COCKTAILS FOR A PARTY

A useful trick for batching cocktails is to convert ounces in any
cocktail recipe into cups. This easy method will yield 8 servings.
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COMMON COCKTAIL RATIOS FOR CREATING
YOUR OWN DRINKS

Cocktail recipes are often time-tested ratios that work. But after making a
few hundred classics, you may be ready to strike out on your own. Two
established ratios for making your own cocktails from scratch are below.

The 2:1:1
2 ounces base spirit
1 ounce sour (citrus)
1 ounce sweet (liqueur or simple syrup)
Dash of aromatics, such as bitters

The 3:2:1
3 ounces base spirit
2 ounces sweet or sour
1 ounce sweet or sour

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 BOTTLES, PANTRY RECOMMENDATIONS,
AND TOOLS

BOTTLES
A well-stocked bar is something you build over time. Beginning with
a few basic bottles, you can start to make drinks immediately and
then add additional interesting liqueurs and spirits as you explore.
Below is a list for a great starter bar. While the list may look long,
these bottles are not just for this book but are also many of the ones
employed in classic Prohibition-era cocktails.

Gin
Brandy
Whiskey
Scotch
Tequila
Rum
Vodka
Campari
Absinthe
Luxardo maraschino liqueur
Elderflower liqueur
Cointreau
Curaçao
Crème de cassis
Crème de violette
Crème de menthe
Crème de cacao
Bénédictine
Chartreuse
Lillet Blanc
Sweet vermouth
Dry vermouth

PANTRY RECOMMENDATIONS

Bitters
Angostura, Peychaud’s, and orange bitters are all employed in
classic cocktails and in this book—and are worth keeping on hand.

Olives
Spanish Manzanilla olives were long the standard in cocktails such
as martinis. These days, Castelvetrano olives are also appearing
frequently at US bars.

Cocktail Onions
The venerable cocktail onion is most famous in the Gibson, but it
also appears in Bloody Marys and other drinks that have a savory
note.

Cocktail Cherries
Maraschino cherries are called for in this book. There are a few
brands that make decent versions (without all the dye and sugar)
and are worth seeking out. In most cocktail bars, Amarena cherries
have supplanted fake red-dye cocktail cherries over the past number
of years. They are also worth having on hand for classics such as
Manhattans.

Club Soda
Carbonated water, seltzer, and club soda are not as interchangeable
as one might think. Club soda includes additives such as sodium and
potassium that lend additional flavor to drinks.

Eggs
Fear not the raw egg; it makes for incredible texture in mixed drinks.
To prevent shells from getting into your drink, always crack on a
counter surface and not on the edge of a glass. If you have a
compromised immune system, consider powdered egg whites as an
alternative; 2 teaspoons of powder to 1 ounce of water will yield a
single white.

Grenadine
Although there are now a few good brands on store shelves,
commercial grenadine is typically too sweet and contains red dye.
Making it fresh is preferable and easy. Grenadine is useful in many
classic cocktails and tropical drinks. Because it appears in a number
of 1930s drinks, it is often employed in this book.

1 cup (8 ounces) pomegranate juice

1 cup Demerara sugar (or Turbinado or light-brown sugar)
½ ounce fresh lime juice
3 drops orange blossom water

In a small saucepan over medium-low heat, combine the

pomegranate juice and sugar. Stir until the sugar dissolves, 3 to 4
minutes. Do not let the mixture boil as it will lose its freshness.
Remove the pan from the heat, let cool, and add lime juice and
orange blossom water. Allow mixture to cool before use, then
transfer to a clean jar, seal, and keep refrigerated for up to 2 weeks.
TOOLS
Crafting cocktails does not require a lot of fancy or expensive
equipment, but below are a few items that will make your drink-
mixing easier and improve quality.

Jigger
Measuring is a must for quality drinks. There are several options
available on the market, and the OXO jigger is ideal for most home
bartenders.

Boston Shaker
The classic three-part shaker, often called a martini shaker, is not
good for making most cocktails. They’re often too small and the lid
can get stuck when the ice cools the metal. The two-part Boston
shaker is preferred. Originally composed of a metal tin and a pint
glass, today the two parts are both metal for safety. Two-part metal
shakers are widely available in kitchen stores and online.

Mixing Glass
Mixing glasses are used for all stirred drinks. They are necessary for
making stirred drinks correctly, but any vessel will work in a pinch.

Bar spoon
A bar spoon is necessary to properly stir cocktails. One with enough
heft at the end of the handle to crack ice is best, and they are widely
available in kitchen stores and online.

Strainers
There are two styles of cocktail strainers: Hawthorne and julep.
Hawthorne strainers are used for shaken drinks, while julep strainers
are employed for stirred cocktails. If you are in doubt, buy a
Hawthorne, which works just fine for both purposes.

Citrus Press
Hand-juicers are great for small amounts, but it is good to have a
larger juicer with a reservoir. It may be worth investing in a quality
juicer if you are making a lot of drinks for your cocktail parties. Citrus
juice will keep overnight, but not any longer.

Y-peeler
A Y-peeler, sometimes called a Swiss peeler, is the perfect tool for
citrus skin.

Muddler
A muddler should be made of non-stained, non-reactive wood. Avoid
paint, plastic, and metal.

Lewis Bag and Mallet

Using a canvas bag with a heavy wooden mallet is the perfect way to
get crisp (as opposed to wet) crushed ice fast. Available in stores
and online.

Glassware
No special glassware is required to enjoy a good cocktail. However,
a nice glass can help presentation and likely even boost flavor. If you
do acquire cocktail-specific glasses, your first choice will likely be to
invest in a set of coupe glasses—sometimes called champagne
glasses—which are now widely available online. The best size for
these is between 4 and 6 ounces. Additionally, good highball and
rocks glasses can be helpful. Because they are called for in this
book (they appear in 1930s films), Nick & Nora glasses would also
make a fine investment. Sometimes called “small martini” glasses,
Nick & Noras have a petite egg-cup-shaped bowl and an elegant
stem.

Other Useful Items

Cutting board, paring knife, bottle opener, wine key, squeeze bottles
(for citrus juices and syrups), microplane, funnel, large-format ice-
cube trays, ice bucket, ice scoop, hand towels, cocktail picks
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 A FEW PRE-CODE-ERA COCKTAILS

Below are some of my favorite classic cocktails from the pre-code

era.

Fine & Dandy

1½ ounces London Dry gin
¾ ounce Cointreau
½ ounce fresh lemon juice
1 dash Angostura bitters
Cherry, for garnish

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a cherry.

Silk Stockings
1½ ounces blanco tequila
1 ounce crème de cacao
1½ ounces cream
1 bar spoon grenadine
1 dash ground cinnamon

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with the
cinnamon.

Charlie Chaplin
1 ounce sloe gin
1 ounce apricot brandy
1 ounce fresh lemon juice
Shake with ice and strain into a Nick & Nora glass.

Depth Bomb
1 ounce applejack
1 ounce brandy
1 bar spoon fresh lemon juice
1 bar spoon grenadine

Shake with ice and strain into a rocks glass.

Mary Pickford
1 ounce white rum
1 ounce pineapple juice
¼ ounce grenadine
¼ ounce Luxardo maraschino liqueur

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.

Fallen Angel
1½ ounces London Dry gin
1 ounce fresh lime juice
½ ounce Cointreau

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.

Rolls Royce
1½ ounces London Dry gin
½ ounce dry vermouth
½ ounce sweet vermouth
¼ ounce Bénédictine
Stir with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.

September Morn
2 ounces white rum
½ ounce fresh lime juice
¼ ounce grenadine
1 egg white

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.

Journalist
1½ ounces gin
¾ ounce dry vermouth
¾ ounce sweet vermouth
1 bar spoon Cointreau
1 bar spoon fresh lemon juice

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.

White Lady
2 ounces London Dry gin
½ ounce Cointreau
½ ounce fresh lemon juice
1 egg white

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.

Joan Blondell
1 ounce gin
1 ounce dry vermouth
1 ounce Bénédictine
3 drops absinthe
1 dash Angostura bitters

Stir with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.

Jack Rose
2 ounces applejack
1 ounce fresh lemon juice
½ ounce grenadine
Lemon peel, for garnish

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a lemon
peel.

French 75
1 ounce London Dry gin
1 ounce fresh lemon juice
½ ounce simple syrup
4 ounces sparkling wine

Shake gin, lemon juice, and simple syrup with ice. Strain into a
champagne flute and top with sparkling wine.

Mah Jongg
2 ounces white rum
½ ounce London Dry gin
½ ounce Cointreau

Stir with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.

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 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

A huge debt of gratitude is owed to my editor Cindy Sipala at

Running Press/Hachette for her ongoing support and friendship over
the years. This is our eighth book together and each one has been a
pleasure. Likewise, a big thank-you goes to my sage agent, Clare
Pelino. In addition, thanks go to production editor Cisca Schreefel,
copy editor Martha Whitt, proofreaders Carrie Wicks and Lori
Hobkirk, and indexer Jen Burton.
Mark A. Vieira, author of Forbidden Hollywood, provided
information regarding pre-code films, which proved invaluable to me,
and I offer a heartfelt thank-you for his generous help. I also thank
him for his excellent fixes and suggestions on a draft of this
manuscript.
I owe thanks to Turner Classic Movies for the opportunity to work
with this material; I particularly want to thank John Malahy, Heather
Margolis, Eileen Flanagan, Aaron Spiegeland, Pola Changnon,
Genevieve McGillicuddy, Taryn Jacobs, and Marci Sacco.
Lastly, but truly firstly, a giant thank-you is owed to my
wisecracking partner in film-watching and in life, Janine Hawley.
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