Chekhov’s gun. Every good storyteller knows even the slightest bit of information in their narrative must tell a tale of their own. That’s what makes a captivating story; the details that spark a thought and captivate you.
In films, many of history’s favourite characters wouldn’t be complete in their own personal mise-en-scene without a drink in their hand. Perhaps seemingly irrelevant, it’s a little detail that tells us more who they are and you know… The devil is in the details.
Will Francis has combined two of our favourite things – films and cocktails. The resulting book Cocktails of the Movies celebrates 64 cocktails from the screen. We’ve picked five of our favourites.
Clark Gable in After Office Hours, 1935: Dry Martini
A murder, a mystery and a love story. Dry Martini fits this scenario like a glove. It’s also a drink that should have its own IMDB profile recounting all its appearances in film, but no onscreen pairing has been more appropriate than with the one and only Clark Gable.
John Candy in The Blues Brothers, 1980: Orange Whip
This wasn’t even in the original script and in all fairness, Candy’s role wasn’t even major… yet, if you think of his chubby cheeks and painfully awkward early 80s moustache, a creamy frothy Orange Whip in his hand isn’t hard to imagine. So, who wants an orange whip? Orange whip? Orange whip? Three orange whips!
Samuel L Jackson in Jackie Brown, 1997: Screwdriver
It’s simple, it’s easy, but much like Ordell Robbie in Jackie Brown, it’s as serious as a heart attack. Much like we wouldn’t mess about with Mr. Jackson, we wouldn’t with a classic screwdriver either. If there was ever a perfect extension of someone’s character, this would be it.
Marilyn Monroe in Some Like It Hot, 1959: Manhattan
Monroe is probably the most iconic woman on screen ever, which is why Sugar’s favourite mix of whiskey, vermouth and bitters is almost a surprise – but a delightful one at that. It’s hard, almost masculine, and so packs so much more of a punch when put in the hand of a woman oft portrayed as a ditzy blonde.
Ralph Fiennes in The Grand Budapest Hotel, 2014: Champagne Cup
It’s not all throwbacks to way back when! It certainly makes sense for Wes Anderson’s picture perfect Grand Budapest Hotel to be on the list with Ralph Fiennes’ love of the bubbly. The hotel, the story, Monsieur Gustave H and indeed Ralph Fiennes himself – it’s all so flamboyant and grand. Can you think of anything more fitting than champagne topped off with a cherry?
You can get the book from The Guardian Bookshop now. Make sure to Tweet us with your favourite film characters – we might just create a cocktail to honour one…