The Most Iconic Whiskey Moments on the Big Screen From the Dawn of Cinema
Movie characters have raised a glass ever since the opening reel. That’s because liquor is a great facilitator. Playwrights knew this and—when it was their time—screenwriters followed suit. Where would two strangers serendipitously meet? The bar is the ultimate third place. Want your characters to lose their inhibitions and start speaking truths? In vino veritas. Want your shy lovers to inch a little closer? You know the answer
A cocktail or a dram of whiskey can cast all sorts of moods on a scene: celebratory, contemplative, convivial, despairing, comic. You name it, liquor is up to the job. Dozens of cinematic canon classics simply wouldn’t work as pieces of drama without the assist from a bottle or two, including The Thin Man series (perhaps the booziest movies ever made), The Philadelphia Story, All About Eve, Casablanca, Leaving Las Vegas, Sideways, and Barfly.
This article appeared in the Men’s Journal Fall Whiskey Special.
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And more often than not, the characters are drinking whiskey. They drink it neat, on the rocks, and in highballs. That decanter on the bar cart is never far away, and there’s nothing about those orders that would stump a bartender in any country. Here’s a timeline of some of the most iconic spirits moments in film from the near-century-long run of sound cinema.
1930: Garbo Talks!—and Orders Whiskey in Anna Christie
Courtesy Allstar Picture Library Ltd via Alamy
How big a part does whiskey have in the history of cinema? Consider this: In 1930, Greta Garbo—the silent screen’s greatest star—made her first sound film, Anna Christie, based on the Eugene O’Neill drama of the same name, and her first line was, “Gimme a whiskey, ginger ale on the side, and don’t be stingy, baby!” That’s quite an entrance for our beloved brown spirit. Five minutes later, she orders the same, then a barfly joins her. That’s three whiskeys in the first five minutes of Garbo’s debut talkie.
1945: The Lost Weekend and Found Rye With Ray Milland
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Billy Wilder’s social drama, based on Charles R. Jackson’s great novel, isn’t the best advertisement for whiskey. Ray Milland stars as Don Birnam, a full-blown alcoholic on an extended-weekend bender, pretty much disappointing everyone around him. Even the bartender, Nat, played by Howard da Silva, doesn’t like him much. Some think this movie helped put the final nail in the coffin of the rye whiskey industry, which was still struggling to fully recover from Prohibition. But you can’t ignore the spirit’s abundant presence in the film. Whiskey should’ve been listed as a supporting actor in the credits, right under Milland.
1949: Whisky Galore! The Title Says It All
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This Ealing Comedy is about what occurs when a ship filled with 50,000 cases of whisky runs aground on the shores of the fictional Scottish isle of Todday, which is bereft of strong drink owing to WWII rationing. The inhabitants relieve the ship of its cargo before it sinks and do all they can to hide the theft from the authorities. The post-heist celebration includes hero shots of every major brand of whisky from that era, including Black & White, Haig & Haig, Cutty Sark, and Johnnie Walker.
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1956: Robert Stack Keeps it Real in Written On The Wind
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Troubled Texas oil scion Kyle Hadley, played by Robert Stack, can’t seem to measure up to anyone’s expectations—not his oil baron father or his new bride, Lucy (Lauren Bacall), both of whom seem to prefer his best friend, Mitch Wayne (Rock Hudson). The only thing Kyle seems to find solace in is corn whiskey. “It seems to me, Mr. Hadley,” a local bartender tells him, “if I were one of the richest men in the world, I wouldn’t be sitting in a place like this drinking raw corn. I’d be at the country club, drinking bonded bourbon and nothin’ but.” Kyle answers, “I like bootlegged corn better. It’s full of memories.”
2003: Bill Murray Clocks Suntory Time in Lost in Translation
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An early scene in the film brings the meaning of Sofia Coppola’s title into focus. Faded film star Bob Harris, played by the imitable Bill Murray, picks up some extra cash by doing a whisky commercial in Tokyo. He’s bewildered by the barrage of directions coming from the young, high-intensity Japanese director (Diamond Yukai), who seems to think he’s directing Shakespeare—not to mention the unhelpful, highly edited translations of the director’s translator (Akiko Takeshita). Murray’s bemused, confused “Suntory time” take may be the most famous—and certainly the funniest—fake whisky ad of all time. Of course, Murray’s character also enjoys Suntory at the New York Bar in Tokyo’s Park Hyatt hotel with Charlotte (Scarlett Johansson), a fellow American expat struggling to adapt to life in Japan. She orders a vodka and tonic, while he drinks Hibiki 17 on the rocks.
2011: Ryan Gosling Nails an Old-Fashioned in Crazy, Stupid, Love
Courtesy Cinematic Collection Warner Bros.
Never has an Old-Fashioned been made on screen with more acumen than when womanizer Jacob Palmer (Ryan Gosling) mixed two at home to seduce Hannah Weaver (Emma Stone) in the beguiling modern-day romantic comedy Crazy, Stupid, Love. That’s because Gosling learned from the best: Eric Alperin, co-owner of The Varnish, which was then the top craft cocktail bar in town. At the time, Gosling lived in downtown L.A. and was a regular at the bar. He studied bartenders’ moves and practiced at home. The old-fashioneds in the movie are precisely made with a muddler, jigger, and citrus peeler. It’s not the overworked take on the cocktail, but the clean, elemental version restored in the early days of the craft cocktail revival. It’s perfect. Hannah’s reaction after shooting back two of them as a balm for frayed nerves? Charming yet brutal for old-fashioned lovers: “That’s not my favorite.”