TIKI CULTURE

The King of Marvin Gardens, 1972 for Mod Movie Monday, Atlantic City Style

We now return you to our regularly scheduled programs…

Mod/Noir Movie Monday is back, after a brief detour due to the New Year, some crazy happenings, and too much booze (or not enough).

This week we have a somewhat obscure doozy from the early 1970s, a time when movies were in that transitional period between Ocean’s 11 and Jaws, when a film maker could hire Jack Nicholson, Scattman Crothers, Ellen Burstyn and Bruce Dern on a shoestring budget, throw in a bunch of quirkiness, some natural breasts and a TON of location shots of Atlantic City before the casinos invaded…then have that movie become an iconic time capsule of the end of the “old Atlantic City” era, right down to the interior shots of the Marlborough-Blenheim Hotel, doomed to the wrecking ball seven years later.

The King of Marvin Gardens, 1972

The Blenheim, c. 1972. This was the main setting of The King of Marvin Gardens.

is about a con man (Dern) who asks his brother (Nicholson) to help him start a resort in Hawaii. There’s not much about that storyline going on that’s worth paying any attention to. What you’re watching this flick  for is atmosphere, images, and lifestyles that are long, long gone and mostly forgotten.

Most of the movie takes place in and around the Blenheim part of the historic Marlborough-Blenheim Hotel. Like most things historic in Atlantic City, someone (probably) got paid off to allow it to be imploded so a POS glass and steel casino could be built in its place (but that’s a rant for another post). Anyway, you’ll get a lot of eye-candy of old Atlantic City, including the boardwalk auctions, shots of the piers, the interior of the Atlantic City Boardwalk Convention Hall, interiors and exteriors of some of the great hotels, and even a few cool old cars. Overall, the skyline of Atlantic City in 1972 didn’t look too much different than it did in the 1920s or 1950s…so it’s a fun glimpse into the past.

Atlantic City Skyline, 1972

What? Is the movie any good? Well, that depends on your tastes, of course. If you like movies from this era at all, you’ll probably dig it a lot. Don’t look for a lot of action, suspense, or deep storyline…this move is about characters, and some intense acting  (the acting is very good). It’s basically a slice of life kind of thing, and the characters make it interesting to watch (remember, in this kind of movie the buildings, the boardwalk, the beach are as much characters as the people). It’s sometimes depressing, sometimes funny. You guys who read my posts know I don’t get all “in depth and analytical” about flicks, so if you want a “deep” convo about how groundbreaking or historically important the film is, check out this blog.

I used to shop for trinkets at Irene's Gifts...THIS Irene's Gifts. In the late 1980s, they still had a lot of new-old stock souvenirs from the 60s & 70s.

Food and Booze: There’s a great scene where they’re eating in Captain Starn’s Seafood Restaurant, which was one of the world famous restaurants right on the boards in the Atlantic City Inlet. They’re entertaining potential investors….so I’d say a nice whole Maine lobster with black butter and Filet Mignon tips, rare would be appropriate. And might I suggest pairing with a 1972 vintage Baron Philippe de Rothschild Sauvignon Blanc…or, for that real old Atlantic City flavor, fried flounder and a Michelob!

Atlantic City

My Take: Although I was born in Philly, my family moved to and operated the Star Dust Motel on the Black Horse Pike in West Atlantic City from 1969 to 1973. Like everything kool and old, it was torn down in ‘73 and is now an empty lot. I grew up 10 miles west of Atlantic City, but my family hardly ever went there…it was in pretty sad shape in the 1970s, and known more for gang violence and other crimes than as a fun tourist destination. We went to the boardwalk once when I was very young…I have vague memories of looking up at the Marlborough-Blenheim, seeing the rides (but not going on them) on Steel Pier, and driving by The Knife and Fork Inn. We went again when Resorts opened as the first Casino in the old Haddon Hall Hotel (one of the few survivors) in 1978, and I have a few memories of that.

A scene from The King of Marvin Gardens, on the Boardwalk with the world famous Traymore Hotel in the background (imploded 1972).

I was only four years old when The Traymore was imploded, but remember hearing about it, remember my parents saying how sad it was. In 1988, I stood on the boardwalk and watch a crane take apart the last bits of the burned-out, crumbling Steel Pier. A few months my buddy Steve and I sneaked into the back of the house at Resorts, went up to the ballroom and watched the Steeplechase Pier burn to the ground (it was directly across the boardwalk…we could feel the heat inside Resorts).

Ocean One Mall, as it looked when I was Tourism Director in 1989.

That same year I got a job working as “the balloon guy” for a display company that had 400 semi-permanent Mylar balloons decorating Resorts for its 10-year anniversary. Two years later I was working as a costumed character (kind of like Mr. Peanut) for The Shops one Ocean One, a mall built on the pilings of the original Million Dollar Pier, and eventually became Tourism & Marketing Director. I learned a lot about Atlantic City history while there, not realizing I was living it, and making it, every day. The owners went out of business in 1990, and it eventually closed in the early 00’s, was bought by Caesars, and turned into a high-end Vegas-like shopping mall connected to the casino.

So much of old Atlantic City is gone now…all the hotels, except for The Dennis, that were in The King of Marvin Gardens are gone now, replaced by new casinos. Captain Starn’s in long gone. Marven Gardens (they spelled it wrong in the movie) is still there, in Margate, but is never shown in the movie. All of the piers are either gone, or have been completely rebuilt as modern structures except Central Pier, which still retains its original facade, although badly stuccoed and gaudily painted. The city is an insane mix of mega-modern casinos and decaying 100-year-old buildings, and will eventually become fully modern…so enjoy The King of Marvin Gardens, one of the only remaining glimpses of this great City’s past.

Here’s a short clip from the beginning of the movie…

-Tiki Chris Pinto reporting from the Warner Theater, on the Boardwalk in Atlantic City c. 1972 (metaphysically, of course).

Happy Thanksgiving from the Tiki Bar! Hess Trucks & Charlie Brown

The first Hess truck, 1963

Thanksgiving in the subtropics is a little different than it is for most people. For instance, today I put the top down on the convertible and drove down to the Hess station to buy a toy Hess Truck.

When I was a kid, we’d get up extra early on Thanksgiving, drive down to the Log Cabin Diner in West Atlantic City and have breakfast (they were one of the few places open). It was right next to the Hess Station…and we’d have breakfast there because the Hess Trucks came out on Thanksgiving Day. The Hess station opened at 8am, and there was always a line of about 50 people waiting in line to get a truck. We waited in this line for several years in a row, until we realized that line fizzled out around 9. So we’d go to the diner, have breakfast and wait for the line to slow down. Once it was down to about 5 people, one of us would go get in line, buy a truck, and return to breakfast.

If you didn’t get a Hess Truck on opening day, chances are you wouldn’t get one at all that year.

Things are a little different now…they trucks come out on November 11, and you can always get one online. Oh…and I remember when they were $4.95. Now they’re 28 clams.

Charlie Brown Thanksgiving

One thing that never changes is Charlie Brown…We’ve been watching the “A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving” since it came out in 1973. Of course back then you had to get the TV Guide and bookmark the page for the date and time. In the 80’s we video taped it, so we didn’t have to worry about missing it. In the 90s we bought the video tape, and that’s what we still watch every year.

What a masterpiece of mangling holiday traditions! What kid wouldn’t want a dinner of popcorn, toast and jellybeans, prepared and served by his dog? I have to admit, at least twice over the years we’ve had a similar Thanksgiving dinner…once on purpose, for fun.

If you haven’t seen CB’s Thanksgiving, you’re missing out on a real treat. You can catch the whole episode of A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving on YouTube.

The house smells like turkey. We’ve got the air conditioning on because it’s 78° outside. We’ll have our traditional little turkey dinner in the dining room, then have drinks at the Tiki Bar on the lanai.

From us here in the sunny land of South Florida, we wish you a very Happy Thanksgiving!

9/11 Remembrance at Tiki Lounge Talk

On the 10th year anniversary of the attacks on America by a bunch of cowardly, low-life criminals, here are some videos that remind us why we love our country so much…and why others are jealous of what we’ve got.
Irving Berlin, singing his song “God Bless America,” 1968

Frank Sinatra, “America the Beautiful,” 1979

Glenn Miller, “American Patrol,” set to images of WW2, 1941-1945

Billy Murray and The American Quartet, “You’re A Grand Old Flag” on 78, 1917

And “The Stars & Stripes Forever” by John Phillip Sousa, with introduction by the man himself. Even with all its problems and difficulties, I’m pretty sure he would be very proud of his beloved America today, as we all should be.

God Bless America, The Greatest Country On the Planet. - Tiki Chris

On the Occasion of Count Bill Basie’s Birthday…

Count Basie (August 21, 1904 – April 26, 1984)

So on the Occasion of Count Bill Basie’s Birthday, here’s a few videos of the great Count Basie Band.

One O’Clock Jump

April in Paris

I’ve Got You Under My Skin, with Frank Sinatra

And my personal favorite, Corner Pocket, written by the infamous Basie band guitarist Freddy Green, a guy who never played a chord the same way twice. Listen to the execution, the perfect swinging groove these cats laid down back in 1962. The cool and swingin’ solos. The way the sections play together perfectly as to sound like a single, swingin’ horn. This one is also my favorite because I was lucky enough to have played lead tenor and tenor sax solo on this same arrangement in my college big band, 20 years ago. We, of course, were no where near as good as Basie’s band. But it felt good playing his music anyway.

-Chris “Zoot” Pinto swingin’ from the music studio at Tiki Lounge Talk

Happy 4th of July and your Weekend Cocktail from Tiki Lounge Talk!

Let freedom ring-a-ding-ding, baby!

Hope you kool kats & kittens are getting your kicks on this bangin’ 3-day weekend. Here’s a little something to help you get in the mood…

Fourth of July Cocktail

Invented by Thomas Jefferson and enjoyed by the founding fathers at the post-signing of the declaration party, this kookie concoction will have you singing I’m a Yankee Doodle Dandy by the third sip.

• 1 ounce watermelon schnapps (Good luck finding that)
• 1 big splash cranberry juice
• 1 very thin slice jalapeno or serrano pepper
• 1 slice lemon
• 1 slice lime
• 1 1/2 ounces tequila
• 1/4 ounce blue curacao
• 1/2 ounce simple syrup
• Watermelon wedge, for garnish (optional)

Shake up the schnapps and cranberry juice in a shaker; pour into an ice-filled glass.

Muddle the jalapeno pepper, lemon and lime slices, tequila, blue curacao and simple syrup in the shaker. Slowly strain into the glass over the red layer. Garnish with watermelon and a little American Flag and let’er rip!

A NOTE ON FIREWORKS

Here in south Florida, unlike that crumby state I used to live in, it’s perfectly legal to set off fireworks in your driveway. Now, I don’t mean just sparklers and cherry bombs, I mean honest-to-God, Chinese high-flying fireworks. As long as you have a Florida ID you can buy them at specialty stores down here, and set them off skyrocketing over your neighbors’ houses. Each year several people on our block do this, so by 10pm the streets are so full of smoke you can’t see. It’s great. The smell of sulfur and cordite lingers for days. But the best part is looking up at the sky from your front yard and seeing real fireworks bust over your head. Just wanted you kids in the states with stupid, unbearably infringing laws to see what you were missing

-Happy Independence Day from Tiki Chris, reporting from the launch deck at Pirate’s Cove Tiki Bar, Florida