TIKI CULTURE

Guys and Dolls, 1955 for Mod Movie Monday!

I figured we’d take a little break this week from Noir Movie Monday and get back to the colorful stuff. And dare ain’t no movie more fulla collah den

Guys and Dolls

from 1955, starring Frank Sinatra, Marlin Brando, Jean Simmons and Vivian Blaine.

Without a doubt this flick ranks in my all-time top favorites. The crazy characters, the oddball accents, the music, the floating craps game, the hats, the dolls…there ain’t nothin’ about this movie I don’t fully enjoy with a capital “E”, see?

This was one of the first (good) movies to use non-musical talent (Brando, Simmons) in a musical. Surrounded by actual singers (Sinatra, Blaine), the two leads pulled it off pretty well and paved the way for later musicals to star non-musical talent (all the way up to 2002’s Chicago, forcing notes out of Renne Zellweger, Cathrine Zeta-Jones and Richard Gere).

The story, adapted from Damon Runyon’s original short story, is about a collection of gamblers, showgirls, Salvation Army workers and other fringe characters inhabiting the nights of New York City around 1950. Two gamblers in particular, Nathan Detroit (Sinatra) and Sky Masterson (Brando) are focused upon as Detroit tries to find a new venue for his famous floating craps game. A “chance” meeting over cheesecake has Detroit attempting to con Masterson out of some dough in the hopes of using said dough to bribe a certain garage owner to allow the dice to roll. Masterson, a sharp character, sees through this rouse and tells Nathan no dice. He does however boast to Detroit that he can take any doll, no matter how pretty, to Havana for the weekend. Nathan accepts this challenge and the game is on.

As usual, I won’t give away any of the fun stuff in case you haven’t seen the flick. Let’s just say that great music, funny lines and people who speak in the vernacular of the above said paragraph are what you will find in this charming and thoroughly swinging film.

Food & Booze: These guys are deli-style eaters from the city. Try making these stupendous roast & corned beef sandwiches, nicknamed

The Runyon Special

Pile it up in this order:

• Thick slice pumpernickle/rye swirl bread
with deli-style spicy mustard
• Lettuce
• Munster cheese
• Thick tomato slices
• Roast beef
• Thick slice pumpernickle/rye swirl bread with deli-style spicy mustard on one side,
Thousand Island dressing on the other
• Corned beef
• Sweet chopped coleslaw
• Swiss cheese
• Tomato
• Thick slice pumpernickle/rye swirl bread with Thousand Island dressing

Cut this triple-decker in half, top with green olives on toothpicks and side with chips, more slaw and kosher pickle. For dessert, cheesecake (or strudel).

The drink: Dolce de Leche, Cubana style

(According to Sky Masterson, “Dolce de Leche” means “Sweet of Milk”. It’s a kind of milk shake made with Bacardi…but just enough to act as a preservative. Here’s the modernized version of this classic cocktail)

1 oz Bacardi Silver
1/2 oz Godiva Mocha Liquor (or chocolate liquor, or even Kahluha will work)
1/2 oz sweetened condensed milk

Shake it all up in a shaker with ice and strain, preferably into a coconut. Top with shaved chocolate and a pinch of cinnamon.

Here’s the opening sequence with “Can Do”. See you at the races, kids!

-Chris “Mack the Knife” Pinto reporting from the starting gate. They’re off!

Neo-Noir Movie Monday: Frank Miller’s Sin City, 2005

Every once in a while a kool new flick comes along that gives us a taste of yesteryear with the hard, tough and uncensored edge of today’s film making. One such flick is

Frank Miller’s Sin City, 2005

If you haven’t seen Sin City, I highly recommend it. We’re talking about a fantastic mix of real, old-style Noir/pulp fiction infused with modern digital effects and contemporary shooting. Director Robert Rodriguez (Machete, Once Upon a Time in Mexico, Grindhouse) digs down deep into the dark and nasty side of human nature, bringing to life Frank Miller’s graphic novel of twisted maniacs, sexy hookers and debaucherous lunatics.

The movie, in true Noir fashion, is filmed in black and white – with modern splashes of color added in for a stunning visual effect. Artsy camera angles and lighting perfectly frame every shot. Multiple plot lines converge, and the action is pulled off with finesse.

The really funny thing is that most of this movie was shot in front of a blue screen, with digital effects added in post production. There is a very good balance of realism and artistic graphics, giving you the sense that this really was taken from the pages of a graphic novel, and exists in a strange underworld where prostitutes carry machine guns and blood can be yellow.

This flick strays from the old-style Noir thrillers in that it contains much more graphic violence, sex, nudity, and language. Nothing is held back. Where the subtleties of mid-20th century Noir suggested violence and sex, this reel throws it in your face. Not necessarily a bad thing, but some kats might find this over-the-top style a little too much. Either way, you should check it out.

The cast is built with stars all over the place. Bruce Willis, Jessica Alba, Brittany Murphy, Rosario Dawson, Mickey Rourke, Rutger Hauer, Micheal Madsen, Clive Owen…there’s a star, a gun, or a bucket of surrealistic blood in every scene.

The story lines are pretty interesting too…not as deep as a Hitchcock thriller, but then again this movie is all about the imagery. An interesting note is how Bruce Willis’ character has a monologue at the beginning of the movie, and mirrors it at the end as his story comes full-circle. Damned good writing.

Food & Booze: To go with this Neo-Noir black and white with a splash of color theme, I’d suggest blackened chicken or steak over Fettuccine Alfredo, with diced red peppers and tomatoes. For the drinks, Black Russians and White Russians, or maybe a Black And White Martini…3 oz good vodka, 1 oz creme de cocoa, shaken (not stirred).

My Take: If I were a film maker, this would definitely be the kind of movie I’d want to make. The only thing I might do different is throw in a supernatural angle, a little paranormal fun to the mix.

The book I’m currently working on, “Murder on Tiki Island” would make a great screenplay to be produced in this style. It takes place in a mythical Tiki Resort in the Florida Keys in 1956. I could just see the characters in black and white, with the red flames from the Tiki torches dancing in the background. Who knows…maybe someday.

-Tiki Chris, reporting from the screening room at Tiki Lounge Talk. Noir and Mod Movie Mondays - a new flick every week, for retro-lovin’ kats and swingin’ kittens.

If you dig Facebook, drop by The Retro Tiki Lounge

Some of you swingers may not know that Tiki Lounge Talk has an official Facebook fan page, The Retro Tiki Lounge. There you’ll find daily posts of kool pix, jazzy videos, swanky Tiki stuff, cocktail recipes, kool music, krazy stories and more. Kool kats & kittens even post info on swingin’ retro/vintage style and Tiki events, bands, stuff to buy, etc. etc. There’s a lot going on there every bright, with much more swag than I can fit here at the Tiki Lounge, so swing on down to The Retro Tiki Lounge on FB for a double shot of Tiki & Retro fun. Can you dig it? I knew that you could;)

-Tiki Chris P. reporting from the Retro Tiki Lounge on Facebook.

Your Weekend Tiki Bar Drink Recipe: The Bali Hai Ball, and Ernest Hemingway’s Death in the Afternoon

It’s Happy Hour at the Tiki Bar!

That’s right kats and kittens, you get two for the price of one this week at the Tiki Bar! One I found while looking for something completely different, one I found while looking for a use for some aging cream of coconut. First, lets hit a very groovy Tiki Bar Cocktail,

The Bali Hai Ball

Even the name is great. I found the recipe at a very hip site, Tiki Drink Recipes.com…here it goes…

1 oz vodka
1/2 oz light rum
1/2 oz banana liqueur
1 oz pina colada mix
1 oz pineapple juice

Shake it up with ice in a shaker and serve in a tall Tiki Mug or Highball glass and garnish with all the fruit you can find. And I don’t see any reason why you can’t add a little cream of coconut in there, too.

I found the second recipe on a book reader site, biblioklept.org. This is taken directly from their site. Check it out, there’s some fun stuff there. (Click here to see the entire post)

“Ernest Hemingway’s Death in the Afternoon

A recipe for a drink named after Hemingway’s novel Death in the Afternoon was published in the 1935 cocktail book So Red the Nose, or Breath in the Afternoon by Sterling North and Carl Kroch. Here’s that recipe–

Add one jigger of absinthe to a champagne flute
Add iced champagne until it attains the proper opalescence.
A small amount of sugar or Gomme syrup can be added to round it out, especially when using a verte absinthe.

Here’s Hemingway’s note on the drink’s origin–

This was arrived at by the author and three officers of the H.M.S. Danae after having spent seven hours overboard trying to get Capt. Bra Saunders’ fishing boat off a bank where she had gone with us in a N.W. gale.”

Hemingway House in Key West, Florida

Being a Floridian who frequents Key West, I’ve been to Hemingway’s house down there (a hell of a place) and of course to his old watering holes. I can tell you I’ve never seen this on any of the drink menus, or even heard it murmured among the locals. I guess the whole Absinthe thing keeps it from being commercially viable.

A few mentions…

For my South Florida fans, the Broward County Fair finishes up this weekend, with a classic car show on Saturday and rides open through Sunday. Check it out at http://browardfair.org.

Also next Saturday, December 11, the City of Hollywood, FL will be having a Hawaiian Holiday at the ArtsPark. This is a free holiday-themed Polnesian show that will feature entertainers from Hollywood-based Ohana Arts. More info here.

With any luck, my Tiki lady & I will be at both events. I’ll be the guy in the Hawaiian shirt. Come up and say Aloha!

-Tiki Chris reporting from Pirate’s Cove Tiki Bar for Tiki Lounge Talk, the interwebs’ b-lounge for Tiki Culture fans and Retro Hep Cats, Daddy-O!

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Chris Pinto’s Murder Behind The Closet Door - A Great Holiday Gift Idea!

Murder Behind the Closet Door by Chris Pinto

You kats and kittens who’ve been following Tiki Lounge Talk probably know by now that yours truly, Tiki Chris has written a 600 page murder mystery ghost story set, of course, in the past. Murder Behind The Closet Door was written especially for people like you - people who dig the rich, fun cultures of America’s pop past.

The story takes place mainly in the South Jersey shore towns of Wildwood and Wildwood Crest, known to the locals as The Wildwoods, during the summer/winter of 1978-79, with flashbacks to 1938 and the 1950s. It all centers around a young Jersey girl named Heather who starts her adult life as a marketing director of one of the world famous Wildwood amusement piers. She moves into a century-old rooming house with two roommates, Karen and Vicky, and starts having the time of her life. Then, slowly, mysterious things start happening to Heather. Voices in the night. Locked doors opening while she sleeps. Strange sounds coming from her bedroom closet.

Eventually the disturbances become more dangerous than annoying, and with the help of her boyfriend and some surprising friends she discovers the source of the problems. But it doesn’t end there. In fact, that’s only the beginning.

It’s a retro-noir thriller, a story that will appeal to people who love Stephen King or Micky Spillane. It’s a retro-style mystery that’s crammed with the nuances that will make you feel like you’re actually in 1979, or 1938, or 1957. It’s got murder, ghosts, beautiful women, a hard-boiled detective, romance, mystery, the boardwalk, the beach, ice & snow, haunted houses, a haunted graveyard, a haunted junk yard and diners. It’s got great music, great characters and great fun.

To read more about Murder Behind The Closet Door, visit the official page at StarDust Mysteries, check out the Facebook fan page, or jump to Amazon.com for a quick synopsis and several 5-star reader reviews!

What people are saying about Murder Behind The Closet Door:

“GREAT BOOK!! Started reading it Friday night, barely could put it down, till I finished it Sunday!!!! Highly recommend!!!!!”
-Susanne Faust- McDevitt

“While many readers will enjoy author Chris Pinto’s story, what I like most is his literary-quality descriptiveness. I was pulled into each scene, forgetting my own surroundings as I wandered from one of his haunted locales to the next”
-Joseph M. Faser

“Retro-culture impresario and swingin’ scribe Chris Pinto has created a vibrant, entertaining, compelling and imaginative portrait of a very specific time and place - South Jersey in the late 1970s - with a grisly ghost story at its center. The reader delves into a richly depicted world where one keenly tastes, feels, smells and lives the sensations of the Wildwood boardwalk area and its residents throughout a series of mysteriously macabre events. I very much look forward to Chris’s next hardboiled but heartfelt endeavor.”
-Will “Will The Thrill” Vaharo

“If Stephen King and Mickey Spillane had a son (in a bookish kind of way, that is), Christopher Pinto would be that son. He effortlessly blends the paranormal thriller with the hard-boiled detective in “Murder Behind the Closet Door.” Add to that, healthy doses of mystery and romance, and you’ve got the literary equivalent of a ride through an amusement pier haunted house. And what a fun ride!”
-Miss CherryBubbles

“I loved this book…from beginning to end it kept me riveted. The mystery, the supernatural angle, the twists in the story that take it in totally different directions from where I thought it would go. A definite page turner! I stayed up late a cpl nights because I couldnt put it down! Being a HUGE fan of mysteries, crime novels AND the supernatural…this was everything i could want in a book.” (Ok, my wife wrote this one, but she meant it!)

I know a lot of people are apprehensive of shelling out clams on a book. So check out some bits from it on the StarDust site, or even read a few pages on Amazon.com. Plus you can be a fan of the MBTCD fan page on facebook. But if you dig what you read here, I know you’re gonna flip for Murder Behind The Closet Door. And when you do, make sure you leave a nice comment

Tiki Chris P, aka Mack, writing from the library at The StarDust Mystery Lounge, Florida