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Bourbon in the Movies


Isoflex

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Watching The Shining right now, Jack walks up to the empty bar and asks for a bottle of bourbon, a small glass and some ice... The imaginary barkeep obliges, with a bottle of Jack Daniels!!! :shocked:

I suppose, knowing Stanley Kubrick there was some sort of reason for that.

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  • 3 weeks later...
There was a bottle of Blanton's on Christopher Plummer's bar in "The Inside Man." He was an obscenely rich/powerful bank owner so maybe this is the movie?

Yes, I think this must be it! I remember two cops talking to an older man, and I bet it was Denzel and his partner. Thanks!

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Just saw a midnight screening of "Cast a Deadly Spell," a 1991 HBO movie that is like a combination of The Big Sleep & Chinatown with H.P. Lovecraft & Harry Potter. The opening text explains everything: "Los Angeles, 1948. Everyone uses magic." (But not our P.I. hero.) Stars Fred Ward, and Julianne Moore has a major role. Funny movie, not great, but entertaining.

Anyhow, there is frequent bourbon drinking in the film. Most of the time you can't see the bottles clearly, but when the private investigator protagonist has a drink at the police station with his cop friend, the bottle of I.W. Harper is very clearly visible for several seconds in numerous shots during their conversation.

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Deadwood, the HBO series, is loaded to the gills with whiskey. While many of the bottles have been unlabeled, several episodes have had bottles of "Old McBrayer Whiskey." A recent episode, "Amateur Night" had a bit more variety.

Early on, a pair of minor characters share a tall brown bottle of Old Weller that appears to be a current Antique 107 label cropped to remove the pictures and aging statement and with the word Antique rubbed out. I also spied Calamity Jane sleeping off a rough one with a bottle of Old McBrayer. Finally, in the gathering at the theatre, A drunk man climbs on stage with a current bottle of Bulleitt and attempts to kiss a woman singing "Jesus Loves Me". If this is product placement, it's the best kind.

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Slightly off-topic here, but a couple nights ago I was watching "Law and Order -- Criminal Intent" on TV. A murder victim was about to be autopsied.

Asked whether the victim had been drinking, the doctor replied, "I haven't done a tox screen yet, but he smelled like a Kentucky bourbon barrel."

I was not pleased by that reference. I can only imagine how someone in the industry might feel.

Yours truly,

Dave Morefield

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There's a scene in The Big Sleep where Humphrey Bogart's character, Philip Marlowe flirts with a bookstore clerk. It starts to rain while he's waiting for his mark and he tells the clerk "It just happens I got a bottle of pretty good rye in my pocket -- I'd a lot rather get wet in here." She responds "Well....it looks like we're closed for the rest of the afternoon".

In an earlier scene in a library, he also tosses out "I collect bottles and blondes too" to the clerk who says "You don't look like a man who would be interested in 1st editions".

Old film noirs are full of hard-boiled guys downing high-balls like they were full of iced-tea.

Classic stuff!

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  • 1 month later...

I doubt anyone has seen it but I was just watching Aftermath and noticed a bottle of Jim Beam White Label, half empty and smeared with blood, in the scene where the mortician steals the heart of the female lead in the movie (literally :)). Surprising for a Spanish movie.

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I remember, many years ago, seeing an old-school cartoon (I think it was Woody Woodpecker) where some bottles of hooch were on a shelf - one of them was "Four Noses."

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  • 2 weeks later...

Last night I watching this movie called "Inside Man" with Clive Owen, Jodie Foster, and Denzel Washington.

Near the end when Denzel and his partner confront the bank CEO, he asks if they want anything. They decline and he pours himself a scotch from his drink cart/table from his decanter. Next to the decanter is a bottle of Blanton's!! I had to rewind and check it out again, but it's very obvious. My wife thought I was nuts when I told her I had to post it here. It was hard to tell which one exactly, but possibly it was the silver label.

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Also worth mentioning is that the scene made me thirsty and I reached for a snifter of Eagle Rare of the BTAC. Mmmmm good.

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On the NCIS episode last on 10/10, "Faking It" at the very end, the star Jethro Gibbs (Mark Harmon) reaches into the drawer on his desk to pull out a cassette player and you can catch a glimpse of a bottle mostly hidden in the drawer next to it. After the show was over, I begin rewind my TIVO to that spot and as I am doing it my wife says" you just have to find out what that bottle is in the drawer don't you?" After saying yes, while I am still rewinding it my wife says "don't bother it is Ten High". I continue to rewind and try to pause it at the right spot I found out 3 things:

1. I just LOVE my TIVO for things just like this

2. Not agreeing immediately with my wife and stopping the rewind could lead to chilly reception when I went to bed later. When...

3. She is exactly correct. Even though you can only read the "N" and the "GH" clearly on the Ten High bottle label even when pausing at the millisecond it is revealed on the TV show.

Howie

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The message here seems to be that Mrs. Howie is a definite keeper.

And NCIS investigators don't get paid very well.

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  • 5 months later...

I saw 'Grindhouse' the other night. This is a double feature. The first film is from Robert Rodriguez, Planet Terror. At one point they order shots of Wild Turkey, but you don't see them drinking it.

The second film is from Quentin Tarantino, Death Proof. Kurt Russell's character gets hurt and uses Four Roses Black Label to kill the pain and sterilize the injury. I was asking myself why FR Black Label? I think the film takes place in current time because modern cell phones are used.

On side note, I am a huge Tarantino fan but was disappointed in Death Proof. Planet Terror was pretty good.

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Actually Wade, I think it was Four Roses Yellow Label. And since that scene takes place in Tennessee, FRYL might be a possibility. I thought a product placement was unlikely since it is in such limited distribution. I too couldn't figure out the clear presentation of FRYL.....but maybe he bought it across the border in KY.

Randy

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I think a bottle of wild Turkey makes an appearance in the film Junior Bonner. In Hud Paul Newman gets trashed on Jack and unsuccessfully tries to 'seduce' the house keeper then has a blow-out fight with his Dad.

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...since that scene takes place in Tennessee, FRYL might be a possibility...

I can only speak to Middle Tennessee, but there had never been any Four Roses available here other than the latest blended whiskey, which left some time ago.

I believe I've read that Four Roses distributed its bourbon domestically only ever in Kentucky and Southern Indiana so its employees wouldn't have to buy something else.

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The second film is from Quentin Tarantino, Death Proof. Kurt Russell's character gets hurt and uses Four Roses Black Label to kill the pain and sterilize the injury. I was asking myself why FR Black Label? I think the film takes place in current time because modern cell phones are used.

Tarantino tends to do strange things to time. For instance, in Pulp Fiction you will see a box of Fruit Brute cereal, which has been out of production since 1983 - but overall, the movie is very '90s.

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Actually Wade, I think it was Four Roses Yellow Label. And since that scene takes place in Tennessee, FRYL might be a possibility. I thought a product placement was unlikely since it is in such limited distribution. I too couldn't figure out the clear presentation of FRYL.....but maybe he bought it across the border in KY.

Randy

Damn. I might have to go see it again just to see if my mind is playing tricks on me because I was sure it was the Four Roses Black Label.

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Hey Wade.....its not worth watching again just for that.:lol:

I am red and green color blind.......but I'm pretty sure the bottle wasn't black.

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  • 4 weeks later...

A boy in Back to the Future 2 pours a small bottle of Early Times into the bowl of fruit punch during a prom; I did not think that bourbon mixed well with fruit drinks.

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Speaking of Four Roses Yellow Label, it appears prominently in a barroom scene in last year's Rocky Balboa. And, yes, it's pure fiction - Four Roses isn't sold in Philly.

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I was watching "The Hustler" the other night. During the scene where Fast Eddie (Paul Newman) is playing "Minnesota Fats" (Jackie Gleeson) they take a break and order for drinks. Fast Eddie requested J.T.S. Brown...a brand I had tried just recently - too weak for my liking but not terrible. I am wondering if there are other references to bourbons in the movies that may come to mind?

I haven't read all of the replies, but two movies come to mind. The first one is Terms Of Endearment when Aurora (Shirely MacLaine) finally goes out to dinner with Garrett (Jack Nicholson) and orders Wild Turkey, as Nicholson points out she needs it "To kill the bug up your a--."

The other one is Ground Hog Day. Bill Murray is fed up with being stuck in the small town and doesn't want a complicated drink so when the bartender asks what he wants he directly says, "Jim Beam, ice, water."

As a bonus, the other movie is The Graduate. Ben's favorite drink is Bourbon, although he doesn't name a brand. Mr. Robinson comes home late from the party to find Ben "holding down the fort" with Mrs. Robinson upstairs. Mr. Robinson offers Ben a nightcap. Later, when Ben takes Elaine out for dinner, a dissaproving Mrs. Robinson stews on the sofa while Mr. Robinson happily greets Ben but forgetfully asks, "Is Scotch still your drink?" Ben quickly corrects him and nervously says, "Bourbon."

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I know this is probably an awful use of bourbon in a movie that I just cant shake from my head. It always will longer in my noodle. Freddie Krueger from the horrible nightmare on Elm Street part 3 (how many did they make????)

Freddy Krueger: I said, "Where's the (*&$#(@! bourbon?"

[decapitates mom]

Freddy Krueger: You should listen to your mother.

Elaine Parker: God damn it, Kristen, you ruin everything! Every time I bring a man home you spoil it! You know what your shrink says? You're just trying to get a little attention!

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