Was director Billy Wilder a kitchen renegade? Maybe. Let's take a look at the evidence so far:
We've already witnessed Sugar Kane's (Marilyn Monroe) cocktail improvisation in Wilder's 1959 classic, Some Like It Hot (1959). When the sultry singer can't find a shaker, she re-purposes a hot water bottle to mix Manhattans on the run.
And then there's Wilder's Academy Award-winning drama The Apartment (1960), where C.C. "Bud" Baxter (Jack Lemmon), famously "serves" hot spaghetti without a colander, straining it through a tennis racket at the kitchen sink.
And now let's consider the director's 1954 romantic classic Sabrina. While we've already seen Sabrina Fairchild's (Audrey Hepburn) first disastrous attempt at a souffle, we've barely scratched the surface of this classic foodie film. Here, even Wilder's minor characters get in on the action, serving up martinis with a whole new twist.
Cigar-chomping tycoon Oliver Larrabee (Walter Hampden) likes his cocktails. So, while his son Linus (Humphrey Bogart) discusses gardenias, indoor and outdoor pools, and invitation lists for an upcoming wedding-slash-business merger, Larrabee Sr. turns his attention to more important things.
Poised at the elegant bar in his office, Larrabee Sr. mixes himself a martini, stirring it in a pitcher, then pouring it into an ornate cocktail glass. But when it comes to a garnish, Larrabee Sr. hits an unexpected roadblock: There's only one olive left at the bottom of the jar - and it's wedged there tightly, tantalizingly out of reach.
Larrabee Sr. tries dislodging it with a spoon, but doesn't make it past the jar's narrow neck. Then he tries his fingers, but they're just too short. He even attempts to spear the garnish with a paperclip, but no luck. He taps the bottle, shakes it, raps it sharply, but the olive just won't budge.
Then inspiration strikes: Instead of bringing the olive to the martini, why not bring the martini to the olive? With a flourish, Larrabee Sr. pours the cocktail out of the glass, and sips it directly from the jar.
Dirty Martini
(makes one cocktail)
2 oz gin
1 tbs dry vermouth
1 tbs olive juice (or more, to taste)
1 olive
Pour the gin, vermouth, and olive juice into a cocktail shaker over ice. Shake gently and strain into a glass. Garnish with an olive.
- Nora
Love this film! On the Audrey Hepburn theme, what about the exploding saucepan in Breakfast at Tiffany's? "I hope you like chicken with saffron rice and chocolate sauce - an East Indian classic, my dear!" :)
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What a wonderful scene. Dirty Martinis are awfully popular around here--I've never liked them, myself, far too salty--but I should show a couple of my relatives this movie!
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