0:03 good afternoon and welcome to the first episode of jigger's place I'm your host Kevin bemel and we're gonna be here at least right now every other Thursday afternoon at 3 p I'm sorry 5:00 pm Pacific time and it's already evening on the east coast of course 800 p.m but you know between 5 and 8 that's kind of the cocktail hour I think and this is a chance for us to get away from Business and Professional topics and toward the end of the week just enjoy a half an
0:38 hour together talking about things that are both more and less important than our business and professional lives so if you're wondering if you if you haven't seen um the uh episode I did uh last week on Wednesday um in place of my Regular Show people making money on where how this show came about jigger's Place relates to here you can see it here um this is my my dog jiggers he was
1:13 a tricolored Jack Russell terrier and you you can see it kind of in the background where it says jiggers his place on one of the chests this one happens to hold all the lurs in my spirits collection and it's it's where there are no strangers only great friends we haven't met yet so jiggers was an enormously charismatic little guy and uh I'm not going to go into the long stories because we don't have the time to do that but um you know do go to our YouTube channel and and check out last
1:48 week's episode where I I tell this some of the some of the background about jiggers and and how he uh came to be thought of as as just such a a wonderful uh little dog so I I named my home bar after him and uh and and this is like I said an opportunity for me to share this with you share one of my deep deep passions which is wine beer and Spirits cocktails and all those things and some of the other some of the other uh interests that that I find make my
2:25 life uh you know add some some spice and some sugar to my life so after I mix the cocktail um I'm going to sit this is a multicamera show so um you can't tell right now but um you'll see after I mix the cocktail I'm going to go sit in my living room which is right over there and switch cameras on you and uh um we're g I'm going to talk a little bit about one of my favorite things which is Classic Movies um and and and I Define
3:01 that as movies of the 1930s 40s and 50s I know turn a classic movie movie is um already playing movies in the 80s I believe if not the 90s and I I'm aware for all of for for people you know and I'm I'm this way myself sometimes that classic typically means more than 25 years old like a classic car um but I'm really talking I I guess the Golden Age of of Hollywood movies from the golden age that's what I should probably start calling it and in particular I'm going to talk a little bit about uh a man by the name of Irving
3:39 thalberg and so in honor of Mr thalberg I did some research and I came up with a cocktail that I thought connected with him and and and the connection I made was um Irving thalberg was responsible for bringing the Marx Brothers to MGM when he was essentially head of production there and I I don't know about you but I I love the marks Brothers I I've seen virtually um all of
4:14 their um uh short short films um and I mean sorry all of their uh movies um and not all the ones that they did individually but I think I've seen all the ones that they did together as a group and um remember reading about their Broadway debut in a a show called the Coconuts that was performed in um the theater that Irving Berlin owned on Broadway and these shows would sometimes go on
4:51 for hours and the audience wouldn't leave because they were just so hilarious people would stay and just laugh and laugh and laugh and laugh and and a lot of it was sort of adli among you know Groucho Harpo and Chico and and um I you know I wasn't even born then I know some of you think hey old guy maybe was but no I was not um but U like I said Irving um Irving thalberg was responsible for bringing the um Marx Brothers to MGM Studios and
5:27 also adding a layer of sophistication to their movies which Groucho was kind of skeptical at first about working with thalberg um but after they made their first movie uh um Gro Marx really saw that that thalberg was committed to Bringing out the best in every performer every movie that he wasn't trying to turn the the Marx Brothers into stuffed shirts rather he wanted to see the Marx Brothers grow and
6:04 and and mature in their comedy so um I came up with this cocktail and it's called horse feathers or the horse feathers now for those of you who are true Marx Brothers of fanad you will right away know that the horse feathers was not a movie that the Mark Brothers made at MGM um that they made that um when they were still at their previous Studio which I think was Paramount if I'm not mistaken um but um so this is I got this cocktail off of um wolf
6:40 cocktail den and I tried to find out you know who was behind wolf cocktail Den but I could not so I assume it's somebody whose last name is W LF um but that that was all I could find out um but in any event um um Horse Feathers was a 1932 movie this was a couple of years before the the Marx Brothers went to move to MGM and the word horse feathers and I'm I'm gonna use his his quote here because I think it's funny so
7:15 he said um Horse Feathers is an old American slang sort of a polite version of the word that rhymes with wolm okay so in other words it's a very high form of nonsense shall we say um and and it has some of my favorite ingredients in it so first of all it it you start with brandy or cognac now I'm going to use a goday uh Cognac VS um some some of you may know I keep kosher this is one of the the very good uh
7:51 kosher cognacs um of course you could use anything that you want if if you don't keep kosher um God has been making Coke cognac since 1588 wow that's a long time and it also uses rum in particular um aged rum because aged rum has more gravitas if you will than you know white rum or even dark rum that isn't aged I'm using Banks uh golden seven uh seven-year rum um and um yeah this is this is made in the West
8:28 Indies um and and you can see by the level of the bottle that it's something I enjoy you can drink this uh straight just like you would whiskey um of course um being a sugar cane based spirit it's sweeter than whiskey um and then also this cocktail uses Benedictine which is um it's a lure and um its formula is um not known it's it's been made for centuries since 1510 I guess the theme of this cocktail is also
9:03 the 1500s right um and it but it has it it has an orig and then finally um Marino liquor which is Marino is is is cherries um in this case I'm using luxardo this is a classic classic Italian lur um luxardo has been making lur and other things since 1821 so this is uh I guess the baby of the family here and um it all gets mixed in a mixing glass so you know sometimes cocktails get mixed in a Shaker other times a mixing glass um The Mixing glass is kind
9:39 of fun you know I mean this happens to be an actual cocktail mixing glass but you know I I also have a u a uh a beaker I think that I used to use for mixing cocktails you can really use anything uh I have my cocktail glass okay I know most of you call this martini glass cocktail glass you know measure [ __ ] and a cocktail spoon which is for mixing the ingredients so it's real easy to make and that is you put first of all an ounce of uh brandy or Cognac and again
10:17 I'm using cognac which is a brandy that comes specifically from the conac region of France that's why it's called cognac but it's it's just a brandy made in a particular place and then an ounce of aged rum you can see I'm not one of those flashy bartenders like Tom Cruz in uh whatever that movie was um where he's oh cocktail I think was the name of the movie um where he's like flipping things
10:52 up and down no I I I can't do that kind of stuff and then a half ounce of Benedictine Benedictine has a really lovely aroma so one of the nice things about mixing cocktails is also just to experience the spirits while you're mixing the cocktail um through you know other our other senses um likes likes smell and then finally a half ounce of uh Cherry of the Marino or Marino people say it both ways I grew up saying Marino
11:28 because that's how my mother pronounced it Marino liquor um the cherry flavor and you'll notice based on the fact that there's rum in it there's uh two two types of of lurs that this is a pretty um sweet drink um I haven't had this before so this is a new experience for me um but I thought I'd give it a try um I will tell you candidly I'm generally not a big fan of of sweet uh drink sweet cocktails but um you know it's good to change things up and okay so we have our
12:05 strainer here and we'll strain this into glass and you you'll see it has a lovely golden color hope if you can see that there oh you know what wolf cocktails Dan really great this is a wonderful wonderful all right so give me about 30
12:40 seconds I'm going to switch positions and and the camera and I'm going to be right back with you
13:17 oh we we got some sound feedback one moment okay no still got the feedback
14:01 that should work guess not okay I know that's going to work because
14:37 I shut the other camera down so sorry about those technical difficulties so now here we are I'm in I'm in my living room now this is my couch or my the love seat actually the couch is on the other side it's uh this is this is often times where I hang out and read and all of that so uh why you know Classic Movies why Irving falberg so as I mentioned before one of my great great loves is U movies of the gold from the Golden Age of Hollywood and to give
15:13 you an example last night I was at a theater here in Los Angeles known as the New Beverly theater um it was a um Revival house for decades and decades and and and a while back uh Quinton Tarantino who you would know from such movies as Reservoir Dogs I think that's probably his most well-known movie um uh bought the theater renovated it and has dedicated it not just to classic movies but
15:48 to give people the opportunity to see movies the way they used to be seen before contempor times where people had cell phones and people were used to talking while they were watching a movie because you know they stream them at home and all this kind of thing so whenever you go to a movie at the new Beverly the one of the ushers before the show starts comes out and explains kind of what what what we in the military would call The Rules of Engagement so
16:24 you have to turn off your cell phone there is no talking um and and he talks about the you know Gestalt that they're looking to D to have there uh at the theater and they actually if if cell phone rings they will kick you out uh and I was talking with a friend about this earlier today and I I you know this is me I I think it's a good thing because when I'm at a movie theater I don't I don't want to be bothered by people talking on their cell phones or having cell phones
16:59 ring I want to be absorbed in the experience so the so it was a double feature which also you you don't really see anymore and the double feature was uh two movies one was bringing up baby from I believe it's 1938 or 1937 or 38 starring Carrie Grant and Katherine hebburn a great screw ball comedy and the SE which I had seen before uh at least on television um hadn't ever seen it in the theater before and the second one I also thought I had seen it before but it turns out I
17:36 hadn't another wonderful screw ball comedy called uh um um all of a sudden um the Palm Beach uh shoot um oh gosh here I'm gonna oh no I I won't be able to get it because I don't have the I don't have the thing up um oh shoot it's a it's a movie with Joel McCrae and claudet colar and they well I don't want to tell you the plot because I I turns out I
18:12 hadn't seen the movie and it was a delight not only to see it for the first time but to see it for the first time in a theater with a live audience with the laughter and the appreciation for jokes and all of that so excuse me I have to have another sip of this great cocktail now so a a couple of weeks ago I read this
18:47 book on Irving thalberg and it's called Irving thalberg Boy Wonder to um producer Prince so um Irving thalberg was born in 1899 and he died in 1936 he was he died very young and he actually lived most of his life knowing that he probably wasn't going to live a you know a normal
19:25 lifespan due to some health concerns that Etc and so he lived a very dedicated intentional life um like like so many of the early pioneers of Hollywood that that's redundant so many of the pioneers of Hollywood he he was uh he was Jewish uh his family were immigrants from Germany uh he grew up in Brooklyn no surprise there right and uh he he eventually not eventually
20:03 because his life was so short but he came out to California Los Angeles specifically originally he worked for uh Universal Studios um and um I've got my notes Here I want to see if they have the name of uh um shoot so at the time Universal Studios was owned and and run by um oh gosh I'm really going up on names today I'm sorry uh but but he he took
20:38 over Irving thalberg took over production at Universal Studios at the age of 21 okay he was already running one of the you know major producers of Motion Pictures and four years later at the rip old age of 25 he moved to MGM not long after MGM was formed so Metro Goldwin mayor was not original it it didn't start out that
21:14 way it was the merger of several Studios and and uh that was engineered by um among others the great Louis B mayor and uh Ving thalberg was brought into MGM essentially by Louis B mayor to be kind of head of production so Louis B was was actually executive VP in charge of production but in terms of day-to-day production activities Irving thalberg
21:49 handled that and Irving falberg and um um Louis be mayor had kind of a fatherson relationship and all that that means so um I I think it's reasonable to say they loved each other often and they hated each other often um there were jealousies there were peaks of of uh o over you know various things um but and
22:27 and and you'll hear lots of terrible things especially about Louis B mayor but but having um spoken to his grand niece about him he was a man of tremendous heart um could was very very sentimental and I I I think that he loved Irving thalberg not just for what he did for MGM but also for the human being that he was the kind of driven individ idual who who had a vision and wanted to bring that
23:05 Vision into reality and and that's something that both Louis B mayor and Irving falberg shared and I I do think that's one of the driving forces behind the the classic age of Hollywood so Irving falberg had this I among among the things he did was he he worked to make amazing Productions that no other
23:40 Studio would make so I'm going to read you some of his most famous movies uh they include the barretts of wimple Street Mutiny on the Bounty Romeo and Juliet Camille uh these were some of the most amazing pictures of their times and then I I mentioned by the way you know before when we were mixing the horse feathers that um the Marx Brothers uh came back or came over to
24:19 MGM and they made two of their greatest movies there a night at the Opera and a day at the races if you have never seen a at the Opera if you only ever watch one Marx Brothers movie watch a night at the Opera um especially if you don't like Opera so uh and one of the great things about Irving thalberg was he was able [Music]
24:54 to bridge that divide between the business side of Hollywood and the artistic side of Hollywood he could speak both languages he could talk to people from both of those camps so to speak and in essence bring them together so that movies were amazing but also financially successful and that's why I think he was eventually crowned the the producer
25:32 Prince he worked with oh I the fellow at um at Universal who originally uh brought him into the film business was Carl Lemley car Carl and uh Carl Lemley by the way was known as Uncle Carl because people just loved him in distinction to Louie B mayor people people tended to love or really not love Louis B mayor everybody's loved Carl Lemley um so among the people that uh with whom uh Irving thalberg worked
26:11 were F Scott Fitzgerald um Eric Von stroheim um uh Samuel Goldwin I mean the greatest names in Hollywood also he married one of the truly iconic actresses from the Golden Age of H of of uh Hollywood uh Norma sheerer who if you've ever seen pictures of Norma sheerer aside from her just almost Indescribable physical
26:48 Beauty was an enormously beautiful person inside and out and many of the movies that that thalberg produced starred his wife you say well that's nepotism she was very talented I I'm I know there are people out there who disagree with me but uh norer was a very talented actress very very dedicated to her work but also a very dedicated wife and mother and like thalberg who was
27:26 able to bring divides Norma sheer was also able to be all of these things an an amazing actress a truly outstanding Hostess an exemplary wife and mother all of those things were wrapped up I mean you know for for one person to do all those things as well as she did them is is is an achievement um rarely ever duplicated in in the world today and
28:04 so um in in Irving thalberg's career we really see the heart of what Hollywood wanted and became in the 30s and and set the ground for its growth into the 40s and 50s so falberg often times clashed with the enforcers of the production code whether it was on matters of sex whether it was on matters of just issues that weren't
28:41 really dealt with in the movies he was pressing the envelope but in a way that by any standard of today would be considered to be very tasteful so he wasn't looking to shock people he was looking to give people the opportunity to engage with circumstances and ideas on a sophisticated level and this too I think was one of his attractions as a producer is he gave
29:19 people an opportunity to really Plumb the depths of their their craft their art uh I I I think movies are a mixture of the two and really take themselves as far as they would go and he would be their Advocate and if we if we think about our lives what more can we could we want than a couple of people who will lock
29:55 arms with us on our our journey even if they don't 100% agree with us but they're still willing to stand with us and say you know be because I believe in you or because I'm your friend or because I'm your spouse or because I'm your parent or child I'm going to stick with you and help you realize what you see your self
30:30 being to me that's the essence of life and I would uh you know many of you know that I'm a rabbi so I'm gonna I'm gonna I'm gonna end this this show with uh a bit of a blessing and and and a toast may you have at least one person in your life who is at least as dedicated to you as you are to yourself I'll tell you honestly I'm
31:06 blessed to have more than one person like that in my life and it is truly a blessing and that's that's that's my my wish and my blessing for you so salute as we say or scumps to borrow a word from a Disney film a classic Disney film so good thank you very much for joining me this is a really special show for me because it takes it takes me back to my
31:43 roots of the way to wow shows and I invite you to go and watch some of the shows from our first season when I teamed up with my very dear and long-standing friend Rick Carter uh who who directed the shows and Steve our longtime director of cinematography and our our our whole team there when we used to convert my living room into a TV studio and we had guest bartenders in who did wonderful cocktail Creations this this brings me back full
32:19 circle to to my original idea for the show so thank you so much for joining me wishing you a wonderful evening a wonderful rest of the week and weekend look forward to seeing you again next week and signing off as I always do Marie darling you are my bell courage at all times my friends