Pairing wine with movies! See the trailers and hear the fascinating commentary for these movies, and many more, at Trailers From Hell. This week, we say goodbye to an American icon, Eva Marie Saint. We also have wine pairings for the three featured films.
The 1954 classic, On The Waterfront, was Saint’s film debut. She was directed by Elia Kazan and played opposite Marlon Brando as the sister of the guy who got thrown off a roof. Her efforts were good enough to get her an Oscar and a BAFTA award. Which is certainly better than a one-way ticket to Palookaville.
Her character propels the plot’s pathos and presses Brando’s beaten dockworker to stumble into a warehouse and stand up for himself and his brethren.
Since Eva Marie was left-handed, and since Mollydooker is Australian slang for a lefty, let’s pair a Mollydooker wine with Waterfront. It helps here that the word Mollydooker is sometimes misinterpreted as having something to do with dockworkers. And since Brando’s character was also a downtrodden boxer (boy, are we getting deep on this one) Mollydooker’s The Boxer is a $32 Syrah, er Shiraz, as they say down under, that fits like a glove. A boxing glove.
In 1966, when The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming was playing at one of my hometown’s movie theaters, lightning struck the building. The front brick facade was reduced to a pile of rubble, looking very much like the place had been bombed. A photographer from the local newspaper captured the destruction, with the marquee in front stating in all caps, “The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming.” The caption of the photo read, “It looks like they’re already here.”
Russians was directed by Norman Jewison. Man, Eva Marie really worked with some top-notch talent. She co-starred and showed her comedy chops in the film, but was somewhat overpowered by over-the-top performances from Carl Reiner and, of course, Alan Arkin. The story is also over-the-top. A Russian submarine runs aground near a New England island. The Russians try to find a way to unstick their ship and keep the Cold War from getting hot.
The movie really captured my 11-year-old imagination. For weeks after seeing the film, my favorite expression was “Ee-mare-zhency. Everybody to get from street.”
You can’t go wrong with a Russian wine for The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming. Well, you actually can. You can go very wrong. However, if you can find the Kuban-Vino Château Tamange fortified white wine, I’m told it is a fine example of the Rkatsiteli grape. Alternatively, you know, Russian River Valley Pinot Noir.
All Fall Down hit the big screens in 1962. Saint once again found casting karma as she was directed by John Frankenheimer and shared the billing with Warren Beatty, Karl Malden, and Angela Lansbury, who played the kind of mother only a rotten son could love. The movie tied together the bad mama, the drunk daddy, the femme fatale and fraternal rivalry with a big bow of tragedy. I’ll have a double, bartender.
If you’ve never seen the grape-stomping lady fall down, it’s a staple on YouTube. However you feel about foot-stomped wine, I Love Lucy notwithstanding, you have to love a Napa winery that invites people to try out the ancient art. By the way, Grgich Hills Winery uses the foot-stomped grapes as compost, not for winemaking. Treat yourself and try the Cab.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhyZn2DGY-0
Randy Fuller
NowAnd Zin Wine – www.nowandzin.com
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