Shaken Not Stirred
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 have three James Bond films on the docket along with a wine pairing for each. And, no, Mr. Bond. We expect you to drink.
The third film in the Bond series, Goldfinger hit movie screens in 1964. To match 007’s expensive tastes, the movie raked in more than 100 million dollars, the first Bond film to do so. It was also the first Bond film to feature a hit single over the opening credits. Shirley Bassey’s performance was a global hit. In smaller letters, it was also the first Bond film to have a theme song with vocals, a fact which Ms. Bassey surely appreciated. The title song made her career.
The sight of a beautiful woman covered in gold paint leads me to think of Buddy Ebsen. His body reacted badly to the aluminum dust used in his makeup for the role of the Tin Man in The Wizard of Oz. That’s why he was replaced. Happily, Hollywood figured out how to make a safer base for full-body makeup, allowing Shirley Eaton to wear the gold paint in Goldfinger.
The plot centers on a scheme to use a dirty bomb at Fort Knox to make off with the gold bullion. “Over my shaken martini,” says Mr. Bond.
In Goldfinger, Bond drank a Dom Perignon ’53, along with mint juleps, fancy brandy, and his signature martini. One of my favorite moments in the TV series, The West Wing, is when the topic of James Bond arises and the president complains that Bond likes his martini “shaken, not stirred.” POTUS points out that the act of shaking the cocktail chips the ice and creates a drink that is watered down, lamenting that Bond is “ordering a weak martini and being snooty about it.”
But back to the Dom. If the thousands of dollars for a 1953 is out of your price range, try a 2017. It’ll run you a couple of C-notes at least, but it is Dom Perignon. And the bottle is heavy enough to act as a shield in case Oddjob shows up.
https://www.domperignon.com/en-us
1969’s On Her Majesty’s Secret Service was the sixth installment in the James Bond series, and the first without Sean Connery in the role of 007. George Lazenby vaulted instantly from starring in TV advertisements for chocolates to being “Bond. James Bond.” Life is good that way to some folks.
Life was good to Diana Rigg, at least the professional side of it. She played the Bond girl here. The character was an Italian countess who became, in the film, Bond’s wife – however briefly. Rigg had reportedly said that she always wanted to appear in an “epic film,” and OHMSS was that. Rigg may have had a somewhat charmed acting life, but she suffered some great personal heartbreak along the way.
I am of the age that Diana Rigg as Emma Peel had a great “M. Appeal” for me as a pre-teen boy. We won’t get into embarrassing specifics here, except to say that I was left with a lifelong search for a woman who could do a little judo hip-flip on me while entering a room.
Rigg reportedly had it in her contract for the BBC series Victoria that she would be served a cold bottle of prosecco as each day’s shooting wrapped. You can go that way if you like – a $10 bottle of Italian bubbles – or you can lean into the Bond lifestyle and order an expensive Champagne. While you’re leaning, extract a few Benjamins from your wallet. Bond was no slouch when it came to booze. He liked Tattinger early in the film series.
https://www.taittinger.com/en
Dr. No, directed by Terence Young in 1962, was the first film in the James Bond series, Sean Connery played Bond opposite Ursula Andress. Nice work if you can get it.
Remember how you couldn’t get away from spy shows in the ‘60s? Dr. No is why. After the film’s success, the spies all came in from the cold. The character Andress plays, by the way, is a shell diver. That’s right, she sells sea shells by the seashore.
The movie is set in Jamaica, so how about pairing it with Jamaican wine? Magnum Tonic Wine is actually mead, and is drunk by the locals “for medicinal purposes” and is also considered a sexual stimulant. That’s all well and good, but you might find it easier to locate a Red Stripe beer, or a bottle of rum for your pairing pleasure. Or a big, fat spliff, mon.
https://www.camparigroup.info/usa/
Randy Fuller
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