Of All the Gin Joints: Stumbling through Hollywood History

This is one of those specialized salutes to the drinking faction of the film industry. I spied it at B&N a couple of days before its actual release and did not give it the usual once over. I probably should have held back until I knew I really wanted to read it, but it was one of those days.Quite literally, the title is very much the story. Actors apparently like to drink, among other things. The authors appear to be interested in drink and Hollywood. It's a marriage of common interests you might say. This book is a series of stories relating to inebriated celebrities and their behavior from the silent era to current times. I wish I could tell you this is inconsequential trash. Heck, it is. However, it is a fun short read with some funny stories and drink recipes such as John Barrymore's Pimm's Cup. If you move away from this and the deliberate laughs, you'll also realize that this is also about sad endings in some instances.Despite the obvious negatives, this book should be viewed as an interesting diversion. I enjoyed it, but I am also not certain I would have bought it had I flipped through it at B&N. Due purely to the fact that I had never heard of some of these stories, I am giving this one 4* for its flip attitude and sauced up stories

I saw Casablanca when it was first released in 1942. Watch it any time it comes on TV. So when a book titled “Of All the Gin Joints” surfaced on my radar, I had to have it. Quite simply it is (1) an eye-opener and (2) a world-class, laff-out-loud hoot. It chronicles the escapades, orgies and scandals from 1900 to today of Hollywood’s greatest stars and directors as seen through the lens of a gin bottle. Here are the juiciest stories and quotes from (by my count from the Sources) 225 books plus myriad magazine and newspaper articles. A sampling of the quotes (You’ll have to read the book to get the sources): “He would only confess to being drunk one time—it lasted from the Spanish-American war to the New Deal.” One thespian described herself as being “pure as the driven slush.” “I’m an occasional drinker, the kind of guy who goes out for a beer and wakes up in Singapore with a full beard.” “If they want to see the girl next door, let them go next door.” “My goal was to have one husband and seven children, but it turned out to be the other way around.” In addition to the people and the films they made, here are histories of 31 legendary watering holes including The Brown Derby, Romanoff’s, Chasen’s, and San Simeon. Here too are 43 recipes for the basic thirst quenchers to such exotica as Raymond Chandler’s Gimlet, Missionary’s Downfall, Mitchum’s Eye-Opener, Richard Burton’s Boilermaker and Cranes Scorpion Bowl. Everybody in the book has a simply wonderful time. You will too. I guarantee it!Denny [email protected]

Stories told, twice or thrice, are still worth telling, and Mark Bailey has done an excellent job of gathering together the best of old Hollywood gossip, some borrowed, some blue, and some that even might be true. The illustrations, whether intentionally or not, distort some famous faces: they look as if they had been drawn while looking through the bottom of a martini glass. "Very dry please." Sammy Davis Jr. somehow is transformed into the famous book jacket photo of the young J.D. Salinger. J.D. was half Jewish and Sammy Jewish by adoption, which only goes to prove the miraculous effect of alcohol, if used discreetly. There are also a number of recipes for obscure cocktails of the past for those who would rather mix than read. All in all, a useful adjunct to anyone's bar or library.

This book is a hoot, especially if you appreciate the golden age of Hollywood and a Martini straight-up. It features stories of famous directors, actors, and screenwriters involved in various alcohol-fueled escapades; classic movies that were notable for boozing on the set; and famous watering holes in Hollywood and Beverly Hills where stars hung out to be either/or seen and to imbibe. While some of the drinking elite are already well-known (W.C. Fields, Sinatra, John Wayne, Joan Crawford) you will be surprised by some of the celebrities profiled in this book who enjoyed a good cocktail to the extreme. Some of the stories will make you laugh out loud, and the book has great caricature illustrations plus actual drink recipes that were favorites of various celebrities. Most interesting thing I learned was the immense popularity of gin -- a ghastly brew if there ever was one, but to each his own. A thoroughly enjoyable read, bottoms up.

A wonderful read for anyone interested in Hollywood history and/or alcohol — and really, can the two be separated?Mark Bailey has assembled in one volume short profiles of movie stars and writers, particularly those notable for how much they imbibed; their often notorious incidents involving drinking; descriptions of famous clubs and watering holes from the past; scenes from classic movies affected by alcohol; and classic cocktail recipes. I wanted to try them all, from the Cocoanut Grove to the Orange Blossom to the Vesper Martini!Of All the Gin Joints — title taken, of course, from the famous Bogart line from Casablanca — is an excellent time capsule, evoking memories of Hollywood from its earliest days up through the 1970s. The saddest part of the book is how some of the landmarks, gloriously described, no longer exist, replaced by apartments or strip malls. Also makes a terrific gift for the tough-to-shop-for who like movies and/or drinking. (Review originally posted at ComicsWorthReading.com.)

Presentation-wise this book gets a 10 out of 10 from me, the dustjacket artwork and feel of the book is superb and it is nicely presented inside, very high quality. It features all the main Hollywood stars and portrays them in the light of all the excess and debauchery that went with them, and terrific research has gone into the information on locations. It is startling in places and very funny in others. There are some good film reviews which have put me on to a couple of films I haven't seen before and I look forward to them. The newspaper style feature of having key sentences highlighted in blocks throughout the article gets very tiresome I feel. One notable absence to me is no mention of the James Cagney film 'Come Fill The Cup' where he featured an outsanding portrayal of an alcoholic. By far the worst thing about the book are the drawings of the stars - it was a brave move to have no photographs and rely on caricatures - and these are terrible (and I find the drawings of bars / venues totally pointless)... Buster Keaton, Richard harris, Robert Mitchum, Stan Laurel, Sammy Davis Jr, Liz Taylor, Oliver Reed, for instance, and worst of all Errol Flynn...these are not difficult people to draw well but the standard here is dire. I get the idea that they are distorted as seen through a drunken haze, but these are diabolical, shockingly bad. Aside from that, I read the book through and ended up feeling quite nauseous from all that alcohol flowing and excess-ing, but I guess that is the point of it, to bring that over - rather like the Buster Keaton treatment, liquid only diet - it could be the cure of all cures.

I bought this book for my wife who is very into old movies, movie stars and all the stories behind them. She really loved it and would recommend it to anyone else who loves old Hollywood right through to the late 1970's. We are also looking forward to trying out some of the movie stars' cocktails shown in the book as well over New Year. There is also lots of info on the old hang outs of the stars as well both on and off "The Strip"..

Entertaining drinking stories of earlier Hollywood. Some, well known, some not so well-known.

An alternative view on the cinema greats.

was a gift. Happy with purchase.