Above: a bartender at classic Hollywood cocktail joint Musso and Frank - open since 1919 - gets ready for the big night.
To me, Hollywood is a cocktail kinda town. And with The Artist in pole position to grab the biggest Oscar of them all this Sunday - there's nothing Hollywood loves more than a movie about Hollywood - what better way to celebrate Oscar than with a Prohibition-era cocktail - or two?
The Sidecar is one of my personal favorites. I remember first tasting this lovely libation at a New Year's party by a friend who's a real expert in all things mixological. Made with lemon juice, sugar and Cognac, it's got a tangy sweetness I love, but also packs a real punch (I'm ashamed to say I was non-verbal after two).
Around the time The Artist is set, barkeeps started rimming their Sidecar glasses with sugar, marking it out as the indisputable forebear of that other girly classic, the Cosmopolitan.
Left: The gorgeous Berenice Béjo in The Artist.
Another twenties-era cocktail I've enjoyed is the French 75. You'll do well to beware of a cocktail named for a piece of World War I-era munitions - but it's a very tasty combination of gin and Champagne.
Invented in Harry's New York Bar (located, oddly enough, by the Opera Garnier in Paris - it's still a great place to get a Tom Collins) the French 75 was first recorded in 1930, smack-dab in The Artist's timeline.
Not into cocktails? Well, grab a soft drink of choice (I recommend a root beer or Cel-Ray for this period), put a feather in your hair, and keep your crafting close by - and you'll be happy whoever wins.
Salut!
[Main image by Wha'ppen on Flickr; shot from The Artist is copyright Warner Bros. France]
