Comments on: Drink Hard & Speak Easy

Question: Drink Hard & Speak Easy

Lieber Frau — Mon, 17 Sep 2012 21:28:57 -0800

I'm throwing a speakeasy themed Prohibition party. What are some fun movies from the 1920s—that are readily available through Netflix—that I can project onto the walls to create ambiance?

Ideally, the movies would feature nightclub goers carousing in a speakeasy or cabaret. I also like the idea of there being intertitles. But these things aren't graven in stone. The main thing I'm looking for is atmosphere.

Bonus points if you can come up with an appropriate Garbo film.

By: elizardbits

elizardbits — Mon, 17 Sep 2012 21:33:45 -0800

Movies made in the 1920s or movies set in the 1920s? Or both?

By: Lieber Frau

Lieber Frau — Mon, 17 Sep 2012 21:36:02 -0800

Movies filmed in the 1920s or early 30s at latest.

By: brujita

brujita — Mon, 17 Sep 2012 22:06:41 -0800

Clara Bow (the "It" girl) and Louise Brooks for silents. Jean Harlow for pre-code talkies.

By: infinitewindow

infinitewindow — Mon, 17 Sep 2012 22:13:16 -0800

The Gold Diggers of 1933. Features "We're In The Money."

By: Sidhedevil

Sidhedevil — Mon, 17 Sep 2012 22:23:44 -0800

Our Dancing Daughters with Joan Crawford. 1928. Includes a speakeasy scene, iirc.

By: katyggls

katyggls — Mon, 17 Sep 2012 23:16:51 -0800

She Done Him Wrong with Mae West and Cary Grant was made in 1933, and takes place in a cabaret/saloon. There's plenty of people carousing with drinks if I remember correctly. Possible snag that it's supposed to be set in the 1890's, but it doesn't really feel like a period piece.

By: roger ackroyd

roger ackroyd — Tue, 18 Sep 2012 00:14:55 -0800

Netflix streaming or DVDs? If streaming, would other sites acceptable? YouTube has a lot of great old content these days.

By: Houstonian

Houstonian — Tue, 18 Sep 2012 05:03:19 -0800

The party might end with a breathless newsreel about the repeal of prohibition.

If you were taking movies about directly after the repeal (or ending with a movie like that) I would heartily recommend The Thin Man (1934), which is absolutely awesome and has characters that are impossible to not love. And they do love their drink.

By: Lieber Frau

Lieber Frau — Tue, 18 Sep 2012 05:05:50 -0800

I prefer DVDs as the network connection can be spotty.

By: mediareport

mediareport — Tue, 18 Sep 2012 06:01:37 -0800

Sunrise by F.W. Murnau from 1927 is one of the most amazing silent films from the end of the era and has a great carnival scene about an hour in.

By: mediareport

mediareport — Tue, 18 Sep 2012 06:12:30 -0800

Are you planning on listening to the movies as well as having them on screen or are you just gonna watch with the sound off and party music playing? Re: Garbo, I'd recommend Queen Christina for visual sumptuousness, but it's from 1933. Grand Hotel would be fun if you were actually hearing it because the dialogue is snappy. Your best bet if probably her first US film, the 1926 silent The Torrent; it's a ridiculous globe-spanning love story with lots of sexy Garbo entrances, a bullwhip fight between her two rivals and a great climactic flood at the end. I haven't seen Flesh and the Devil but it's probably as good for this purpose.

By: shakespeherian

shakespeherian — Tue, 18 Sep 2012 07:38:01 -0800

Josef von Sternberg's The Blue Angel is about a love affair with a cabaret headliner played by Marlene Dietrich.

By: Sphinx

Sphinx — Tue, 18 Sep 2012 10:40:19 -0800

I might be wrong, but I think Metropolis is in the public domain and while it isn't about speakeasies, its view of the future (now) is somehow hilarious and shocking at the same time.

By: THAT William Mize

THAT William Mize — Tue, 18 Sep 2012 12:26:41 -0800

I think you should show Reefer Madness just because you CAN.

By: roger ackroyd

roger ackroyd — Tue, 18 Sep 2012 12:54:19 -0800

Consider The Thin Man movies: glamor, cocktails, murder, wit.

By: JujuB

JujuB — Tue, 18 Sep 2012 13:09:53 -0800

The Sting is a movie produced in 1973, but is set in the 1930's. It is in color and has fantastic music.