An American in Paris (1951) / Evan Williams Bottled-in-Bond Bourbon

0:00 Hey everybody, it's Bob. And I just want to let you know that today's episode is part of our Season 10 Rewind, where we're revisiting all of our episodes from season #1 this one was released early to our Patrons, and it was released all the way back at the end of 2023. What that means for you guys is if you would like to get the kind of bonus content that our Patrons have been receiving for two plus years, you can go to patreon.com/film Whiskey and sign up at any of our 3 levels of support. Enjoy the episode. In 1951, director Vincent Minnelli and star Gene Kelly gave the world a vibrant musical that never stopped trying to prove itself. In 2023, we try a fan favorite Bottled in Bond bourbon. The film is an American in Paris. The whiskey is Evan Williams White label. And we'll review them both.

0:51 This is. The Film and Whiskey podcast. Welcome to the Film and Whiskey podcast, where each week we review a classic movie and a glass of whiskey. I'm Bob Book. I'm Brad Gee. And this week, we are revisiting 1951's Best Picture winner, An American in Paris. Brad, it's nice to revisit this movie. I have many thoughts.

1:33 I think I've changed my tune a bit. But have you? There's something about. Yeah. Go ahead. They were super high on this film in season 1. There is something about like going back to our first 456 ish movies that like, even if I don't love the movie as much as I used to it, I have just so much nostalgia for the beginning of this podcast, you know? Yeah, 100%. Man, it is super fun to go back and think through these movies again. It's it's fun to revisit them. We were just little baby podcasters, man. We were recording this in a basement with a conference call microphone because we didn't have two mics to put together between the two of us. Yep man, Fun times.

2:17 What a what a great time, man. All right, we'll see you next week. Thanks for walking down memory lane with us. And go watch an American in Paris. Yeah, Brad, OK, let's just dive in with this. I would like to hear general impressions on what did you think of this movie The first time around and has your opinion changed this time without tipping your hand too much? Oh man, I I think if I remember correctly, I think I enjoyed it the first time but wasn't super high on it. I'm guessing I gave it like a 7 1/2 or an 8. And I think that this time around, it just struck me how much fun this movie is. Like it's, it's just like, like I chose the word vibrant very specifically. Like it's just a really vibrant fun world that Minnelli and Kelly have created here.

3:09 And I, I just absolutely love his friend Adam, I think is his name in the movie. Who's the Who's the actor? Oscar Levant. Yeah, yeah, Levant. I don't know how he says it. He is my favorite character in this. Movie. Oh, he's so good. There he is just. Incredible. I don't mean to derail what you're saying, but there was a moment, one moment in this movie where I laughed out loud. And it's when he is like, he's, he's in the Cafe, Adam is, and he's calling Henri as he's eating dinner. And he just keeps hinting that he wants to come up and eat dinner. And then Henri, he's like, no, no, no, I, I see you later. And he hangs up the phone and just goes, I'm hungry. Hangs the phone up and the way he says it is so like starving artist pouting that it was. It was just perfect and I needed to say that at some point in this episode.

4:00 Did the inner grad student in your soul just, you know, empathize with him in that? And it was also like, he was so unkempt and just chain smoking through the whole movie. I was like, I get it dude. I get where you're coming from man. I have. I have been there. All right, so this time around you said it's a lot more fun. I think that I'm I'm in an interesting place on this movie, Brad, because if anything, watching another 300 or however many movies we've watched in between has really solidified for me that I love Vincent Minnelli as a director. And I still don't think he gives enough credit. He is a true like painterly artist with the camera and the color palettes and the costuming. Like it's just very much of a piece. I think the thing for with this movie for me is like Singing in the Rain is a movie that you don't really need any context for.

4:51 If you have never watched a silent movie, if you know nothing about that era in movie history, if you know nothing about movie making, you can get dropped into Singing in the Rain And it it works for everyone from like 2 to 102. Yeah, this movie, it still works, but I feel like listening to a podcast like this will probably help appreciate it more. Like there's just a layer more of like, oh, you. You probably need this context to understand why this movie is considered important. It doesn't quite just work on its face as well as a movie like Singing in the Rain does for me. That's interesting. What, like what are some specific things about the film that you're like, oh, I need to explain this to to Brad, 'cause he clearly doesn't know what's going on here?

5:37 Well, I think one of the big things is you got to kind of situate it like historically, especially in Gene Kelly's career. So Kelly, you know, comes off Broadway in the early 40s. He becomes a really big star in MGM musicals by the late 1940s. He's really surpassed even Fred Astaire. Cause Astaire is starting to get started, to get a bit older. And Kelly has been pushing and pushing for more kind of directorial control and he wants to do something big and bold and kind of operatic and and balletic with his movies. And so even though Vincent Minnelli is the credited director on this movie, and I think he did obviously direct the movie, it was really Kelly who was spearheading the whole production. And he had basically been begging MGM to let him do a movie like this. So in 194849, they made the movie on the Town, which is a really fun movie.

6:26 And that was a Co Stanley Donnon movie that Gene Kelly kind of helped Co direct as well. And you get to American in Paris. And he had been like begging Louis B Mayer at MGM for the money to make this ballet sequence. And you got to let me do it my way. Mayer is on his way out the door and new guys coming in. And I think in that interim kind of change up, Kelly gets the permissions that he needs to just kind of make his movie his way. They give him a bunch of money to do it. And this is the result. And it's it's really one of the first MGM musicals that emphasizes like the artistic side of things. Like Brad, this movie closes with an 18 minute ballet. You know what I mean?

7:08 Like they just weren't doing stuff like this then. And do I think it? Works. Can I say something? Yeah, please. I don't like the 18 minute ballot. That's what I'm saying. Do I think it works perfectly? No. But I think that that's the kind of layer I'm talking about where it's like, OK, like if you want to appreciate this movie, it might not work perfectly just at face value. But if nothing else, I appreciate this movie probably more than I like it at this point. Yeah. Well, I mean, a few seasons back we did a bunch of, you know, director series and and if anybody remembers, we we would rate the directors right. And we would use this scale. I think that this movie would fall so low on the cohesion scale that we used because we use it to talk about like within the world of the movie, how much of the things that happened makes sense. It does it feel like a cohesive, unified world, the the direction of the script, things like that.

8:04 And I'm like, this movie does not make a lot of sense. And, and, and it's hard to say that because obviously musicals in general don't make sense. Like something that my wife always says about musicals, she's like, this doesn't make sense. People don't just break out and song and dance in normal everyday life. And I'm like, yes, that is very true. But that's part of the charm of musicals, right? It's it's an exaggerated way of looking at emotions and feelings in daily life. Some people love that, some people don't. That's fine. But even within the world of a musical, where people just randomly break out into song and dance, it felt like they were reaching for for a few of the things.

8:45 Yeah, I like, you know, I wouldn't say that singing in the rain has a ton of plot, but there's a lot of complications in singing in the rain. Like this person gets fired and this person is angry and you have to navigate all these relationships in this movie. It really felt like a film in search of a plot. Like they're they're a few people who are in a love triangle and then there are a couple periphery characters and every character gets a big either ballet number or dream sequence or performance piece that are almost always unrelated to the plot of the movie. And Brad, even when you look up this movie on Wikipedia, like the first thing it says is that it's a tone poem movie.

9:26 And what they're basically saying is like, it's, it sounds like an admission that this movie has no plot. And they're just saying like, you need to just go on vibes. Like this movie is all about vibes and I I. Like like a licorice pizza. Yeah, it's like the Terrence Malick of musicals and like, I kind of agree with that. Especially like the 1st 15 ish minutes of the movie where you're just meeting the characters and hanging out in the neighborhood, but then they start introducing these other characters like Gene Kelly's benefactor. And I just don't know like which plot is supposed to be the A plot and which is the B like a subplot And and like everything's kind of given equal weight and then we go off and do a dream sequence and like it. It just really feels messy from a script standpoint. Yeah, it it really does.

10:15 And I don't think it necessarily like it doesn't ruin the movie. I think there's still a lot of fun sequences here. They build a really beautiful vision of, you know, what it looks like to kind of struggle in Paris. And overall, all of those things work. I, I think the, the hard part for me kind of revolves around the fact that I just, I did not enjoy Leslie Quran this time through. She she wasn't my favorite. I I don't think that her character is given enough to be a draw for Gene Kelly and for, I'm going to try to say his name Bob George Gwettari. Is that is that good?

11:01 Yeah, I think is it, is it Gatari? I don't know. We'll, we'll. Gatari. George, we're going to call him. George, we'll call. Yeah, we'll call him George the the gentleman who plays Henri. Henri, I don't. Totally understand the obsession with the with Leslie Koran. Well, I don't, I don't get. It if I can briefly press pause on this thread because I think this is an important thread. I've mentioned 100 characters in this movie. You've mentioned the stars of the movie. We haven't actually explained this movie yet. And so I think it might be time for us to throw over to our first segment of the day, which we call, Brad explains. Brad's going to give us the movie plots with only 60 seconds taken on the clock, so let's go ahead and do your take with this little segment that we call, Brad explains.

11:45 Brad Explains is the part of the podcast where Brad breaks down the plot of the movie that he has just seen. We're going to say for the second time this year, Brad, have you watched this at all in the interim? No, I have not. That was a very confident no. Like, come on, no. There's there's certain movies that I've come back to. There's other movies that I've like, man, I need to get back and watch, you know, XY or Z. Then there's other movies that I haven't thought about since we recorded the episode. I'm not going to say which category. This one. Went to I mean, you already did. So Brad, you have 60 seconds on the clock to break down the plot of this movie. Tell us all about the weird plot mechanics if you can spoil the heck out of it. So if you haven't seen an American in Paris, listen, folks, I would still say that it's worth the watch. It is a beautiful movie to look at, and you've got Gene Kelly smiling and dancing like there's not. Yes, the life doesn't get much better than that. He has one of the best smiles.

12:42 Just a beautiful man. Yeah, all right, dude, it's incredible. One minute on the clock and go. And American in Paris is a film about a struggling painter, a struggling pianist and a super successful singer who are all friends with one another. Two of the three fall in love with the same woman but do not know it. We follow mostly the painter played by Gene Kelly, as he is courted by this extraordinarily wealthy woman, even though he is in love with this beautiful young dancer. That is that it? Oh, OK. Is that the? Whole I was just here waiting like and and then. Well, I, I literally, I was like thinking, I was like, what else is there to this movie?

13:25 And I realized. That's about it. Did you mention the love triangle? Yeah, yeah, yeah, the the singer and the painter are both in love with the same girl. Got it. OK. And and the painter has a wealthy benefactor who's I wouldn't even say she's in love with him. She's she's in love with the idea of flings. Yes, it seems to be. Yes, OK. Do you want to go back to Leslie Quran or do you want to cause 'cause the the benefactor Gene Kelly relationship is kind of like the thing I'm most excited to talk to you about so. We can hit on. Let's talk about that, OK? I actually really like the character of Milo this time around. I do too. And we actually, we spent a good deal of time talking about that in our original episode on this.

14:08 And I was very proud of us that we were like, I'm kind of on her side. Like I don't understand why Gene Kelly is such a Dick to her all the time. Yeah, yeah. I I like her character a lot. I think that Nina Fock does an incredible job, you know, portraying this woman who's searching for meanings, searching for a relationship that will help her cope with the daily, you know, struggles of being wealthy there. There's a certain charm about her in this film that I don't know if I can fully describe, you know, where it comes from. But the way the Gene Kelly acts towards her is so rude. Like truly. Yeah.

14:48 Like, she's very clear and upfront about what she wants from the start. She's like, hey, I I think you're attractive. I like your painting. And I'm curious about supporting you and kind of, you know, having you as a date to these balls and, and things like that. And he's just like, no, I'm, I'm interested in this other woman, but also you can, you can kind of help me out and I'm going to use you. Let's go a little bit deeper on the the actual like plot mechanics here. So Gene Kelly is set up on a street corner, not prostituting but selling his paintings. And she rolls by in her Rolls Royce or whatever and finds him and says, I'll come back to my place. I want to buy your paintings. And it's very clear what she's doing. But, you know, he hangs up his paintings.

15:29 And she says, I'm throwing a party later, come by. And he comes back dressed all to the nines. And it's just the two of them. And he's like, hey, lady, I'm not a gigolo. And she's like, I don't want you for a gigolo. I just wanted to get to know you better. And you would have told me no if I'd been upfront. OK, fine. Well, then she starts bankrolling him and she's like, I'm going to set you up in a studio. I'm going to get you a showing in three months. And you can pay me back for 'cause you know, Gene Kelly's very proud about his money. You can pay me back from the sales of your paintings. And I think, Brad, that this is where the script really fails. Because watching at this time, I think the script really wants us to think that she is the the quote UN quote villain of the movie.

16:13 And it just doesn't work. Like even at the end of the movie, they're at this big like artist's ball and he goes with Milo, this woman, and they run into Adam, Gene Kelly's best friend. And Adam knows exactly who she is and kind of gives her a, you know, a lashing of sorts and says, like, let's toast to my friend Gene Kelly because he's got a big showing in a couple months and he's going to take it in the neck or whatever. Like he's going to get criticized because he sucks at painting, basically. And she's like, oh, why do you say that? And he says, well, he has a benefactor that has more nerve than she does cash. And what he's saying is like, she's forcing him into this because she wants him so badly and this is her way of doing it. But like, I just don't kind.

16:56 Of like a it's kind of like a Citizen Kane, you know, his second marriage. Yes. Trying to force her to be an opera. Singer and I just don't buy it. Like that's how artists make money. Like you get a benefactor and she's doing, you know, whether or not she is wanting, you know, to to jump on the Gene Kelly train is a completely different point. Like I don't see anything unethical in what she's doing and she's pretty upfront about it. Is train a euphemism? It sure is. Man the the Gene Kelly disco stick. The the Gene Kelly Alfred Hitchcock train going into a tunnel type of deal. Yeah, that, that was the thing that constantly confused me was like, I feel like that, like you said, that's the whole shtick of being an artist is like, I'm going to make enough art until somebody with money notices me and pays me for what I do.

17:54 And if they don't, I will die penniless and I'll cut my own ear off and life's going to be miserable. Right? Like I, I don't, I don't understand what the supposed moral issue is that that Minelli and Kelly are trying to to portray here with. Script. Yeah. Once again, I feel like they they just got the barest semblance of a plot that they could try to link together all these really good musical numbers. Like you can tell in their planning process, whoever wrote the movie, they were like, Gene Kelly, what kind of dances do you want to do? We got all these. We got the rights to all these old Gershwin songs, which, first of all, I am such a sucker for George Gershwin. Like, I like. Oh my gosh.

18:34 But Kelly's like, all right, I want to do this ballet. I want to do, I got rhythm. We could should probably throw in. It's wonderful at some point. And they're like, great, we'll write a story around that. And you can tell that they tried and it makes absolutely no sense. Well, here's the other part of it. When we're looking at performances, I think Milo, you know, just is so charming and so kind and, and like, she feels like the most real human of all the characters in this movie. Like the scene where she gets upset in the car about, you know, Gene Kelly going out with her and then completely, like, mooning over this other girl the whole time was so relatable. I'm like, yeah, I would be upset, too if I, like, took a girl out.

19:21 And the entire time we were out together, she was like checking out some other guy. Well, and even in that scene, the throw a fit, they're, you know, all the companions are like, now, Milo, you've done this before. You only ever want a fling. And it's like, OK, first of all, there's nothing wrong with that. If that's how she wants to approach relationships and she's upfront and honest with people about it, then like you live your life, Milo. But but it's like they keep trying to make her seem villainous. And it's, I don't know if it's just that she is such a good actress, like she does such a good job in this movie that it undermines that because like, maybe you needed a singing in the rain type of, you know, Jean Higgins performance in that one where she's just like an over the top villain on purpose. Maybe that's what it needed.

20:07 But I I like what we got, honestly. Well, I don't know if I'm, I'm like going way too deep than a 1950s musical is asking for, but it seems like, you know, the, the message they are trying to to say is good, is like Nina is getting in the way of true love. And true love can be established in a moment like, you know, love at first sight. And how dare she get in the way of that and her version of love of like, hey, let's, let's try to be open and honest. And I'm going to clearly. That's not love at all. My desires for this relationship, that's not love, that's evil and bad. And I'm like, I, you know, I'm sure that they didn't think about that too deeply when they were making, but that's kind of the message that I got as I was watching the film. And I don't know, I I think that true love is something of a mixture of the two.

21:01 Well, and. Like, you know. Even if you grant them that, her courting of him is somewhat coercive. Like, Gene Kelly does the exact same thing to Leslie Caran's character. He runs into her and she's like, please leave me alone. You just took me out of the dance floor. I feel unsafe and uncomfortable. And he's like, ah, come on, baby. I'm Gene Kelly. And she's like, please, no. Then he, like, finds out where she works. He tracks her down. He's, like, essentially stalking her. And she's like, I would really prefer if you leave me alone forever. And then he just, you know, hams it up enough that she's like, ah, OK, I'll go out with you. But you know I I know that. It's supposed to be when when Milo does that, it's not OK. Right.

21:43 And I know that it's supposed to come across as charming. And because it's Gene Kelly, like the audience is charming. Well, the audience inherently trusts that he's not a creep. But then you watch it through 2023 glasses and you're like, oh, like she's she's very clearly asking him to leave her alone and he's just not doing that. I was going to say, I always remember a bit of film analysis that has always stuck out to me is Patrick Williams and another YouTube talked about the movie Passengers with Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt. And, and they talked about how if you filmed that movie solely from Jennifer Lawrence's perspective, then it becomes a true suspense horror film.

22:27 Like is Chris Pratt evil? Is he like, you know, is he good? Is he bad? What's his motives here? We don't know what's going on and why he woke her up. I think that if you filmed this movie solely from Leslie Carran's perspective, I, I think that it turns into like, you could turn it into a psychological creeper drama where Gene Kelly is this terrifying figure that won't leave her alone and he keeps popping up at inopportune times. And she's trying to, you know, be faithful in this relationship to Henri. And and like, it could be a completely different movie if you just filmed it from a different perspective. Let's finish out talking about these performances.

23:08 So we've got, you know, at least four more people to talk about. And we had touched on Leslie Quran earlier in the episodes and let's go back to her. I don't remember, Brad, if this is her actual debut movie, but she was 19 years old when Gene Kelly discovers, quote UN quote, discovers her, wants to cast her in this movie. Gene Kelly very famously, as he gets older, wants to have 19 year old Co stars because it's the same thing that happened in singing in the rain the following year. It's an interesting thing, Brad, because I don't think that she's a very good actress, at least at this point. You like really wouldn't acting It works like her. Her ability to dance works really well for what Kelly wants to do with the sort of like dialectic thing here. You know, like we we talked in Singing in the Rain about how Debbie Reynolds was not a dancer at all and Gene Kelly kind of forced her into dancing and and it's good. Like her dancing is very good, but it's really tap heavy and you know, American jazz inflected when you're first introduced to Leslie Quran in that sort of embraceable you dream sequence when when Aubrey is describing her and she does like 8 different dances to try to piece together what kind of girl she is.

24:17 I was immediately like, oh, OK, like this is this is what they used to do in movies. Do you see like the level of control and dancings that she's capable of? Like it's physically an incredible performance. Yeah. Oh, it's absolutely beautiful. The that see that sequence might be my favorite like scene, you know, or sequence of scenes in the movie because it feels like the plot and the vibe of the movie. That's like the one time in the film that they are in perfect alignment. Like the vibe of like, let's let's think about this world impressionistically and, and, and, and the nuances of character and what we bring to the table. Like they illustrate that so well and so clearly. And they they make it clear why Henri has fallen in love with this woman.

25:11 And I'm like, OK, I'm in that. That I can do. But you're right in saying that Leslie Caran just isn't a great actress. And also the script doesn't do her any favors. You know, to go to go back to the the perfume selling scene, Gene Kelly is just being AD and she out of nowhere goes from get away from me, I don't like you to OK, let's go on a date. And I'm like, wait, what? What just happened? This does not this does not flow well. There's, there's no continuity here. And it just, I don't know, it's not the worst thing in the world.

25:51 It's, it's just, you know, some of my, my nitpicks. Let's talk about our Boy George as Henri Burrell. He's really good in the movie. He's a very charming like it it. You look at the guy and you're like, I understand why you would be a famous French singer. Like you're very French, but you're really good looking and super dapper and like, that's kind of all he's there to do. Like he again, not a great actor, you know? And and they did this thing a lot in Hollywood musicals where they would try to introduce like a famous opera singer is now going to be a movie star. And they try that for two movies. Then it didn't work. So they'd go back to the drawing board. Like it's really clear that they're trying to introduce this guy to American audiences and it works for what this movie is supposed to work for.

26:32 And I have really have not much else to say about him. Yeah, he's super charming. I think he's pretty funny. The the inner. It's the innocence in him that's funny as a character that, you know, especially because he kind of gets put opposite of Oscar Levant a lot of the movie. He has that world weariness. You know, Henri has this, like, world innocence, and he's just taking things as they come. And I'm going to go to America and go on tour and get married. And even at the end of the film, it's implied that, you know, Leslie Quran tells him that she's actually in love with Gene Kelly. And so he just naively is like, well, all right, then that makes sense.

27:13 You're in love. Go for it. And just releases her. Yeah. And I'm like, that's, that's charming. It's fine. Yeah, I do love that. Like, the the French stereotype of how they think about love is embodied in this guy. Like, you imagine what that conversation is like in the car. And, you know, to a Frenchman in the world of this movie, it's like, well, love, love conquers all. Love is the supreme thing that we worship. So like, I can't get in the way of that. Of course, I had to take you back to Gene Kelly instead of being like, yes, you've been doing what, behind my back. You know what I mean? Yeah. And it's not like, you know, there's there's a world where back in the day, people would just go on dates with each other and they they didn't mean as much as they do nowadays. And so this wasn't that.

27:59 This was like a man who was desperately in love with her and ready to marry her. And she's, you know, leaving or she's not going to his performances because she's hanging out with Gene Kelly. She's, you know, leaving dates with him early so that she can be with Gene Kelly like she is. She is being a slimeball here, to be clear. I do love the, I don't know what it is about the French. Even in old Hollywood movies, they're always, they're always chasing after the barely legal girls, You know, like, the back story here is like, she came to my family during the war and she was just a little girl. And we didn't fall in love until she wasn't a little girl. And I'm like, OK. Until she was. Yeah. 18 years old and one day I. Was like, OK, bud?

28:40 Yeah, yeah. You've had no feelings for her until then, you freaking groomer. Poor Leslie Quran. Like, the two options in the world that she has are guy who stalks her and guy who has been grooming her since childhood. Yep. Yeah. Big, big, big red flag, man. We are. We're really off the rails today. OK, Two people left to talk about Oscar Levant. We've already touched on him a bit. He is all of the Comic Relief in this movie. They try to give Gene Kelly a couple funny things to do, and they don't work. And so like, when you're watching Oscar Levant piece together that Gene Kelly and Henri are talking about the same girl, and he's, like, fumbling with his cigarette and dropping it in his coffee. And there's some really great physical humor to go along with the drawl, sarcastic voice.

29:28 I just absolutely loved every moment he was on screen. Yeah, it feels like William Wyler took a little bit of that scene at the cafe and implemented it in Roman Holiday when, when Cary Grant is like, you know, tripping his friend and spilling coffee on him. And, and there's this like, playfulness there that like those two scenes reminded me of each other. And I yeah, you're right, man. Oscar Levant, there's something about his character and his his performance that felt the most real out of anybody in this movie. And I and so, yeah, I'm, I'm with you, man. I love me some Oscar in this film. Right.

30:09 I think maybe let's let's hit pause here. We'll talk about Gene Kelly after the break because he did spearhead this whole project. And I think that talking about his performances, talking about, you know, the musical numbers themselves. I want to talk about the costumes in this movie because I think Gene Kelly's costumes are like next level stuff in this movie. And then we'll kind of finish out talking about the fact that this movie won the Oscar for Best Picture and that was a controversial pick even in 1952. So let's take a break here. Let's try this. Evan Williams, what do you say? Let's get to it. All right, so today we are checking out Evan Williams Bottled in Bond colloquial, colloquially known as colloquially known as Evan Williams white label because the regular Evan Williams has a an all black label. This one is the complete opposite, all white with black lettering on it.

31:10 It is as most bottled and Bond whiskies are. It is 100 proof. It has a four year age statement on it. I I, I don't think it's most Bob. I I think it's all every single one. You can have like a five year bottled and bond. This one is very specifically like meeting the bare minimum required. I thought you were. I thought you were talking about the proof point I. Was like, Oh yeah. It's kind of all of it's 100 or 100 proof. That's a good point. So Brad Evan Williams is, according to the Heaven Hill Distilleries website, the second largest selling Kentucky Straight bourbon whiskey in the world as a brand. So this is the 100 proof version of that. I have found out since we first recorded this many, many years ago that Heaven Hill's mash bill for some of their bourbons is identical across brands.

31:59 So the Evan Williams mash bill is 78% corn, 10% rye, 12% malted barley. So it's a low rye mash bill. It's the exact same mash bill that they use for Elijah Craig and also for some of their more inexpensive bottle than Bonds like JW Dance. And I just happened to have a bottle of Elijah Craig and a bottle of JW Dance on my shelf. And so I thought it would be kind of fun, like to not only pour the Evan Williams, but to pour the other two and to see like, is this just the same whiskey in three bottles or like, what are the differences here? I mean, is that is that cool with you if I just kind of do this project while you give reviews of what the whiskey at hand? Bob, you live your best life.

32:42 I don't think you have so much fun with this. I won't stand in your way. I'll put up no obstacles. I will say that JW Dance sounds like a cheap local hometown lawyer that like you call when you've gotten like hassled by the police or something. There's. Just something about the initials. JW Yes, yeah. Like it just seems like a like a really shady lawyer. Yeah, like the judge kind of sighs heavily when he sees him walk into the courtroom. All right, man, so I'm going to say this. Part of the reason that I poured both of these other two brands is I have never been a huge fan of Evan Williams bottled and Bond. It is a beloved budget bourbon among a certain sector of people.

33:27 It's just never been my thing. And so I really want to see like, am I just falling victim to the bottle? Like am I just seeing that it's Evan Williams and telling myself I don't like it? Or is there an actual difference between this and Elijah Craig and JW Dant? So without further ado, let's dive into to the Evan Williams. Brad, what are you picking up on the nose here? This is a decent nose. It's definitely a little bit alcohol forward. The the proof points are coming through and and not in the most pleasant way, but it it's got some nice brown sugar. There's some caramel vanilla, a little bit of oakiness. It's a decent nose hovering on the edge of being like solid. I'll give it a 6 1/2.

34:15 Yeah, close to A7. All of our scores today are going to be considering the fact that this is like a $15 bottle of whiskey. So like, you know, it is what it is. I just finished nosing all three of these, Brad, and my suspicions have really been confirmed here. So Elijah Craig has this really kind of fruit character to it. Like there's a lot of red apple. I got some orange. It has a much more like, it smelled more like a cocktail than straight bourbon, and I like that a lot. But then I went to knows this JW Dance, and it was like sawdust and manliness and like, it had much kind of like darker, mustier notes to it. And I really like that as well. JW Dan.

34:57 Yeah, exactly. JW Dan is one of my favorite budget pours. The Evan Williams is like, it's not even in between those two. It's like if you just kept going down the dark musty hallway into a door you're not supposed to go into. Like it just smells a little bit too oaky. It smells a little bit like it's going to be bitter. I don't get those kind of classic vanilla brown sugar notes on this so much. It just seems like a like an excessively oaky spicy bourbon. I'm going to give it a 6th and 1/2 on the nose but I have a feeling I know where this is going on the taste. Yeah, as as I got into the palate, the the note I took was.

35:38 Like. Like it's not quite orangey. It's kind of like the essence of orange, but a little bit sour, and it's just kind of a hint of orange there. There's some vanilla, there's some pepper. It the the texture. That's not even the right word. There is something about it that reminded me of Pop Rocks a little bit that I don't know what it was, the way it interacted with my palate, but it kind of reminded me of Pop Rocks. It's OK, it's not bad. I'll give it a 6 1/2 here. Yeah. So again, like, I just, I drank the Elijah Craig and then I drank the JW Dance, and there's market differences there. The damp, I'm going to be honest with you, the damp tastes really cheap, but it tastes cheap in a way that's like, it appeals to me who is forever a poor college student at heart.

36:29 Like it has like a lot of oak. It gets a little bit bitter. There is like more rye spice to it than I was expecting. And then you get like a fake sweetener note at the end. Yeah. The Evan Williams is all of that without fake sweetener for me. Like I just don't, I don't get much on this except just like here's a bunch of oak and here's some really bitter notes. I have a feeling that people like this because it probably mixes really well in like an old fashioned or any whiskey based drink because it's higher proof and it just brings like the wood character to it. But sipping it neat. I, I, I just don't know that I love this man. I'm going to give it a 5 1/2 on flavor. Yeah, for me, I'm actually at a 5 1/2 on the finish. The the finish is just dry oaky there. There's some black pepper going on, but it's just kind of saps my soul a little bit.

37:27 And it, it's, it's fine. It like a 5 1/2 is not a good score, but it's also not a bad score. So it's it's OK. It's nothing to write home about. I'm trying to find the right word to describe this whiskey because it's not like today I had to have a cup of coffee at a place that I don't usually get it. And you know what? You're just like used to. Drinking a not the gas, not the gas station. No, it's even worse than that. You know, like sometimes when you get like mass produced, like Folgers, it just kind of tastes like they've accidentally or purposefully ground up bits of cardboard instead of coffee. Like there's a, there's like a stale old paper flavour.

38:08 Yeah. I'm trying to decide if, like, this is the whiskey equivalent of that. I know I wouldn't call it stale, but it definitely tastes like if someone stuck this in front of me, it would be, like, my least favorite kind of bourbon. Yeah. Like all the notes that I I tolerate in other bourbons, it's like those are the only notes. Here, yeah, they're prominent. You know what I mean? Yeah, no, I mean, I love the coffee analogy because for me, I remember growing up and thinking that coffee smelled pretty good, like when my parents made in the morning. But once I was a teenager and I tried it a few times, I literally remember I would have to brush my teeth twice and then also like chew a stick of gum to get that bitter coffee out of my off of my palate.

38:59 And it wasn't until I was in my late 20s that I had a really good cup of coffee and was like, oh, I could like coffee. That's not, you know, Maxwell House like. And I, I'm with you, man. There's definitely some whiskeys that fall into the Folgers Maxwell Houses of the world. Now, again, I don't know if this is one of them, but it has a similar thing where it's like this is a completely different kind of coffee. This is a completely different kind of whiskey that I do not prefer. So I'll give it a six on finish. I'll give it a six on balance. And that is because this is like, again, a $1520 bottle of whiskey. Brad, what is this currently retailing for in the state of Ohio?

39:41 Yeah, Bob, this is a $19.99 bottle of whiskey in the state of Ohio. I am seeing it online for as low as 1099 on sale at some places so it seems like we got to move some units here. Heaven Hill. I don't think this is a great value even at 1999. I'm drinking this JW dance right now. It is. I think 15 bucks now you can only get it in like Kentucky. I get that. It's just significantly better at $5 cheaper. I'm going to give this AI don't know, a six out of 10 on value just because a $20 bottle of whiskey is is pretty much a good value no matter how bad it is. So like I can, I can only give it a low enough score to punish it a bit, but I'm coming out to a six on value. What are you at, Brad?

40:30 I, I'm also at a six. I, I, I think that this isn't a terrible value. I think it's a decent bottle of whiskey that you can use as a mixer and some of your, your mixed drinks. But overall it, it just doesn't have quite enough going on for it. And there are other options here in the 20 to $25.00 range that I would much more highly recommend. And, and, you know, we'll go to the classic Rebel 100. I'm coming out to a 30 out of 50. Brad, where are you sitting on this one? I am at a 30.5 all. Right. So our average is a 30.25 out of 50 or a 60.5 out of 100.

41:11 This is nothing to write home about, folks. And even amongst budget bourbons, you know it. It's likely that people just have their preferred budget whiskey. I just, I struggle to understand the cult that has formed around this bottle because I just don't, I don't find it to be anything special. Brad. Yeah, I know. I'm, I'm with you, man. I, I think that this is an example for me of like following the big name brands and just having a loyalty there for some unearned reason. I I don't understand it all. Right, man. Well, before we get too philosophical on that front. Was that was that harsh? Yeah, it was a little harsh, but also like we're opening a can of worms that we do not have time to dive into today. So let's get back into talking about an American in Paris. What do you say?

41:58 Let's get to it, Bob. All right everybody, That was Evan Williams white label, a whiskey that we will gladly tap dance away from Bob. I am super excited because we are in the midst of a great season for two facts and a falsehood. Yeah, we're only a couple episodes in, man, but I am, I'm feeling more optimistic about this season just 'cause I know the movies better, you know, I can go back and listen to a full episode's worth of context that we've already recorded and hope that you're not doing the same. And so maybe some of the tidbits that you've shared are going to come up again. We'll see.

42:39 I don't know. I'm feeling good about myself. It may just be because we're watching a Gene Kelly movie. But Brad, that means that it is time for our next segment, which we call 2 Facts and a Falsehood. Brad is going to try to stump you. Ball 2 are right and what is wrong? 2 facts and a falsehood. 2 Facts and a Falsehood is the part of the show where Brad presents me with three items about the making of this movie, all of which are presented as fact, one of which is a complete lie, and I have to figure out which one that is. As I've said, I'm very optimistic. I don't know if I actually have reason to be. But none of this goes from here. Hit me with your two facts and a falsehood. Fact number one In an interview later in her life, Quran says that she found the dancing particularly difficult as the studio floors were concrete and not sprung as she was used to. Also, the bright floor paints made the surfaces quite slippery.

43:37 Fact number 2IN spite of the fact that the film was almost entirely shot on MGM's Lot 44 in Hollywood, they experienced multiple rain delays due to a historically wet summer in California. It rained so hard that they couldn't work around the sound of the downpour hitting the roof. Fact #3 Arthur Freed originally just wanted to buy the rights to George Gershwin's number American in Paris, but Ira Gershwin said that he'd only sell on the condition that if a musical were to use the song, it would only use Gershwin numbers as its other songs. I like that. I don't know if it's true or not, but a bit of Hollywood history here. We haven't really talked much about Gene Kelly in terms of his place in Hollywood, but obviously his biggest competitor in the market was Fred Astaire. And Fred Astaire very famously made a movie called Swing Time where all of the songs were Gershwin songs. Now, this is when George Gershwin was still alive, and so Gershwin wrote every single song for that movie specifically. But it seems plausible to me that any subsequent Gershwin movie or movie using Gershwin would have to use all Gershwin. Say he could also like know about the rivalry between the two and be like, I got, I got all these ones for here. Here's a easy payday.

44:52 Yeah. If you if you want to be like your competition, you better hire me for the whole thing. #1 sounds really plausible too. You know, this was Leslie Caron's first major movie in Hollywood. I can't remember if it's actually her first Hollywood film, but the idea of dancing on concrete sounds terrible. And there are many, many horror stories from the golden age of musicals about bleeding through shoes and everything else. So I'm going to say that one's true #3 sounds pretty true, and #2 sounds really innocuous. So I'm just going to go ahead and say #2 is the falsehood just because I found it to be the most boring fact? Wah wah, boring Bob, you are correct. That is the Gall said.

45:37 All. Right. Congratulations, Sir. Thank you. You have. Won nothing I've. Won absolutely nothing except the chance to lose next week and balance out this win. That's right. All right, man, let's get back into talking about the movie. And when I say the movie, I mean Gene Kelly, because we've talked about everything else except for Gene Kelly so far. Brad, I I mean, it's kind of hard to talk about Gene Kelly performances in musicals because he is one of these guys that I think he's a very good actor and he had a number of dramatic roles where he wasn't singing and dancing. But when you talk about Gene Kelly in a musical, more than a character, he's just being Gene Kelly.

46:17 Like the Gene Kelly persona is inserted into different situations. And so it's kind of like, how do you talk about Gene Kelly in this movie? We've already talked about him and singing in the rain. Just go listen to that. And so I think maybe part of part of the conversation needs to be like, what didn't work about Gene Kelly in this movie for you? And or we've both already established we like singing in the rain better. What's different about Gene Kelly there than here? And and why does it make such a difference? Man, I think that An American in Paris feels more just a little slipshod, a little more rough around the edges than Singing in the Rain does.

47:06 Singing in the Rain just feels like it has this, this airtight command and vision behind the film that just drives it forward. Whereas this one just feels kind of fluffier around the edges. It doesn't quite have the clean ascetic that you have in Singing in the Rain and I I think that affects my view of Kelly in this movie versus singing. Yeah, it's it's weird because I completely agree with what you're saying. It is rough around the edges in that it feels more unfocused, but it doesn't feel like a more rough and tumble movie. Like if anything, it feels much more stately and kind of not not stoic, but stayed, you know, like it's just it's it's very inert as a movie, even though there's a lot of movement that was just great ballet sequence at the end. Like Vincent Minnelli was such a good composer of shots. And so in a lot of these musical numbers, like there's a number where Henri and Gene Kelly are singing the songs wonderful. And they're just walking down the street and all the camera does is just kind of track alongside them. And then at the very end, it cranes up because they're going in opposite directions on the street. And so in the top right corner of the screen is Gene Kelly, and in the bottom left is his friend Henri. And that's literally the extent of the camera work in those sequences.

48:29 It's very much like Minnelli's, like, here's the shot, move around within it, and that's what you get. Whereas, you know, Brad, I was listening back to the Season 1 version of this episode and was reminded, and I totally forgot about this. Minnelli actually had to move on to making a different movie and just basically turned over the movie to Gene Kelly. And so Gene Kelly directed most of the ballet sequence. And if you watch that ballet sequence, like the camera is weaving in and out of people. It's kind of like chasing Gene Kelly through situations. There's a ton of really weird looking close-ups. And it's clear that Gene Kelly wants the camera to be a character in these dance sequences instead of just like Minelli, which is you are watching my painting.

49:13 You know what I mean? Like the camera is not there. You're just looking through this porthole that I've established. And I think I say all that to say, like Singing in the rain works so much better because Kelly is able to do this huge like vaudevillian energy through that whole movie. Like it's just you could you could put that movie poster up and just hum. And it's like, that's the energy of that movie. It is like a breakneck pace. It's goofy, it's silly. He totally buys into the slapstick of it. Whereas this movie, he's like, I want to make it feel like I'm a man of the people, but I'm in Paris and everything is so painterly and like, it's just, it's almost like they're at odds, Minelli and and Kelly.

49:59 And so I feel like Kelly's performance suffers as a result of that. Yeah, I mean, you have him narrating the opening about, ah, so beautiful to live in Paris. And my friends, I have so many friends. And then like the average American is like, yeah, no, I I don't know anything about Paris. Never been there. Like I also don't have friends. We have a pandemic of loneliness here. Move along please. So it just, yeah, this film just it suffers there. There's undeniable issues with kind of the vision of of what they're trying to accomplish here. And I think you're right. I think Kelly is trying to shoot for something different than Minelli and that like that's not the end of the world, but it it definitely leads to a few drawbacks that the film has to overcome.

50:50 OK, Brad, I, I mean, I really don't have much more to say about Gene Kelly. And I, I hate to say it like that, but like he's Gene Kelly, folks like, you know, he exudes this radiance and this joy. Yeah, Charm, charisma, all the things. If I had to list like my all time favorite Gene Kelly musical numbers, like obviously the Singing in the Rain number is is #1 but right behind it, Brad is when he sings I got rhythm surrounded by a bunch of small French children. And it's just, Oh my gosh, dude. Like, it's just how do you not watch a sequence like that and whatever's going on in your life, just feel 10 times better about like, it's his persona and he was an exacting, not very kind person to work with from what I've heard.

51:39 But the persona that he could put on when they called action is like unparalleled in the history of movie making. Yeah, and it had to feel jarring for, for the people working with him to be like, man, what what happened to the the guy who was just yelling at me 10 seconds before and and now he's the nicest person. Like, I don't know if you have this experience with your parents, but like, I remember one time my brother and I were just being little crap heads and my mom was like yelling at us. And, and it it's like one of the few times I remember her swearing at us, she and it wasn't even anything. She was like, you guys just don't give a damn about me. Like, like that was it.

52:21 And then we walked in to get ice cream and her whole, hey, how are you guys? It's great to be we'd love to get some ice cream. Like the nicest, happiest human being. And I was like, look to my brother. And I'm like, what just happened? Like she was just yelling at us and crying like 10 seconds ago. And I feel like that's probably the experience people had to have had with Kelly. That's really funny. OK, So I want to transition to talking about the Oscars because, you know, we've noted it in the first half a little bit. This movie wins the best picture Oscar. It was a huge surprise. Part of it is because the producer of this movie, Arthur Freed, who was the the producer of all these big musicals, he won the Irving Thalberg Memorial Award this night. And so like he was already getting, you know, fated by by Hollywood.

53:09 And so in addition to that, they come on stage, they announce that this movie has won best picture. And it was a complete shock. Nobody expected this movie to win. And I, I've been thinking about it a lot, Brad, because in the, in the current climate of the Oscars, I feel like the complaint we hear from average people all the time is like, I have never heard of these films. I have never seen these films. They only award like these boring Oscar bait movies. I wish that they would give Oscars to normal movies. And then you have an example like this. An American in Paris wins best picture and it wins over some pretty heavy hitters like A Streetcar Named Desire with Marlon Brando where Marlon Brando basically introduces the world to both himself and method acting and it is like a sensation.

54:00 There's another movie that comes out this year called Quo Vadis, which is this big epic in Roman times, A Place in the Sun with Montgomery Clift and Elizabeth Taylor. Very controversial movie, but well liked. And I, I can't help but wonder, Brad, if the reason this wins is because Hollywood is kind of sitting on the edge of a bit of a revolution here in terms of how movies get made. And they just don't. The older members of the Academy especially, like, don't want to get dragged into the 1950s. And they're like, let's give it to what we know works and what we like and what is inoffensive and not controversial. And that's Gene Kelly and an American in Paris.

54:40 But I also wonder, like, looking back on it now, I don't know that anyone would even say today that this is the best movie that got made in 1951. So it's like, do we want normal movies to win over like stuffy dramas or do we actually want the best movie to win? Because this still kind of sticks out like a sore thumb. I don't know why this movie wins best picture. And even as a guy that likes it, I don't know that I would say like it deserves to win best picture. Yeah. And then that's the difficult thing is how do you as a 2020, whatever person, go back and really judge what was happening at that time? But I think that you can say this about American in Paris. I don't think it deserved to win in the best picture. Just just flat out like I, I remember watching The Bishop's Wife with Cary Grant and I never knew this. It's, it's one of my favorite like Christmas movies. And I watch it maybe not every year, but every 3rd or 4th year, I'll put it on.

55:44 And I looked it up and I realized it was nominated for best picture in like 47 or 48 whenever it came out. And I just, I, I was watching it, I was like, this is not a best picture nominee. It's a, it's a great film. I have nostalgia with it. It's not a best picture nominee. And I, I think that American in Paris is probably worthy of a nomination, but I, I don't know if it's a, it's a best picture winner. And like, I don't know if this is how it happened, but it seems like one of those things where you know you're going to give this memorial award to the producer. And so they're probably like, the hell, like, let's just put American in Paris up for best picture as like just another pat on the back, like it'll never win. And then they start counting the votes that they're just like, oh, crap.

56:28 Oh, no, oh, no, oh, no. Like as they get farther down the list, I think it's one of those situations. And again, like, maybe not. Maybe everybody really did love this movie. But to read articles from the time, headlines from the time it seemed like this was out of left field and did not really go over well. But it's just, it's funny to me, Brad, that the the debate has never stopped where it's like, do we reward the movie that makes people feel good but is clearly not the best? Or do we give it to movies that everyone's going to look back on 15 years from now and just say that was boring and stuffy. So it's like we, we can't, we can't have it either way, apparently. Yeah.

57:08 And that, and that's that's the difficult part. Like you can be in the common rabble as we often portray ourselves and and, you know, bemoan the the Oscars and how out of touch they are. But I also just look at it and go, hey, man, like the people who choose these movies are not the common rabble. Like they are the best of the best, the people who have been in the industry for forever and they are looking for different things in their movies than we are. And, and there's times where it seems like, you know, they'll, they'll put popular movies in there. But I, I don't always blame them for putting in the things that make sense for them to put in there. I don't know.

57:53 Does that make sense? Yeah. And it's also like, it does strike me sometimes too, that like, sometimes a populist movie wins and everyone agrees, like, hey, Casablanca was actually a a very worthy best picture winner. But then it's like this movie wins and everyone's like, like, rumbling about it. And it's like, OK, well, I think what you're saying is I just don't like this movie as much as Casablanca. So I'm going to concoct a scenario where this was just an old boys club awarding one guy. And like, they're like, let's be real here. The Oscars is just a boys club awarding one guy every year. It's just that some year we like, some years we like the movie better than others. Let's just be real.

58:33 Yeah, 100% and that's OK. It's like the Brad G Awards at the end of every season, you know you've only got to impress one person. That's it man. If you impress me, the rest of your life is basically set you. You can die a happy person. That's what I've been trying to do for 10 seasons now, Brad. Good luck man. All right, let's get into our last segment of the day, which we call. Let's make it a double. We're near the end of the episodes of Things, listening to the film and Whiskey Show. Let's have another film with this one, even if it's struggling. It's the final. Segment of the day. Now let's make it a double. Let's Make It a Double is the part of the show where we pick a movie to pair up with this one to make the perfect double feature.

59:15 I'll get mine out of the way really quickly here, Brad. It is another Gene Kelly Vincent Minnelli pairing. It is one of my personal favorite musicals. It has all of the same faults as an American in Paris. It's a little too long, a little too static. It's it gets a little boring, but I am like in awe of the setting and the songs. And so I it's a 10 out of 10 in Bob Book's book. And it is Brigadoon. Dude, you've you've brought up Brigadoon a few times. It's going to be like a prime candidate for if we ever do another one of those seasons where we just pick like 15 random movies that we would never, we would never do any otherwise. And it's very clearly like a movie that Brad will give a 7 to and be like Bob.

59:57 I don't get it. And and I just have to shrug and be like I don't know why this works on me, but it does. It's another School of Rock situation. No, the School of Rock is a 10 out of 10 man. It's not Bob, Bob. You could give that movie a nine out of 10 and I wouldn't give you crap because sure, why not? That movie is not a 10 out of 10. All right, man, what's yours? Let's make it a double. My let's make it a double. I think I'm going to choose another musical. We're going to stay in the vein of musicals that is from a similar era and one that I have not seen in a while, but from what I remember it, I remember it being shaggy a little too long and and have some issues.

1:00:39 So basically I'm doing what you did. I'm going to choose Guys and Dolls. Oh yeah, that's a. Really is way too long. Oh it's so long, but I for some reason, man, it is so much fun. I just remember really loving that movie. I love it, dude. Let's just keep talking about musicals. That's what we really should do is a season of film and whiskey musicals. Yeah, that's not going to happen, Bob. I don't think I can do it. I I love musicals, but man oh man, that would be a lot. All right, Brad, let's give this movie some final scores and get out of here for the day. This is a hard one because I think this movie is pretty objectively like a 7, but it is so artistically made that I'm like, I could, I might enjoy this movie just as much if I just had it on mute in the background on you know how they make those TV's now? They call them like the frame and they, they're supposed to look like a painting in your, in your living room. Like you could just put this movie on the frame and people will be like, wow, what a beautiful impressionist painting.

1:01:37 That sounds like the snootiest thing I've ever. Oh, it absolutely is. But then you could just be like, ha, ha, it's Gene Kelly. It's not an impressionist painting. Yeah, I'll give it a 7 1/2, but I think that's pretty much the highest I can go on this one, Brad. Do you think that the frame was like directly inspired by Harry Potter? Oh 100% 'cause that just. Sounds like a like like somebody who is obsessed with Harry Potter. Like we need to make moving pictures now. Also, can we talk about movies that way? Can we just keep calling movies moving pictures like we're in the 1920s? Hey. Go to see the moving picture the other day. I saw the new. I saw the new talkie. Tom Cruise in the latest Mission Impossible talkie was wonderful.

1:02:23 7 out of 10 for me, Bob. Yep, yeah, I had nothing more to say. It was really good. I'm done. That brings our average out to a 7.25 out of 10. But we want to know what you think. Have you seen an American in Paris lately? Let us know on all of our social media accounts, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tiktok and YouTube at Film Whiskey. Or jump onto the Discord. We are on there every single day talking to you guys, the fans of the Film and Whiskey podcast. So if you'd like, you can find a link to our Discord at the end of every single one of our show notes. All right, next week. So join us for that one. But until then, I'm Bob Book. I'm Brad G. And we'll see you next time.