78 years ago this week, the eighteenth amendment of the United States Constitution was repealed. I’ve been watching Ken Burns’ new documentary about the failed ‘Noble Experiment,’ Prohibition, and it’s packed with so much great history and just an overload of fantastic anecdotes – I fear for my brain (it may burst from all the nuggets I’m squirreling away). Prohibition opened up the country for such a wave of crime (from the comically enthusiastic nose-thumbing variety to some of the most ruthless and terrifyingly brazen violence and wide-spread corruption our country has seen). Honestly, some of the stories in the documentary sound like science fiction. Did this really happen? Here? Anyhow, yes, please put it on any list of gift options you're compiling for me (if you ritually exchange gifts this time of year, it’s a peach).
In fact… Why don’t you pair it with one of these Prohibition fictions for a gift-pack? I’ll be your best friend.
Boardwalk Empire Season 1 – Is there a better looking show on the TeeVees? And how about that cast? Oh, and Terence Winter and Martin Scorsese? (You’re concerned because it doesn’t come out until January- bah – that’s what gift cards are for!)
The Thin Man – Based on the novel by Dashiell Hammett, but really is its own thing. William Powell and Myrna Loy had many extra-Hammett turns as Nick and Nora, and they were having such a great time all buzzed on bubbly you can get second-hand intoxication from viewing. Will the new Rob Marshall/Johnny Depp adaptation be half as fun? If so, it’ll be worthwhile, (I hear Jerry Stahl is no longer attached to write… I was really interested in his take).
The Untouchables – Did any of this happen? Nope. Not really. But why let little things like facts and history get in the way of a ripping yarn? Why indeed? Brian De Palma’s David Mamet scripted, Ennio Morricone scored, Sean Connery one-liner-ed ham-fest is everything that would drive me nuts about seeing it for the first time now… good thing I saw it as a teenager, ‘cause it’s a blast. “He puts one of yours in the hospital, you put one of his in the morgue!”
Miller's Crossing – Maybe the Coen Brothers finest moment. It’s really tough to top. A little Hammett (Red Harvest), a little James M. Cain (Love's Lovely Counterfeit), a whole lotta classic gangster movies to steal from and still… it’s so undeniably them. Tough, gorgeous, bloody and funny as hell – the best dialogue delivery since… Perfect film.
Scarface – Howard Hawkes’ film based on the novel by Armitage Trail is where the gangster tropes come from. This one and The Public Enemy, I suppose. I’d love both.
Thunder Road – Robert Mitchum running shine on the backroads. So. Much. Cool. To think NASCAR came from this… Okay, it's not Prohibition era, but it is moonshining – let it stand.
Oscar - Just kidding.
What have I overlooked?
Jedidiah Ayres writes fiction and keeps the blog Hardboiled Wonderland.
