The whole world is drunk and we're just the cocktail of the moment. Someday soon, the world will wake up, down two aspirin with a glass of tomato juice, and wonder what the hell all the fuss was about.
- Dean Martin, The Rat Pack

Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine.
- Humphrey Bogart, Casablanca

Unlike Bogart, some barmen don't waste their time asking the pianist to play their song again, but instead let their creative juices flow and come up with a new cocktail for the surprise or delight of a special guest. Here are just a few of them.

Max Baer Cocktail

Ingredients

• 2 dashes Absinthe
• 2 dashes grenadine
• 1/2 gin
• 1/2 Calvados

Method

Shake well and strain into a cocktail glass.

Notes

Max Baer, World heavyweight boxing champion, famously described himself as having 'a million-dollar body and a ten-cent brain'. Perhaps he had drunk too much of this lethal concoction.

Marlene Dietrich Cocktail

Ingredients

• 3/4 wineglass of Rye or Canadian whisky
• 2 dashes Angostura Bitters
• 2 dashes Curaçao

Method

Shake well and strain into a wineglass. Squeeze orange and lemon peel on top.

Notes

Born in Berlin, Marlene Dietrich found international fame in Hollywood, starring in classics such as The Blue Angel (1930) and Morocco (1930) as a sultry temptress. Her longevity as an actress is demonstrated by the fact that her last leading man was David Bowie in Just a Gigolo (1979).

She worked alongside the greats of cinema like Cary Grant, Gary Cooper and James Stewart. She was adept at playing show girls, prostitutes and international women of mystery. When the Second World War started, Hitler asked her to return to Germany. Dietrich remained in the US and went on propaganda tours for the Allies in Europe.

After her film career went down the proverbial toilet she hit the cabaret houses and attracted audiences around the world with her husky renditions of her most famous songs like 'See What the Boys in the Back Room will Have' and 'Falling in Love Again'.

When she died, a few days before the Cannes Film Festival, the French decided to honour her by unveiling a huge photograph of her to open the festival. It was enormous and drew gasps, and a few tears, from the crowd.

Jimmy 'Schnozzle' Durante Cocktail

Ingredients

• 1 teaspoon Curaçao
• 2 glasses gin
• 2 glasses sherry
• 2 glasses French Vermouth

Method

Mix the ingredients in a shaker filled with cracked ice. Stir thoroughly with a spoon, shake, strain and serve. Add an olive and two dashes of Absinthe to each glass.
Makes enough for 6.

Notes

Jimmy Durante, known as 'Schnozzle' or 'Schnozzola' because of his large nose. He was an actor, comedian and songwriter with a host of film credits stretching from Roadhouse Nights (1930) to It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963). He died in 1980.

Douglas Fairbanks Cocktail

Ingredients

• 2/3 Plymouth gin
• 1/3 French Vermouth

Method

Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with orange and lemon peel.

Notes

A name so good they used it twice. Douglas (the father) appeared in 40 films including The Mark of Zorro (1920), and was famously married to actress Mary Pickford. He moved into production as a founder member of the United Artists studio (along with Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford and DW Griffith), and was the first president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the body which awards the Oscars. He died in 1939.

Douglas Jr (the son) followed in his father's footsteps, engaging in swashbuckling swordplay in movies such as The Prisoner of Zenda (1937) and Gunga Din(1939), and making a megastar marriage to Joan Crawford. He died in May 2000.

Garbo Gargle

Ingredients

• 1 dash Crème de Menthe
• 1/4 glass orange juice
• 1/4 glass Grenadine
• 1/4 glass French Vermouth
• 1/4 brandy

Method

Shake well and strain into a medium sized glass. Top with a splash of Port Wine.

Notes

Greta Garbo, née Gustafson, was a silent screen actress who was only brought to Hollywood because her director, Mauritz Stiller, insisted on it. It's ironic to think that he died in poverty while Garbo went on to greater glory.

In her silent era days, Garbo was classed as a European mystery and was adopted by MGM studios who were noted for their glamour. She was partnered by the screen idol of the time, John Gilbert, and rumours of an affair were rife. In 1927 they starred in a film called Love. This gave the publicists the chance to say:

Garbo and Gilbert in 'Love'

With the advent of sound, MGM were nervous. With her heavy accent it was feared that she wouldn't make the transition very easily. Her co-star, John Gilbert, had already had his career flushed down the tube because his voice was too high-pitched and this didn't sit comfortably with his manly image.

The cinema-going world waited with bated breath. Garbo was to make her speaking debut in Anna Christie (1930). The public were kept in suspense for the first 20 minutes of the film and then Garbo uttered the immortal words,

Gimme a whisky with ginger ale and don't be stingy, baby.

The public loved her and the studio breathed a huge sigh of relief.

Throughout the 1930s, Garbo played heroic, historical women such as Camille, Mata Hari and Anna Karenina. She was notoriously press-shy and was famed for having the tag line, 'I want to be alone'. She never actually said this of her own volition.

Garbo and Gilbert teamed up in one talkie - Queen Christina. This tells the story of the Swedish queen who renounced her throne for love. She chose Gilbert as her love interest over Laurence Olivier. Gilbert died shortly afterwards.

Garbo also headed the cast in one of the first ever all-star cast productions. Grand Hotel (1932) starred, among others Garbo, John Barrymore, Lionel Barrymore, Joan Crawford and Wallace Beery. The stars would not join up to have a group photo and even Crawford stated that she only saw Garbo once on set. This is also the film where Garbo was forced to use those immortal words 'I want to be alone' which, as we've already seen, came to be inextricably associated with her in her own personal life.

With the advent of war, Garbo's popularity went into steep decline and she then decided to do comedy. In Ninotchka she plays a diplomat who has to prevent the sale of some jewels. The scene where Garbo gets drunk is a classic. Her only other comedy, and also her final film, Two Faced Woman, was slammed by the decency board. Garbo retired after this - she said that the spirit of the 1930s had gone for good.

Garbo never made another film and became a recluse and the dinner guest of the exceptionally rich and famous - Aristotle Onassis, Winston Churchill, Swedish nobility and the sometime lover of Mercedes D'acosta - an American writer/poet who was famous for her tricorn hats.

Jean Harlow Cocktail

Ingredients

• 1/2 Bacardi Rum
• 1/2 Italian Vermouth
• A peel or wedge of lemon

Method

Shake and strain into a cocktail glass

Notes

Combining glamour and impeccable comic timing, Jean Harlow had a short but significant career. She starred in Red Dust with Clark Gable and Libeled Lady with Spencer Tracy, before her untimely death of a brain haemorrhage in 1937, at the age of just 26.

Harlow was the first platinum blonde and brought earthy sexuality to the 1930s cinema. She is also famous for the role she missed out on - she was slotted to play the role taken by Fay Wray in King Kong.

Hi Ho Cocktail

Ingredients

• 2 dashes orange bitters
• 1/3 port wine
• 2/3 Tom gin

Method

Stir well and strain into a cocktail glass. Squeeze lemon peel on top.

Notes

The name of this cocktail probably comes from the famous cry of the Lone Ranger, 'Hi Ho Silver, Away!'.

Mary Pickford Cocktail

Ingredients

• 1/2 Bacardi Rum
• 1/2 pineapple juice
• 1 teaspoon grenadine
• 6 drops Maraschino

Method

Shake well and strain into a cocktail glass.

Notes

Mary Pickford, petite blonde star of the silent movies, was loved by audiences the world over as 'Little Mary'. Never one to underestimate her own worth - she was probably the first person to utter the line 'I can't afford to work for only $10,000 a week' with a straight face - she was a leading player in the breakaway from the old studio system with the formation of United Artists. She won a best actress Oscar for her role in Coquette (1928). 'Little Mary' died in 1979.

She was famous for playing the role of little girls and boys when she was well in to her 30s. With her then husband, Douglas Fairbanks, she made a silent version of The Taming of the Shrew and the audiences hated it. With the advent of sound, Mary Pickford slid off the silver screen, appearing a few times to make sure that she was never forgotten.

Ginger Rogers Cocktail

Ingredients

• 1/3 French Vermouth
• 1/3 dry gin
• 1/3 apricot brandy
• 4 dashes lemon juice

Method

Shake well and strain into a cocktail glass.

Notes

Ginger Rogers was a dancer, singer and actress whose fame peaked with the lavish musicals of the 1930s. She is most fondly remembered as Fred Astaire's dancing partner in classics such as The Gay Divorcee (1934) and Top Hat (1935), but the strength of her acting is shown by her Oscar for the lead role in Kitty Foyle (1940). She died in 1995.

Surprisingly, Astaire preferred to dance with Ginger Roger's cousin - Rita Hayworth.

Will Rogers Cocktail

Ingredients

• 1/4 orange juice
• 1/4 French Vermouth
• 1/2 Plymouth gin
• 4 dashes Curaçao

Method

Shake well and strain into a cocktail glass.

Notes

A true product of the old Wild West, Will Rogers was a rope-twirling cowboy who gained huge popularity as an actor, comedian, singer and folk philosopher. He died in 1935.

President Roosevelt Cocktail

Ingredients

• 2 dashes grenadine
• 1 glass Bacardi Rum

Method

Shake well and strain into a cocktail glass.

Notes

There have been two presidents Roosevelt in US history - Theodore 'Teddy' and Franklin 'FDR'. Either would surely have enjoyed this drink.

Shirley Temple Cocktail

Ingredients

• Ginger ale
• Dash of grenadine

Notes

A non-alcoholic cocktail, of course, for the biggest child star in history. Massively popular singing, dancing and grinning her way through movies such as Bright Eyes and Stand Up And Cheer (both 1934), she was awarded a miniature Oscar for charming an America in the grip of the Great Depression. She later became a notable politician and diplomat.

Roscoe Turner Cocktail

Ingredients

• 1/3 lemon juice
• 2/3 dry gin
• 2 dashes Maraschino

Notes

Roscoe Turner was a pioneer of US aviation.

Lupe Velez Cocktail

Ingredients

• 3 glasses Jamaica rum
• 1 glass Kummel
• 1 glass orange juice
• 1 dash Pimento Dram

Method

Shake carefully and serve whilst frothing.
Makes enough for 6.

Notes

Lupe Velez was a classic Hollywood leading lady, volatile and tempestuous, who starred for legendary directors such as DW Griffith (Lady of the Pavements, 1929) and Cecil B De Mille (The Squaw Man, 1931). She was married to Johnny Weissmuller, and after their divorce she had a series of stormy romances which ended in her suicide in 1944.

Johnny Weissmuller Cocktail

Ingredients

• 1/3 gin
• 1/3 Bacardi Rum
• 1/3 lemon juice
• Powdered sugar
• 1 dash grenadine

Method

Shake well and strain into a cocktail glass.

Notes

Weissmuller started out as an Olympic swimmer, and put that physique to good use when he turned to acting. He made the role of Tarzan his own, starring in a dozen movies of the franchise, and continued the African theme in the Jungle Jim series which ran for another 16 films. He died in 1984.

Mae West Cocktail

Ingredients

• Yolk of 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon powdered sugar
• 1 glass brandy

Method

Shake well and strain into a medium sized glass. Top with a dash of Cayenne Pepper.

Notes

The only actress known to have had a life-saving device (a life vest) named after her, Mae West was the voluptuous, sassy woman who stretched the Hays Code¹ and the patience of the MPAA censors in the 1930s. She was famed for her risqué wit and self-assurance, which must have been strengthened by the fact the funny lines were her own: she wrote the scripts for many of her greatest triumphs such as She Done Him Wrong (1933) and I'm No Angel (1933). She was briefly imprisoned for indecency for producing her play Sex. Mae West died in 1980.