Off the Menu: The Last Days of Chasen's (1997)

Directors:

Shari Springer Berman
Robert Pulcini

Genre:

Dokumentarfilm

Plot:

In 1995, Chasen's closed its doors after 60 years of serving chili to movie stars and visiting dignitaries...

Plot Keywords:

Historical | Celebrity | Culinary Arts | Hollywood | Restaurant

Filmpreise:

2 wins

Nutzerkommentare:

Fun, nostalgic, and sad look at the old Hollywood

Besetzung

Raymond Bilbool	...	Himself
Tommy Gallagher	...	Himself (waiter)
übrige Besetzung in alphabetischer Reihenfolge:
Trisha Absher	...	Herself
Army Archerd	...	Himself
Maureen Arthur	...	Herself
David Brown	...	Himself
Byron Clark	...	Himself
Gary Coleman	...	Himself
Pierre Cossette	...	Himself
Charles W. Fries	...	Himself (as Chuck Fries)
David Frost	...	Himself
Neal Gabler	...	Himself
Patrick Gallagher	...	Himself / Waiter
Dale Gross	...	Himself
Paul Gross	...	Himself
Adam Heller	...	Himself
Ladislav Hodur	...	Himself (ex-waiter, author)
Jimmy Jones	...	Himself / Chasen's Porter
Sally Kellerman	...	Herself
Dan Klosterman	...	Himself
Martin Landau	...	Himself
Jack Lemmon	...	Himself
Michael Lerner	...	Himself
A.C. Lyles	...	Himself
Carol Lynley	...	Herself (as Carol Linley)
Anthony Macchio	...	Himself
Mark Maiden	...	Himself
Ed McMahon	...	Himself
Marvin Michaelson	...	Himself
Margaret O'Brien	...	Herself (also archive footage)
Dale Olson	...	Himself
Ava Ostern Fries	...	Herself (as Ava Fries)
Suzanne Pleshette	...	Herself
Don Rickles	...	Himself
Milton Rudin	...	Himself
Mrs. Milton Rudin	...	Herself
Val Schwab	...	Herself
Tom Snyder	...	Himself
Rod Steiger	...	Himself
Sharon Stone	...	Herself
Donna Summer	...	Herself (also archive footage)
Eleanor Vallee	...	Herself
Robert Wagner	...	Himself (also archive footage)
Norman Winter	...	Himself
Ralph Woodworth	...	Himself
Fay Wray	...	Herself
Jane Wyman	...	Herself (also archive footage)

Länge:

90 Min

Produktionsland:

USA

Sprache:

Englisch

Farbe:

Farbe

Tonverfahren:

Mono

Firma:

A la Carte Entertainment

Bezüge zu anderen Titeln:

Verweist auf/spielt an auf/erwähnt The Producers (1968)

Fun, nostalgic, and sad look at the old Hollywood

Chasen's restaurant was the place to be when Hollywood was in its golden years, and this documentary covers its last days and says goodbye to an era. Famous for its chili, which Elizabeth Taylor had shipped to Rome during the filming of Cleopatra, their hobo steak, and a special drink called The Flame of Love, Chasen's has a permanent place in Hollywood history. Opened in 1936, it played host to every star in the galaxy. It was the place where the "Shirley Temple" was invented - for Shirley - and where the ladies room attendant inspired Donna Summer to write "She Works Hard for the Money." Unfortunately, times change. Lettuce is in; steak is out. Spago's is in; Chasen's is out. The stars stopped coming, the restaurant lost money, and its new boss, a businessman rather than Dave Chasen and his wife, decided to close.

The people who work at Chasen's, it turns out, are as colorful as some of Hollywood's greats. There's Raymond who scoffs at a negative book written by an ex-employee: "He's doing his own thing now. He has a wife with a mustache (pause pause pause)...well, she does"; Tommy Gallagher, who had his picture taken with everyone from the Rat Pack to the Pope; (he died shortly after the filming); the hat/coat check woman, whom we are told has her secrets. "Didn't you tell me Tyrone Power hit on you?" one of the employees asks her. As they give their interviews, they're all soon to be unemployed, some there over 30 years and more.

This is a well done documentary that leaves one with sadness and the unhappy realization that nothing is forever. Not even Chasen's.