I know hollywood glamorized alcohol back then, but I'm asking about real people not what I see in some movie.
Everyone in the movie drank. And its always liquor lol, when theyre not breathing theyre drinking.
I like getting skunked myself but jeez.
Any older people who can tell me?
Thanks.
And didn't breath air either...it was strictly cigarette smoke.
I had a fish named Sam he lived in a bowl........
you're talking about people who hung out in bars and pool rooms and you are surprised they smoke and drink? You need to get out more often kid!!
sharei do get out kid, since i am infact a kid. but i dont get skunked on whisky in the sunny afternoon genius.
shareThe funniest part about all this is that you claim to be a kid, yet use the expression "skunked".
Do you refer to the girls you hang out with as "dames"?
"...if that was off, I'd be whoopin' your ass up and down this street." ~ an irate Tarantino
what? im 23 i might be considered a kid to some old goat and i might be considered a man to someone middle aged doesnt matter to me.
yea i said 'skunked' so what? everyones got their own personal language. i also refer to it as tanked, sloshed, slapped and a myriad of others, depends on my mood i guess.
and 'girls' are still girls.
People drink like this now.
share23, you're hardly a "kid".
And considering this was from 3 1/2 years ago, you're at least 26 today....old man who gets skunked.
I saw the movei when it came out and loved it. I was only 17, but didn't even think about the drinking and smoking. The key was the pool playing between Newman and Gleason.
shareI watch these old movies from time to time and I can't believe all the smoking and drinking either.
Check out "Laura" sometime. The cop drinks on duty before noon, no one ever enters a room without a drink being poured, people suck more smoke than air -- in bed, over breakfast, over breakfast in bed, in the ladies' lounge, at their desks, you name it. Gene Tierney, the title star, died of emphysema at the age of 70. I wonder how she made it that long.
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Think cynical thoughts.
thank you now i know im not crazy.
maybe everyone else posting on heres an alcoholic lol
I definitely think it depends on who you hang out with. I come from a conservative Christian background. Few in my family drinks. I drink and so does my dad. But few others drink a lot. In fact, my parents make sure there isn't any alcohol present when they have friends and family over.
However, in my ex-girlfriend's family, there was a lot of drinking. No one thought twice about drinking with breakfast, lunch and dinner. They had all types of booze: from wine coolers to the hardest alcohol. In my ex's parent's house, it was almost as if you couldn't go into any room without seeing some alcoholic beverage an arm's length away.
So yeah, it depends on the place where you hang out and the crowd you're with. The movie mainly takes place in bars, restaurants, pool halls, and parties. So of course there will be a lot of alcohol.
My sig: why do almost all movies on imdb have a "worst movie ever!" thread?
I have to repeat what was said by another poster. People drink like that today. If you take a job working for a neighborhood bar, you will see them. You will see some of them nearly every day. Same with a liquor store. It's a nasty addiction that millions suffer from.
shareWell, I remember the 50s and the short answer would be, yes. But we have to remember that fine liquor, like indoor plumbing, was out of reach for the masses until recently, in relative human terms.
Due to cost reductions with mass production, the industrial age brought many "niceties" into style, probably peaking with "The Gay '90s", when ordinary people could indulge in resources only available before to kings. Symbols of class and status became fashionable so those that could afford them flaunted it. That trend has slowly reversed since then because of war and depression so that people, nowadays, see it as gaudy and tasteless. Only recently have health concerns been a detractor in any way.
Smoking and drinking were clearly still in fashion at the time of this movie but not across all levels of income. My parents were lower middle-class and did not have money for alcohol. My best friend's parents were both physicians and I never saw them at home without a martini and cigarette in hand. All my friend's parents smoked and many sat down in the afternoon in front of the TV soap opera with a glass of something. Pills may have been around, too, but pot, coke, and most other drugs were not fashionable or readily available and there was no social stigma against drunk-driving, either, so any and all adult parties were loud with the clink of glass and bottle. Beer was thought of as low-class and made no appearance in "good" homes.
What I'm saying is it seemed that the higher the income level, the more hard liquor was consumed back then. Today, it's just the opposite: Higher income folks with more education are less likely to indulge in the common vices, while almost everyone on Welfare is drowning in alcohol, tobacco, and anything else that will make them feel like kings.
The health risks of drinking and smoking weren't really fully realized to the general mainstream public until the 1970s. So before the 70s you had a lot of movies where people drank and smoked a lot. People were a lot more unaware of what they were doing to their bodies and how harmful injesting so much alcohol and tobacco could be.
shareThey still do.
shareWhat struck me was that it wouldn't just be liquor if this was a modern movie. They'd all be doing drugs too.
shareWhat struck me was that it wouldn't just be liquor if this was a modern movie. They'd all be doing drugs too.
What I found amusing was Piper Laurie was draining bottles of scotch and looked like a million dollars every morning. There was no indication of a hangover or morning shakes.
shareThere are people who have naturally a high tolerance for alcohol and people who have a lower tolerance. There are also tricks:
Fast Eddie, when he was hustling on the road, would avoid taking a drink when not being watched by a mark. He would walk in acting like he was half in the bag when he was stone cold sober. There are also tricks like drinking vegetable oil or eating a meal just before drinking to slow down the effects.
In his working life as a hustler Fast Eddie didn't regularly, perhaps never play any 25+ hour sessions. In boxing they used to call rounds 13 through 15 the Championship Rounds because you never have a fight that long unless it is for a championship. This gives the advantage to the champ over a first time challenger because the challenger has never been in a fight that long. This is an advantage Fats has: he has faced marathon challenges before.