Monday, March 8, 2010

Got a hangover? Don’t try this

Last night, I caught about 40 minutes of El Dorado on TV.

I love this movie for so many reasons.

First, it has John Wayne.  That in it’s own right is enough to cause me to watch it 7 days a week.  However, in this one….his acting is pretty good.

It was the first movie my family owned on BETAMAX (remember those?).  My brother brought home a Beta VCR from Korea, and the first movie we watched was El Dorado (we also had MASH, Beastmaster and Caddyshack in that first run of movies).  So there is a bit of nostalgia.

Last, but not least…….Johnny Diamond’s Sober-up Elixir.

For those of you unfamiliar with the movie, Robert Mitchum (Sherriff JP) is a drunk.  Not just your average drunk….but a falling down, full on DTs Drunk.  But he’s also a good guy and friend to John Wayne (Cole Thorton).  So, when JW shows up…..he decides he needs a quick pick-me-up for his buddy.

Enter James Caan (Mississippi).  I won’t go into to much of his back-story…..for those of you who have seen the movie, you know…and for those who haven’t…..enjoy.   But I will go into the recipe that his mentor Johnny Diamond taught him:

MISSISSIPPI- Johnny Diamond had a recipe. Let’s see. Cayenne pepper, mustard <the hot kind>, ipecac, asafoetida, and oil of cloves… or was it? No, it was croton oil.
BULL- Croton oil?! I’ll be a suck-egg mule. You know what that mixture will do to a feller?
MISSISSIPPI: Guaranteed kill or cure.

The last ingredient added was gunpowder.

This made me wonder, what were those ingredients and how did they all play into sobering up JP?  Of course, this could just be Hollywood (we all know how they make things up), but I thought better of John Wayne wanting to be accurate. 

So, let’s analyze the ingredients:

  • Cayenne Pepper- A hot spice of the Nightshade Family
  • Mustard- it facilitates digestion by promoting the secretion of gastric juices if used in small quantities as a condiment.  Can be used as an Emetic (vomiting agent)
  • Ipecac – Made from dried rhizome and the roots of the ipecacuanha plant.  Substance used to induce vomiting and used in poison treatment.
  • Asafoetida- Native to Persia, reduces the growth of microflora in the gut, reducing flatulence.
  • Croton Oil- Oil from India and Laya Archipelago.  Small Doses taken internally cause Diarrhea.
  • Gun Powder – The hardest to figure out.  My guess is it being used as another Emetic, however…there is a history of Gunpowder being used in medicine, in some cases for sterilization. 

So, in retrospect…..maybe Ol’ Johnny Diamond was on to something. 

I can’t imagine a situation where I would want to mix all those ingredients together and drink it.  In fact, it even sounds worse than the Corned Beef and Cabbage Tom Collins drink Randy posted on FB.

The whole thing SEEMS sound…..and I guess if you are in a pinch, you would do almost anything….just don’t give it to me ;)

16 comments:

  1. Love this movie, however the real reason to watch is Charlene Holt who plays Maudie

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    Replies
    1. Charlene Holt is and would be today a 100% BABE!!! We would have a little problem attempting to pick up on her...She was GAY. and still enjoyed men but she preferred women. My parents were friends with her husband and he allowed her to have a study girl friends. He finally divorced.

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    2. She wasn't gay. One of her husbands was. ...Rock Hudson. She was married and had kids. Don't know where you came up with that

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  2. At least now I know it wasn't made up, as a life long JW fan!

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  3. This movie is on the top 5 in our house. Western movies or ANY movie for that matter doesn't get better than this.
    We watch it several times a year. The theme song is one of the best. If I could rate this movie, I'd definitely give it 6 out of 5 stars!
    Does anyone know what gun that Mississippi used? I'd love to ownown one. You wouldn't beed to use it in a home invasion situation. Just one loom at that gun and anyone would run like crazy.

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    Replies
    1. It was a simple sawed off double barrel shotgun.

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    2. The shotgun was a Rossi Overland 12ga.
      http://www.imfdb.org/wiki/Rossi_Overland

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  4. This movie is on the top 5 in our house. Western movies or ANY movie for that matter doesn't get better than this.
    We watch it several times a year. The theme song is one of the best. If I could rate this movie, I'd definitely give it 6 out of 5 stars!
    Does anyone know what gun that Mississippi used? I'd love to ownown one. You wouldn't beed to use it in a home invasion situation. Just one loom at that gun and anyone would run like crazy.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Definately in my top 5 too. It's a close run thing with the original though. For those who didn't know it's called Rio Bravo and was made 7 years earlier. It's still got big John but the drunken Sherrif is played (very well of course!)by Dean Martin.
    The Mississippi character was Colorado (Ricky Nelson) and the deputy was Stumpy instead of Bull.
    Angie Dickinson was the woman in the middle of all this.
    ElDorado tops it for me though because of Mitchum,one of my favourites,and of course for the title song.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. John Wayne was the sheriff, Dean Martin was the deputy

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    2. The movie w/ Ricky Nelson as Colorado & Dean Martin as Dude is called Rio Bravo & was written by Jules Furthman and Leigh Brackett, based on the short story "Rio Bravo" by B. H. McCampbell.

      El Dorado was written by Leigh Brackett and loosely based on the novel The Stars in Their Courses by Harry Brown.

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  6. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  7. For you that have been mesmerised by Hollywood` as to what a great hero and tough guy John Wayne was have no idea the man collected dolls. On the other hand in real life, Robert Mitchum was a barcleaner.

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    ReplyDelete
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  10. The quote, I'll be a suck egg mule, was not only in El Dorado but was also in Rio bravo. I am a huge John Wayne fan. And have quite a few of his Westerns taped.

    ReplyDelete

 
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