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

User Rating:

6.1/10   

Directors:

Shari Springer Berman
Robert Pulcini

Genre:

Documentary | History

Plot:

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

Plot Keywords:

1970s | Actor | Cuisine | Film Producer | Archival Footage

Awards:

2 wins

Cast

Raymond Bilbool	...	Himself
Tommy Gallagher	...	Himself (waiter)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
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)

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Company:

A la Carte Entertainment

Movie Connections:

References Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)

From the Inside

Know that, as of yet, I have not seen this documentary. So why might I be arrogant enough to comment? My father, Jack Loveland, was General Manager of Chasen's 1949-1966. He passed in 1967. I grew up in the bowels of Chasen's; knowing Dave Chasen (and to a very limited extent, a few contacts with Maude Chasen) and brother Phil. I knew more about the wine cellars, the pantry (and pantry chef Joe), the freezers, meat preparation areas, and unseen corridors than just about anyone. As a wee boy I rolled butter into balls to placed into iced silver bowls, vacuumed the dining room floors, took inventory in the deep freeze. I knew where they kept the massive barrels of MSG and spent hundreds of hours doing child-drawings on the backs of unused menus (brought home by my dad). I heard stories of how Peter Lorre spent massive amounts of time in those wine cellars with my dad pouring his movie salaries down his throat in the form of rare bottles and vintages. Bob Hope gave me a toy wind-up tank when I was five or so. Every once in a while we would get a case of chili or a cake or a Per Al's cheesecake as gifts. Oh, yeah - I never ate in the dining room. Ever.

So just finding out about this DVD from Wikipedia and our noble host, IMDb, I look forward to viewing this video with a very prejudiced eye. From the comments, should hope for an accurate presentation of the hard-working staff. I note Tommy Gallagher is cited, and I remember him well. With any restaurant, presentation - by waiters and bartenders and maitre-d's - as well as the celebrity owners and customers is they typical fodder for the most amicable of filmmakers. Here, as with others, however, they had best beware. Some of us know far more than you do, and it had better be a fair and balanced presentation! Yea, I have a voice on the web (albeit minor) and a history of reviewing film. One so close to my heart and dear to my memory will indeed undergo the harshest of scrutiny, and this small piece will indeed lead to a review of microscopic detail. (One day, soon, to show up under IMDb's Miscellaneous links.) Should anyone care to send me a review copy, I'd be delighted. As is, I am grateful for a tribute of any sort to a Hollywood / Beverly Hills landmark, an important meeting place and watering hole for many celebrities; provided by a group of very fine people who worked hard for a living.