movie Tiki bar spotted!

Aloha all - okay, feel free to sigh and mutter "newbie"...cuz I could have missed an earlier thread (though I did use the search engine), but last night Mrs. emspace and I rented and watched "The Majestic" with Jim Carrey.

Well, right after he's thrown off the lot for being a suspected Commie, he's shown in a most splendid Tiki bar, downing multiple straight whiskies (too bad it wasn't something more appropriate). Noted are puffer lamps, canoe paddles, and many other nice details. Wish some of the b.g. was more in focus, but ya can't have everything. When he leaves we see the neon sign outside with the name "Coco Bongo". FINE name!

Decent movie too BTW!

em.

I noticed that too. I loved that scene. Good movie.

Two nights ago, I saw The Apartment (Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine, Fred MacMurray 1960) for the first time. I assumed it took place in NYC. Anyway, there's this amazing Chinese / exotic restaurant in there with tikis galore called The Rickshaw. Wowee!

Maybe someone's mentioned it before, but anyway, that was a spectacular looking place! It actually plays a role in the movie, and there's even a scene where an LP purportedly from the place (featuring the in-house piano talent of "Rickshaw Boy") appears as a Christmas gift.

For real?

-Randy

I spotted a beach tiki bar in "windtalkers" by John woo with nicolas cage. I think the bar owed a lot to tiki-philes interpretation of what a WWII tiki bar would be like, I know this is nit-picking but would WWII tiki bars have "orchid of Hawaii"tiki mugs and plastic leis?

The actual bar they were drinking at was made by my good friend ....BambooBen. OA was also involved.

Do you mean the one in "windtalkers"?

Yup.

They called me on a Thursday. Dropped the loot on a Fri. I (myself) built it on Sat./Sun. They picked it up on Mon.and shot the scene (on Zuma Beach) that night. It was 30' long x 18' wide. 12' high! It split in half long ways, 4 pieces. The guys who picked it up were stunned that I built it and moved it by my lonesome. They had a fork lift and I said put it away! Look for stuff in the new "Rock" movie. Also, look for the Bamboo Ben Store in up coming movies etc.

So i take it you weren't responible for the dressing of the bar with plastic flowers and nodding hula girls.

correct me if i'm wrong, but were not most all bars of the type we love really "beachcomber" until the mid to late 50's?, thus the bar in the majestic since not in hawaii would not have had that little stash of tiki's in the corner.....

On 2003-03-06 20:11, twowheelin'tiki wrote:
correct me if i'm wrong, but were not most all bars of the type we love really "beachcomber" until the mid to late 50's?, thus the bar in the majestic since not in hawaii would not have had that little stash of tiki's in the corner.....

True enough! However, I didn't see any real Tikis per se, but definitely a decorated "Polynesian" paddle and a puffer or two. It was an attempt at "Tiki", not just "seafaring"...I think. And the "Coco Bongo" sign had neon palm trees.

em

Yup totally, but its when movies depict these "Beachcomber" Bars (perhaps they should be described as Ur-Tiki Bars)then they really shouldn't use contempary tiki mugs and props. Consider the Ur-tiki Bar in "Pearl Harbour" with the wigglin hula girl lamps as a better depiction of the roots of Tiki.

Oh, that sounds good, anything that's war or post-war right in Honolulu. Okay, must see "Pearl Harbor". We've been putting it off so long cuz Mrs. emspace is terrified of the waste of human life and I'm terrified of the corny love scenes...but I do want to check it out.

aloha,
em

Corny love storys are great, plus you see pilot fighting in dogfights wearing Hawaiian shirts.

Another Tiki Bar spotted in "The Murder That Wouldn't Die" 1980 Starring: William Conrad, Marj Dussay.