Swingers Golf Weekend

L.A. to Vegas

by Fat Guy

Nothing quite captured the "Cocktail Nation" movement--as writer/producer/star John Favreau termed it--of the mid-'90s more eloquently than Swingers.  Generations X and Y struggled against our own lack of substance as we longed for a modernized taste the simpler, classier days of the '40's swing generation. Either that or we were just so bored with the '90's that anything different seemed cool. And I'm not playa hatin', 'cuz I was one of 'em.

Admittedly, a perfect Swingers golf weekend would be a long one, and would involve the 6 hour drive from L.A. to Vegas in the middle of the night in a 1964 convertible Mercury Comet Caliente (not exactly the world's most popular rental car; the original in the movie was actually owned by Favreau).  Such a weekend would be more about cocktails, beautiful babies, and what suit to wear than about tee times.  Regardless, here's how you could make a 4-or-5-day weekend sooo money:

First, fly to L.A., rent a convertible (preferably a classic from the '60's), and go tee it up at the Los Feliz Golf Course, the rinky-dink 9-holer featured in the movie (3207 Los Feliz Blvd, 323-663-7758, 1962, Designer Unknown, 1065 yards from the tips).  Feel free to take an 8, even if you had a 9.  And don't sweat the call back for Goofy.

Afterwards, grab lunch with the beautiful babies at a favorite of locals Drew Barrymore and Lucy Lui, Fred 62 in Los Feliz. A great, affordable 24-hour diner with awesome breakfasts, burgers, and all sorts of other items.

Any one who's a fan of the movie probably won't need the Hollywood nightlife venues listed for them… The Derby (4500 Los Feliz Blvd), and The Dresden (1760 N. Vermont Ave.). 

But only die hards will remember the other hotspots listed by Trent on Mike's answering machine:  Lava Lounge (1533 N. La Brea, 323-876-6612), swing night at the Viper Room (8852 W. Sunset, West Hollywood, 310-358-1880, www.viperroom.com), and the Three Of Clubs (1123 Vine, no sign so look for the Bargain Clown Mart sign, 323-462-6441).

Then hit the The Hollywood Hills Restaurant for a late night breakfast, or go to Roscoe's for chicken & waffles.

Late Note: In July of 2001, the Hollywood Hills Coffee Shop moved out of the Best Western Motel and to a new free-standing location, about two miles east of the original spot. The new address is 1745 N. Vermont Ave., about two blocks south of Franklin. It seems that they lost their lease, but actually prefer the new location. They've changed the name to the Hollywood Hills Restaurant. The phone number has also been changed - to (323) 661-3319. But the owners and the staff are the same, and you can still get breakfast all day long.

Scenes from the movie were filmed among the round red booths and Chinese-theme at the reasonably-priced Formosa Café (7156 Santa Monica Blvd, www.formosacafe.com), located across the street from the Warner (formerly Samuel Goldwyn) Stuidios since 1925, and an old haunt of Monroe, the Rat Pack, Bogart, and Gable.  It was also used in the filming of L.A. Confidential. 

My favorite piece of Swinger's trivia:  The "Bear" monologue that Trent delivers to Mike is almost verbatim something actor Vince Vaughn told Jon Favreau one night at a bar.  Favreau liked it so much he incorporated it into the script.

For other old school Hollywood grub, hit Musso & Frank Grill (6667 Hollywood Blvd, 323-467-7788).  One of the oldest restaurants in Tinsel Town, Musso & Frank's is the last bastion of the Golden Age of Hollywood.  Unpretentious, and old fashioned.  Sit at the counter--one of the best places in town for eating alone. Or copy Raymond Chandler and sit at one of the high-backed red booths--he's rumored to have penned part of The Big Sleep here, or sit at Steve McQueen's regular booth up front next to the door.  Order a martini, poured tableside, and served stirred, not shaken.  Another old school Hollywood landmark restaurant still good enough to be frequented by stars and studio execs is The Smoke House (4400 Lakeside, Burbank, across the street from Warner Bros. Studios), a fave of James Dean, Andy Garcia, George Clooney, and Robert Redford.  Jack Paar also hosted the original Tonight Show from The Smoke House.  Order the garlic bread with whatever entrée looks appetizing.  Other old Hollywood haunts include Ciro's.

You can still stay at the Hollywood Hills Best Western (6141 Franklin Ave). 

Other retro value options include the Elan Hotel Moderne (8435 Beverly Blvd & Croft St , 323-658-6663t ), or the Safari Inn (1911 Olive Ave, Burbank).  If you're not on an unemployed actor's salary, for a more boutique experience see if you can snag a discount rate (from $175) at L.A. hipster boutique hotel The Standard (www.standardhotel.com), or similar rates at The Hotel California (www.hotelca.com/losangeles/index.html).  Stargazers will want to crash at a famed Hollywood hotspot, so hit the Hollywood Roosevelt, host to the first Academy Awards, and famous for serving underage Hollywood at the bar.  For glamorous old-school Hollywood, crash at the Chateau Marmont (www.seeing-stars.com/Hotels/ChateauMarmont.shtml), where John Belushi died.

"Vegas, Baby, Vegas!" 
The 270 mile drive from L.A. to Vegas is classically done late night on a whim.  I think ESPN.com funnyman Bill "Sports Guy" Simmons summed up the drive best: "When I used to fly to Sin City, it always gave me a rush when my plane descended and we could glimpse the casinos for the first time. (For one March Madness trip coming from Boston, we were landing at night and someone screamed out, "VEH-GAAAAAAAS!!!!" and started applauding. Half the plane started clapping with him. Name me another city that causes this reaction. You can't.) On the drive to Vegas, you get the same rush as you get from that Swingers moment when the casinos make a sudden appearance on I-15 to your right: first Mandalay, then Luxor, then everything else on the Strip. If there's someone else in the car, by Nevada law, you're required to scream out "VEH-GASSSSSSSSSSS!" like Double Down Trent. When you're alone? You just start fidgeting in your seat. Like right now. Vegas. Vegas. Vegas."

If you'd rather avoid the torture of heavy eye lids and the risk of falling asleep at the wheel at 3 AM spilling your Red Bull while fighting off the vodka martinis you had earlier, leave L.A. during mid-afternoon, which will avoid L.A. rush hour but still assure a nighttime arrival at the Stardust (3000 Las Vegas Boulevard South), used for the movie's exterior casino shots for it's nearly cartoonish Old Vegas vibe.  Then go kick it old school at the Fremont (3555 Las Vegas Boulevard South), used for the interior shots, including the Paradise Buffet. 

The scene where Mike and Trent meet Dorothy and the cocktail waitress was originally written for the now-defunct Landlubbers Lounge at Treasure Island, which was then replaced by the also-now-defunct Parlay Lounge. Treasure Island doesn't even have a tiki bar anymore, so leave the Strip behind and head for the authentic Frankie's Tiki Room (www.frankiestikiroom.com). Frankie's is small and a bit of a hike from the Strip, but it's the genuine article, the house drink is The Zombie, and it's open 24 hours a day 7 days a week. Or,Trader Vic's has finally brought their famous tiki-fied vibe and perfect Mai Tai's to Vegas (www.tradervicslv.com). And it's not my fault if you end up in a trailer park by sunrise.

The Irreverent Guide To Las Vegas recommends modern-day Swingers stay at the Imperial Palace Hotel and Casino, "...if they had any guts, and weren't just loud-talking posers."  Hey, I'm just the messenger.  Take it up with them.

For golf, stick with the old school/Rat Pack vibe and tee it up at Las Vegas National.  Built in 1961 and originally known as the Stardust Country Club, this track hosted PGA tournaments for 20 years, the Rat Pack hung here back in the '60's, Tiger cashed his first pro check here, scenes from Casino were filmed in a house just off the 1st fairway, and you can play it on an off-season 1:30 PM twilight rate for $40. Straightforward, old school golf.

See also:  Fat Guy's Vegas Golf Weekend

[Fat Guy Note:  I have not taken this trip or explored any of these courses/locations.  As always, proper research and reservations are required.  I'm just the idea guy on this one.]

Trivia for
Swingers (1996) from IMDB.com

• Trent's license plate reads "THX1138", a reference to George Lucas's THX 1138 (1971).
  
• Vince Vaughn's father plays the lucky gambler at the $100-minimum blackjack table.
  
• Jon Favreau's grandmother, Joan Favreau, is the lucky gambler at the $5 minimum blackjack table.
  
• Trent, Mikey, Sue, Rob, and Charles represent the five members of the original Rat Pack: Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Peter Lawford, 'Joey Bishop' , and 'Sammy Davis Jr' .
  
• Some of the film's casino scenes were filmed without a permit. At one point, they were asked to leave the casino by a police officer, who let them finish filming the scene before they left. If you look at the left side of the screen during the scene where Mike is betting on the $100 table, a police officer can be seen in the distance watching the filming taking place.
  
• The 1964 Convertible Mercury Comet Caliente driven by Vince Vaughn was actually owned by co-star Jon Favreau.
  
• The exterior and interior of Mike Peter's apartment was the actual building and room that Jon Favreau lived in at the time the film was filmed. Favreau's downstairs neighbor was actor Adam Scott.
  
• Nicole LaLoggia, the film's line producer, also plays two roles in the film: she plays Michelle's voice on the phone, and she appears as one of the bar patrons at the Derby (the brunette sitting to the right of Trent when Mike leaves the table).
  
• When asked to approve use of the theme music for Jaws (1975) in a scene, Spielberg saw footage of Vince Vaughn, whom he hired for _The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997)_
  
• The Word "F*ck" is used 95 times, "B!tch" is used 31 times and "A$$hole" 13 times.
  
• The movie is loosely based on the experiences writer Jon Favreau had when he first moved to LA. He had just broken up with a long term girlfriend and counted on his friends Vince Vaughn and Ron Livingston to cheer him up. The characters they play in the film are based on themselves.
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• When director Doug Liman first sent the script to studios, they were interested in financing it. When Liman said he wanted to cast the writer and his friends as actors, the studios backed off. The money to shoot the film was raised independently and Liman cast who he liked. The movie was made for $250,000. It grossed $4.5 million in it's theatrical release, and has become a cult classic on DVD.
  
• Some of the bar scenes were shot in actual bars during business hours. A sign was posted near where they were shooting warning patrons that if they came any closer, they would be unpaid extras in the film.
  
• The sequence where Trent, Mike, and Sue enter the club through a side entrance closely resembles the way Henry and Karen enters a club in Goodfellas (1990), which the group refers to earlier in the film, calling it one of the best shots ever.  [Fat Guy's Note:  Favreau also intentionally rips off a shot from Tarantino's Resevoir Dogs, also referred to in the dialogue.]
  
• The scene with Mike and Trent talking in the car on the side of the road was also filmed without a permit (not only could the production not afford one, it is actually impossible for any film production to acquire one to film on that particular highway). Originally they had planned to film just an establishing shot of the two of them in the car, and a shot of them driving away, and then film the dialog shots later. But director Doug Liman decided instead to film the entire scene on the actual side of the road. During filming, several police showed up, and demanded to see a permit. The assistant director held up the police by telling them that they had a permit, but it was in the office across town, several miles away. To get away with the rest of the scene being filmed, Liman had to pretend he was not filming, and didn't look in the viewfinder, and used a microphone inside of the car instead of a boom. Most of the scene was filmed like this, with the police waiting just out of shot, and the two actors and the director pretending they were in fact not shooting.
  
• Since the filmmakers couldn't afford to pay extras, the scenes filmed at parties were filmed at actual parties that were taking place, with many Hollywood up-and-comers in attendance. Among the people in the crowd of the first party (who turn and look at the group as they enter): screenwriters Stephen Gaghan and Mike White.
  
• The band in the film are retro swing jazz band Big Bad Voodoo Daddy.

Swingers Soundtrack Playlist:  Download these tunes from the movie to your I-Pod the week before you leave.

You're Nobody 'Til Somebody Loves You"
Performed by Dean Martin

• "With Plenty of Money and You"
Performed by Count Basie and Tony Bennett

• "She Thinks I Still Care"
Performed by George Jones

• "Champagne Time"
Performed by Lawrence Welk

• "Paid for Loving"
Performed by Love Jones

• "Magic Man"
Performed by Heart

• "Pick Up the Pieces"
Performed by Average White Band

• "King of the Road"
Performed by Roger Miller

• "Groove Me"
Performed by King Floyd

• "Mucci's Jag M.K. II"
Performed by Joseph L. Altruda (as Joey Altruda)

• "Brick House"
Performed by The Commodores

• "Jaws Theme"
Performed by The Jazz Jury

• "Go Daddy-O"
Performed by Big Bad Voodoo Daddy

• "Stayin' Alive"
Performed by Marty & Elayne (as Marty and Elayne)

• "Knock Me a Kiss"
Performed by Louis Jordan

• "You & Me & the Bottle Makes 3 Tonight (Baby)"
Performed by Big Bad Voodoo Daddy

• "Cruel Spell (of Love)"
Performed by Big Bad Voodoo Daddy

• "I'm Beginning to See the Light"
Performed by Bobby Darin