The Old-Fashioned
Amid the antics of the epic comedy It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World , Mickey Rooney and Buddy Hackett hitch a ride on Jim Backus’ private plane. The dipsomaniacal pilot asks Rooney to fix him an Old-Fashioned midflight, but judges the result too sweet and decides if he wants an “Old-Fashioned made the old-fashioned way,” he’ll have to mix it himself. He hands the controls over to a stressed out Hackett, who blurts out, “What if something happens?” Unperturbed, Backus replies, “What can happen to an Old-Fashioned?”
Actually, a number of things. The drink began life as the basic cocktail as it was originally defined in 1806: spirits, sugar, bitters and water. In the …
