Off the Menu: The Last Days of Chasen's (1998)

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

My late father was in "the business" and I had some exposure to the Hollywood crowd in the 60's. I was never lucky enough to dine at Chasen's, but wish I had been. This eatery, along with Scandia, The Brown Derby and Cyrano's have all closed now, victims of neglect. The current clientèle are too health conscious to ever want the truly delicious fare and wonderfully elegant ambiance of a Chasen's. The closest thing we still have to such a place is Musso Frank's on Hollywood Blvd. I have eaten there and am very glad it's still around. You can enter that place and suspend disbelief: it becomes the 1940's and Boogie or Grant or "Stanny" (Barbara Stanwyk) might come walking in at any moment....or so I began to believe after savoring a truly fine vodka martini at the bar.So this documentary did bring back a feeling to me and a longing for those times, my now deceased parents and a sense of loss of a Hollywood that had some real class.

Just watched it last night on cable and I gotta tell you, my eyes were moist at the end. Remember, it's documenting the "last days" of a Hollywood institution, so it's understandable that the staff, many who were there for decades (working their butts off) are seen as being a little more than bitter. It's the place they called home for years, and it was being taken away from them (as well as their livelihood). The doc is right on in re-telling how Chasen's became overshadowed by the hipper, trendier dining spots frequented by young Hollywood. It was only after the announcement that it was closing that it become the "in" spot again - but it was too late, the writing was already off the menu and on the wall. I went there in 1990 and the place was nearly empty - only a few diners. But the image of the duo sitting at the front table will always linger in my mind - Jimmy Stewart and George Burns enjoying a quiet meal together. It doesn't get any better than that.

I have to agree that it´s a fantastic documentary. I was very surprised to watch it on German TV, because I just stayed at Raymond Bilbool´s place in Hollywood for the second time. If you want to know him better (and you should, because he is even more entertaining, when you meet him an his friends personally), you should definetely consider to visit his Bed&Breakfast Inn in the Hollywood Hills.

This documentary is a great fun for pop culture buffs, or anyone who loves old Hollywood. Chasen's restaurant has been a Los Angeles institution for decades, and the filmmakers interview many of the waiters, cooks, bartender, etc. who've worked there over the years, along with interviews with numerous celebrities. Most memorable is a bitchy queen, Raymond Bilbool, who ran the wait staff for many years and has lots to dish about. Someone could write a sitcom based on this character.Overall, it's a very solid documentary that packs plenty of entertainment into its short running time.