- You Are Here:
- AOL Movies »
- True Stories »
- Off The Menu
Off the Menu
For fifty years, Chasen's restaurant and bar was the gathering place for Hollywood's elite, U.S. presidents and royalty. Famed for its paneled ambiance, world-class chili and its legendary Hobo Steak, it was where the rich and powerful were free to orchestrate complex deals, hash out conflicts or simply relax in understated elegance. In 1996, after nearly a decade of slow business due in part to increased diet consciousness, and also to the appearance of newer, trendier eateries, Chasen announced that it would close. Many of Tinseltown's brightest lights past and present appeared for the gala send-off which is chronicled in this documentary feast. In addition to featuring plenty of star-gazing, it also features poignant reminiscences from Chasen's staff, many of whom have worked there for decades. -- Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
Hear Stories About the Film
Richard Milhous Nixon, 37th President of the United States
"Thank you for arranging to send the delicious chili to San Clemente - as you suggested, I did share it with Henry Kissinger and Bebe Rebozo, and we all thoroughly enjoyed it."What the Critics Say...
Christopher Null, FilmCritic.com
"No one outside of Hollywood has any business knowing anything about Chasen's. And yet, here's a movie about the restaurant that everyone enamored with the high life ought to see." More
Stuart Galbraith, DVD Talk
"It's Chasen's mostly ancient and diverse staff that's the heart of Off the Menu, men in the 60s and 70s, most of whom talk like Conrad Veidt or Mischa Auer. (Some of its international staff, we're told, came from as far away as the "mountain villages of Peru.") The picture is really a tribute to them much more than the restaurant itself, and what resonates are issues involving their tangential, quasi-friendships with the stars." More
Sharon Mizota, Pop Matters
"During its last few months of operation, Chasen's again became the hottest spot in town for a new, decidedly less glamorous generation of stars: Courtney Love, Gary Coleman, Colin Powell. Val Schwab, the reservationist, repeatedly turned down astronomical bribes, asserting that the tables were "not for sale." Prince and Kato Kaelin couldn't get in. Chasen's longtime bartender, Pepe, summed it up perfectly: "When you're sick, nobody calls you. When you die, everyone comes to the funeral." More
Share Your Own Stories
Do you have a story of your own to share? Join the discussion and post on the AOL True Stories message boards.
Share on the Message Board>
Do you want to join a live discussion? Join the True Stories Chat and talk about films featured on True Stories or about documentaries that have meant the most to you.
Chat With Us>
 |
'Darfur Now' is a story of hope in the midst of one of humanity's darkest hours - a call to action for people everywhere to end the catastrophe unfolding in Darfur, Sudan. In this documentary, the struggles and achievements of six different individuals from inside Darfur and around the world bring to light the tragedy in Sudan and show how the actions of one person can make a difference to millions.
Watch Excerpt (6:12)
Watch Interview with Don Cheadle
Watch Darfur Now PSA
'Angels in the Dust' is the story of a courageous, self-sacrificing, fiercely loving woman who chooses a spiritual path over a material one; it tells of the life-changing power of one compassionate heart. For a nation overwhelmed by an epidemic of HIV/AIDS, orphans, rape, violence, and Apartheid's legacy of social and political unrest, the film offers a clear pathway of hope and a replicable paradigm for the future.
Watch Preview
Watch Excerpt 1
Watch Excerpt 2
On his first weekend back after serving in Iraq, Mike Deerfield (Jonathan Tucker) goes missing and is reported AWOL. When Hank Deerfield (Tommy Lee Jones), a former military MP and his wife Joan (Susan Sarandon) get the phone call with the disturbing news, Hank sets out to search for their son. Local police detective Emily Sanders (Charlize Theron) reluctantly helps him in his search and soon finds herself in a fight with the military brass. When the truth about Mike's time in Iraq finally begins to emerge, Hank's entire world is challenged and he's forced to reevaluate long-held beliefs to solve the mystery behind his son's disappearance.
Watch Excerpt
"I can still hear him hollering and coaching.."
-- William Haley (L) and his brother Glen remember their father, Joseph Howard Haley, founder of Jackie Robinson West Little League in Chicago. More
'Fears of Your Life', by Michael Bernard Loggins, read by Tom Wright
What are you afraid of? Michael's afraid of exactly 183 things. He counted. More
Cinematical
HBO Documentary Films
Reel Works
International Documentary Association
StoryCorps
Media that Matters Film Festival
Independent Lens
Docs that Inspire
Doc it Out
Indiewire
Jack Lemmon, Actor
"It's true you could mark different eras in this city and in the business I'm in by the closing of restaurants."
David Brown, Producer
"Chasen's was not unlike some of the rowdy, trendy, noisy, hip, cool, new-age restaurants, because those people were the new age of their time. And there's another thing: Alcohol was the drug of choice of my generation, the Chasens' generation. And we drank an awful lot."