Cinematic Cocktails: The Stone Fence

In Smash-up: The Story of a Woman (1947) Susan Hayward takes a brief breather from her swift alcoholic decline in order to expound upon the wonders of a very potent cocktail known as a “Stone Fence.” She even begins to dictate the recipe while mixing up a batch.

Unfortunately, the scene fades out before the mixture is complete, but what we do learn about this power-packed concoction is intriguing enough to add it to our list of cinematic cocktails. Here is the dialog taken directly from the film:

ANGIE: Hey, do you know what a stone fence is?
MIKE: You mean a stone wall.
ANGIE: I mean a stone fence, brother. It’s sort of like an ice cream soda with conviction. Bartender, would you please give me a cocktail shaker with some shaved ice, and some brandy, and some absinthe, and some Cointreau. This is something special.
MIKE: Insidious, isn’t it, Angie?
ANGIE: What, Mike?
MIKE: All this leisure. So much of it makes you realize what work really meant. Isn’t that so?
ANGIE: You mean I could miss singing my lungs out in those gin mills? That’s the silliest thing I’ve ever heard. What you need, Mike, is a stone fence. It’s just about the most colossal drink you’ve ever drunk--drank. It-it puts poise in apathetic people, if you know what I mean, and after the second one your spine turns to solid platinum. You take one part brandy, and two parts rye… (Fade out)