Evil Under the Sun: Roddy McDowall’s Nautical Breton Stripes

Roddy McDowall in Evil Under the Sun (1982)

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Roddy McDowall as Rex Brewster, flamboyant gossip columnist

Adriatic Sea, Summer 1939

Film: Evil Under the Sun
Release Date: March 5, 1982
Director: Guy Hamilton
Costume Designer: Anthony Powell

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

Having returned from my own beach vacation this weekend, today’s post draws from a summery classic that was some of the earliest inspiration on my interest in men’s style: Guy Hamilton’s 1982 adaptation of the Agatha Christie mystery Evil Under the Sun.

This was the third Christie adaptation produced by John Brabourne and Richard Goodwin for EMI Films in less than a decade, beginning with Murder on the Orient Express (1974) which starred Albert Finney as eccentric Belgian detective Hercule Poirot. Death on the Nile (1978) was the first to star Peter Ustinov, who became the first actor since Austin Trevor (in the 1930s) to play Poirot multiple times on screen when he first reprised the role in Evil Under the Sun. This movie feels considerably lighter than its predecessors in its tone and sun-baked setting, transferred from the novel’s provincial English coast to an exotic fictional island in the Adriatic Sea but filmed on Mallorca.

Principal characters like Poirot, the Redferns, and the Marshall family remained mostly unchanged in Anthony Shaffer’s screenplay, while others were either composited, jettisoned, or reimagined; for instance, the athletic spinster Emily Brewster from the novel was transformed into the extravagant Rex Brewster (Roddy McDowall), a gossip columnist writing an unauthorized tell-all biography of scandalous—and recently married—Broadway diva Arlena Stuart Marshall (Diana Rigg). Continue reading →

Frankie Avalon’s Red Paisley Party Shirt in Beach Party

Frankie Avalon in Beach Party (1963)

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Frankie Avalon as Frankie, lovestruck surfer

Malibu, California, Summer 1963

Film: Beach Party
Release Date: August 7, 1963
Director: William Asher
Costume Design: Marjorie Corso & Renié

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

Four years after Gidget launched the beach party subgenre, the formula was refined with less morals and more midriffs in the simply titled Beach Party. Released 63 years ago today on August 7, 1963, Beach Party was the first of about a dozen similar movies released by American International Pictures that occasionally veered from the beach into ski country or the race track but almost always featured pop singers Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello in leading roles.

Filmed across the beaches of Southern California over three weeks in the spring of 1963, Beach Party established a blueprint that most of its successors would follow: a score by exotica stalwart Les Baxter supplemented by the surf rock stylings of Dick Dale and his Del-Tones; a supporting cast of older, most established stars—like Bob Cummings, Dorothy Malone, and Morey Amsterdam in this first film; and the easy chemistry between Frankie and Annette.

Frankie and Annette played essentially the same teen lovers driven apart by an easily explained misunderstanding that is invariably resolved by the close of each approximately 90-minute runtime. In Beach Party, it’s Dolores’ hesitation that drives Frankie away—straight into the arms of the buxom “Hungarian goulash” Ava (Eva Six), one of the women whom he serenades with “Don’t Stop Now” during the raucous party at Big Daddy’s. Continue reading →

John Saxon’s Floral-collared Chambray Shirt in Moonshine County Express

John Saxon in Moonshine County Express (1977)

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John Saxon as J.B. Johnson, race car driver and occasional moonshine runner

Jackson County, Kentucky, Fall 1976

Film: Moonshine County Express
Release Date: June 1, 1977
Director: Gus Trikonis
Wardrobe Coordinator: Adrianne Levesque

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

Moonshine County Express was produced by Roger Corman’s New World Pictures in 1977 during the height of the cinematic “hick flick” trend that often posited guys like Burt Reynolds as rural heroes driving fast cars full of booze. Directed by Corman favorite Gus Trikonis, Moonshine County Express stars the late John Saxon in its central role—no doubt due to the actor’s own considerable talent and his resemblance to a pre-mustached Reynolds—as well as Susan Howard, William Conrad, a post-Brady Bunch Maureen McCormick as a Daisy Duke protoype, and “hick flick” regulars Jeff Corey and Dub Taylor; Seinfeld fans may also recognize Uncle Leo (aka Len Lesser) in a supporting role as a bargain barn owner. (Both Saxon and McCormick share their August 5th birthday, with McCormick celebrating her 70th today while Saxon would have turned 90 this year.)

Claudia Jennings, Maureen McCormick, and Susan Howard in Moonshine County Express (1977)

Marcia, Marcia, Marcia! Except it’s Betty, Sissy, and Dot.

It would be hard to recommend in good faith to all my readers, but Moonshine County Express is the kind of movie you throw on when you want that raw, Southern-fried tale of fast-driivng whiskey runners in the same authentic, dobro-twanging, semi-exploitative ilk as Moonrunners, the 1975 B-movie that directly inspired The Dukes of Hazzard, though Moonshine County Express also features many of the elements that would be familiar in Hazzard County: a corrupt and corpulent county boss, a white-suited antagonist, short-shorted Southern beauties, and a liquor-hauling hero speeding around in a Dodge muscle car. Continue reading →

Walter Matthau’s Gray Striped Suit as Charley Varrick

Walter Matthau in Charley Varrick (1973)

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Walter Matthau as Charley Varrick, clever crop-dusting pilot and bank robber

Albuquerque to Reno, Summer 1973

Film: Charley Varrick
Release Date: October 19, 1973
Director: Don Siegel
Costume Designer: Helen Colvig

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

Although International Crop Duster’s Day is observed on May 27th, August 3rd was established as Airplane Crop Duster Day to commemorate U.S. Army pilot Lt. John A. Macready’s first-ever aerial crop-dusting flight on this day in 1921. More than a half century later, Walter Matthau broke from his usual comedic roles to portray the the titular crop-duster who broke bad in Charley Varrick, Don Siegel’s 1973 adaptation of John H. Reese’s crime novel The Looters.

Down on his luck as “the last of the independents” as he bills himself, Charley had organized a bank robbery in Tres Cruces, New Mexico, that tragically resulted in the death of his wife Nadine (Jacqueline Scott) and another accomplice. Charley and his remaining accomplice, hotheaded Harman (Andy Robinson), spirit away with the $765,118 haul—a surprisingly hefty take which tips Charley off to the fact that they must have robbed a Mafia drop bank.

Without waiting for confirmation beyond TV news only reporting that less than $2,000 was taken, Charley swiftly begins securing plans to make his final escape. Continue reading →

This Property Is Condemned: Robert Redford’s Depression-era Cap and Corduroy

Robert Redford and Natalie Wood in This Property Is Condemned (1966)

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Robert Redford as Owen Legate, railroad representative

Mississippi, Summer 1931

Film: This Property Is Condemned
Release Date: August 3, 1966
Director: Sydney Pollack
Costume Designer: Edith Head

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

Robert Redford was on the verge of stardom when he was cast as the romantic lead opposite Natalie Wood in This Property is Condemned, released sixty years ago this week on August 3, 1966 and marking the late actor’s first of seven collaborations with director Sydney Pollack.

Set in the fictional Mississippi town of Dodson (but actually filmed in the Gulf Coast city of Bay St. Louis) during the Great Depression, Redford stars as Owen Legate—a representative of the railroad that provides much of Dodson’s economic base. He literally drops into Dodson by the night train, dusting off his trousers and striding up to a raucous boarding house where the owner’s daughter, Willie Starr (Mary Badham), introduces him to rent a room from her mother, Hazel (Kate Reid), during Hazel’s 43rd birthday party. She comments “a buck is a buck” when he pays for a week’s worth in advance, prompting him to quip back “if you’re lucky” to her delight.

His room and board secured, Owen lingers around the periphery of the party, eating fried chicken and eventually meeting Willie’s older sister Alva (Natalie Wood). The popular Miss Alva sets her flirtatious sights on Owen, until he insults her by implying that “if you come with the room, if you’re included with the two meals, then let’s get on with it.” Continue reading →

Richard Egan’s Cream Camp Shirt in The Revolt of Mamie Stover

Richard Egan in The Revolt of Mamie Stover (1956)

Vitals

Richard Egan as Jim Blair, writer

At sea from San Francisco to Hawaii, Summer to December 1941

Film: The Revolt of Mamie Stover
Release Date: May 11, 1956
Director: Raoul Walsh
Costume Designer: Travilla

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

Though it made waves for its controversial themes and Jane Russell’s eponymous performance at the time it was released 70 years ago in May 1956, The Revolt of Mamie Stover remains a barely remembered movie today aside from generally positive reappraisals from critics and reviewers. And while Russell remains an icon of Hollywood’s brassy bombshell era, her co-star Richard Egan—once a nearly ubiquitous leading man in the late 1950s—is also little-discussed today. Continue reading →

Miami Vice: Jamie Foxx’s Brown Silk Suit as Tubbs

Jamie Foxx in Miami Vice (2006)

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Jamie Foxx as Ricardo “Rico” Tubbs, Miami-Dade PD detective

Miami, Summer 2005

Film: Miami Vice
Release Date: July 28, 2006
Director: Michael Mann
Costume Design: Michael Kaplan & Janty Yates
Jamie Foxx’s Costumer: Yaa Boaa Aning

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

Michael Mann’s frequently memed update of Miami Vice was widely released 20 years ago today on July 28, 2006, reintroducing cooler-than-ice detectives Sonny Crockett and Ricardo Tubbs as Colin Farrell and Jamie Foxx, respectively.

As portrayed by EGOT hopeful Philip Michael Thomas, Tubbs may have lived within Crockett’s [five o’clock] shadow in the series, but the 2006 movie gives the character more room to breathe with Jamie Foxx—fresh off his Oscar win for Ray—in the role. In fact, it was reportedly Foxx who suggested the idea of a Miami Vice film to Mann, who had executive-produced the 1980s TV series.

Despite his increased degree of characterization, the 2006 film still leaves some questions about Tubbs’ character unanswered; for example, how does he feel about mojitos? Is he fiendish or ambivalent? Continue reading →

James Stewart’s Western Gear as The Man from Laramie

James Stewart in The Man from Laramie (1955)

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James Stewart as Will Lockhart, freight hauler and former cavalry officer

New Mexico, Late 1870s

Film: The Man from Laramie
Release Date: September 20, 1955
Director: Anthony Mann

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

Since 2008, the National Day of the Cowboy has been observed on the fourth Saturday in July to recognize the spirit of the pioneering men and women who helped establish the American West. James Stewart’s homespun persona naturally lent itself to Western cinema as the actor’s prolific Western filmography includes Destry Rides Again (1939), Winchester ’73 (1950), The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962), and John Wayne’s swan song The Shootist (1976). Among these, Stewart recalled that his favorite Western was his eighth and final collaboration with director Anthony Mann: The Man from Laramie. Continue reading →

Sam Elliott’s Aloha Shirt in Lifeguard

Sam Elliott in Lifeguard (1976)

Vitals

Sam Elliott as Rick Carlson, charismatic 32-year-old beach lifeguard

Southern California, Summer 1975

Film: Lifeguard
Release Date: July 23, 1976
Director: Daniel Petrie
Wardrobe Credit: Margo Baxley

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

Before his magnificent mustache and gravely voice made him a mainstay of Westerns, Sam Elliott’s breakthrough performance was in the romantic drama Lifeguard, released fifty years ago today on July 23, 1976.

In the half-century since its release, Lifeguard continues to polarize audiences as some praise it as a thoughtful character stufy of American masculinity in crisis while others disregard it as a vapid endorsement of statutory rape. While my own response falls somewhere in between, I do agree with even the film’s detractors that Sam Elliott’s undeniable charisma can’t help but to shine through even the more problematic elements of Ron Koslow’s screenplay. As the filmmakers cycled through potential leads like Beau Bridges and Adam Roarke, Elliott was considered after director Dan Petrie and his wife Dorothea noticed the actor’s masculine yet mustache-less performance opposite Roarke in the 1972 eco-horror film Frogs.

A former lifeguard himself, Elliott stars as a career lifeguard Rick Carlson working the beaches of Los Angeles County, where his easy-go-lucky barefoot life picking up chicks is washed into an identity crisis after he receives an invitation to his 15-year high school reunion while also countering his father (George D. Wallace) constantly criticizing his vocation: “You know what’s crazy? I still wonder what you’re gonna be when you grow up!” Although swayed by the promise of more “acceptable” success selling Porsches in the Valley, Rick ultimately decides to continue his sun-baked career as a professional lifeguard, having honed his abilities to the point where the only drowning allowed on his beach is drowning in tail. Continue reading →

Robin Williams’ Black-on-White Floral Silk D&G Shirt in The Birdcage

Robin Williams in The Birdcage (1996)

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Robin Williams as Armand Goldman, South Beach nightclub manager

Miami Beach, Winter 1996

Film: The Birdcage
Release Date: March 8, 1996
Director: Mike Nichols
Costume Designer: Ann Roth

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

I’m honored to share my birthday with Robin Williams, who was born 75 years ago today on July 21, 1951. One of my favorite of the late comedian’s movies is The Birdcage, crafted by the iconic married team of director Mike Nichols and writer Elaine May as an adaptation of the French play and subsequent film La Cage aux Folles.

Williams stars as Armand Goldman, owner of the titular Birdcage, a South Beach drag club starring his more flamboyant partner Albert (Nathan Lane). When Armand’s son Val (Dan Futterman) reveals he’s marrying the daughter of the ultraconservative Virginia senator Kevin Keeley (Gene Hackman) who insists on meeting his future in-laws, Armand and Val conceive a plan to host the senator’s family by luring Albert away from the couple’s ostentatious apartment—allowing time for Armand to renovate himself and his home to support Val’s untruth that his father is actually Armand Coleman: a heterosexual cultural attaché to Greece… “whatever the hell that is.” Continue reading →