Walk on the Wild Side: Laurence Harvey’s Lee Rider Jacket

Laurence Harvey as Dove Linkhorn in Walk on the Wild Side (1962)

Laurence Harvey as Dove Linkhorn in Walk on the Wild Side (1962)

Vitals

Laurence Harvey as Dove Linkhorn, determined drifter

Texas to New Orleans, September 1933

Film: Walk on the Wild Side
Release Date: February 21, 1962
Director: Edward Dmytryk
Costume Designer: Charles Le Maire

Background

While this may not be the ideal weekend for an outdoors adventure, we can at least walk vicariously with Depression-era drifter Dove Linkhorn (Laurence Harvey), whose solo trek from Texas to New Orleans is interrupted by the arrival of the fiery and opportunistic runaway Kitty (Jane Fonda). The two hitchhike and hop trains together, though Dove turns down her advances as he sticks to his single-minded goal of tracking down the woman he had loved and lost, Hallie Gerard (Capucine). Continue reading →

The Sopranos: Christopher’s Black Leather Blazer

Michael Imperioli with Drea de Matteo and Lola Glaudini on The Sopranos (Episode 4.02: "No Show")

Michael Imperioli with Drea de Matteo and Lola Glaudini on The Sopranos (Episode 4.02: “No Show”)

Vitals

Michael Imperioli as Christopher Moltisanti, Jersey mob acting capo

New Jersey, Fall 2002

Series: The Sopranos
Episodes:
– “No Show” (Episode 4.02, dir. John Patterson, aired 9/22/2002)
– “Whoever Did This” (Episode 4.09, dir. Tim Van Patten, aired 11/10/2002)
Creator: David Chase
Costume Designer: Juliet Polcsa

Background

Happy birthday, Michael Imperioli! Born 54 years ago today in Mount Vernon, New York, the actor won an Emmy Award for his role of hotheaded Christopher Moltisanti on HBO’s The Sopranos.

With Paulie Walnuts out of commission while he serves a jail sentence in Youngstown (in fact, actor Tony Sirico was out for the first half of the fourth season due to back surgery), Silvio Dante (Steven Van Zandt) breaks the news to the Soprano family—somewhat begrudgingly—that Christopher has been chosen to temporarily take over as capo of Paulie’s crew.

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Steve McQueen in The Blob

Steve McQueen as Steve Andrews in The Blob (1958)

Steve McQueen as Steve Andrews in The Blob (1958)

Vitals

Steve McQueen as Steve Andrews, headstrong teenager

Chester County, Pennsylvania, Summer 1957

Film: The Blob
Release Date: September 12, 1958
Director: Irvin S. Yeaworth, Jr.

Background

As today would have been Steve McQueen’s 90th birthday, let’s take a look at his first starring role, a sci-fi/horror drive-in favorite called The Blob. A personal favorite of producer Jack H. Harris, The Blob was filmed on location in southeastern Pennsylvania on a low budget that, depending on the source, has been quoted as anywhere between $110,000 and $240,000, a cost kept low thanks in part to the low $3,000 salary that the then-struggling actor McQueen had accepted to afford short-term expenses like food and rent.

After two uncredited movie roles and scattered TV bit parts across the mid-1950s, McQueen’s credited feature film debut was in Robert Stevens’ 1958 crime drama Never Love a Stranger, which also featured his future Bullitt co-star Felice Orlandi. Less than a week after the premiere episode of Wanted Dead or Alive aired on CBS in September 1958, The Blob was released in theaters with “Steven McQueen” first-billed.

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Timothy Dalton’s Shawl-Collar Dinner Jacket in The Living Daylights

Timothy Dalton as James Bond in The Living Daylights (1987). Source: thunderballs.org.

Timothy Dalton as James Bond in The Living Daylights (1987). Source: thunderballs.org.

Vitals

Timothy Dalton as James Bond, British government agent

Bratislava, Fall 1986

Film: The Living Daylights
Release Date: June 27, 1987
Director: John Glen
Costume Designer: Emma Porteous
Costume Supervisor: Tiny Nicholls

Background

Happy birthday to Timothy Dalton, born 74 years ago today on March 21, 1946! To celebrate the Welsh actor’s birthday, I want to revisit Dalton’s debut as James Bond, bringing a serious, Ian Fleming-influenced approach two decades before Daniel Craig would approach the role in a similar manner.

Dalton had long been a contender for the role, turning it down twice due to his youth when the filmmakers sought a replacement for Sean Connery and then for George Lazenby. When it was unclear if Roger Moore would return for his trio of 007 films in the ’80s, Dalton’s name came up each time, but it wasn’t until Pierce Brosnan was contractually obligated to turn down the role to return to Remington Steele in 1986 that a pathway was finally opened for Dalton, then 40 years old and seasoned enough to play the agent, to slip into Bond’s finely tailored dinner jacket for The Living Daylights. Continue reading →

Three Days of the Condor: Joubert’s Trench Coat

Max von Sydow as Joubert in Three Days of the Condor (1975)

Max von Sydow as Joubert in Three Days of the Condor (1975)

Vitals

Max von Sydow as G. Joubert, French Alsatian contract assassin

New York City and Washington, D.C., Winter 1975

Film: Three Days of the Condor
Release Date: September 24, 1975
Director: Sydney Pollack
Costume Designer: Joseph G. Aulisi

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

You may be walking, maybe the first sunny day of the spring, and a car will slow beside you, and a door will open, and someone you know – maybe even trust – will get out of the car, and he will smile a becoming smile… but he will leave open the door of the car and offer to give you a lift.

Happy Spring to my BAMF Style readers in the Northern Hemisphere! Among the many screen credits of the late Max von Sydow, who died at the age of 90 earlier this month, was the taciturn professional assassin known as G. Joubert in the ’70s espionage thriller Three Days of the Condor.

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Cheers: Sam Malone’s Green Pinwale Shirt

Ted Danson as Sam Malone on Cheers (Episode 2.10: "How Do I Love Thee? Let Me Call You Back”)

Ted Danson as Sam Malone on Cheers (Episode 2.10: “How Do I Love Thee? Let Me Call You Back”)

Happy St. Patrick’s Day, BAMF Style readers! What could be a more appropriate focus on this green-bedecked holiday than focusing on one of the most famous movie and TV bartenders rocking a green shirt?

Vitals

Ted Danson as Sam Malone, bartender and former baseball star

Boston, Early Winter 1983

Series: Cheers
Episode: “How Do I Love Thee? Let Me Call You Back” (Episode 2.10)
Air Date: December 8, 1983
Director: James Burrows
Created by: Glen Charles, Les Charles, and James Burrows
Costume Designer: Robert L. Tanella

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!  Continue reading →

The Omega Man: Charlton Heston’s Green Velvet Blazer

Charlton Heston as Robert Neville in The Omega Man (1971)

Charlton Heston as Robert Neville in The Omega Man (1971)

Vitals

Charlton Heston as Colonel Robert Neville, MD, former military scientist and resourceful survivor

Los Angeles, August 1977

Film: The Omega Man
Release Date: August 1, 1971
Director: Boris Sagal
Costumers: Margo Baxley & Bucky Rous
Tailor: Albert Mariani

Background

The second of three adaptations of Richard Matheson’s 1954 novel I Am Legend, The Omega Man stars Charlton Heston as Robert Neville, a survivor of a global pandemic. “The last man on earth… is not alone!” exclaimed the film’s advertising, and indeed Neville is forced to fortify himself into his home each night, warding off attacks from The Family, a violent cult of fellow survivors who—without the experimental vaccine that saved Neville—were mutated by the effects of the plague into nocturnal albinos.

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Once Upon a Time in Hollywood: Brad Pitt in Black and White

Brad Pitt as Cliff Booth in Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood (2019)

Brad Pitt as Cliff Booth in Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood (2019)

Vitals

Brad Pitt as Cliff Booth, swaggering Hollywood stuntman

Los Angeles, Summer 1969

Film: Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Release Date: July 26, 2019
Director: Quentin Tarantino
Costume Designer: Arianne Phillips

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

Tonight the night? Why not?

When Cliff Booth poses himself this question on the night of Friday, August 8, 1969, he was merely considering whether or not he should partake in an acid-dipped cigarette he bought from “a hippie girl” six months earlier, but the night turns out to be far more eventful than a mere drug experiment.

Brad Pitt may have asked himself the same question a month ago during the 92nd Academy Awards when he won his first Oscar for acting in recognition of his performance in Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood, the ninth film from Quentin Tarantino as the auteur added his own revisionist touch to a consequential year for American pop culture.

As today is Friday the 13th, let’s take a look at one of Cliff’s less celebrated outfits on what started as a very unlucky night for the stuntman… until he turned the tables thanks to that acid-dipped cigarette, his pet pit bull Brandy, and a few decades worth of combat-honed grit.

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Don Draper’s Light Gray Thin-Striped Suit

Jon Hamm as Don Draper in "5G", Episode 1.05 of Mad Men.

Jon Hamm as Don Draper in “5G”, Episode 1.05 of Mad Men.

Vitals

Jon Hamm as Don Draper, mysterious advertising creative director

New York City, Spring 1960 and 1962

Series: Mad Men
Episodes:
– “5G” (Episode 1.05), dir. Lesli Linka Glatter, aired 8/16/2007
– “Red in the Face” (Episode 1.07), dir. Tim Hunter, aired 8/30/2007
– “The New Girl” (Episode 2.05), dir. Jennifer Getzinger, aired 8/24/2008
Creator: Matthew Weiner
Costume Designer: Janie Bryant

Background

Happy birthday to Jon Hamm, born March 10, 1971, and arguably most famous for his Emmy-winning performance on AMC’s Mad Men as suave 1960s ad man Don Draper.

Donald Draper? What kinda name is that?

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Stranger Things: Hopper’s “Cutting-Edge” Aloha Shirt

David Harbour as Jim Hopper on Stranger Things (Episode 3.04: "The Sauna Test")

David Harbour as Jim Hopper on Stranger Things (Episode 3.04: “The Sauna Test”)

Vitals

David Harbour as Jim Hopper, small-town police chief

Indiana, Summer 1985

Series: Stranger Things
Episodes:
– “Chapter Two: The Mall Rats” (Episode 3.02, dir. The Duffer Brothers)
– “Chapter Three: The Case of the Missing Lifeguard” (Episode 3.03, dir. Shawn Levy)
– “Chapter Four: The Sauna Test” (Episode 3.04, dir. Shawn Levy)
– “Chapter Five: The Flayed” (Episode 3.05, dir. Uta Briesewitz)
– “Chapter Six: E Pluribus Unum” (Episode 3.06, dir. Uta Briesewitz)
– “Chapter Seven: The Bite” (Episode 3.07, dir. The Duffer Brothers)
– “Chapter Eight: The Battle of Starcourt” (Episode 3.08, dir. The Duffer Brothers)
Streaming Date: July 4, 2019
Creator: The Duffer Brothers
Costume Designer: Amy Parris

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

Netflix recently announced that the fourth season of its sci-fi/horror runaway hit Stranger Things has commenced production, so we can likely expect it to hit within a year. In the meantime, as I’m enjoying a “spring break” of my own with a trip south to sunny Florida this week, I’m taking a much-requested look at the “cutting edge” Aloha shirt that Hawkins police chief Jim Hopper (David Harbour) wears in all but one episode of the series’ third season.

Continue reading →