Vitals

Timothy Olyphant as Agent 47, freelance hitman

Turkey, Fall 2007

Film: Hitman
Release Date: November 21, 2007
Director: Xavier Gens
Costume Designer: Olivier Bériot
Timothy Olyphant’s Personal Dresser: Anna Gelinova

Background

A black suit is typically acceptable for funerals and special occasions. These occasions may include a wedding, a semi-formal evening event, or being a badass. 47 would fit into the latter category here. However, being as it’s nearly Christmas, 47’s black suit and red tie would be the perfect attire for a holiday gathering. It would be even more perfect if you have to cut the holiday gathering short to go assassinate a few bad guys, but that might dampen your senile aunt’s holiday spirit.

Many would agree that, especially in the age of Hawaiian-shirted heroes in the Grand Theft Auto series, Hitman‘s Agent 47 has always remained one of the best-dressed video game characters. From Hitman: Codename 47 in 2000 through the latest installment, Hitman: Absolution, the man has always dressed to kill in stylish variations of a black suit, white striped shirt, and red tie. Fans of the games eagerly waited to see how Olyphant would be dressed as 47 with some fans satisfied and others vocally unsatisfied.

What’d He Wear?

Not afraid to look like the traditional villain, Agent 47 dashes around Europe – especially the legendary espionage hot spots of Russia and Turkey – in a black wool suit and matching overcoat.

He actually wears two suits in the film, having to ditch an outfit after his Russian hotel room was blown apart by his own booby trap when a team of Russian commandos stormed the building. I think we can all agree that this is a very relatable problem. After stopping at an all-night tailor shop, 47 leaves in a nearly-identical suit, with the only noticeable difference being in the number of cuff buttons.

The suit itself is pure black wool. Like the video game suit, the jacket is single-breasted with notch lapels and a 2-button front. There is a welted breast pocket and flapped hip pockets, also similar to the concept art of the games’ Agent 47. The jacket has natural shoulders with roped sleeveheads and the typical single back vent seen on most American business suits. The first suit jacket had 3-button cuffs, but his replacement suit has 4-button cuffs.

The suit trousers are flat front with plain-hemmed bottoms and belt loops. 47 wears a black leather belt with a silver squared single-prong buckle.

Hitman also includes the white striped shirt from the game series, although this has been a controversial choice for fans of the game people who care just a little too much. The main shirt is white silk with a subtle sateen tonal stripe, a narrow spread collar, no breast pocket, single cuffs, and a front placket. In earlier scenes, he wears a similar shirt with a point collar, but this is soon ditched after the whole hotel-commando-explosion-gunfight thing.

So what’s everyone so mad about? In the covers of the games, 47 is typically wearing a white shirt with thin dark stripes that are well-spaced out. Besides the fact that the stripes look better on video game concept art than on a real person, placing the film’s 47 in a white shirt makes the black-white-red contrast more defining and the subtle white stripes add a touch of class.

Okay, enough about that. Through the single cuffs of his shirt, 47 wears silver-rimmed cuff links with “The Organization”‘s logo on them. In the world of Hitman, this is the equivalent of monogrammed cuff links.

47 also wears two different red-toned silk ties in the film, another nod to the varying ties in the video games. The first tie has a dark burgundy ground with red stripes. The stripes begin at the left shoulder and cross down to the right hip in the British style. This is most similar to the tie he wears on the cover of Hitman: Blood Money.

After the midnight tailoring rendezvous, 47 exits the shop with a bright red silk tie seen on the covers of Hitman 2: Silent Assassin and Hitman: Absolution. Both ties are knotted with a four-in-hand, which 47 rarely loosens.

47 wears a stainless Rolex Submariner with a black dial, possibly a 5513, throughout the film.

Naturally, all of 47’s accompanying attire is black; he wears black cap-toe derby shoes with black socks. When he dons his overcoat and preps for an execution, he wears a pair of thick black leather gloves.

The badass longcoat that completes 47’s look is, naturally, black wool with a single-breasted 3-button front. It has large peak lapels, which he typically wears upturned for the true “movie badass” look. The coat has slightly padded shoulders and roped sleeveheads. There are jetted hip pockets and 3-button cuffs. The jacket extends to his knees, allowing him greater mobility, with a long single vent in the rear.

When lounging around in his hotel room, 47 wears his undershirt, the standard Die Hard-issued white ribbed sleeveless A-shirt.

Go Big or Go Home

47 isn’t the typical hero we read about on this blog. He drinks fine Scotch… but cuts it with ice. A Russian cougar chats him up in a hotel bar, but he prefers to go to bed alone, talking to a computer.

Then again, is 47 really a hero? After all, he kills for a living. He’s professional to a fault, carrying out orders as he is told, seemingly without remorse. It’s just luck that all of his targets (ruthless warlords, corrupt politicians, etc.) are bad people. After his latest hit, he is given orders to terminate a witness. Upon confronting her on the street, he realizes she’s no witness; she’s never seen him before at all. For likely the first time in his career, 47 refuses the order. This sets off the entire plot of the film into motion, involving plastic surgery, identical doubles, bloodbaths, religious undertones, and Dougray Scott not smoking.

However, despite being one of the more violent action “heroes” of the last few years, 47 shows remorse by the story’s end. He ponders how a good man can kill. After being told about the virtues of moral ambiguity, he appears to leave “the life” behind after one last kill.

How to Get the Look

Unlike the typical “Man in Black” look (Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, The Getaway, etc.), Agent 47 isn’t afraid to show a little color. A very bright color, actually. Liven up your Christmas holiday with a badass look and some holiday red. Also, it’ll distract your targets.

• Black wool suit, consisting of:
  • Single-breasted jacket with a 2-button front, notch lapels, welted breast pocket, flapped hip pockets, 4-button cuffs, and a single back vent
  • Flat front trousers with belt loops and plain-hemmed bottoms
• White tonal-striped dress shirt with narrow spread collar, front placket, and single cuffs
• Red silk necktie
• Silver-trimmed custom cuff links
• Black leather cap-toe derby shoes
• Black dress socks
• Black leather belt with a silver squared single-prong buckle
• Black leather gloves
• Black wool single-breasted overcoat with a 3-button front, peak lapels, jetted hip pockets, 3-button cuffs, and a long single back vent
• Rolex Submariner stainless wristwatch with a black dial

The Gun

Fans of the Hitman series are well-acquainted with the hero’s use of a pair of custom AMT Hardballers (aka “Silverballers”). The Hardballer, a stainless steel pistol based on the Colt Gold Cup 1911 model, was developed in 1977. Like the Colt, it has a 7-round magazine of .45 ACP ammo and a standard 8.5″ length and 5″ barrel. The AMT even gained popularity in films with its Longslide model, which has a 7″ barrel and was famously used by Arnold Schwarzenegger as The Terminator.

While the filmmakers stuck to the idea of dual stainless 1911s, Agent 47’s guns were upgraded from the Hardballers to a set of Para-Ordnance P-18.9 pistols. The P-18.9 has a very practical name; the “9” stands for the 9×19 mm Parabellum ammunition it uses. The “18” denotes the eighteen rounds it carries in one magazine. 18! Holy shit!

Para-Ordnance may go on to surprise you even further when you learn that a company which makes such badass weaponry was actually founded in the violent nation of… Canada. Toronto, actually. CEOs Ted Szabo and Thanos Polyzos began operations in 1985 and soon gained a reputation for making high-quality (at a high price) handguns. Keeping with the theme of “high”, the magazine capacities were also notably high due to the double-stack magazines, with the P-14.45, the P-16.40, and the P-18.9 filling out the ranks.

In addition to its hi-cap models, Para-Ordnance also carries a line of more traditional capacity pistols with single-stack magazines. Para-Ordnance also developed the LDA (“Light Double Action”) trigger, marking the first ever double-action-only 1911 pistol. 47 briefly handles a Para-Ordnance LDA in Udre Belicoff’s den of iniquity, using it to execute Udre. The special features on the DVD identify the LDA as 47’s pistols, and 47 himself even tells Nika that he carries “two .45s”, but he does indeed carry the single-action P-18.9.

At 40 ounces, the P-18.9 is no light pistol. It is cosmetically and operationally very similar to the traditional M1911 with a single-action recoil system and a 5″ barrel. The hi-cap double-stack magazine is the only difference with an expanded grip designed to house it.

When Szabo died in 2007, the company moved operations to Charlotte, NC and is now branded as an all-American firearms manufacturer.

Agent 47: That suitcase perfectly holds my Blaser sniper rifle, two .45s and a gag for irritating, talkative little girls like yourself. You want me to stop and get it out?

Aside from the erroneous mention of his “two .45s”, perhaps just a trick to try and intimidate Nika by inflating the caliber of his weapons, 47 does indeed use a Blaser R93 sniper rifle, as well as a Walther WA 2000. These were also used in the games, with both guns used in Hitman: Codename 47, Hitman 2: Silent Assassin, and Hitman: Contracts. The Blaser was tabled for Hitman: Blood Money, but 47 still primarily used his Walther WA 2000 in that. By the newest game, Hitman: Absolution, the Blaser and Walther had both been phased out.

Did You Know…? Aside from plinking on some .22 rifles as a youngster, the Para-Ordnance P-18.9 was the first firearm I ever fired! It was, however, a rental; I do not yet own one.

Do Yourself a Favor and…

Buy the movie.

The Quote

If you set me up, I will find you and I will burn that building to the ground around you.