Vitals

Jeff Bridges as Marcus Hamilton, experienced Texas Ranger nearing retirement

West Texas, Summer 2016

Film: Hell or High Water
Release Date: August 12, 2016
Director: David Mackenzie
Costume Designer: Malgosia Turzanska

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

One of the best to ever do it, Jeff Bridges turns 76 today. Born December 4, 1949, the actor was born into a family of talent including his parents Lloyd and Dorothy and older brother Beau, but he established his own path when he received his first Academy Award nomination for The Last Picture Show, released two months before his 22nd birthday. Bridges’ seventh and latest Oscar nod recognized his more grizzled, elegiac performance in the Taylor Sheridan-penned neo-Western crime thriller, Hell or High Water.

Bridges plays Marcus Hamilton, an old-time Texas Ranger being forced into retirement but roped by his likely successor Alberto Parker (Gil Birmingham) into investigating the rash of bank robberies committed by the Howard brothers across west Texas. The affectionately teasing banter between Marcus and Alberto are one of many electric elements of Hell or High Water, as illustrated when a bank president observes that “you Rangers are an odd bunch,” prompting Alberto to simply nod toward his aging partner and respond: “No, just him.”

Bridges’ performance was one of four Academy Award nominations received by Hell or High Water, which was also nominated for Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Film Editing. Though shut out at the Oscars, the film—and Bridges’ performance in particular—received accolades from many other award bodies, including the National Board of Review, the Satellite Awards, and—apropos Bridges’ and his characters’ advanced ages—the AARP Annual Movies for Grownup Awards.

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What’d He Wear?

Marcus: Well, you’re already dressed like me.
Alberto: This is our uniform.
Marcus: We ain’t got no uniform. You can wear whatever collared shirt you choose, you just keep choosing mine.
Alberto: Ranger regs say white, blue, or tan dress shirt. Stands to reason, every once in a while, we’re gonna be dressed the same.
Marcus: Well, you know what they say about imitation, Alberto.

The first scene establishes the camaraderie between Marcus and Alberto with how uncannily similar the latter dresser to his mentor in pale-beige poplin uniform shirts. The shirts are similarly styled with semi-spread collars, front plackets, shoulder epaulets, and barrel cuffs. Both box-pleated chest pockets are covered with single-button pointed flaps, though only the left pocket has a pen slot behind the flap. The short-sleeved outline of Marcus’ undershirt is visible through his shirt fabric.

Pinned to their left upper chest is the Rangers’ iconic silver Mexican cinco peso coin-made badges, consisting of a five-pointed star encircled by a ring stamped with “DEPT. OF PUBLIC SAFETY” along the top and “TEXAS RANGERS” along the bottom, accented with laurel springs around the sides.

Marcus and Alberto both wear burgundy ties patterned with fields of teal-blue medallion inverted-squares/diamonds. While both men also wear tie chains, Marcus’ gold chain across his mid-section is slightly more ornate with a skeletal crown pendant in the center.

Marcus tucks the shirt into light-brown trousers with jeans-informed details, specifically the curved front pockets and the pointed yoke and double patch pockets over the seat. He holds them up through the belt loops with a dark-brown tooled leather belt with a ranger-style front strap that closes through a nickel Texas Rangers service buckle.

These hand-crafted oval-shaped buckles are detailed with a rope-like border and the gold relief of a classic Texas Rangers badge on the right side. Though it resembles a classic western plate-style buckle, it functions like a frame-style buckle with a small squared single-prong cut-out on the left side, fastening the narrower front strap which pulls through two carved metal keepers (each likely with gold five-pointed star) and is finished with a matching metal end.

Both the trouser belt and gun-belt—and their matching buckles—are a classic Texas Ranger design worn by real-life Rangers like Joaquin Jackson, a considerable influence on the character whom Bridges later explained in an interview with Michael Hoinski for the Austin American-Statesman: “He supplied us with everything, from how you wear your clothes to what the attitude is.”

The following day, Marcus changes into a similarly cut shirt made from a light olive poplin. He initially wears the same tie but ultimately discards it to wear the shirt open-neck through the climactic action.

Marcus pairs this shirt with dark-brown twill trousers that reflect a more traditional western styling than his lighter jeans. These flat-front trousers have pointed belt loops, front pockets, set-in back pockets (with a flap over the left one), and boot-cut plain-hemmed bottoms.

He holds them up with the same configuration of tooled leather belts, including his trouser belt and that wider but otherwise identical gun-belt with the same decorative tooling and unique ranger-style single-prong plate buckle. He carries his 1911 pistol in a brown tooled leather holster on the right side of this belt, with his double magazine pouches on the left side, a black basket-woven leather handcuffs pouch in the center of his back, and a tan leather pocket-knife sheath just to the right of that.

Marcus’ cowboy boots have russet-brown leather uppers worn to a rugged patina. Finished with pull-tabs over the arched tops, the shafts are decorated with a bold, flame-like stitch pattern rendered in a thick, swollen style that gives the embroidery a pronounced, almost three-dimensional appearance. The rounded toe-boxes are finished with the classic bug-and-wrinkle stitchwork. The hard leather outsoles are Goodyear-welted for durability, reflecting the lower “walking heel” silhouette.

Marcus wears an ivory natural straw Resistol cowboy hat, crafted from 10X straw in the cattleman’s-style with a 4-3/8″-tall crown ventilated with a trio of grommets on each side. A narrow tan straw band is braided around the base of the crown, with a distinctive black chevron pattern woven through it.

Marcus keeps a pair of rectangular semi-framed reading glasses handy, though he’s typically sporting his gold-framed sunglasses against the bright Texas sun when out in the field. These rectangular-shaped aviators have brown tinted lenses.

Marcus keeps the rest of his jewelry and accessories simple, wearing only a gold wedding band on his left ring finger and a tool watch strapped to his left wrist. This stainless steel-cased chronograph features a white dial and a compass rigged just below it on the olive pass-through band.

After his retirement, Marcus dresses off-duty for the denouement in a similar western style: a dark-green flannel two-pocket shirt and blue denim Wrangler jeans with his same belt and boots, but with a silverbelly 6X quality fur felt Stetson Gus pinched-crown hat detailed with a dark-brown braided leather band.

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The Guns

When one of real-life Texas Ranger Joaquin Jackson’s pistols was auctioned after his death, the documentation included an anecdote from his friend Ron L. Brown that, around the time Jackson had transferred from the Texas Department of Public Safety to the Rangers, he purchased a full-size .45-caliber Colt Government Model 1911A1 “but did not realize at the time that most of the weapons carried were the smaller ‘Commander’ model.” Jackson ultimately switched to a Colt Commander, a choice also reflected in his cinematic stand-ins, from Nick Nolte’s Jack Benteen in Extreme Prejudice (1987) to Bridges’ portrayal of Marcus Hamilton.

Marcus’ pistol reflects the customization of a man who knows what he likes and needs in a sidearm that can mean life or death within a split second. It has a stainless finish and stag grips, further customized with ambidextrous extended thumb safeties, three-hole lightweight trigger, skeletonized hammer, and extended beavertail grip safety.

After the Howard brothers’ final bank heist crumbles into a gunfight, Marcus rides with one of the town vigilantes to pursue Tanner into the mountains, also taking the man’s Winchester Model 70 bolt-action rifle.

man: You look pretty winded. Y’all let me take the shot. Hell, it’s my gun.
Marcus: Not on your life. He’s mine.

The Model 70’s enduring quality earned it the reputation as “the Rifleman’s Rifle” in the decades since it was introduced by Winchester Repeating Arms in 1936, though the best-regarded models are the rifles produced prior to 1964. These “pre-64” Model 70 rifles are considered superior for their controlled-round feed with a massive Mauser-style claw extractor, forged and machined steel components, and hand-finished workmanship that emphasized reliability and smoothness over cost. Visually, these rifles are distinguished by the prominent external claw extractor, fore-end barrel retention screw securing the barrel to the stock, cone-shaped breech, higher-polish bluing, and cleaner stock inletting—features largely absent from the more utilitarian, push-feed post-’64 models.

It may be an interesting statement in old vs. new that the weapon wielded by the ill-fated Tanner is indeed one of the newer Model 70 rifles, specifically the Winchester Model 70 Extreme Weather SS with its black Bell and Carlson™ synthetic stock and matte stainless parts: newer and flashier but ultimately no match for an old-timer with an older rifle.

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What to Imbibe

Marcus drinks bottles of Shiner Bock to pass the time while poor Alberto attempts to get some sleep in his room at the Sunset Motel. Named for the small central Texas town where its brewery was founded in 1909, Spoetzl Brewery’s flagship Shiner Bock reflects the Old World brewing traditions brought to Texas by Bavarian-trained brewmaster Kosmos Spoetzl.

First brewed in 1913 as a seasonal Lenten bock, Shiner Bock grew from a local springtime beer into a year-round staple—surviving Prohibition, decades of small-scale production, and ultimately becoming the backbone of the brewery. Today, Shiner Bock represents roughly three-quarters of Spoetzl’s output and stands as one of the most enduring and culturally significant beers in Texas.

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How to Get the Look

Real-life Texas Rangers legend Joaquin Jackson helped advise dress Jeff Bridges with rugged authenticity, according to the actor’s interview with Michael Hoinski for the Austin American-Statesman: “He supplied us with everything, from how you wear your clothes to what the attitude is.” Naturally, the cowboy hat, boots, and gun-belt are part of the rig, with ties adding a smart professionalism.

• Beige poplin long-sleeved uniform shirt with semi-spread collar, front placket, two box-pleated chest pockets (with single-button pointed flaps), shoulder epaulets, and button cuffs
• Burgundy and teal diamond medallion-printed tie
• Gold tie-chain with crown pendant
• Light-brown twill jeans with belt loops, curved front pockets, patch back pockets, and plain-hemmed boot-cut bottoms
• Brown tooled leather trouser belt with nickel oval single-prong Texas Rangers service plate buckle with gold-finished Ranger badge, two engraved silver keepers, and engraved silver tip
• Brown tooled leather gun-belt with nickel oval single-prong Texas Rangers service plate buckle with gold-finished Ranger badge, two engraved silver keepers, and engraved silver tip
  • Brown tooled leather belt holster for 1911-style pistol
  • Brown leather double 1911 magazine carriers
• Russet-brown leather cowboy boots with flame-motif shaft stitching, rounded toe-box with bug-and-wrinkle stitchwork, and Goodyear-welted hard leather outsoles
• Ivory natural 10X straw Resistol cattleman’s-style cowboy hat with triple-ventilated crown and tan-and-black woven straw band
• Gold-framed rectangular aviator-style sunglasses with brown tinted lenses
• Gold wedding band
• Stainless steel chronograph with round white dial on olive pass-through band with compass attachment

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Do Yourself a Favor and…

Check out the movie.

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The Quote

This son-of-a-bitch wouldn’t know God if he crawled up his pant-leg and bit him on the pecker.