Paul Newman as Chance Wayne in Sweet Bird of Youth (1962)
Vitals
Paul Newman as Chance Wayne, charismatic gigolo
Mississippi, Easter Weekend 1962
Film: Sweet Bird of Youth
Release Date: March 21, 1962
Director: Richard Brooks
Costume Designer: Orry-Kelly
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Happy Easter! Early in his screen career, Paul Newman reprised his stage role as Chance Wayne from Tennessee Williams’ play Sweet Bird of Youth, set across Holy Saturday into Easter Sunday in Chance’s fictional hometown of St. Cloud, Mississippi.
Described as a “beautiful, stupid young man” by washed-up actress Alexandra Del Lago (Geraldine Page), Chance’s dreams of stardom have faded as he primarily earns his living as Alexandra’s private chauffeur—and gigolo. The implications of the latter were considerably sanitized during writer/director Richard Brooks’ adaptation for the screen, which also gifted Chance a happier ending than Williams had intended despite antagonizing local crime boss Tom “Boss” Finley (Ed Begley) and his ruthless son Tom Jr. (Rip Torn) following Chance’s seduction of Finley’s daughter Heavenly (Shirley Knight).
The Easter setting hits particularly harder in the darker stage version, with both the Christian themes of resurrection, redemption, and the spring season’s new beginnings providing a dissonant contrast against Chance’s inability to redeem his wasted life.
What’d He Wear?
Predating by nearly two decades the flashy-dressed hustler that the Armani-wearing Richard Gere popularized in American Gigolo, Chance Wayne arrives in St. Cloud wearing a sports coat made of cream-colored raw silk. The fabric suits the moment, as Chance would clearly want something more eye-catching than plain worsted for his homecoming, with the breathability of raw silk suiting the humidity of spring on the Gulf Coast.
Chance wants to return to St. Cloud looking like he has money… and not just like he’s sleeping with an older woman who does.
The single-breasted jacket’s conventional styling lets the slubby fabric do the talking. The cut and details represent the transition between wider styles of the 1950s and slimmer trends of the ’60s, tailored to a fuller cut framed by wide, padded shoulders. The slim lapels with their shallow notches follow the narrowing trends of early ’60s menswear details, rolling just over the top of a three-button front. It has a single vent, two-button cuffs, a welted breast pocket, and straight hip pockets covered with narrow flaps that often get tucked into the pockets themselves.
Chance’s dark brown trousers smartly contrast with the lighter-colored jacket while harmonizing within the tanned color spectrum. These flat-front trousers are tailored with a long rise to Newman’s natural waist, where they’re self-suspended with button-tab side adjusters in lieu of belt or braces. They have the full-top slanted “frogmouth”-style front pockets that were most popular from the ’60s into the ’70s, supplemented with button-through back pockets. The trousers are tapered through the legs down to bottoms finished with turn-ups (cuffs).
The combination of an OCBD shirt and knitted tie is an Ivy staple and real-life favorite for Paul Newman through this time. The pale-ecru cotton shirt provides a softer contrast against his outfit’s warmer tones, styled with a button-down spread collar, plain button-up front, breast pocket, and single-button squared cuffs.
Fastened in a Windsor knot the fill the wider space of his shirt’s spread collar, Chance’s dark brown knitted silk tie texturally harmonizes with the luxuriously coarse raw silk jacket and is finished with squared bottoms on the front blade and tail.
Chance sweats through the long, hot Holy Saturday.
Chance’s array of jewelry includes a silver ID chain-link bracelet on his right wrist and a chunky silver signet ring on his left hand that appears to have a dark amber stone mounted against a triangular relief on the elongated face. Strapped to his left wrist on a smooth black leather band, his round stainless-cased dress watch has a minimalist silver dial with a pair of matching sub-registers at the 4 and 8 o’clock positions.
Whether he’s driving against the Gulf Coast afternoon sun or aura-farming in a Mississippi tavern, Chance often pulls on his black acetate sunglasses, shaped with somewhat oversized “cat eye” frames. (These days, this shape is typically reserved for feminine eyewear like the Chimi Core and Oliver Peoples Eadie.) Two silver rivets shine from each side of the front.
For an Easter Sunday that begins with visiting his mother’s grave and ends crumpled on the local political boss’ driveway, Chance dresses up with a more somber olive-brown suit, pale-blue OCBD shirt, and navy knitted tie.
The primary constant between both of Chance’s outfits in St. Cloud are his shoes. Best seen when sprawled outside the Finley mansion during the finale, Chance wears brown leather apron-toe slip-ons with a single monk-strap that closes through a squared single-prong buckle toward the outside of each shoe. On both days, he wears them with brown dress socks which continue the leg-line from his trousers into his shoes.
The Car
In his capacity as Alexandra’s, uh, chauffeur, Chance drives a “Laredo Tan”-colored 1961 Cadillac Series 62 convertible. This tail-finned two-door is a suitable choice for Alexandra as an entry-level offering for a prestigious marque that maintains a dramatic appearance.
The Series 62 model history dates to Cadillac launching the Fisher-bodied Series 40-62 in 1940. 1961 heralded the seventh and final generation of this series, now officially designated the Series 6200. Stretching 222 inches long on its 129.5-inch wheelbase, all Series 6200 models for ’61 were powered by Cadillac’s 390 cubic-inch V8, which yielded 325 horsepower and was exclusively mated to GM’s four-speed Hydra-Matic automatic transmission. Body styles ranged from a trio of four-door hardtops, a two-door hardtop, and the two-door convertible, which was officially dropped for 1964.
After its lowest sales year in nearly two decades, ’64 was the final model year for the Series 62/6200 as Cadillac renamed its entry-level model the Calais (but never revived a convertible option for this segment.)
What to Imbibe
Sweet Bird of Youth begins on a highway heading west out of Florida with Alexandra crying for a drink from the Cadillac’s backseat. He stops at a highway liquor store to replace the empty Smirnoff bottle in her hand with a fresh one, though this shatters out of her hand as Chance carries her up the stairs to their suite at the St. Cloud hotel. Chance again manages to replace it, this time relying on the discreet bellman Fly (Davis Roberts) to bring up the requested “bottle of vodka and some ice.” Chance himself treats himself to a glass of this classic Russian vodka on the rocks while pouring his heart out to Alexandra.
Down in the hotel bar, Chance orders himself a “Martini on the rocks.” The bartender, Leroy (James Douglas), crafts the cocktail with Gilbey’s gin and an olive, prompting a disgusted Chance to respond: “oh, man, don’t you know only squares drink gin martinis with olives?” In turn, his old friends tease him as they order their own martinis—served straight up. The next time Chance orders, Leroy shields himself from criticism by preparing the martini with a lemon.
The next day, on Easter Sunday, Boss Finley’s jilted mistress Miss Lucy (Madeleine Sherwood) explains that “this is the land of bourbon.” Yet in the same breath, she grabs a bottle of Jack Daniel’s Tennessee whiskey to drink with Chance, maintaining the grand cinematic tradition that would continue through The Shining of conflating Kentucky bourbon with Tennessee whiskey.
How to Get the Look
Paul Newman as Chance Wayne in Sweet Bird of Youth (1962)
Chance Wayne dresses to make an impression for his return to St. Cloud, maintaining tonal and textural harmony as he builds on a classic OCBD shirt and knitted tie with a cream silk sport jacket, self-suspended trousers, monk-strap shoes, and sunglasses that he’s reluctant to take off—even inside.
- Cream raw silk single-breasted 3-button sport jacket with narrow notch lapels, welted breast pocket, straight flapped hip pockets, 2-button cuffs, and single vent
- Pale-ecru cotton shirt with spread button-down collar, plain front, breast pocket, and 1-button squared cuffs
- Dark-brown knitted silk tie
- Dark-brown wool flat-front trousers with button-tab side adjusters, slanted “frogmouth” front pockets, button-through back pockets, and turn-ups/cuffs
- Brown leather apron-toe single-monk strap loafers
- Dark-brown dress socks
- Black acetate oversized cate eye-framed sunglasses
- Silver chain-link ID bracelet
- Silver chunky signet with dark stone
- Stainless steel dress watch with round case, silver dial with two sub-registers, and smooth black leather strap
Do Yourself a Favor and…
Check out the movie.
The Quote
