Vitals

William Holden as Frank Harmon, cynical realtor and “nobody’s fool”

Los Angeles, Fall 1972

Film: Breezy
Release Date: November 18, 1973
Director: Clint Eastwood
Men’s Costumer: Glenn Wright

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

Born 108 years ago on April 17, 1918, William Holden was one of the most bankable stars of the 1950s with an Oscar-winning performance in Stalag 17 (1953) as well as roles in enduring classics like Sunset Blvd. (1950), Sabrina (1954), and The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957). After his career struggled through the ’60s, Holden embarked on a comeback as grizzled outlaw leader Pike Bishop in Sam Peckinpah’s violent 1969 western The Wild Bunch, though this didn’t generate as much momentum as the now middle-aged actor had hoped as new stars like Clint Eastwood dominated the scene.

The two actors’ paths would cross by 1972, when Holden was so grateful to be approached for the lead in Eastwood’s upcoming film Breezy that he agreed to star at no salary—accepting only a cut of the profits. (When there turned out to be no profits, even against Breezy‘s modest budget under a million dollars, SAG compelled Eastwood to pay Holden $4,000.)

Eastwood’s friend and frequent collaborator Jo Heims penned Breezy as an age-gap romance with equal parts tenderness and wit. This may strike viewers as a surprisingly sensitive story for Eastwood to direct at this stage in his career, at the time best known for acting in Westerns, war films, and hard-boiled crime stories like Dirty Harry (1971), and with only two directorial credits before it. It’s to Clint’s credit that he not only accepted the assignment to challenge his contemporary screen image but also willingly stepped off screen—save for a brief cameo at Fisherman’s Village—and cast the more age-appropriate Holden in the leading role of the disillusioned divorcee Frank Harmon.

“You know, I’ve been that guy,” Holden reportedly told Eastwood after he was cast. “Yeah, I thought so,” Eastwood replied.

Frank is a successful real estate agent with a seemingly full life, with a parade of girlfriends and a stunning MCM dream home (the Harry Gesner-designed “Kimball House” or “Triangle House” in Tarzana), though life has rendered him cynical. Enter the eponymous “Breezy” (Kay Lenz), a hitch-hiking hippie just shy of 20 years old who steps into Frank’s Lincoln and changes his life.

Luckily for Holden and Eastwood, Breezy‘s poor box office performance had little impact on their respective careers; Holden would receive an Emmy the same year for his role in the television film The Blue Knight, and the star-studded 1974 disaster epic The Towering Inferno became one of the highest-grossing movies of his career. Finally, Network (1976) drove Holden’s full-fledged late-career stardom with another Academy Award-nominated performance before his 1981 death in Santa Monica at age 63.

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What’d He Wear?

We meet Frank Harmon as an updated-for-the-’70s “man in the gray flannel suit”, deconstructed and divorced, peeling off a few bills for his one-night stand’s taxi rather than over a home-cooked breakfast with his wife and 2.5 kids. When not dressed for work in his dark business suits and Brooks Brothers-style striped ties, Frank tastefully dresses down by layering a parade of cardigans over button-up shirts—increasingly adding brightness and color as his intensifying relationship with Breezy rejuvenates him.

When Breezy first drops in on a frustrated Frank the night after they meet, he’s entirely neutral in a beige cardigan partially buttoned over a paler ecru shirt. Through the story, his cardigans get bolder in shades of red and gold, over brighter shirts of red and blue—all of which were likely lining his closet already but gathering mothballs as he settled into conservative comfort.

Perhaps the most timeless of Frank’s casual looks are those anchored by the dark navy-blue shawl-collar cardigan he often wears when taking Breezy to the beach. Likely made from either 100% wool or a wool/acrylic blend, this cardigan’s ribbed body follows Holden’s physique with a slightly longer-than-hip length that wears like a clingy jacket. The shawl collar is more narrowly ribbed than the body, rolling to five navy-colored plastic buttons up the front. A square patch-style pocket is positioned over each hip.

Frank first pulls on the cardigan when Breezy requests an early-morning trip to see the ocean for her first time after three months in California. It’s during this sunrise excursion that he clearly warms to her as the two share their first kiss in the sand. His white shirt is patterned with a red-and-navy grid check, styled with a front placket and likely button cuffs.

Later in their relationship, Frank again pulls on the cardigan for one of their beach walks, followed by a trip to the movies—possibly Eastwood’s own High Plains Drifter, as suggested in an entertainingly self-referencing bit of product placement. This time, he wears the bright red shirt that would reappear with his beige cardigan through the finale. This shirt also has a front placket and button cuffs, as well as a breast pocket.

Frank’s khaki flat-front trousers appear to be a narrow pin-wale corduroy cotton (or “needlecord”), best seen in a close-up with a later outfit as the finish looks smooth in most medium-to-wide shots. Cut with a straight leg, these trousers have side pockets and plain-hemmed bottoms. Through the belt loops, Frank wears a brown woven leather-on-tan cotton surcingle belt that closes through a curved gold-toned single-prong buckle.

His all-white sneakers have canvas uppers, white laces, and cream rubber outsoles, worn with black or dark navy socks.

Concealed under his cardigan’s left sleeve, Frank wears his usual gold-finished dress watch on a dark-brown textured leather strap. This mechanical watch has a thin gold-finished case that likely measures no wider than 36mm and a round white dial detailed with baton-style hour indices doubled up at the 12, 3, 6, and 9 o’clock positions.

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What to Imbibe

Frank’s go-to cocktail isn’t featured in these scenes, but he twice orders a “very dry” Vodka Martini, served straight up with an olive. He also throws back a few highballs, including one Scotch-and-Water and another concoction that’s unidentified save for his sleazy pal Bob (Roger C. Carmel) noting he poured it “a little heavy on the paint thinner”.

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How to Get the Look

Apropos his advanced age in Breezy, William Holden presents a slightly more matured alternative to the classic navy shawl-collar cardigan and Bedford cords that Steve McQueen famously modeled at Carmel in the ’60s, swapping the plain white tee for colorful button-up shirts and replacing the suede boots with more functional white sneakers.

• Navy ribbed wool shawl-collar cardigan sweater with five-button front and squared patch hip pockets
• Plain red or red-and-navy-on-white graph-check shirt with front placket, breast pocket, and button cuffs
• Khaki corduroy flat-front trousers with belt loops, side pockets, and plain-hemmed bottoms
• Tan cotton and brown woven leather surcingle belt with curved gold-toned single-prong buckle
• White canvas-upper sneakers with white woven cotton laces and cream rubber outsoles
• Dark socks
• Gold dress watch with round white dial (with single- and double-baton hour indices) on dark-brown textured leather strap

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Do Yourself a Favor and…

Check out the movie. You may not have heard of it, but anyone who saw Paul Thomas Anderson’s nostalgia-laced Licorice Pizza saw it vaguely referenced as middle-aged actor Jack Holden (Sean Penn) flirtatiously interviews the 25-year-old Alana Kane (Alana Haim) for a Breezy-like character in his next film, “Rainbow”.

I’m also indebted to my friend Gary, whose thoughtful posts for his SoulRide Blog pushed Breezy into my consideration set.

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The Quote

Nobody matures, they just grow tired.