A Matter of Life and Death: Roger Livesey’s Country Doctor Tweeds and Motorcycle Leathers
Roger Livesey in A Matter of Life and Death (1946)
Vitals
Roger Livesey as Dr. Frank Reeves, small-town neurologist
England, Spring 1945
Film: A Matter of Life and Death
Release Date: November 1, 1946
Directed by: Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger
Costume Designer: Hein Heckroth
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Powell and Pressburger’s Technicolor triumph A Matter of Life and Death premiered eighty years ago on November 1, 1946. It begins during World War II’s final days over Europe, specifically “the night of the second of May, 1945,” when poetic RAF Squadron Leader Peter David Carter (David Niven) is miraculously saved from an all-but-certain death when his afterlife conductor (Marius Goring) missed him in the fog. Though Peter had been ready to meet his end, his intense romance with USAAF technician June (Kim Hunter) complicates things. June contacts her friend, Dr. Frank Reeves (Roger Livesey), a brilliant neurologist who is fascinated by Peter’s case despite his scientific skepticism.
Dr. Reeves: Tell me, do you believe in the survival of human personality after death?
Peter: I thought you said you read my verses.
Dr. Reeves (to June): Do you?
June: I don’t know, I’ve never thought about it. Do you?
Dr. Reeves: I don’t know, I’ve thought about it too much.
Reeves suspects that Peter’s depiction of the afterlife is entirely a complex delusion resulting from an earlier concussion… until Reeves’ own death in a motorcycle accident, which not only confirms everything that Peter had been telling him but also allows Reeves to serve as Peter’s counsel when appealing his death.
A Matter of Life and Death was Livesey’s third and final collaboration with “the Archers”, having previously appeared in The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943) and I Know Where I’m Going! (1945). Born June 25, 1906 in Wales, Livesey was relatively well-established on stage and screen at the time World War II began. He had applied for flying duties in the Royal Air Force but was rejected due to his age, so he offered his duties at home and abroad by working at an RAF aircraft factory when not volunteering with his wife Ursula Jeans to entertain the troops. He continued acting until his death in February 1976 at the age of 69.
What’d He Wear?
Layered in tweed and knitwear, Dr. Reeves’ wardrobe fits his persona as a well-liked, middle-aged country doctor in a small English town—with the added dash of eccentricity from his hefty leather coats and motorcycle gear. He consistently wears a tweed sport jacket woven in a heavy gray-and-black twill, comfortably tailored with broad shoulders, a full fit, and a ventless back.
The notch lapels are a moderate width, tapering above a two-button stance positioned over Roger Livesey’s waistline. The sleeves are finished with three vestigial buttons closed to the edge of each cuff. The straight flapped hip pockets are supplemented on the right side with a smaller flapped ticket pocket—a classic detail with sporting origins before it became a favorite among rail commuters—and a conventional welted breast pocket where the good doctor clips a trio of pens.
Dr. Reeves’ sartorial brand of dignified humility serves the case he makes for Peter in the afterlife.
Dr. Reeves wears a faintly self-striped pale slate-blue shirt made from a finely woven cotton that reflects an elegant sheen. It has a point collar, front placket, and button cuffs that keep the sleeves neat under his long-sleeved cardigan. When he meets Peter for the first time, he wears a deep navy-blue tie but later switches to a dark burgundy knitted wool tie seen through the afterlife sequences.
The combination of knitwear and tweed is a textural match made in sartorial heaven. When Dr. Reeves revisits Peter and June, he layers a tan cardigan knitted from what appears to be a lightweight wool, perhaps merino. It has five buttons up the front and two small patch pockets over the hips.
Reeves occasionally layers a comfortably light cardigan under his tweed jacket that serves him well during casual afternoons with Peter and June.
Dr. Reeves wears slate-gray woolen flannel trousers with a fashionably full fit, emphasized by double forward-facing pleats. They rise to Livesey’s natural waist, apparently self-suspended without a belt or braces; though sufficiently precise tailoring could theoretically eliminate the need for additional support, his trousers may have side-adjuster tabs that are never clearly visible on screen. Slanted front pockets and turn-ups (cuffs) complete the trousers, which break generously over his dark-brown leather lace-up shoes.
Dr. Reeves meets Peter in life and then stands alongside Peter’s fellow afterlife ally Conductor 71 in death.
Dr. Reeves keeps a natty collection of outerwear for motorcycling, rotating through these coats more frequently on screen than he does any of his other clothing. He arrives to meet Peter while wearing a shearling sheepskin car coat which retains its natural caramel-hued shell, contrasting with the more beige piled fleece lining visible over the entire collar and extending partially along the revers. This thigh-length coat has eight horn buttons in a double-breasted configuration (8×4-button) and a leather full belt around the waist that closes through a brass-finished rectangular buckle. The hip pockets have slanted entries and stitching that outlines each pocket’s depth to the hem.
Later, Dr. Reeves meets his end while riding in a long black leather coat that extends below his knees. Aside from the buttons on each shoulder that presumably connect to apparently-missing epaulet straps, the coat otherwise echoes the details of his sheepskin coat: an 8×4-button double-breasted front, a belted waist, and two slanted-entry hand pockets just below the belt line. He wears this coat fully closed with the top row of buttons fastened under the ulster collar.
He supplements the black riding coat with a matching black leather motorcycle helmet, designed like a skull cap with a chin-strap fitted with five nickel-finished grommets to fasten through a silver-toned buckle hanging from the left side.
Dr. Reeves’ riding gear is otherwise similar with both jackets, with a set of silver-toned goggles that hinge over the nose and black leather gloves that have extended gauntlets to protect the wrists.
Livesey likely wears his own wristwatch, styled with a round stainless case, round off-white dial, and a black leather strap.
How to Get the Look
Roger Livesey in A Matter of Life and Death (1946)
Between his sturdy tweeds, cozy knitwear, and formidable leather riding gear, Dr. Reeves is impeccably equipped for the English countryside—even if his final journey takes him considerably farther afield.
- Warm gray-and-black heavy twill tweed single-breasted 2-button sport jacket with notch lapels, welted breast pocket, straight flapped hip pockets, 3-button cuffs, and ventless back
- Pale slate-blue self-striped cotton shirt with point collar, front placket, and button cuffs
- Navy or burgundy knitted wool tie
- Tan merino wool 5-button long-sleeved cardigan sweater with patch pockets
- Slate-gray flannel double forward-pleated trousers with self-suspended waistband, slanted front pockets, and turn-ups/cuffs
- Dark-brown leather lace-up shoes
- Caramel-brown sheepskin car coat with tan piled fleece lining, 8×4-button double-breasted front, brown leather waist belt, and slanted-entry hip pockets
- Silver-framed racing goggles with hinged center
- Black leather gloves with extended wrist gauntlets
Do Yourself a Favor and…
Check out the movie, which was kindly suggested to me as a subject by my friend Wendi several years ago and quickly became a fast favorite of mine!
The Quote
Nothing is stronger than the law in the universe, but on Earth, nothing is stronger than love.
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