Tagged: England
Sean Connery’s Sheepskin Coat and Plaid Suit in The Offence
Sean Connery in The Offence (1973)
Vitals
Sean Connery as Detective Sergeant “Johnny” Johnson, jaded police detective
Berkshire, England, Spring 1972
Film: The Offence
Release Date: January 11, 1973
Director: Sidney Lumet
Costume Designer: Evangeline Harrison
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Sean Connery and director Sidney Lumet’s third of five cinematic collaborations, The Offence, was released on this day in 1973. Adapted by John Hopkins from his own stage play This Story of Yours, the film was the first of two projects that United Artists agreed to finance through Connery’s production company Tantallon Films in exchange for the star returning to play James Bond in Diamonds are Forever.
As his first post-Bond film, Big Tam specifically chose The Offence to demonstrate his range and expand his screen image beyond the 007 persona, resulting in perhaps one of his greatest performances. Continue reading
David Suchet’s Herringbone Suit as Hercule Poirot in The Mysterious Affair at Styles
David Suchet as Hercule Poirot in the 1990 episode of Agatha Christie’s Poirot: “The Mysterious Affair at Styles”
Vitals
David Suchet as Hercule Poirot, fastidious Belgian refugee and former detective
Essex, England, Summer 1917
Series: Agatha Christie’s Poirot
Episode: “The Mysterious Affair at Styles” (Episode 3.01)
Air Date: September 16, 1990
Director: Ross Devenish
Costume Designer: Linda Mattock
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
“Queen of Crime” Agatha Christie was born 135 years ago today on September 15, 1890. Among her most prolific creations was the character of Hercule Poirot, a fussy Belgian detective whom she included in more than three dozen novels and short stories despite her own eventual exhaustion with the character she decried as “insufferable.” Poirot first appeared in Christie’s debut novel The Mysterious Affair at Styles, first published 105 years ago next month in October 1920.
Recommended by Christie’s own family for the role, David Suchet crafted the definitive portrayal of the detective throughout 13 seasons of the ITV series Agatha Christie’s Poirot, originated by writer Clive Exton in 1989. To commemorate the centenary of Christie’s birth, ITV aired the feature-length episode “The Mysterious Affair at Styles” between the second and third seasons which, to date, remains the only major English-language adaptation of Christie’s novel. Continue reading
A Matter of Life and Death: David Niven’s Houndstooth Jacket
David Niven in A Matter of Life and Death (1946)
Vitals
David Niven as Squadron Leader Peter David Carter, charismatic Royal Air Force pilot
Southern English Coast, 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 marvelous Technicolor fantasty-romance A Matter of Life and Death begins eighty years ago today, “the night of the second of May, 1945.”
Less than a week until the German surrender that effectively ended the European theater of World War II, a Lancaster bomber is returning through the fog over the English Channel after a Royal Air Force mission over Germany that resulted in the aircraft’s terminal damage. His radio operator dead and the rest of the crew bailed out on his orders, the poetic Squadron Leader Peter David Carter (David Niven) sits alone at the controls, communicating to the charming U.S. Army Air Forces technician June (Kim Hunter), who attempts in vain to reassure the pilot while he offers his own reassurance that he isn’t afraid to meet whatever awaits him:
Hello, June, don’t be afraid. It’s quite simple—we’ve had it, and I’d rather jump than fry. After the first thousand feet, what’s the difference? I shan’t know anything anyway. I say, I hope I haven’t frightened you… you’ve got a good voice, you’ve got guts, too! It’s funny, I’ve known dozens of girls—I’ve been in love with some of them—but an American girl who I’ve never seen, who I never shall see, will hear my last words. It’s funny. It’s rather sweet! June, if you’re around when they pick me up, turn your head away.
With his own parachute damaged and the Lancaster hurtling toward a fiery fate, Peter stoically accepts the inevitability of death (“I’ll be a ghost and come and see you! You’re not frightened of ghosts, are you? It’d be awful if you were.”) and relays a few final messages for June to pass along to his mother and sisters before bailing from the craft. Continue reading
David Niven’s Blazer and Cravats in Separate Tables
David Niven in Separate Tables (1958)
Vitals
David Niven as David Angus Pollock, charming yet deceitful retired British Army officer
Bournemouth, England, Spring 1958
Film: Separate Tables
Release Date: December 18, 1958
Director: Delbert Mann
Costume Supervisor: Mary Grant
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
The legendary David Niven was born 115 years ago today on March 1, 1910. Though he’d been an Academy Awards host for three different ceremonies, Niv was only once nominated—and awarded—an Oscar.
As of this date, Niven’s performance in Separate Tables remains the shortest ever to win the Academy Award for Best Actor, clocking in at just under 24 minutes of screen time. Coincidentally, he was also one of the hosts during the 31st Academy Award ceremony when he won, making him the only person to ever win an Oscar at the same ceremony he hosted. In honor of Niv’s birthday and tomorrow night’s Academy Awards ceremonies, let’s look deeper at the acclaimed actor’s Oscar-winning performance. Continue reading
The Fourth Protocol: Pierce Brosnan’s Black Leather Biker Gear
Pierce Brosnan in The Fourth Protocol (1987). Photo credit: Stanley Bielecki.
Vitals
Pierce Brosnan as Valeri Alekseyevich Petrofsky, cold-blooded undercover KGB operative
Suffolk, England, Spring 1987
Film: The Fourth Protocol
Release Date: March 20, 1987
Director: John Mackenzie
Costume Designer: Tiny Nicholls
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Many James Bond fans know that Pierce Brosnan was first offered the role in the 1980s, but the announcement ironically improved Remington Steele‘s ratings to the point that the series was renewed and Brosnan had to turn down the Bond role to honor his commitments to the series. Three months before the next Bond film—The Living Daylights starring Timothy Dalton—was released in June 1987, Brosnan appeared in a different espionage thriller, The Fourth Protocol.
Indeed, the plot of a British agent trying to stop a rogue Soviet mission to detonate a “false flag” nuclear device at an American airbase must have sounded awfully familiar to Bond fans who watched Roger Moore do the same thing four years earlier in Octopussy… but this time, the maverick British spy is an MI5 agent named John Preston (Michael Caine), squaring off against Brosnan as KGB Major Valeri Petrofsky. Continue reading
And Then There Were None (2015): Anthony Marston’s Pink Terry Shirt
Douglas Booth as Anthony Marston in And Then There Were None (2015)
Vitals
Douglas Booth as Anthony Marston, irresponsible socialite
Devon, England, August 1939
Series Title: And Then There Were None
Air Date: December 26-28, 2015
Director: Craig Viveiros
Costume Designer: Lindsay Pugh
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
A recent rewatch of the 2015 BBC One series And Then There Were None brought to mind the exquisite parade of interesting menswear designed by Lindsay Pugh for the half-dozen gents summoned to the mysterious Soldier Island off the coast of Devon. The series is set during a late summer weekend in August 1939 on the brink of World War II, a specter that hauntingly looms over the darkly faithful series which is the first English-language adaptation to restore Agatha Christie’s original ending.
The story centers around ten strangers—eight guests and a married couple to serve as their staff—invited to the island by the enigmatic U.N. Owen, whom it is quickly established none of the ten have ever met… nor will they meet him, as their unknown host only makes his presence known by a recording accusing each of the ten of murder. All but two of the attendees respond with horrified denials, with the roguish adventurer Philip Lombard (Aidan Turner) and brash socialite Anthony Marston (Douglas Booth) being the only two to instantly own up to their past crimes. Continue reading
Allied: Brad Pitt’s Flight Jacket and RCAF Uniform Gear
Brad Pitt as Max Vatan in Allied (2016)
Vitals
Brad Pitt as Max Vatan, Royal Canadian Air Force intelligence officer
London and Dieppe, Spring 1944
Film: Allied
Release Date: November 23, 2016
Director: Robert Zemeckis
Costume Designer: Joanna Johnston
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
The 2016 World War II romantic thriller Allied centered around Brad Pitt’s character Max Vatan, an officer in the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF)—the high-flying branch of the Canadian armed forces that was officially founded 100 years ago today on April 1, 1924.
I’ve read simplifications of Allied‘s plot as “Casablanca meets Notorious“, with Joanna Johnston’s Oscar-nominated costume design maintaining much of the 1940s elegance from both of those acclaimed classics. And indeed, the romantic and action-packed first act of Allied is set in Casablanca, where Max’s dangerous mission for the Special Operations Executive (SOE) pairs him with the alluring French Resistance circuit leader Marianne Beauséjour (Marion Cotillard).
Upon returning to England, Max receives clearance to bring Marianne into the country, where they marry despite Max’s boss, British Army Captain Frank Heslop (Jared Harris) advising him that “marriages made in the field never work.” (In fact, there were a few real-life spies who served the British during World War II that would later marry, such as SOE officers Peter Churchill and Odette Sansom, both of whom had been imprisoned and brutally interrogated by the Germans and whose service and relationship formed the basis of the 1950 film Odette. That said, Frank may have been onto something as the two divorced in 1955 after eight years of marriage.)
The newlywed Vatans in October 1942.
With their newborn daughter, the couple lives in domestic bliss—and domestic Blitz—for over a year until Max’s superiors alert him to their suspicions that Marianne is a German spy! Though he reluctantly agrees to follow the SOE’s plan to test Marianne’s allegiance with a “blue dye” procedure, Max remains convinced of her loyalty and sets out to prove it. Continue reading
And Then There Were None: Roland Young’s Tweed as Blore
Roland Young as William Henry Blore in And Then There Were None (1945)
Vitals
Roland Young as William Henry Blore, oblivious private investigator
Devon, England, Summer 1945
Film: And Then There Were None
Release Date: October 30, 1945
Director: René Clair
Costume Designer: René Hubert (uncredited)
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
The great English character actor Roland Young died 70 years ago today on June 5, 1953. Perhaps best known for his Academy Award-nominated performance as Cosmo Topper in Topper (1937) and its two subsequent sequels, Young was also a memorable performer among the ensemble cast of René Clair’s 1945 adaptation of And Then There Were None. Continue reading
A Warm December: Sidney Poitier’s Camel Blazer
Sidney Poitier as Dr. Matt Younger in A Warm December (1973)
Vitals
Sidney Poitier as Matt Younger, widowed father and clinic physician
London, Summer 1972
Film: A Warm December
Release Date: May 23, 1973
Director: Sidney Poitier
Wardrobe Supervisor: John Wilson-Apperson
Background
To remember the late screen legend Sidney Poitier KBE—born 96 years ago today on February 20, 1927—today’s post returns to the Oscar-winning actor’s second directorial effort, A Warm December.
In addition to directing, Poitier also stars as the recently widowed Dr. Matt Younger, who arrives in London with his daughter Stefanie (Yvette Curtis). Looking for nothing more than a mindless vacation with his daughter and riding his motorbike, Matt’s trip becomes considerably more complicated after an interesting encounter outside his Pall Mall hotel with the mysterious Catherine Oswandu (Ester Anderson). Continue reading
The Holiday: Jude Law’s Brown Plaid Jacket and Tie
Jude Law in The Holiday (2006)
Vitals
Jude Law as Graham Simpkins, charming book editor and widowed father
Surrey, England, Christmas 2005
Film: The Holiday
Release Date: December 8, 2006
Director: Nancy Meyers
Costume Designer: Marlene Stewart
Background
Happy 50th birthday, Jude Law! The London-born actor has been frequently featured on BAMF Style before but today’s post offers a more practical look for those of us who aren’t regularly jaunting off the Italian coast or solving crimes in Victorian England.
In recognition of Law’s December 29th birthday landing directly between Christmas and New Year’s Day, it feels most appropriate on his milestone birthday to review his scarf-positive performance in Nancy Meyers’ yuletide romantic comedy The Holiday, which was incorrectly rumored this month to be receiving a sequel 17 years after its initial release. Continue reading