Category: Casual
The Long Goodbye: Sterling Hayden’s Avant-Garde Writing Tweeds
Sterling Hayden in The Long Goodbye (1973)
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Sterling Hayden as Roger Wade, larger-than-life alcoholic writer
Los Angeles, Summer 1972
Film: The Long Goodbye
Release Date: March 7, 1973
Director: Robert Altman
Men’s Costume Designer: Kent James (uncredited)
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Sterling Hayden storms into The Long Goodbye like a force of nature, a happily hulking 6’5″ direct counter to Elliott Gould’s laidback characterization of private eye Philip Marlowe. It’s a magnificent performance, underscored by Hayden’s own classic noir credentials from films like The Asphalt Jungle (1950) and The Killing (1956) brought to Robert Altman’s inversive deconstruction of the genre.
A year after portraying the crooked Captain McKlusky in The Godfather, Hayden stepped into the ragged tweeds and fisherman sandals of Roger Wade, a gruff, buff, and hard-drinking Hemingway-esque writer who reflects on suicide and “beautiful broads” in the same train of thought. Continue reading
Aldo Ray’s M-1943 Field Jacket in Nightfall
Aldo Ray in Nighfall (1956)
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Aldo Ray as Art Rayburn, aka Jim Vanning, commercial artist and war veteran
Jackson Hole, Wyoming, Winter 1956
Film: Nightfall
Release Date: December 5, 1956
Director: Jacques Tourneur
Costume Designer: Jean Louis (credited for gowns)
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Today would have been the 100th birthday of Aldo Ray, born September 25, 1926. A tough and resilient U.S. Navy veteran of World War II, the raspy-voiced Ray often incorporated these traits into his characters—perhaps most skillfully in Jacques Tourneur’s 1956 thriller Nightfall, released 70 years ago this December. The film has been celebrated as a favorite by crime fiction experts James Ellroy and Quentin Tarantino, the latter citing it as inspiration for Bruce Willis’ character in Pulp Fiction.
Based on a 1948 novel by David Goodis, Nightfall both follows and subverts many film noir tropes; though often photographed against bright, snowy countryside rather than exclusively urban shadows, Ray’s protagonist Art Rayburn is cut from the noir mold, forced to reinvent himself (as commercial artist Jim Vanning) after running afoul of criminals. Continue reading
The Four Seasons: Alan Alda’s Fall Soccer Sweatshirt and Wranglers
Alan Alda in The Four Seasons (1981)
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Alan Alda as Jack Burroughs, married lawyer
Connecticut, Fall 1980
Film: The Four Seasons
Release Date: May 22, 1981
Director: Alan Alda
Costume Designer: Jane Greenwood
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
The start of each new season this year tends to send me back to The Four Seasons for content. Written and directed by Alan Alda, this 1981 comedy follows three couples on their seasonal group trips as they navigate their own complicated relationships.
Alda stars as Jack Burroughs, stably centered in a marriage with Kate (Carol Burnett), who typically plans each vacation. The fall trip follows the Burroughses and their four friends up to Connecticut for Parents’ Weekend with two of their daughters who are enrolled in the same college, resulting in a hyper-competitive soccer game which reveals a deeper conflict within the group, from Jack’s anger at the womanizing Nick (Len Cariou) to Kate’s resentment at having to plan each trip. Continue reading
When Harry Met Sally: Billy Crystal’s Field Jacket as Harry
Billy Crystal in When Harry Met Sally… (1989)
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Billy Crystal as Harry Burns, sarcastic political consultant and recent divorcée
New York City, Fall 1988
Film: When Harry Met Sally…
Release Date: July 14, 1989
Director: Rob Reiner
Costume Designer: Gloria Gresham
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Rob Reiner’s 1989 romantic comedy When Harry Met Sally is often (deservedly) included on lists compiling the greatest fall movies. As tomorrow will be the first day of autumn here, I return to my own frequent celebration of Billy Crystal’s fall wardrobe as Harry—specifically during his fateful visit to comfort Sally (Meg Ryan) at her apartment after she learns that her ex-boyfriend is getting married. Continue reading
Wild at Heart: Nicolas Cage’s Snakeskin Jacket as Sailor Ripley
Nicolas Cage as Sailor Ripley in Wild at Heart (1990)
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Nicolas Cage as Sailor Ripley, an A #1-certified manslaughterer who just broke parole
Cape Fear to Texas via New Orleans, Fall 1989
Film: Wild at Heart
Release Date: August 17, 1990
Director: David Lynch
Costume Designer: Amy Stofsky
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
This week continues to explore unconventional style from David Lynch movies with a long-overdue look at Nic Cage’s snakeskin jacket as the swaggering Sailor Ripley in Wild at Heart, Lynch’s darkly comic adaptation of Barry Gifford’s 1989 novel of the same name. The film premiered at the 1990 Cannes Film Festival where it garnered some controversy for winning the Palme d’Or, three months prior to its wider North American release in August 1990.
Specifically considered for the role after Lynch read Gifford’s novel, Cage described Sailor as “a kind of romantic Southern outlaw,” reunited with his girlfriend Lula Fortune (Laura Dern) after spending 22 months and 18 days in the Pee Dee Correctional Institution for fatally defending himself—and Lula’s honor—against an attacker hired by Lula’s domineering mama Marietta (Dern’s real-life mother Diane Ladd) after Sailor spurned her drunken advances. Two years has done little to dampen Marietta’s dislike for Sailor, who again sends paid killers on Sailor’s trail as he and Lula flee Cape Fear on their way west to sunny California. Continue reading
Blue Velvet: Dennis Hopper’s Black Leather Jacket and Bolo Tie as Frank Booth
Dennis Hopper on the set of Blue Velvet (1986). Photo credit: Jim Bridges.
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Dennis Hopper as Frank Booth, sadistic drug dealer
Lumberton, North Carolina, Spring 1985
Film: Blue Velvet
Release Date: September 19, 1986
Director: David Lynch
Costumer: Ronald Leamon
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
After his early low-budget debut Eraserhead (1977) and adaptations The Elephant Man (1980) and Dune (1984), David Lynch finally unleashed many of his cinematic signatures when the neo-noir thriller Blue Velvet premiered forty years ago today during the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), one week before its wider release.
Blue Velvet‘s themes of disturbing violence and surreal absurdism among a neo-nostalgic Americana backdrop became Lynchian trademarks, as well as his cast of frequent collaborators like Laura Dern, Kyle MacLachlan, Jack Nance, and Isabella Rossellini. The movie also revitalized Dennis Hopper’s stalled career through his explosive, Golden Globe-winning performance as the chilling criminal Frank Booth—a psychopathic, amyl nitrate-addicted Roy Orbison fan with serious mommy issues. Continue reading
The Sopranos: Paulie Walnuts’ Black-and-Blue Givenchy Tracksuit
Tony Sirico as “Paulie Walnuts” Gualtieri on The Sopranos (Episode 1.13: “I Dream of Jeannie Cusamano”)
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Tony Sirico as “Paulie Walnuts” Gualtieri, mob enforcer and Army veteran
New Jersey, Fall 1998
Series: The Sopranos
Episode: “I Dream of Jeannie Cusamano” (Episode 1.13)
Air Date: April 4, 1999
Director: John Patterson
Creator: David Chase
Costume Designer: Juliet Polcsa
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
One of my closest friends recently started watching The Sopranos for the first time, and our conversations as she makes her way through the first season inspired me to revisit the signature style of my all-time favorite series. Her progress toward the season finale reminded me of one of my favorite sequences, balancing the show’s casual brutality with equally casual absurdity.
After a season spent making life difficult—and more obnoxious—for New Jersey mob boss Tony Soprano, Uncle Junior’s scuzzy consigliere Mikey Palmice (Al Sapienza) finds his morning jog turned into a literal run for his life as Soprano enforcers Paulie Walnuts (Tony Sirico) and Christopher Moltisanti (Michael Imperoli) chase him through the autumnal suburban woods. Peppered with fatal 9mm rounds, Mikey isn’t the only casualty of the aftenroon as poor Paulie also comes away from the hit with a mild case of poison ivy. Continue reading
Terence Stamp’s Layered Neutrals in Teorema
Terence Stamp in Teorema (1968)
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Terence Stamp as “The Visitor”, enigmatic young seducer
Milan, Italy, Spring 1968
Film: Teorema
(English title: Theorem)
Release Date: September 7, 1968
Director: Pier Paolo Pasolini
Costume Designer: Roberto Capucci (credited for Silvana Mangano’s clothes)
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
After Terence Stamp’s death last year, I realized how little of the actor’s filmography I had seen, particularly from early in his career when he and his then-roommate Michael Caine were the toasts of swinging London. Naturally, the first place I turned was the Criterion Channel, which included Teorema—a surrealist psychological drama that was director Pier Paolo Pasolini’s first film to feature primarily professional actors.
Stamp stars as a mysterious man known only as “the visitor”, whose seduction of every member of a bourgeois household forces the family to confront difficult truths about themselves—and whose eventual departure leaves an existential void in each person’s soul.
Translated to “Theorem”, as it was known in some English-speaking countries, Teorema premiered 58 years ago yesterday on September 4, 1968 during the 29th Venice International Film Festival, where it received a special award from the International Catholic Film Office—only for the award to be swiftly withdrawn after the Vatican criticized the film’s sexual content. It was widely released three days later. Continue reading
Tim Curry’s Safari Style in Congo
Tim Curry as Herkermer Homolka in Congo (1995)
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Tim Curry as Herkermer Homolka, desperate Romanian treasure-hunter
Central Africa, Fall 1994
Film: Congo
Release Date: June 9, 1995
Director: Frank Marshall
Costume Designer: Marilyn Matthews
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
After last week’s back-to-back losses of Dolly Parton and Tim Curry, my Letterboxd has been ablaze with fans rewatching 9 to 5, Clue, Steel Magnolias, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show. While I’ve seen all but the latter (which seems best experienced among a knowing theater audience), I wanted to tackle my own blind spots in these legends’ filmographies… which led me to the Razzie-nominated Congo, adapted from Michael Crichton’s novel of the same name.
A characteristic survival adventure from director Frank Marshall, Congo follows an expedition led by a talking gorilla (“I know it’s not Mr. Ed”) into the Congolian rainforest in search of a communications team who disappeared near the “Lost City of Zinj”. The movie likely deserved many of its negative reviews at the time of its release, with at least some admitting its goofy camp makes it a fun watch. And with a cast that includes Laura Linney, Ernie Hudson, Joe Don Baker, Bruce Campbell, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Delroy Lindo, Joey Pants, Jimmy Buffett, and Tim Curry… of course it does.
Curry delightfully chews the scenery (and sesame cake) as Herkermer Homolka, “formerly of Romania, free from the chains of Ceaușescu, traveling the world and doing good.” This last bit of his introduction rightly comes into question until Hudson’s Errol Flynn-esque guide Monroe Kelly clarifies that “he is a Romanian and he has done a lot of good… but mostly for Mr. Homolka.” Continue reading
Burt Reynolds in Double Denim as Gator McKlusky
Burt Reynolds in Gator (1976)
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Burt Reynolds as Bobby “Gator” McKlusky, paroled moonshine runner
Okefanokee Swamp, Summer 1975
Film: Gator
Release Date: August 25, 1976
Director: Burt Reynolds
Costume Designer: Norman Salling
Background
Burt Reynolds followed up his sweaty 1973 “hick flick” White Lightning with his self-directed sequel Gator, widely released 50 years ago today on August 25, 1976. The three-year gap had been kind to Reynolds, who had since grown his stardom… and that trademark mustache. (Unlike Sterling Archer, I prefer White Lightning over its lighter-hearted sequel.)
Reynolds reprises his role as moonshiner Bobby “Gator” McKlusky, recently released after serving 26 months in a Georgia state prison where he proudly learned how to make “quality license plates”. As in White Lightning, Gator is called back into government service, this time to help nab his one-time pal “Bama” McCall (Jerry Reed), now a ruthless crime boss in the fictional Dunston County. Of course, the government has to catch Gator first, kicking things off with a raucous speedboat chase through the Okefanokee Swamp. Continue reading
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