Category: Casual
Al Pacino in Scarface: Tony Montana’s Red Tiger-Print Shirt
Al Pacino as Tony Montana in Scarface (1983)
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Al Pacino as Tony Montana, fearless dishwasher-turned-drug courier
Miami Beach, Spring 1981
Film: Scarface
Release Date: December 9, 1983
Director: Brian De Palma
Costume Designer: Patricia Norris
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
As this hot summer stretches into the first “Aloha Friday” of August, let’s flashback to the ’80s and Al Pacino’s explosive performance in Brian De Palma’s crime classic Scarface. The film was actually a remake of a 1932 gangster classic of the same name, which had been adapted from Armitage Trail’s contemporary novel… and which itself was loosely inspired by the infamous Al Capone. Oliver Stone’s screenplay updated the story for the ’80s by conceptualizing Pacino’s criminal protagonist Tony Montana as one of the approximately 125,000 Cuban refugees who arrived in Miami during the 1980 Mariel boatlift.
Failing to envision his low-wage dishwashing job as a step on the path toward money and power, Tony enlists his charismatic comrade Manny Ribera (Steven Bauer) to take a job by the hotheaded Omar Suarez (F. Murray Abraham) to broker a cocaine deal at the oceanside Sunray Motel in Miami Beach. Continue reading
Cockfighter: Warren Oates’ Black Shirt and Lee Jeans
Warren Oates in Cockfighter (1974)
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Warren Oates as Frank Mansfield, voluntarily mute cockfighter
Georgia, Spring 1973
Film: Cockfighter
Release Date: July 30, 1974
Director: Monte Hellman
Wardrobe Credit: Carol Hammond & Patty Shaw
Background
Fifty years ago today on July 30, 1974, the locally filmed B-movie Cockfighter premiered in Roswell, Georgia.
“King of Cult” producer and director Roger Corman had spied Charles Willeford’s novel of the same name in an airport bookstore and had read no more than the title and the back cover before buying the adaptation rights, explaining to his editor that “with a title like this, if we can’t sell it, we’re in big trouble.” Unfortunately… they couldn’t sell it.
Perhaps dismayed that Hellman took a more philosophical than exploitative approach, Corman tried every trick at his disposal to grow an audience. After hiring Joe Dante to recut the film, he rotated through alternate titles like Born to Kill, Gamblin’ Man, and Wild Drifter, until eventually accepting a rare defeat, citing Cockfighter as the only New World Pictures release to lose money, despite its already meager $400,000 budget.
Like many other Corman films, Cockfighter found a cult following in the decades after its release, certainly in part to the talent involved. Working from a screenplay that Willeford adapted from his own novel, Monte Hellman was hired to direct as his first feature since Two-Lane Blacktop. Hellman assembled a cast that included Two-Lane Blacktop alumna Warren Oates, Laurie Bird, and Oates’ friend and frequent co-star Harry Dean Stanton (the subject of my first Cockfighter post), as well as ’50s screen idol Troy Donahue, character actors Robert Earl Jones and Richard B. Shull, and a young Ed Begley Jr. in one of his first prominent roles.
Three years after Hellman directed him to magnificence as “GTO” in Two-Lane Blacktop, Oates delivered one of his arguably career-best performances as Frank Mansfield, a determined gambler who vows to remain mute until he can be awarded Southern Conference Cockfighter of the Year. As Frank increases the stakes by betting everything he owns along the way, we see the lengths to which he goes to build up the odds against his gamecock Sandspur, such as disfiguring the beak to appear cracked. Continue reading
Vic Morrow’s Cowboy Cop Style in Dirty Mary Crazy Larry
Vic Morrow in Dirty Mary Crazy Larry (1974)
Vitals
Vic Morrow as Everett Franklin, maverick police captain
San Joaquin County, California, Fall 1973
Film: Dirty Mary Crazy Larry
Release Date: May 17, 1974
Director: John Hough
Wardrobe Master: Phyllis Garr
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
The talented actor Vic Morrow died 42 years ago today during a helicopter accident on the set of John Landis’ movie The Twilight Zone that also claimed the lives of child actors Myca Dinh Le and Renee Shin-Yi Chen. Born on Valentine’s Day 1929 in the Bronx, Morrow’s acting career dates to the ’50s when he starred as Stanley Kowalski in a stage production of A Streetcar Named Desire and made his screen debut in the 1955 drama Blackboard Jungle. He later brought his real-life experience as a Navy veteran to his star-making role in the 1960s World War II series Combat!
One of my favorite of Vic Morrow’s performances is as Everett Franklin, a renegade police captain tasked with chasing Peter Fonda, Susan George, and Adam Roarke making their high-octane getaway through the walnut groves and highways of central California in Dirty Mary Crazy Larry, released 50 years ago in May 1974. Continue reading
The Andy Griffith Show: Barney Fife’s Return to Mayberry in an Aloha Shirt and Cardigan
Don Knotts as Barney Fife on The Andy Griffith Show (Episode 6.17: “The Return of Barney Fife”)
Vitals
Don Knotts as Barney Fife, bumbling Raleigh detective and former deputy sheriff
Mayberry, North Carolina, Fall 1965
Series: The Andy Griffith Show
Episode: “The Return of Barney Fife” (Episode 6.17)
Air Date: January 10, 1966
Director: Alan Rafkin
Creator: Sheldon Leonard
Costume Designer: Stanley Kufel
Background
Today would have been the 100th birthday of Don Knotts, born July 21, 1924 in Morgantown, West Virginia. The comedian who shares my birthday (though 68 years older) remains arguably best known for his celebrated role as the overly officious country deputy Barney Fife on The Andy Griffith Show, though he also appeared across the latter seasons of Three’s Company as wannabe swinger landlord Ralph Furley.
Knotts’ five Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series remains a record-setting amount in that category and was also the most wins for a performer in the same role in the same series until Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ sixth and final win for Veep in 2017. In addition, his characterization of Barney Fife was ranked ninth on TV Guide‘s 1999 list of the 50 Greatest TV Characters of All Time.
Despite the accolades, Knotts amicably left The Andy Griffith Show at the end of the fifth season to pursue his film career, but the in-universe explanation that Barney was hired as a detective in Raleigh allowed for the actor to occasionally return to the series, including his Emmy-winning performance in the sixth season’s “The Return of Barney Fife”. Continue reading
Bill Paxton in Twister
Bill Paxton and Helen Hunt in Twister (1996)
Vitals
Bill Paxton as Bill Harding, experienced storm chaser-turned-weatherman
Oklahoma, Summer 1996
Film: Twister
Release Date: May 10, 1996
Director: Jan de Bont
Costume Designer: Ellen Mirojnick
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
With its standalone sequel Twisters starring Daisy Edgar-Jones and Glen Powell now arriving in theaters, let’s revisit the original Twister, Jan de Bont’s 1996 blockbuster centered around a group of storm-chasers pursuing and researching tornadoes across Oklahoma.
Our lead storm-chasers are the star-crossed Jo (Helen Hunt) and Bill Harding (Bill Paxton), in the midst of a divorce as Bill seeks to leave his dangerous storm-chasing days as “The Extreme” and settle into a more comfortable life as a TV weatherman with his new fiancée Dr. Melissa Reeves (Jami Gertz). “New job, new truck, new wife, it’s like a whole new you!” Jo observes as Bill arrives in his new Dodge Ram truck to request that she sign the papers to finalize their divorce.
In the meantime, Jo and her team are preparing to deploy their innovative tornado-measuring device—the realized execution of Bill’s original concept, nicknamed “Dorothy”—into the record-breaking storms wreaking havoc through Oklahoma. Continue reading
MASH: Donald Sutherland as Hawkeye
Donald Sutherland as Captain “Hawkeye” Pierce in M*A*S*H (1970)
Vitals
Donald Sutherland as Capt. Benjamin Franklin “Hawkeye” Pierce, U.S. Army surgeon
Korea, Summer 1951 through Winter 1952
Film: M*A*S*H
Release Date: January 25, 1970
Director: Robert Altman
Background
Today would have been the 89th birthday of Donald Sutherland, the prolific and versatile Canadian actor who died last month at the age of 88. Born July 17, 1935 in New Brunswick, Sutherland rose to prominence as a steady supporting player through the ’60s—perhaps most notably in The Dirty Dozen (1967)—before his first major starring role in yet another war film, M*A*S*H (1970), adapted by screenwriter Ring Lardner Jr. from Richard Hooker’s novel MASH: A Novel of Three Army Doctors. (The popularity of the film resulted in the eventual development of a TV show—starring Alan Alda as Hawkeye—that ran for nearly four times as long as Korean War hostilities.)
Set during the Korean War, M*A*S*H centered around around the irreverent Army doctor Captain Benjamin Franklin “Hawkeye” Pierce during his tenure at the 4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital. He’s assisted in his hard-drinking hijinks by fellow surgeons “Trapper John” McIntyre (Elliott Gould), Duke Forrest (Tom Skeritt), dentist “The Painless Pole” Waldowski (John Schuck), and former football star “Spearchucker” Jones (Fred Williamson), all while battling the uptight majors Frank Burns (Robert Duvall) and “Hot Lips” Houlihan (Sally Kellerman).
At one point, Major Houlihan asks the compound chaplain Father “Dago Red” Mulcahy (René Auberjonois) how “a degenerated person like [Hawkeye] could have reached a position of responsibility in the Army Medical Corps!” to which Mulcahy simply responds, “He was drafted.”
Sutherland’s Golden Globe-nominated performance established him as a star as his career ascended through the ’70s with starring roles in Klute (1971), Don’t Look Now (1973), Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978), and Ordinary People (1980) while also continuing to provide memorable supporting appearances in movies like Little Murders (1971), 1900 (1976), and Animal House (1978).
What’d He Wear?
Apropos his rebellious attitude, Donald Sutherland’s Hawkeye never presents himself in a perfect example of a U.S. Army uniform, instead mixing regulation gear with personal accoutrements that craft a distinctively irreverent look. Continue reading
Succession: Connor’s Sailboat Shirt in Tuscany
Alan Ruck as Connor Roy on Succession (Episode 3.09: “All the Bells Say”)
Vitals
Alan Ruck as Connor Roy, delusional millionaire and long-shot presidential hopeful
Val d’Orcia, Tuscany, Italy, Summer 2020
Series: Succession
Episode: “All the Bells Say” (Episode 3.09)
Air Date: December 12, 2021
Director: Mark Mylod
Creator: Jesse Armstrong
Costume Designer: Michelle Matland
Background
When I think about which Succession character most shares my sense of style (as one does), I’m realizing that the answer—for better or worse—is probably the doomed presidential hopeful Connor Roy (Alan Ruck).
It makes sense, as each of us are positioned relatively far from the corporate world and thus can afford to dress more for ourselves than any greater ambition… at least until Connor, who was interested in politics at a young age, starts pinning that American flag to his lapel as he hits the campaign trail.
This thought reoccurred to me as I was packing for my weeklong vacation to the beach this week, and I realized that the only Roy who may canonically share my affinity for printed summer shirts is the [actual] eldest son, who briefly sports a sailboat-printed shirt while the family debriefs in Tuscany over a game of Monopoly at the start of Succession’s third season finale, “All the Bells Say”. Continue reading
Mr. Majestyk: Charles Bronson’s Lee Jacket and Ford Truck
Charles Bronson in Mr. Majestyk (1974)
Vitals
Charles Bronson as Vincent “Vince” Majestyk, principled melon farmer, ex-convict, and Vietnam veteran
Rural Colorado, Fall 1973
Film: Mr. Majestyk
Release Date: July 12, 1974
Director: Richard Fleischer
Men’s Costumes: James Linn
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
We’ll conclude this summer’s Car Week with Mr. Majestyk, a Charles Bronson action flick released 50 years ago tomorrow on July 12, 1974. (At least according to Wikipedia; IMDB states July 17th, but it doesn’t seem worth splitting hairs.) Just weeks later, Bronson would cement his place in action cinema lore with the release of the revenge-themed Death Wish, though I prefer the fun of Mr. Majestyk, which delivers the characteristic color that could be expected from Elmore Leonard’s original screenplay.
Bronson stars as Vince Majestyk, a decorated Vietnam veteran operating a melon farm in rural Colorado, proudly manned by experienced migrant workers like the passionate union leader Nancy Chavez (Linda Cristal). When local hotshot hoodlum Bobby Kopas (Paul Koslo) tries to force Majestyk to replace his crew with Kopas’ own unskilled winos, Majestyk attacks him with his own shotgun and sends him back up the road.
Following his arrest for assaulting Kopas, the police discover Majestyk’s past conviction for assault and keep him in jail, where he also runs afoul of menacing mob hitman Frank Renda (Al Lettieri). The two men’s tenuous acquaintanceship further sours after Majestyk sabotages an escape attempt engineered by Renda’s henchmen, instead kidnapping Renda himself and intending to trade the contract killer to the authorities in exchange for his own freedom.
After Majestyk loses Renda, the hitman forces Kopas to drop the assault charges so that Renda would be free to exact his own violent revenge on Majestyk—despite the advice from his loyal right-hand man Gene Lundy (Taylor Lacher).
Majestyk himself doesn’t seem overly considered with the treat, more focused on finding labor to help him harvest his melon crop after Kopas effectively intimidates most of the town into refusing to work with him. Indeed, the crop would have struggled during his stay behind bars if not for Nancy, with whom he develops a relationship built on mutual respect after they met when he defended her fellow migrant workers’ right to use a public restroom.
Nancy: If you want to go to bed with me, why don’t you say it?
Majestyk: I don’t want to say it, I want to do it. Come on.
Aware that the police hope to use him as bait to entrap Renda, who confronts Majestyk during a barroom date. “Seems like there’s no use trying to get on your good side,” Majestyk declares before slugging him and leaving with Nancy, who proves to be deft at more than just picking melons when she handles the wheel of Vince’s Ford pickup truck during a chase with Renda’s hired guns. Continue reading
Asteroid City: Tom Hanks’ Colorful Golf Clothes and 1954 Cadillac
Tom Hanks in Asteroid City (2023)
Vitals
Tom Hanks as Stanley Zak, retired lawyer and grandfather but not a chauffeur
The Mojave Desert, Fall 1955
Film: Asteroid City
Release Date: June 16, 2023
Director: Wes Anderson
Costume Designer: Milena Canonero
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Happy 68th birthday to Tom Hanks, the two-time Academy Award-winning actor born July 9, 1956. Hanks’ most recent major screen credit was the retro-futuristic Asteroid City, Wes Anderson’s sun-bleached reflection on “grief, love, and the creative process,” according to Tegenn Jeffrey for Slick.
Located near a nuclear testing site, the titular town is a fictional desert hamlet with a population of 87—at least until a group of young stargazers arrive with their parents arrive for a convention… unable to leave after an extraterrestrial sighting places them in a weeklong government quarantine.
Among these youths is the precocious Woodrow Steenbeck (Jake Ryan), accompanied by his father Augie (Jason Schwartzman) and three younger sisters. A recent widow, Augie had anticipated stopping in Asteroid City just long enough to drop Woodrow off before continuing on to deposit the three girls with their grandfather, wealthy retiree Stanley Zak (Tom Hanks), at his “beautiful house with a swimming pool” next to a golf course in Rancho Palms.
After the Steenbeck family station wagon breaks down in Asteroid City, Stanley’s resentment for his son-in-law only grows when Augie calls, asking Stanley to come pick up the girls while also revealing that he hasn’t yet told them yet about their mother’s death. Following the awkward exchange (“I’m not their chauffeur, I’m their grandfather,” Stanley reminds Augie), Stanley begrudgingly agrees to join his family in Asteroid City and gives the word to his valet:
Gas up the Cadillac.
After the Sunset: Pierce Brosnan’s Blue Linen Popover Shirt and Camaro
Pierce Brosnan as Max Burdett in After the Sunset (2004)
Vitals
Pierce Brosnan as Max Burdett, retired(?) jewel thief
The Bahamas, Summer 2004
Film: After the Sunset
Release Date: November 12, 2004
Director: Brett Ratner
Costume Designer: Rita Ryack
Pierce Brosnan’s Costumer: Edward T. Hanley
Background
This summer Car Week focus begins on the 00-7th of July by focusing not on Mr. Bond himself but rather one of Pierce Brosnan’s first prominent movies after hanging up 007’s shoulder holster and tuxedo.
Indeed, Max Burdett’s lifestyle in After the Sunset shares some similarities with how we’ve been presented with James Bond’s retirement: a rugged yet swanky seaside home in the Caribbean with a sweet ride and a stashed handgun to greet unwanted visitors. Continue reading
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