Category: Suit
God Told Me To: Tony Lo Bianco’s Tan Suit
Tony Lo Bianco in God Told Me To (1976)
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Tony Lo Bianco as Peter J. Nicholas, devout NYPD detective
New York City, Spring 1976
Film: God Told Me To
Release Date: October 22, 1976
Director: Larry Cohen
Costume Designer: Halston (credited for Deborah Raffin’s wardrobe)
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Today would have been the 90th birthday of Tony Lo Bianco, born in New York City on October 19, 1936. A terrific character actor who was often on the sidelines of great ’70s cinema like The French Connection (1971), Serpico (1973), and The Seven-Ups (1973), Lo Bianco also shined in starring roles like Leonard Kastle’s haunting 1970 true crime drama The Honeymoon Killers and the sci-fi horror thriller God Told Me To, which was released 50 years ago this week in October 1976.
Lo Bianco stars as NYPD Detective Peter J. Nicholas, who begins questioning his own past while investigating a series of violent crimes perpetrated by people claiming that God informed their murders. Continue reading
Laurence Olivier’s Tailored Shades of Gray in Marathon Man
Laurence Olivier in Marathon Man (1976)
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Laurence Olivier as Dr. Christian Szell, escaped war criminal aka “Christopher Hess”
New York City, Fall 1975
Film: Marathon Man
Release Date: October 8, 1976
Director: John Schlesinger
Costume Credit: Robert De Mora
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
One of the defining paranoid thrillers of the ’70s, Marathon Man was released 50 years ago today on October 8, 1976 and has spent the subsequent half-century spreading as much positive PR for dentistry as Psycho did for showers.
Adapted by William Goldman from his novel of the same title, Marathon Man follows Columbia grad student “Babe” Levy (Dustin Hoffman), who falls teeth-first into a scheme involving escaped Nazi war criminal Christian Szell (Laurence Olivier) and his cache of diamonds obtained by trading the gold fillings he extracted from Holocaust victims. Babe’s unwitting involvement culminates in Szell’s famously gruesome orthodontic torture as the doctor attempts to learn where the diamonds have been hidden. Continue reading
Summertime: Rossano Brazzi’s Gray Suit
Rossano Brazzi as Renato de Rossi in Summertime (1955)
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Rossano Brazzi as Renato de Rossi, antique store owner
Venice, Summer 1954
Film: Summertime
Release Date: June 21, 1955
Director: David Lean
Costume Designer: Rosi Gori (uncredited)
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Prolific Italian actor and director Rossano Brazzi was born 110 years ago tomorrow on September 18, 1916. An on-screen fixture of Italian cinema since the late 1930s, Brazzi rose to global fame after three consecutive roles as a suave Italian romancing American women visiting his country in The Barefoot Contessa (1954), Three Coins in the Fountain (1954), and Summertime (1955).
The latter paired Brazzi opposite Katharine Hepburn, who portrayed American secretary Jane Hudson visiting Venice at the end of her lifelong dream vacation to Europe. Over evening drinks in Piazza San Marco, she spies the dashing antiques dealer Renato de Rossi (Brazzi), who romantically pursues her with goblets and gardenias until the two embark on a brief but passionate aestival affair.
With summertime officially ending after this weekend, let’s explore how Brazzi dressed for, well, the ending of Summertime. Continue reading
Christopher Plummer’s Cream Suit in The Return of the Pink Panther
Christopher Plummer in The Return of the Pink Panther (1975)
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Christopher Plummer as Sir Charles Litton, retired jewel thief
The Middle East, Summer 1974
Film: The Return of the Pink Panther
Release Date: May 21, 1975
Director: Blake Edwards
Wardrobe Supervisor: Bridget Sellers
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
If you’re one of the sartorial purists who subscribe to rules like “no white after Labor Day”, then let this post serve as inspiration for the upcoming weekend; if you don’t believe in such restrictions, then this post can inspire you all year long.
After an eleven-year hiatus (ignoring Alan Arkin’s take on the role in ’68), director Blake Edwards and actor Peter Sellers brought the bumbling Inspector Clouseau back to the big screen in The Return of the Pink Panther. Unlike subsequent films that seemed to redefine the titular “Pink Panther” as Clouseau himself, this title correctly refers to the reappearance of the priceless pink gem from the first film.
Clouseau again finds himself facing off against the master thief Sir Charles Litton, now portrayed by Christopher Plummer since David Niven—who played Sir Charles Lytton in the Pink Panther—was now unavailable. The role was then offered to Douglas Fairbanks Jr., only four months older than Niven, who would have brought a similar dashing gravitas. After Fairbanks also declined, the role ultimately went to Plummer, who was twenty years younger than both Niven and Fairbanks and infused a more sinister than suave characterization.
This time, however, Sir Charles is innocent and—realizing he has been framed for the diamond’s theft—flies from his villa in Nice to the fictional Middle Eastern nation of Lugash to clear his name. Continue reading
Charles Bronson’s Brown Suit in Farewell, Friend
Charles Bronson in Farewell, Friend (1968)
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Charles Bronson as Franz Propp, opportunistic thief, pimp, and former French Foreign Legion sergeant
Paris, December 1963
Film: Farewell, Friend
(French title: Adieu l’ami)
Release Date: August 14, 1968
Director: Jean Herman
Costume Designer: Tanine Autré
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Charles Bronson was a steady supporting tough-guy presence in films like The Magnificent Seven (1960), The Great Escape (1963), and The Dirty Dozen (1967), though the western Pennsylvania-born actor found his first major breakthrough fame in Europe after starring opposite French superstar Alain Delon in the Franco-Italian heist caper Adieu l’ami (Farewell, Friend), released this month in 1968. Continue reading
Walter Matthau’s Gray Striped Suit as Charley Varrick
Walter Matthau in Charley Varrick (1973)
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Walter Matthau as Charley Varrick, clever crop-dusting pilot and bank robber
Albuquerque to Reno, Summer 1973
Film: Charley Varrick
Release Date: October 19, 1973
Director: Don Siegel
Costume Designer: Helen Colvig
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Although International Crop Duster’s Day is observed on May 27th, August 3rd was established as Airplane Crop Duster Day to commemorate U.S. Army pilot Lt. John A. Macready’s first-ever aerial crop-dusting flight on this day in 1921. More than a half century later, Walter Matthau broke from his usual comedic roles to portray the the titular crop-duster who broke bad in Charley Varrick, Don Siegel’s 1973 adaptation of John H. Reese’s crime novel The Looters.
Down on his luck as “the last of the independents” as he bills himself, Charley had organized a bank robbery in Tres Cruces, New Mexico, that tragically resulted in the death of his wife Nadine (Jacqueline Scott) and another accomplice. Charley and his remaining accomplice, hotheaded Harman (Andy Robinson), spirit away with the $765,118 haul—a surprisingly hefty take which tips Charley off to the fact that they must have robbed a Mafia drop bank.
Without waiting for confirmation beyond TV news only reporting that less than $2,000 was taken, Charley swiftly begins securing plans to make his final escape. Continue reading
Miami Vice: Jamie Foxx’s Brown Silk Suit as Tubbs
Jamie Foxx in Miami Vice (2006)
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Jamie Foxx as Ricardo “Rico” Tubbs, Miami-Dade PD detective
Miami, Summer 2005
Film: Miami Vice
Release Date: July 28, 2006
Director: Michael Mann
Costume Design: Michael Kaplan & Janty Yates
Jamie Foxx’s Costumer: Yaa Boaa Aning
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Michael Mann’s frequently memed update of Miami Vice was widely released 20 years ago today on July 28, 2006, reintroducing cooler-than-ice detectives Sonny Crockett and Ricardo Tubbs as Colin Farrell and Jamie Foxx, respectively.
As portrayed by EGOT hopeful Philip Michael Thomas, Tubbs may have lived within Crockett’s [five o’clock] shadow in the series, but the 2006 movie gives the character more room to breathe with Jamie Foxx—fresh off his Oscar win for Ray—in the role. In fact, it was reportedly Foxx who suggested the idea of a Miami Vice film to Mann, who had executive-produced the 1980s TV series.
Despite his increased degree of characterization, the 2006 film still leaves some questions about Tubbs’ character unanswered; for example, how does he feel about mojitos? Is he fiendish or ambivalent? Continue reading
Mel Brooks’ Bird-Attracting Charcoal Flannel Suit in High Anxiety
Mel Brooks in High Anxiety (1977)
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Mel Brooks as Dr. Richard Harpo Thorndyke, anxious psychologist
Los Angeles to San Francisco, Spring 1977
Film: High Anxiety
Release Date: December 25, 1977
Director: Mel Brooks
Costume Designer: Patricia Norris
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
The 2,000-Year-Old Man turns 100! Born Melvin James Kaminsky on June 28, 1926 in Brooklyn, prolific writer, director, producer, actor, and comedian Mel Brooks is one of less than two dozen entertainers to date to have attained EGOT status over a career that delivered iconic stage and screen comedies like The Producers (1967), Blazing Saddles (1974), Young Frankenstein (1974), and Spaceballs (1987).
One of his most prominent (and stylish) on-screen performances was in High Anxiety, Brooks’ affectionate satire of Alfred Hitchcock’s films—crafted with the Master of Suspense’s own endorsement. (Following a private screening, Hitchcock’s only criticism was that Brooks used three too many shower rings in a parody of Psycho‘s famous “shower scene”; the director later sent a congratulatory case of wine to Brooks, noting that the movie itself was “splendid!”)
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me — Chris Isaak’s Black FBI Suit as Chet Desmond
Chris Isaak as FBI Agent Chester “Chet” Diamond in Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me (1992)
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Chris Isaak as Chester “Chet” Desmond, FBI agent
Deer Meadow, Washington, February 1988
Film: Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me
Release Date: August 28, 1992
Director: David Lynch
Costume Designer: Patricia Norris
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
GET ME SPECIAL AGENT CHESTER DESMOND OUT IN FARGO, NORTH DAKOTA!
Kyle MacLachlan had been intended to more prominently reprise his role as FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper in Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me, David Lynch’s 1992 cinematic prequel to the then-recently canceled series. But the actor’s reluctance to be typecast prompted Lynch to reimagine the first act’s federal investigator as the more laconic Chester “Chet” Desmond—which became the first major acting role for singer Chris Isaak, born 70 years ago today on June 26, 1956. Isaak’s music career had already received a boost after his breakthrough song “Wicked Game” was featured in Lynch’s previous film, Wild at Heart. Continue reading
The Omen: Gregory Peck’s Charcoal Pinstripe Suit
Gregory Peck in The Omen (1976)
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Gregory Peck as Robert Thorn, American diplomat
Rome, June 6, 1970 and London, June 1975
Film: The Omen
Release Date: June 6, 1976
Director: Richard Donner
Wardrobe Supervisor: Tiny Nicholls
Tailor: H. Huntsman & Sons, London
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
The Omen was released fifty years ago today on June 6, 1976—a date intentionally selected to mirror the film’s opening on June 6th at 6 a.m., when American ambassador Robert Thorn (Gregory Peck) rushes through Rome to reach his wife Katherine (Lee Remick). Robert arrives to learn that the child Katherine has just delivered died moments after birth, but hospital chaplain Father Spiletto (Martin Benson) convinces him to secretly adopt a newborn orphan and raise the boy as their own without Katherine’s knowledge.
Unfortunately for Robert, Katherine, and the world at large, that boy is Damien—the Antichrist—but I suppose you’ll have that when someone’s birth is the infamous 6-6-6: the “Number of the Beast” described in the Book of Revelation.
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