Category: Throwback
Col. Mortimer in For a Few Dollars More
An Italian poster for For a Few Dollars More (1965), featuring Lee Van Cleef as Colonel Douglas Mortimer.
Vitals
Lee Van Cleef as Douglas Mortimer, taciturn Old West bounty hunter and former U.S. Army Colonel
El Paso, Fall 1873
Film: For a Few Dollars More
Release Date: November 18, 1965
Director: Sergio Leone
Costume Designer: Carlo Simi
Background
Where life had no value, death, sometimes, had its price.
That is why the bounty hunters appeared.
…is how For a Few Dollars More introduces itself after blazing onto the screen, underlined by yet another iconic Ennio Morricone score. Clint Eastwood returns to the Sergio Leone spaghetti western scene as one of these bounty hunters, a laconic loner referred to only as “Manco”. While his dress and demeanor would imply that this was the same character he portrayed in A Fistful of Dollars the previous year, a lawsuit actually prevented Leone from using Eastwood’s “Joe” character from that film. Thus, the “Man with No Name” was born more out of legal necessity than artistic intention. Continue reading
Peaky Blinders – Tommy’s Gray Striped Herringbone Suit
Cillian Murphy as Tommy Shelby on Peaky Blinders.
Vitals
Cillian Murphy as Thomas “Tommy” Shelby, cunning Peaky Blinders gang leader and jaded WWI veteran
Birmingham, England, Fall 1919
Series: Peaky Blinders
Episodes: Episodes 1.01 – 1.05
Air Dates: September 12, 2013 – October 10, 2013
Directors: Otto Bathurst (Episodes 1.01 – 1.03) & Tom Harper (Episode 1.04 & 1.05)
Creator: Steven Knight
Costume Designer: Stephanie Collie
Tailor: Keith Watson
Background
BBC Two’s Peaky Blinders is often compared to Boardwalk Empire or The Wire, an unfair comparison as the show stands up excellently on its own and the creator – Steven Knight – has even admitted that he’s never seen either show. One could argue that Peaky Blinders would certainly appeal to watchers of both shows, taking the urban grit of The Wire and the post-WWI family gangsterdom of Boardwalk Empire and launching them both across the pond to settle in Birmingham, England. Continue reading
The Sundance Kid’s Brown Corded Jacket
Robert Redford as The Sundance Kid in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969).
Vitals
Robert Redford as Harry Longbaugh, aka “The Sundance Kid”, laconic and sharp-shooting American outlaw
Colorado, Fall 1898
Film: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
Release Date: October 24, 1969
Director: George Roy Hill
Costume Designer: Edith Head
Background
Last year, we celebrated Robert Redford’s 78th birthday (and Throwback Tuesday, which I’ve decided can be a thing) by breaking down the Sundance Kid’s traveling suit when he and Butch Cassidy pack up and head to Bolivia. This year, for Bob’s 79th, we’ll look at his main outfit leading up to that – a badass assortment of Western wear that epitomize American outlaw style at the turn of the century.
What’d He Wear?
Although the film’s audience would be hard-pressed to call either Butch or Sundance a true villain despite their criminal vocations, Sundance is certainly the darker-demeanored of the two, reflected by his attire. In Bolivia, he wears a black suit and black hat. While still conducting his banditry in the U.S., he wears all black save for a brown corduroy jacket. By default, he becomes the film’s personification of the “black-hatted outlaw” trope although his easy charm differentiates him from more villianous contemporaries like Lee Van Cleef in The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.
The one major non-black part of his American banditry outfit is the brown wide-waled corduroy jacket. The jacket looks as well-traveled as Sundance himself, providing him comfortable and surprisingly fashionable outerwear that allows a wide range of motion for a man whose job includes jumping on and off of moving trains. Continue reading
William Holden in The Wild Bunch
William Holden as Pike Bishop in The Wild Bunch (1969).
Vitals
William Holden as Pike Bishop, grizzled bandit gang leader
Coahuila, Mexico, Spring 1913
Film: The Wild Bunch
Release Date: June 18, 1969
Director: Sam Peckinpah
Costume Designer: James R. Silke
Background
We’ve got to start thinking beyond our guns. Those days are closing fast.
…is what Pike Bishop wisely tells his men, an aging group of outlaws still anachronistically robbing banks and trains on horseback with a six-shooter on their hips. Pike knows the times are changing, and it doesn’t take a water-cooled machine gun or a Mexican general’s Packard to drive the point home to them.
Today would have been the 97th birthday of William Holden, who starred in classics like Sunset Boulevard, Stalag 17, Sabrina, The Bridge on the River Kwai before taking on the role of the anachronistically self-aware Pike Bishop. Holden was one of many actors considered by Sam Peckinpah for the role; Lee Marvin had actually been cast but then turned it down to accept the higher-paying lead in Paint Your Wagon. It turned out well for Holden, who developed the character into one of the greatest movie badasses of all time… as even that sterling news source MTV agreed. Continue reading
Meeting Sidney Reilly – A Cream Suit in Baku
Sam Neill as Sidney Reilly in “An Affair with a Married Woman”, the first episode of Reilly: Ace of Spies.
Vitals
Sam Neill as Sigmund Rosenblum, later known as Sidney Reilly, Russian-born British Secret Service agent
Baku, Russian Empire (now Azerbaijan), Spring 1901
Series: Reilly: Ace of Spies
Episode: “An Affair with a Married Woman” (Episode 1)
Air Date: September 5, 1983
Director: Jim Goddard
Costume Designer: Elizabeth Waller
Background
Super Bowl XLIX viewers last Sunday surely didn’t miss the new trailer for Jurassic World, the newest entry in the franchise that began more than 20 years ago with Jurassic Park. Unfortunately, Sam Neill will not be reprising his role as Dr. Alan Grant in the newest film, so Neill fans itching to fill the void can revisit the brilliant 1983 mini-series Reilly: Ace of Spies. Continue reading
Sherlock Holmes’ Purple Frock Coat
Vitals
Robert Downey, Jr. on set as Sherlock Holmes in Sherlock Holmes (2009).
Robert Downey, Jr. as Sherlock Holmes, eccentric consulting detective
London, August 1890
Film: Sherlock Holmes
Release Date: December 25, 2009
Director: Guy Ritchie
Costume Designer: Jenny Beavan
Background
Few have heard of Dr. Joseph Bell, a physician at the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary and eventual lecturer at the University of Edinburgh’s medical school who was born today in 1837. Those who do know Dr. Bell, however, likely know him due to his fame as a likely inspiration for the character of Sherlock Holmes. A very observant and proud doctor, Bell was often called in to assist with police investigations, teaming up with forensic expert Professor Henry Littlejohn. Arthur Conan Doyle had met Bell in 1877 and worked as his clerk at the infirmary. Bell later took pride in knowing that Doyle’s most famed and beloved creation – the character of Sherlock Holmes – was at least partly based on him. Though this inspiration has been exaggerated by series like Murder Rooms: The Dark Beginnings of Sherlock Holmes, the Bell-Doyle connection is undeniable.
To honor Dr. Bell’s birthday, I’ll be exploring the first appearance of Robert Downey, Jr. as Sherlock Holmes in the 2009 reboot, Sherlock Holmes. In this sequence, Holmes and Watson pair up to arrest the evil Lord Blackwood and stop his black magic practices. The scene involves many elements that would become trademarks of the new films, including Holmes’ predictive and fluid fighting technique that proves most effective against Britain’s most thickheaded thugs. Continue reading
Nucky Thompson’s Brown and Pink Check Suit
Steve Buscemi as Enoch “Nucky” Thompson in “The Ivory Tower”, Episode 2 of Boardwalk Empire.
Vitals
Steve Buscemi as Enoch “Nucky” Thompson, Atlantic City’s corrupt treasurer and gangster
Atlantic City, January 1920 through August 1921
Series: Boardwalk Empire
Seasons: 1-2
Creator: Terence Winter
Costume Designer: John A. Dunn
Tailor: Martin Greenfield
Background
To pay tribute to the return of Boardwalk Empire for its final season and recognize the current Gilt Groupe promotion that I’ll discuss, today’s post covers one of the most recognizable suits worn by the show’s protagonist, Enoch “Nucky” Thompson. Continue reading
The Sundance Kid’s Gray Wool Traveling Suit
Paul Newman, Katharine Ross, and Robert Redford in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969).
Vitals
Robert Redford as Harry Longbaugh, aka “The Sundance Kid”, American outlaw and sharpshooter
Colorado to Bolivia (via New York City), Spring 1901
Film: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
Release Date: October 24, 1969
Director: George Roy Hill
Costume Designer: Edith Head
Background
For Throwback Tuesday (that’s a thing, right?), BAMF Style is focusing on another BAMF hero – Robert Redford, who celebrated his 78th birthday yesterday – in the role that arguably shot his career into megastardom.
As Harry Longbaugh, alias “The Sundance Kid”, Redford played a level-headed – if pessimisitc – ying to the optimistic dreamer Butch Cassidy played by Paul Newman. Butch and the Kid were outlaws, killers, and thieves, but William Goldman’s script, George Roy Hill’s direction, and Newman and Redford’s bickering chemistry reinvented the two bandits’ image. Continue reading
George Jung’s White Leisure Suit in Blow
Johnny Depp as George Jung in Blow (2001), from New Line Cinema.
Vitals
Johnny Depp as George Jung, international cocaine dealer
Miami to Colombia, Summer 1977
Film: Blow
Release Date: April 6, 2001
Director: Ted Demme
Costume Designer: Mark Bridges
Background
Pablo Escobar: So, you’re the man, huh? Who takes fifty kilos and make them disappear in one day.
George Jung: Actually, it was three days.
As a multimillion dollar-earning international drug dealer, George Jung was well-known to drug culture and law enforcement by the time Bruce Porter’s 1993 book, Blow, was released. However, it was the Ted Demme-directed 2001 film of the same name that brought Jung’s life into the mainstream with Johnny Depp in the lead role. Continue reading
Chalky White’s Cream Plaid Suit on Boardwalk Empire
Michael K. Williams as “Chalky” White on Boardwalk Empire (“Two Imposters”, Episode 3.11).
Vitals
Michael Kenneth Williams as Albert “Chalky” White, notorious bootlegger
Atlantic City, Spring 1923
Series: Boardwalk Empire
Episodes:
– “The Milkmaid’s Lot” (Episode 3.09, aired November 11, 2012, dir. Ed Bianchi)
– “Two Imposters” (Episode 3.11, aired November 25, 2012, dir. Allen Coulter)
– “Margate Sands” (Episode 3.12, aired December 2, 2012, dir. Tim Van Patten)
Creator: Terence Winter
Costume Designer: John A. Dunn
Tailor: Martin Greenfield
Background
Most people – myself included – don’t approach summer with the attitude of, “Oh, good, it’s three-piece suit season!” However, most people are not badass gangsters community leaders like “Chalky” White on Boardwalk Empire. Continue reading
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