Robert Ryan in The Wild Bunch

Robert Ryan as Deke Thornton in The Wild Bunch (1969)

Vitals

Robert Ryan as Deke Thornton, conflicted bounty hunter and ex-bandit

Texas to Mexico, Spring 1913

Film: The Wild Bunch
Release Date: June 18, 1969
Director: Sam Peckinpah
Costume Designer: James R. Silke

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

Released today in 1969, The Wild Bunch reimagined the American frontier on screen. The New Hollywood movement ushered in a new level of brutality with films like Bonnie and Clyde (1967), which—along with his frustration over the Vietnam War and the lack of realism in earlier depictions of the Old West—inspired director Sam Peckinpah to return behind the lens.

Based on a screenplay co-written by Peckinpah, Walon Green, and Roy N. Sickner, The Wild Bunch follows an aging gang led by the grizzled Pike Bishop (William Holden), pursued into Mexico by a posse of ragtag bounty hunters led by Pike’s former partner, Deke Thornton (Robert Ryan), against the backdrop of the nation’s decade-long revolution. Continue reading →

George C. Scott’s Funky Brown Shirt and Tan Blazer in Hardcore

George C. Scott in Hardcore (1979)

Vitals

George C. Scott as Jake Van Dorn, serious Midwestern family man

San Francisco, Spring 1978

Film: Hardcore
Release Date: February 9, 1979
Director: Paul Schrader
Men’s Wardrobe Supervisor: G. Tony Scarano

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

Oh my God, that’s my daughter.

Happy Father’s Day to all the dads who read BAMF Style… and to this soon-to-be first-time dad who writes BAMF Style, as my wife is expecting our first this October!

Of course, since I’m the same insane person who writes about Psycho and The Grifters for Mother’s Day, today’s Father’s Day post centers around George C. Scott’s style in Paul Schrader’s 1979 neo-noir Hardcore as Jake Van Dorn, a Michigan rivet manufacturing executive who goes deep undercover in the California porn industry to try to save his daughter Kristen (Ilah Davis) after he learns from private detective Andy Mast (Peter Boyle) that she’s been appearing in stag films. Continue reading →

Ben Johnson’s Cream Suit in The Town That Dreaded Sundown

Ben Johnson in The Town That Dreaded Sundown (1976)

Vitals

Ben Johnson as J.D. Morales, Texas Rangers company captain

Texarkana, Arkansas, Spring 1946

Film: The Town That Dreaded Sundown
Release Date: December 24, 1976
Director: Charles B. Pierce
Wardrobe Credit: Karen Jones & Bonnie Langriff

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

Born 107 years ago on June 13, 1918, Ben Johnson was an Academy Award-winning actor and—like his father, Ben Sr.—a bona fide cowboy and rodeo champion.

Johnson’s screen career appropriately began as a stuntman in Howard Hughes’ controversial 1943 film The Outlaw, establishing the start of a half-century career that began with Westerns like 3 Godfathers (1948), She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949), Shane (1953), Hang ‘Em High (1968), and The Wild Bunch (1969). After a more dramatic performance in The Last Picture Show (1971) resulted in Johnson’s sole Oscar win, the middle-aged actor diversified his filmography with major roles in non-Westerns like The Getaway (1972), Dillinger (1973), Red Dawn (1984), and Angels in the Outfield (1994).

Since today’s commemoration of Johnson’s birthday also falls on Friday the 13th, it feels appropriate to focus on one of the actor’s first of few forays into horror. The Town That Dreaded Sundown was loosely based on the real-life Texarkana Moonlight Murders when a still-unknown “Phantom Killer” attacked eight people—killing five—through the spring of 1946. Filmed on location in Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas through the hot summer of 1976, The Town That Dreaded Sundown erroneously centered most of the action around Texarkana, Arkansas, which initially resulted in the city threatening director Charles B. Pierce… but has since become an annual Halloween tradition during Texarkana’s “Movies in the Park” series.

Johnson’s cowboy background and persona suited his performance as Captain J.D. Morales, based on the case’s actual lead investigator: Manuel T. “Lone Wolf” Gonzaullas. Continue reading →

Night Moves: Gene Hackman’s Ivory Levi’s Shirt-Jacket

Gene Hackman as Harry Moseby in Night Moves (1975)

Vitals

Gene Hackman as Harry Moseby, private detective and former professional football player

Florida Keys, Fall 1973

Film: Night Moves
Release Date: June 11, 1975
Director: Arthur Penn
Costumer: Arnie Lipin
Costume Supervisor: Rita Riggs

Background

Arthur Penn’s neo-noir Night Moves premiered 50 years ago today on June 11, 1975, starring the late Gene Hackman as football pro-turned-private eye Harry Moseby, one of the most effective roles in demonstrating Hackman’s talent for balancing traditional masculinity with emotional depth and vulnerability.

Harry was recently hired by a washed-up Hollywood starlet to find her 16-year-old daughter Delly (Melanie Griffith), whom he eventually traces to the Florida Keys, where she’s living with her stepfather Tom (John Crawford) and his girlfriend Paula (Jennifer Warren) who eventually spends a night with Harry before he returns to L.A.

After a simple runaway case twists into murky layers of smuggling, betrayal, incest, and an increasing body count, Harry takes a late TWA flight back to the Keys—to the resigned dismay of his estranged wife Ellen (Susan Clark). Continue reading →

Mission: Impossible — Tom Cruise’s Black Leather Blazer as Ethan Hunt

Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt in Mission: Impossible (1996). Photo by Murray Close.

Vitals

Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt, Impossible Missions Force agent

Prague to London, Spring 1996

Film: Mission: Impossible
Release Date: May 22, 1996
Director: Brian De Palma
Costume Designer: Penny Rose

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

Despite how much I enjoy espionage-themed spy movies—indicated by the plethora I’ve written about James Bond, Jason Bourne, and Three Days of the Condor—I had strangely never seen Ethan Hunt in action until just last week, two months shy of my 36th birthday, when all the buzz around Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning convinced me that it was time for me to trust Tom Cruise’s almost-superhuman spy one… first… time.

And, of course, I loved it. I had either forgotten or didn’t know that the 1996 film was directed by Brian De Palma from a script co-written by Robert Towne—with David Koepp, from a story by Koepp and Steven Zaillain. None of that considerable talent was wasted in rebooting Bruce Geller’s TV series for the screen, resulting in a stylish and fun blockbuster that became the third highest-grossing movie of 1996 and spawned a successful film franchise with the eighth (and likely final) installment released last month.

Mission: Impossible reintroduces Impossible Missions Force (IMF) team leader Jim Phelps (Jon Voight), a reimagining of the character originated by Peter Graves on TV decades earlier. The movie begins as Jim assembles his squad—Ethan Hunt, Sarah Davies (Kristin Scott Thomas), Jack Harmon (an uncredited Emilio Estevez), Jim’s wife Claire Phelps (Emmanuelle Béart), and Hannah Williams (Ingeborga Dapkūnaitė)—at a Prague safe-house, where he briefs the team on their upcoming mission to surveil and stop a rogue agent from stealing a list of the CIA’s non-official cover (NOC) identities.

When the IMF team and their target are wiped out with the NOC list missing, suspicion falls on the mission’s lone survivor: Ethan Hunt, who now has to prove his innocence while finding the real mole at the center of the scheme.

Sounds impossible? Not for Ethan Hunt. Continue reading →

Dean Martin’s Matching Cabana Set in Artists and Models

Dean Martin and Dorothy Malone in Artists and Models (1955)

Vitals

Dean Martin as Rick Todd, struggling but smooth-talking painter

New York City, Summer 1955

Film: Artists and Models
Release Date: November 7, 1955
Director: Frank Tashlin
Costume Designer: Edith Head

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

Iconic entertainer Dean Martin was born 108 years ago today on June 7, 1917 in Steubenville, Ohio. Born Dino Crocetti, the singer and actor remains well-known for his joint acts like the Rat Pack and a decade-long partnership with comedian Jerry Lewis.

After debuting together in Atlantic City in 1946, Martin and Lewis made a total of 16 movies together. Their 14th feature, Artists and Models, was released 70 years ago on November 7, 1955—five months to the day after Martin’s 38th birthday. Though the team would make two more movies before the dissolution of their partnership the following year, Artists and Models foreshadowed the future directions of their respective solo careers as the first of eight collaborations between Lewis and Looney Tunes director Frank Tashlin and the first of seven times that Martin would star with Shirley MacLaine.

Martin and Lewis brought their usual personas to Artists and Models as the romantic painter Rick Todd and goofy children’s author Eugene Fullstack, respectively. In her second film appearance, MacLaine co-stars as Lewis’ love interest Bessie Sparrowbush, who also helps Rick woo her friend, professional artist Abigail Parker (Dorothy Malone). Continue reading →

The Truman Show: Jim Carrey’s Brown Plaid Jacket and Yellow Sweater

Jim Carrey as Truman Burbank in The Truman Show (1999)

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Jim Carrey as Truman Burbank, affable insurance salesman and unsuspecting reality TV star

“Seahaven Island”, Spring 1997

Film: The Truman Show
Release Date: June 5, 1998
Director: Peter Weir
Costume Designer: Marilyn Matthews

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

Four days after its Los Angeles premiere, The Truman Show was released widely on this day in 1998. A critical and commercial success, the film earned three Academy Award nominations and marked a major turning point for Jim Carrey, who until then had been known almost exclusively for comedy. Though Carrey carried over elements of his elastic comic persona, his performance as Truman Burbank signaled a shift toward more serious roles, paving the way for later dramatic turns in Man on the Moon (1999) and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004).

We meet 29-year-old Truman Burbank on Wednesday, May 14, 1997—the 10,909th day of his life… and the 10,909th day of a massively successful TV show secretly documenting every moment of it, 24/7. Continue reading →

Sweet Smell of Success – Tony Curtis’ Dark Pinstripe Suit

Tony Curtis as Sidney Falco in Sweet Smell of Success (1957)

Vitals

Tony Curtis as Sidney Falco, unscrupulous publicity agent

New York City, Fall 1956

Film: Sweet Smell of Success
Release Date: June 27, 1957
Director: Alexander Mackendrick
Costume Designer: Mary Grant

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

Today would have been the 100th birthday of prolific actor Tony Curtis.

Born Bernard Schwartz in East Harlem on June 3, 1925, Curtis was inspired by war movies made by his screen heroes Cary Grant and Tyrone Power to join the U.S. Navy, serving aboard a submarine in the Asiatic Fleet through the end of World War II.

Arriving in Hollywood after the war, the rechristened “Anthony Curtis” grew his fandom after memorable bit parts in Johnny Stool Pigeon (1949) and Winchester ’73 (1950). His career grew to being one of the biggest stars of the ’50s, including his Academy Award-nominated performance in The Defiant Ones (1958) and iconic cross-dressing role in Some Like It Hot (1959).

While the latter is one of my favorite movies, my favorite Tony Curtis performance is the shameless Sidney Falco in Sweet Smell of Success (1957), Alexander Mackendrick’s slick and satirical film noir featuring the whip-fast dialogue of Clifford Odets and Ernest Lehman’s screenplay and James Wong Howe’s atmospheric cinematography of New York City during the fabulous fifties. Curtis taps his inner Gemini to convincingly portray all aspects of Falco’s cutthroat ambition, from the wily Manhattan publicist to the subservient PR flack desperate to please the powerful columnist J.J. Hunsecker (Burt Lancaster).

Tony Curtis and Burt Lancaster in Sweet Smell of Success (1957)

Continue reading →

Don Draper’s Gray Jacket and Striped Tie for a “Zou Bisou” Birthday Surprise

Jon Hamm and Jessica Paré on Mad Men, Episode 5.01: “A Little Kiss, Part 1”. Photo by Ron Jaffe/AMC.

Vitals

Jon Hamm as Don Draper, 40-year-old remarried ad man

New York City, June 1966

Series: Mad Men
Episode: “A Little Kiss, Part 1” (Episode 5.01)
Air Date: March 25, 2012
Director: Jennifer Getzinger
Creator: Matthew Weiner
Costume Designer: Janie Bryant

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

Mad Men‘s fifth season double-episode premiere “A Little Kiss” begins on Memorial Day 1966 and follows through the next weekend, when Don Draper’s new wife Megan (Jessica Paré) curiously decides to throw her husband a surprise 40th birthday party… despite knowing literally anything about him. Continue reading →

Cape Fear (1991): Robert De Niro’s Red Aloha Shirt as Max Cady

Robert De Niro as Max Cady in Cape Fear (1991)

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Robert De Niro as Max Cady, psychopathic parolee

New Essex, North Carolina, Summer 1991

Film: Cape Fear
Release Date: November 15, 1991
Director: Martin Scorsese
Costume Designer: Rita Ryack

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

In the spirit of Aloha Friday as we get closer to summer, let’s revisit Robert De Niro’s unhinged turn as Max Cady in Martin Scorsese’s 1991 reimagining of Cape Fear. Continue reading →