Taffin: Pierce Brosnan’s Leather U-Boat Coat and Black Jeans

Pierce Brosnan in Taffin (1988)

Vitals

Pierce Brosnan as Mark Taffin, debt collector

Ballymoran, Ireland, Fall 1987

Film: Taffin
Release Date: February 26, 1988
Director: Francis Megahy
Costume Designer: Imogen Magnus

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

In the years between his career-defining roles as Remington Steele and James Bond, Pierce Brosnan’s career spanned a variety of roles, from classic adventurer Phileas Fogg in a TV production of Around the World in 80 Days to spurned lovers in Love Affair (1994) and Mrs. Doubtfire (1993)—losing his love interest to Warren Beatty (makes sense) and Robin Williams dressed as a fussy old British woman (oh!), respectively.

For the 00-7th of October today, let’s look at one of Brosnan’s more Bond-like roles during this period, portraying the title character in Taffin, adapted from Lyndon Mallet’s book series of the same name. Mallet reportedly balked at the casting choice as his literary Mark Taffin was described as overweight and unattractive—two words which would not describe Pierce Brosnan.

Taffin works as a debt collector in his small Irish hometown, filmed in County Wicklow, where his popularity ranges based on whether he’s helped you recover your debts… or had him knocking at your door on someone else’s behalf. Despite his cynical attitude and less-than-reputable profession, Taffin emerges as the town’s de facto defender, working against the developers who’ll stop at nothing to capitalize on the land. Continue reading →

Lloyd Bridges’ Donegal Tweed Jacket in Airplane!

Lloyd Bridges as Steve McCroskey in Airplane! (1980)

Vitals

Lloyd Bridges as Steve McCroskey, air traffic controller who picked the wrong week to quit smoking, drinking, amphetamines, and sniffing glue

Chicago, Spring 1980

Film: Airplane!
Release Date: July 2, 1980
Directed by: Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, and Jerry Zucker
Costume Designer: Rosanna Norton

Film: Airplane II: The Sequel
Release Date: December 10, 1982
Director: Ken Finkleman
Costume Designer: Rosanna Norton

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

If you’re anything like me, you’ve had the kind of week that’s sending you right back to smoking, drinking, amphetamines, and sniffing glue. Luckily, we have a kindred spirit in Steve McCroskey—the frazzled Chicago air traffic control chief in ZAZ’s comedy classic Airplane! who signaled Lloyd Bridges’ shift from drama to comedy.

And Bridges didn’t just nail his line deliveries, he also served sartorial gold as I noted during a recent rewatch of Airplane! and its sequel Airplane II: The Sequel, decked out in a Donegal tweed jacket, loosened tie, and dive watch. Continue reading →

Dead End: Humphrey Bogart’s Dandy Gangster Suit

Humphrey Bogart in Dead End (1937)

Vitals

Humphrey Bogart as Hugh “Baby Face” Martin, gangster

New York City, Summer 1937

Film: Dead End
Release Date: August 27, 1937
Director: William Wyler
Costume Designer: Omar Kiam

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

After his breakthrough screen role as the menacing Duke Mantee in The Petrified Forest (1936), Humphrey Bogart followed it up the next year as another swaggering gangster in Dead End (1937), adapted from Sidney Kingsley’s hit play—which had premiered 90 years ago today, on October 2, 1935.

The play had run for 687 performances on Broadway, so bringing it to the screen became a passion project for producer Samuel Goldwyn and director William Wyler. Goldwyn spent a then-staggering $165,000 for the rights, bracing himself for battles with the Hays Office to keep the play’s thematic grit intact. He even hired the “Dead End Kids”, the scrappy young actors from the stage version, though their chaotic behavior on set soon had Goldwyn regretting it and he later sold their contract to Warner Brothers, where—under names like the East Side Kids and Bowery Boys—they made more than 60 films across the next two decades. Despite his dedication to replicating the realism that made the play a success, the famously fastidious Goldwyn also clashed with Wyler, who had the set decorated with actual garbage to recreate an actual slum atmosphere.

Goldwyn first hoped to cast James Cagney or George Raft as the central gangster “Baby Face” Martin, but the role ultimately went to Humphrey Bogart—already 37 years old at the time, though it still feels like watching a “young” Bogie. Continue reading →

The Last of Sheila: Ian McShane’s Hockney Shirt

Ian McShane as Anthony Wood in The Last of Sheila (1973)

Vitals

Ian McShane as Anthony Wood, controlling Hollywood husband and ex-convict

French Riviera, Late summer 1972

Film: The Last of Sheila
Release Date: June 14, 1973
Director: Herbert Ross
Costume Designer: Joel Schumacher

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

As Ian McShane celebrates his 83rd trip around the sun today, I want to return to one of his earlier roles among the stylish 1973 murder mystery The Last of Sheila‘s ensemble cast.

Only thirty when the film was released, McShane co-stars as Anthony Wood, the charming but controlling manager for his actress wife Alice (Raquel Welch). The couple are included among the frenemies invited by eccentric producer Clinton Greene (James Coburn) to spend a week stationed on his yacht, Sheila, named for the late wife who died exactly one year earlier in a mysterious hit-and-run. Clinton reveals a plan to be more than just hosting seven days frolicking in the Ligurian Sea, unveiling a dark—and ultimately deadly—mystery game centered around gossip and murder. Continue reading →

Robert Redford’s Blue Bank Robbery Suit in The Old Man & the Gun

Robert Redford and Sissy Spacek in The Old Man & the Gun (2018). Photo credit: Eric Zachanowich.

Vitals

Robert Redford as Forrest Tucker, aging and amiable bank robber and escape artist

Texas, Summer to Fall 1981

Film: The Old Man & the Gun
Release Date: September 28, 2018
Director: David Lowery
Costume Designer: Annell Brodeur

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

After screen legend Robert Redford’s death earlier this month at age 89, I revisited his final leading role in David Lowery’s The Old Man & the Gun—a project Redford chose for his feel-good farewell film because he wanted his “last acting job to be fun.” Lighthearted yet elegiac, this crime caper premiered at the Telluride Film Festival and Toronto International Film Festival before its wider release seven years ago tomorrow. Continue reading →

Kill Me Again: Michael Madsen’s Leather Jacket

Michael Madsen in Kill Me Again (1989)

Vitals

Michael Madsen as Vince Miller, ruthless armed robber

Nevada, Spring 1989

Film: Kill Me Again
Release Date: October 27, 1989
Director: John Dahl
Costume Designer: Terry Dresbach

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

This year has seen the loss of screen legends across generations, from Gene Hackman and Robert Redford to Val Kilmer and Michael Madsen. On the first anniversary of Madsen’s September 25, 1957 birthday, let’s look at the one film where he and Kilmer starred together—the 1989 crime thriller Kill Me Again, where both men are drawn into a dangerous web spun by Fay, a femme fatale played by Kilmer’s then-wife Joanne Whalley.

Madsen steadily grew his career as a supporting actor through the ’80s in movies like WarGames (1982) and The Natural (1984) before appearing in Kill Me Again as the murderous thief Vince Miller, who could be argued as a template for the vicious villains he would play in movies like Reservoir Dogs (1992), The Getaway (1994), and Donnie Brasco (1997). Continue reading →

Evil Under the Sun: Colin Blakely’s Blazers as Sir Horace Blatt

Colin Blakely as Sir Horace Blatt in Evil Under the Sun (1982)

Vitals

Colin Blakely as Sir Horace Blatt, bombastic millionaire yachtsman

Mediterranean Sea, Summer 1939

Film: Evil Under the Sun
Release Date: March 5, 1982
Director: Guy Hamilton
Costume Designer: Anthony Powell

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

Born 95 years ago today on September 23, 1930 in Northern Ireland, Colin Blakely was an underrated actor who excelled both on stage and screen. He won acclaim for his Shakespearean performances, his portrayal of Dr. Watson in The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes (1970), and BAFTA-nominated turn in Equus (1977), while also standing out among the star-studded casts of two lavish Agatha Christie adaptations.

Following his small part as the quickly uncovered American private detective in Murder on the Orient Express (1974), Blakely returned to the Christie-verse for a juicier role in Evil Under the Sun (1982)—loosely adapted from the Queen of Crime’s 1941 novel of the same name, with many characters consolidated and the action transferred from the English coast to a fictional island in the Adriatic Sea. Continue reading →

Almost Famous: Billy Crudup’s Denim Wrangler Shirt

Billy Crudup as Russell Hammond in Almost Famous (2000)

Vitals

Billy Crudup as Russell Hammond, moody rock guitarist

On tour through the U.S., Spring 1973

Film: Almost Famous
Release Date: September 22, 2000
Director: Cameron Crowe
Costume Designer: Betsy Heimann

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

Following its Toronto International Film Festival premiere and a limited theatrical release a week later, Cameron Crowe’s semi-autobiographical Almost Famous was widely released 25 years ago this week on September 22, 2000.

Inspired by Crowe’s own teenage years as a freelance music journalist—and Rolling Stone‘s youngest-ever contributor—interviewing the likes of Bob Dylan, David Bowie, Eric Clapton, Neil Young, and bands including Eagles, Fleetwood Mac, Led Zeppelin, Steely Dan, and Yes. The 16-year-old Crowe spent three weeks on the road with the Allman Brothers Band for his first cover story, forming the basis for Almost Famous‘ central narrative through the spring of 1973.

Crowe’s on-screen surrogate is the 15-year-old William Miller (Patrick Fugit), who receives the life-changing assignment of following the rising band Stillwater on their national tour. Despite his mentor, rock critic Lester Bangs (Philip Seymour Hoffman), urging him to maintain an emotional distance, William falls under the spell of the band and their groupies “band aids” like Penny Lane (Kate Hudson), who is embroiled in an affair with Stillwater’s enigmatic guitarist Russell Hammond (Billy Crudup)—also the most reluctant member of the band to grant William an interview. Continue reading →

Goodfellas: De Niro’s Windowpane Sport Jacket as Jimmy Conway

Robert De Niro as Jimmy Conway in Goodfellas (1990)

Vitals

Robert De Niro as Jimmy Conway, feared mob associate

Queens, New York, Spring 1980

Film: Goodfellas
Release Date: September 19, 1990
Director: Martin Scorsese
Costume Designer: Richard Bruno

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

Today marks 35 years since the release of Goodfellas, Martin Scorsese’s kinetic crime epic chronicling three decades of Mafia life through the eyes of real-life Lucchese family associate-turned-informant Henry Hill (Ray Liotta). Though Henry was the ostensible protagonist, top billing went to Robert De Niro as one of Henry’s mentors-in-crime, Jimmy Conway. Continue reading →

Hogan’s Heroes: Colonel Hogan’s USAAF Flight Jacket and Crusher Cap

Bob Crane on Hogan’s Heroes (1965-1971)

Vitals

Bob Crane as Robert E. Hogan, resourceful U.S. Army Air Forces Colonel

“Stalag Luft 13” near Hammelburg, Germany, Winter 1945

Series: Hogan’s Heroes
Created by: Bernard Fein & Albert S. Ruddy
Costume Design: Reeder P. Boss, Ray Harp, and Marjorie Wahl

Background

Hogan’s Heroes debuted sixty years ago today on September 17, 1965 with a black-and-white pilot episode, followed by 167 episodes in full color. Debuting twenty years after the end of World War II, the series twisted the typical POW formula as 1) a comedy in which 2) the Allied characters showed no actual desire to escape from their imprisonment. As the titular Colonel Robert E. Hogan (Bob Crane) explains to one of his “heroes” in the first-season finale, “we’re not just ordinary POWs, we’re here on a mission. Our orders are very plain: assist Allied prisoners to escape, and sabotage the enemy wherever possible.” Continue reading →