Bonnie and Clyde: Michael J. Pollard’s Herringbone Jacket and Jeans as C.W.

Michael J. Pollard as C.W. Moss in Bonnie & Clyde (1967)

Vitals

Michael J. Pollard as C.W. Moss, slow-witted mechanic-turned-bank robber

Iowa, Summer 1933

Film: Bonnie & Clyde
Release Date: August 13, 1967
Director: Arthur Penn
Costume Designer: Theadora Van Runkle

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

W.D. “Deacon” Jones may not be as famous as Bonnie Parker or Clyde Barrow, but the Dallas teenager was once among their closest companions in the notorious Barrow gang.

At only 16 years old, Jones was running jobs and riding shotgun on robberies, a role later blended with the gang’s informant Henry Methvin to create the fictionalized composite character C.W. Moss in Arthur Penn’s landmark 1967 film Bonnie & Clyde. Jones lived long enough to see the movie and admitted in a Playboy interview that “Moss was a dumb kid who run errands and done what Clyde told him… that was me, all right.”

Having survived countless shootouts during nearly a year riding with the Barrow gang, Jones ultimately couldn’t escape the fate that had claimed his contemporaries. Fifty-one years ago today in Houston during the early morning hours of August 20, 1974, the 58-year-old Jones was shot three times with a 12-gauge shotgun during an altercation outside a friend’s house. Continue reading →

Robert Redford’s Flight Jacket as The Great Waldo Pepper

Robert Redford in The Great Waldo Pepper (1975)

Vitals

Robert Redford as Waldo Pepper, daring stunt pilot

Midwest United States, Summer 1926 through Spring 1928

Film: The Great Waldo Pepper
Release Date: March 13, 1975
Director: George Roy Hill
Costume Designer: Edith Head

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

One year after portraying the titular Great Gatsby, Robert Redford starred in The Great Waldo Pepper as the fictional eponymous aviator—loosely inspired by several real-life daredevil flying aces of the Roaring ’20s—making it a fitting focus ahead of National Aviation Day tomorrow.

Born 89 years ago today on August 18, 1936, Redford was one of the biggest stars of the 1970s, thanks in part to his performances opposite Paul Newman in George Roy Hill’s hit comedies Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) and The Sting (1973). Released 50 years ago this March, The Great Waldo Pepper reunited Redford with Hill for a more lighthearted counterpoint to the actor’s contemporaneous political thrillers like Three Days of the Condor (1975) and All the President’s Men (1976).

We first meet barnstormer Waldo Pepper in the summer of 1926, landing his bright yellow Standard J-1 in a Nebraska field to sell plane rides to curious locals. Continue reading →

Purple Noon: Alain Delon’s Blue Ivy-Style OCBD, Cream Jeans, and Loafers

Alain Delon as Tom Ripley in Purple Noon (1960)

Vitals

Alain Delon as Tom Ripley, charming American con artist

Italy, Summer 1959

Film: Purple Noon
(French title: Plein soleil)
Release Date: March 10, 1960
Director: René Clément
Costume Designer: Bella Clément

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

French screen and style icon Alain Delon died one year ago this week on August 18, 2024. One of the actor’s most celebrated and stylish roles remains his portrayal of Tom Ripley in Purple Noon, René Clément’s adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s psychological thriller The Talented Mr. Ripley.

The French/Italian co-production (released in France as Plein soleil) was the first cinematic adaptation of Highsmith’s novel, followed by Anthony Minghella’s 1999 film The Talented Mr. Ripley and Steven Zaillain’s 2024 Netflix miniseries Ripley. Clément was inspired to cast Delon after spotting the young actor in the 1959 comedy Women are Weak, and his enigmatic performance as Tom Ripley eventually launched him to wider global recognition.

Highsmith’s own opinion about the film ranged from cheers for Henri Decaë’s stunning cinematography to jeers against Clément’s bastardized ending, though the author fully praised Delon’s “excellent” portrayal of her devious creation. Continue reading →

The Naked Gun: Leslie Nielsen’s Taupe Suit as Frank Drebin

Leslie Nielsen as Lt. Frank Drebin in The Naked Gun (1988)

Vitals

Leslie Nielsen as Frank Drebin, straight-talking police lieutenant

Los Angeles, Spring 1988

Film: The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!
Release Date: December 2, 1988
Director: David Zucker
Costume Designer: Mary E. Vogt

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

As this year’s  The Naked Gun continues to draw laughs, let’s flashback to 1988 when audiences first saw the bumbling Frank Drebin on the big screen.

After decades in dramatic roles (save for a zany turn in the first season of M*A*S*H), Leslie Nielsen’s comic potential was first appropriately realized when David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and Jerry Zucker cast the Canadian actor as Dr. Rumack in Airplane!, their 1980 spoof of disaster films.

The movie’s success—and Nielsen’s deadpan delivery—prompted ZAZ to craft a send-up of classic cop shows like M Squad, continuing their usual blend of slapstick, sight gags, and verbal puns. Police Squad! debuted as a mid-season replacement in March 1982, introducing viewers to “Sergeant Frank Drebin, Detective-Lieutenant, Police Squad”. Critically acclaimed for its sense of humor far ahead of contemporary programming, Police Squad! was nonetheless canceled by ABC after only six episodes were produced.

Luckily, ZAZ never gave up on Nielsen’s character, co-writing a screenplay with Pat Proft that retooled the formula for a movie that would become arguably one of the funniest comedies of all time, spawning two sequels (which also starred Nielsen as Drebin) and the 2025 continuation with Liam Neeson as Frank Drebin Jr. Continue reading →

The Godfather, Part II: Fredo Corleone’s Pink in Havana

John Cazale as Fredo Corleone in The Godfather Part II (1974)

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John Cazale as Fredo Corleone, insecure mob family sibling

Havana, Cuba, December 1958

Film: The Godfather Part II
Release Date: December 12, 1974
Director: Francis Ford Coppola
Costume Designer: Theadora Van Runkle

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

John Cazale was born 90 years ago today on August 12, 1935 in Suffolk County, Massachusetts. Though his career was heartbreakingly brief, John Cazale—born 90 years ago today on August 12, 1935 in Suffolk County, Massachusetts—remains considered as one of the finest actors of his generation. Incredibly, all five feature films he appeared in during the 1970s were nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards.

Among these unforgettable roles, his most enduring may be Fredo Corleone—the insecure, overmatched middle brother of the Corleone crime family. Cazale first played Fredo in The Godfather (1972), but it was The Godfather Part II (1974) that gave him the tragic spotlight as Fredo, desperate for power and recognition, betrays his younger and more successful brother Michael (Al Pacino), setting off a slow-burning familial powder keg that mirrors the revolutionary unrest simmering around them in the streets of Havana. Continue reading →

The Two Jakes: Jack Nicholson’s Gray Donegal Tweed Jacket

Jack Nicholson as J.J. Gittes in The Two Jakes (1990)

Vitals

Jack Nicholson as J.J. “Jake” Gittes, world-weary private investigator and ex-policeman

Los Angeles, Fall 1948

Film: The Two Jakes
Release Date: August 10, 1990
Director: Jack Nicholson
Costume Designer: Wayne A. Finkelman

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

I had only just turned one when The Two Jakes was released 35 years ago today on August 10, 1990, so I can’t say whether anyone was really asking for a sequel to Roman Polanski’s 1974 neo-noir masterpiece Chinatown. What I can say is that there’s been surprisingly steady interest from BAMF Style readers in how Jack Nicholson’s wardrobe evolved from Anthea Sylbert’s Oscar-nominated designs for the 1930s-set Chinatown to suit the sequel’s setting in the fall of 1948. Continue reading →

Tough Guys Don’t Dance: Ryan O’Neal’s Party Sweater

Ryan O’Neal in Tough Guys Don’t Dance (1987)

Vitals

Ryan O’Neal as Tim Madden, ex-convict and aspiring writer prone to blackouts

Provincetown, Massachusetts, Summer 1986

Film: Tough Guys Don’t Dance
Release Date: September 18, 1987
Director: Norman Mailer
Costume Designer: Michael Kaplan

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

My family’s vacation in New England this week has me reflecting on my questionable decision last year to watch Norman Mailer’s self-directed adaptation of his own Cape Cod-set novel Tough Guys Don’t Dance.

Continue reading →

Robert Mitchum in The Night of the Hunter

Robert Mitchum in The Night of the Hunter (1955)

Vitals

Robert Mitchum as Harry Powell, self-described preacher and serial-killing swindler

West Virginia, Summer 1930

Film: The Night of the Hunter
Release Date: July 26, 1955
Director: Charles Laughton
Wardrobe Credit: Jerry Bos

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

Born 108 years ago today on August 6, 1917, Robert Mitchum delivered arguably the greatest performance of his prolific career in Charles Laughton’s 1955 gothic horror masterpiece The Night of the Hunter, which premiered 70 years ago last month in Des Moines, Iowa. Laughton’s first and only directorial effort was negatively received upon its release, though decades of reassessment have elevated its reputation and it’s now included on lists among the best movies ever made. Continue reading →

Alec Guinness’ Tropical Khaki Drill Uniform in The Bridge on the River Kwai

Alec Guinness in The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)

Vitals

Alec Guinness as Lt. Col. L. Nicholson, duty-bound British Army officer and POW

Between Burma and Thailand, Spring 1943

Film: The Bridge on the River Kwai
Release Date: October 2, 1957
Director: David Lean
Wardrobe Credit: John Wilson-Apperson

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

One of the most acclaimed war epics of all time, The Bridge on the River Kwai was directed by David Lean and adapted from the 1952 novel by French author Pierre Boulle, a former POW who infused the story with a mix of firsthand insight and satirical commentary. The film became the highest-grossing release of 1957 and won six of its seven Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor for Alec Guinness, who died 25 years ago tomorrow on August 5, 2000.

In this fictionalized account of the construction of a railway bridge along the Burma-Siam route during World War II, Guinness portrayed dignified career officer Lieutenant Colonel Nicholson of the British Army, whom we meet as he leads his whistling troops into a Japanese prison camp deep in the arid Thai jungle. Continue reading →

Daniel Craig’s Cream Linen Suit in Queer

Daniel Craig as William Lee in Queer (2024)

Vitals

Daniel Craig as William Lee, dissolute American expatriate

Mexico City, Spring 1951 and 1953

Film: Queer
Release Date: November 27, 2024
Director: Luca Guadagnino
Costume Designer: Jonathan Anderson

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

Following the success of Challengers earlier in the year, director Luca Guadagnino kept his 2024 momentum going with Queer, adapted from the 1985 novella by Beat Generation icon William S. Burroughs—who died 28 years ago today, on August 2, 1997. Daniel Craig stars as William Lee, a clear stand-in for Burroughs, complete with the author’s distinctive wardrobe, substance issues, and ever-present handgun—albeit with some of the rougher edges sanded down for the screen. Continue reading →