Tagged: 1950s
Gene Kelly in It’s Always Fair Weather
Gene Kelly in It’s Always Fair Weather (1955)
Vitals
Gene Kelly as Ted Riley, dancing gambler and World War II veteran
New York City, Fall 1955
Film: It’s Always Fair Weather
Release Date: September 2, 1955
Directed by: Gene Kelly & Stanley Donen
Costume Designer: Helen Rose
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Happy first day of spring! As fairer weather sets in across the Northern Hemisphere, let’s flash back to the 1950s as the marvelously multi-talented Gene Kelly tap-danced on roller-skates in the MGM musical satire It’s Always Fair Weather.
Odds Against Tomorrow: Harry Belafonte’s Heist Turtleneck
Harry Belafonte in Odds Against Tomorrow (1959)
Vitals
Harry Belafonte as Johnny Ingram, nightclub entertainer-turned-bandit
Upstate New York, Spring 1959
Film: Odds Against Tomorrow
Release Date: October 15, 1959
Director: Robert Wise
Costume Designer: Anna Hill Johnstone
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Today is the first anniversary of Harry Belafonte’s March 1, 1927 birthday since the multi-talented entertainer’s death last April at the age of 96. In addition to a singing career that popularized Calypso music around the world and his tireless activism, Belafonte acted on screen in more than a dozen films spanning over 65 years.
One of Belafonte’s standout performances is also from one of the coolest movies of the 1950s: Odds Against Tomorrow. This Robert Wise-directed film noir features Belafonte as Johnny Ingram, a New York nightclub entertainer whose gambling addiction leads to his recruitment into an upstate bank heist with ex-cop David Burke (Ed Begley) and bigoted career crook Earl Slater (Robert Ryan). Continue reading
L.A. Confidential: Dudley’s Gray Striped Double-Breasted Suit
James Cromwell as Dudley Smith in L.A. Confidential (1997)
Vitals
James Cromwell as Dudley Smith, charismatic LAPD police captain
Los Angeles, Spring 1953
Film: L.A. Confidential
Release Date: September 19, 1997
Director: Curtis Hanson
Costume Designer: Ruth Myers
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Happy birthday to James Cromwell, the prolific actor and activist born January 27, 1940 with a career spanning a half-century across the stage and screen. Two years after his first Academy Award nomination for a starring role in Babe (“That’ll do, pig”), Cromwell brought his dignified presence and talents to the ensemble cast of L.A. Confidential as Dudley Smith, the 1950s police captain with a charming brogue and easygoing demeanor that may mask something more sinister. Continue reading
Happy Days: Henry Winkler’s Leather Jacket as Fonzie
Henry Winkler as Fonzie on Happy Days
Vitals
Henry Winkler as Arthur “Fonzie” Fonzarelli, cool mechanic-turned-diner owner and high school teacher
Milwaukee, late 1950s and early 1960s
Series: Happy Days
Air Dates: January 15, 1974 – July 19, 1984
Creator: Garry Marshall
Men’s Costumer: Mickey Sherrard (1977-1984)
Background
Happy Days premiered 50 years ago today on January 15, 1974, the start of an impressive 11-season run on ABC chronicling an idealized look at mid-century life in the Midwest. Created by the prolific Garry Marshall, the series initially centered around all-American teenager Richie Cunningham (Ron Howard) and his family and friends until retooling to increase focus on Arthur “Fonzie” Fonzarelli (Henry Winkler), a quintessential ’50s greaser in the mold of Marlon Brando and James Dean who quickly rose to become an audience favorite. Continue reading
The Godfather, Part II: Tom Hagen’s Gray Striped Suit
Robert Duvall as Tom Hagen in The Godfather, Part II (1974)
Vitals
Robert Duvall as Tom Hagen, levelheaded Mafia lawyer
Nevada and Washington, D.C., Winter 1958 through Spring 1959
Film: The Godfather Part II
Release Date: December 12, 1974
Director: Francis Ford Coppola
Costume Designer: Theadora Van Runkle
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Today is the 93rd birthday of Robert Duvall, the prolific actor born January 5, 1931 whose extensive filmography includes the first two films of The Godfather saga as Tom Hagen, the orphan informally adopted by the Corleone family—and whose cool head and legal savvy resulted in his position as the family’s trusted consigliere.
As this is the 50th anniversary year of The Godfather Part II, today’s post will explore Tom’s character and costume in this masterful second installment, set across the late 1950s as Michael Corleone (Al Pacino) continues consolidating his power and seeks to legitimatize the family’s interest as Tom had long advised him to do.
Although he’s been transitioned from consigliere to being the family’s lawyer in Las Vegas, Tom still serving as Michael’s right-hand man, with duties beyond legal counsel including everything from buying Christmas presents for the don’s children to blackmailing a senator whom they’ve framed for the murder for a prostitute. Continue reading
The Godfather, Part II: Fredo’s White Suit on New Year’s Eve
John Cazale as Fredo Corleone in The Godfather Part II (1974)
Vitals
John Cazale as Fredo Corleone, insecure mob family sibling
Havana, New Year’s Eve 1958
Film: The Godfather Part II
Release Date: December 12, 1974
Director: Francis Ford Coppola
Costume Designer: Theadora Van Runkle
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Happy New Year! Ringing in 2024 also celebrates the 50th anniversary of The Godfather, Part II, Francis Ford Coppola’s mob epic that many consider equal or even superior to its masterpiece predecessor.
In the spirit of this weekend’s celebration, let’s travel back to New Year’s Eve 1958 as the weak-willed Fredo Corleone (John Cazale) joins his powerful younger brother Michael (Al Pacino) in Havana to negotiate their family’s casino interests—unaware that all their work will be undone by Fidel Castro’s revolutionaries within 24 hours.
Of course, both Corleones are also tragically unaware that the events of the evening will reveal to Michael that he’s been betrayed by his own brother, whom Michael would bestow with a now-iconic kiss of death at midnight:
Blast of Silence: Allen Baron’s Killer Style
Allen Baron in Blast of Silence (1961)
Vitals
Allen Baron as Frankie Bono, misanthropic Mafia hitman
New York City, Christmas 1959
Film: Blast of Silence
Release Date: March 20, 1961
Director: Allen Baron
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Time to kill. 24 hours to stay faceless in the crowd. Get yourself lost in the city. Lose yourself in the Christmas spirit with the rest of the suckers.
I love Christmas movies—whether bona fide holiday classics like It’s a Wonderful Life, National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, or White Christmas, schlocky made-for-Hallmark holiday romances, or among of the many great movies set at yuletide even when the holiday isn’t central to the plot (looking at you, Die Hard, Lethal Weapon, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, The Thin Man, Three Days of the Condor.)
When the Criterion Channel announced their Holiday Noir lineup this month, I was understandably thrilled. A few, like Lady in the Lake and They Drive By Night, I was already familiar with, but I had long wanted to see Blast of Silence, the stark neo-noir filmed guerilla-style on location in New York City during the 1959 holiday season, following Frankie Bono, a lonely killer working for the Cleveland mob who has returned to the Big Apple for a hit. Blast of Silence was written and directed by Allen Baron, who also starred as Frankie after his first choice—Peter Falk(!)—was hired instead for the similarly themed film Murder, Inc.
Days before Christmas, Frankie Bono steps off the train onto the platform in Manhattan, taking in his hometown through a cloud of cigarette smoke while a choir sings “Silent Night”. “The railroad company makes sure you don’t forget you’re coming to town on Christmas,” Frankie narrates. “It gives you the creeps, but that’s alright! Everyone on the goodwill kit, maybe they’ll leave you alone?” Continue reading
Humphrey Bogart in The Desperate Hours
Humphrey Bogart in The Desperate Hours (1955)
Vitals
Humphrey Bogart as Glenn Griffin, menacing fugitive
Indianapolis, Fall 1955
Film: The Desperate Hours
Release Date: October 5, 1955
Director: William Wyler
Costume Designer: Edith Head
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Noirvember continues with The Desperate Hours, a 1955 drama that was Humphrey Bogart’s penultimate silver screen performance. Bogie remains significantly associated with film noir, thanks to genre-defining movies like High Sierra (1941), The Maltese Falcon (1941), The Big Sleep (1946), Key Largo (1948), and In a Lonely Place (1950).
The New York-born actor rose to prominence playing villains, perhaps most notably his breakthrough role of snarling Dillinger-esque gangster Duke Mantee in the stage and screen productions of The Petrified Forest. As exemplified by his masterful but hardly glamorous performance in movies like The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948), Bogart never let his popularity get in the way of darker roles—even after winning the Academy Award for Best Actor for The African Queen (1951).
Adapted by Joseph Hayes from his own novel and play of the same name (itself loosely based on true events), The Desperate Hours cast Bogart as the dangerous Glenn Griffin, the leader of a trio of three escaped convicts who seek refuge by forcing their way into the suburban Indiana home of Daniel (Frederic March) and Ellie Hilliard (Martha Scott). Continue reading
Bell, Book and Candle: James Stewart’s Stone Suit
James Stewart in Bell, Book and Candle (1958)
Vitals
James Stewart as Shepherd “Shep” Henderson, bewitched publisher
New York City, Spring 1958
Film: Bell, Book and Candle
Release Date: November 11, 1958
Director: Richard Quine
Wardrobe Credit: Ed Ware
Background
Not every Halloween-season movie has to be scary! In time for October 29 being National Cat Day, dig your claws into Bell, Book and Candle, Richard Quine’s lighthearted supernatural romance that reunited Jimmy Stewart and Kim Novak just months after their iconic screen pairing in Alfred Hitchcock’s thriller Vertigo.
I’ll admit that Bell, Book and Candle may not be my favorite from Stewart, Novak, Quine, or screenwriter Daniel Taradash, but this bewitching comedy still offers plenty of atmospheric fun and camp between the two stars… and Novak’s magical Siamese cat Pyewacket. Continue reading
Asteroid City: Jason Schwartzman’s Safari Jacket
Jason Schwartzman as Augie Steenbeck in Asteroid City (2023)
Vitals
Jason Schwartzman as Augie Steenbeck, widowed war photojournalist (portrayed in-universe by Jones Hall)
The Mojave Desert, Fall 1955
Film: Asteroid City
Release Date: June 16, 2023
Director: Wes Anderson
Costume Designer: Milena Canonero
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
“Each year, we celebrate Asteroid Day, commemorating September 23, 3007 B.C., when the Arid Plains Meteorite made Earth impact,” General Grif Gibson (Jeffrey Wright) explains to the gathered crowd of Junior Stargazers and Space Cadets and their parents in Asteroid City, the latest from Wes Anderson—a colorful reflection of grief and loneliness in a delightfully surreal “cosmic wilderness”.
Vividly photographed in Anderson’s signature style, Asteroid City centers around a fictional play staged for live television in the 1950s, scored by a great early ’50s guitar soundtrack featuring contemporary hits by Les Paul & Mary Ford and cowboy singers like Slim Whitman and Tennessee Ernie Ford as well as Alexandre Desplat’s evocative original score. The play is set in a fictional town of 87 dwellers, located approximately “halfway between Parched Gulf and Arid Plains” near a nuclear testing site in the California/Arizona/Nevada region, according to the opening lines of playwright Conrad Earp (Edward Norton).
The ostensible protagonist among our ensemble cast is the Augie Steenbeck (Jason Schwartzman), a jaded war photojournalist and—initially unbeknownst to his “brainiac” son Woodrow (Jake Ryan) and three younger daughters that he’s traveling with—a recent widow. “Let’s say she’s in Heaven… which doesn’t exist for me, of course, but you’re Episcopalian,” Augie reassures his children while grasping their mother’s ashes in a teal Tupperware bowl. Continue reading
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