Tagged: 1960s
The Andy Griffith Show: Barney Fife’s Return to Mayberry in an Aloha Shirt and Cardigan
Don Knotts as Barney Fife on The Andy Griffith Show (Episode 6.17: “The Return of Barney Fife”)
Vitals
Don Knotts as Barney Fife, bumbling Raleigh detective and former deputy sheriff
Mayberry, North Carolina, Fall 1965
Series: The Andy Griffith Show
Episode: “The Return of Barney Fife” (Episode 6.17)
Air Date: January 10, 1966
Director: Alan Rafkin
Creator: Sheldon Leonard
Costume Designer: Stanley Kufel
Background
Today would have been the 100th birthday of Don Knotts, born July 21, 1924 in Morgantown, West Virginia. The comedian who shares my birthday (though 68 years older) remains arguably best known for his celebrated role as the overly officious country deputy Barney Fife on The Andy Griffith Show, though he also appeared across the latter seasons of Three’s Company as wannabe swinger landlord Ralph Furley.
Knotts’ five Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series remains a record-setting amount in that category and was also the most wins for a performer in the same role in the same series until Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ sixth and final win for Veep in 2017. In addition, his characterization of Barney Fife was ranked ninth on TV Guide‘s 1999 list of the 50 Greatest TV Characters of All Time.
Despite the accolades, Knotts amicably left The Andy Griffith Show at the end of the fifth season to pursue his film career, but the in-universe explanation that Barney was hired as a detective in Raleigh allowed for the actor to occasionally return to the series, including his Emmy-winning performance in the sixth season’s “The Return of Barney Fife”. Continue reading
The Graduate: William Daniels’ Blue Cabana Set as Mr. Braddock
William Daniels as Elizabeth Wilson in The Graduate (1967)
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William Daniels as Mr. Braddock, affable but aloof suburban father
Los Angeles, Summer 1967
Film: The Graduate
Release Date: December 22, 1967
Director: Mike Nichols
Costume Designer: Patricia Zipprodt
Background
The Graduate made Benjamin Braddock (Dustin Hoffman) an icon for many, whether they could identify with his aimless disillusionment or his killer Ivy style. It may be my own “advancing” age—as I’ll officially be old enough to run for president exactly three weeks from today—that recently drew me more to his father’s charmingly dated leisurewear, specifically the matching blue cabana set when unintentionally humiliating poor Benjamin on his 21st birthday by forcing him to model a full scuba suit for “a practical demonstration” in the Braddock family swimming pool in front of their friends.
It may help my affection for the character that Mr. Braddock was portrayed by the great William Daniels, whose prolific career has spanned eight decades with iconic roles like John Adams in the stage and screen presentations of 1776 and as the avuncular Mr. Feeny on ’90s sitcom Boy Meets World, as well as a distinctive voice that he lent to KITT on the ’80s series Knight Rider. Continue reading
A Shot in the Dark: Inspector Clouseau’s Trench Coat and Trilby
Peter Sellers as Inspector Clouseau in A Shot in the Dark (1964). Photo credit: MGM.
Vitals
Peter Sellers as Jacques Clouseau, bumbling Sûreté investigator
Paris, Fall 1963
Film: A Shot in the Dark
Release Date: June 23, 1964
Director: Blake Edwards
Costume Designer: Margaret Furse
Tailor: Douglas Hayward
Background
Tomorrow will commemorate 60 years since the release of A Shot in the Dark, the sequel to The Pink Panther which introduced Peter Sellers as the inept Investigator Clouseau. Sellers’ comedic talent elevated Clouseau to a breakout favorite among audiences of The Pink Panther, which was otherwise meant to be a stylish ensemble comedy centered around David Niven’s dashing jewel thief in pursuit of the eponymous diamond.
After observing how Clouseau resonated with audiences, director Blake Edwards and his co-screenwriter William Peter Blatty adapted Henry Kurnitz’s comic mystery play A Shot in the Dark—itself a Broadway adaptation of Marcel Archard’s L’Idiote—to reprise Sellers’ characterization of Inspector Clouseau. Set in Clouseau’s home turf, the story introduced Clouseau’s long-suffering boss Commissioner Dreyfus (Herbert Lom) and martial-artist manservant Cato (Burt Kwouk) who would both reappear in all three subsequent Pink Panther films to be released the following decade.
A Shot in the Dark begins at the country estate of millionaire Benjamin Ballon (George Sanders) outside of Paris, where we observe the household and staff watching, evading, and romancing each other in the shadows… until a gunshot rings out and the head chauffeur is found dead in the bedroom of the alluring maid Maria Gambrelli (Elke Sommer), last seen clutching the victim’s own still-smoking Beretta pistol. Enter Inspector Clouseau onto the scene… stepping out of his car and immediately into the Ballon fountain, perfectly introducing the madcap mystery to follow. Continue reading
Al Pacino’s Pea Coat as Serpico
Al Pacino in Serpico (1973)
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Al Pacino as Frank Serpico, plainclothes New York Police Department office
New York, Winter 1967
Film: Serpico
Release Date: December 5, 1973
Director: Sidney Lumet
Costume Designer: Anna Hill Johnstone
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
My eyes see… 84 birthday candles for Al Pacino, born April 25, 1940! Sandwiched between his acclaimed performances as Michael Corleone in the first two installments of The Godfather, the New York-born actor returned to the scrappy persona that signified many of his early screen roles as an easygoing drifter in Scarecrow and the police drama Serpico. Continue reading
Ray Milland in Panic in Year Zero!
Ray Milland in Panic in Year Zero! (1962)
Vitals
Ray Milland as Harry Baldwin, California family man-turned-survivalist
Sierra Nevada Mountains, Spring 1962
Film: Panic in Year Zero!
(also released as End of the World)
Release Date: July 5, 1962
Director: Ray Milland
Wardrobe Credit: Marjorie Corso
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
In addition to his prolific acting career that won him the Academy Award for his performance in The Lost Weekend (1945), Welsh star Ray Milland also directed a handful of films and television episodes. His penultimate directorial effort was Panic in Year Zero!, a survival thriller written by John Morton and Jay Simms that underscored contemporary apocalyptic anxieties during the atomic age.
Every footpath will be crawling with men saying “no matter what, I’m going to live,” and that’s what I’m saying too. My family must survive!
Milland also starred in his film as Harry Baldwin, the resourceful patriarch of a well-to-do family from southern California leading a fishing trip to the Sierra Nevada mountains with his wife Ann (Jean Hagen) and their teenage children Rick (Frankie Avalon) and Karen (Mary Mitchel).
Shortly after the Baldwins hit the road one early morning in March, their journey is interrupted by a thermonuclear explosion that destroys Los Angeles—part of a massive targeted attack that also decimated major cities across the world from New York City and Chicago to London, Paris, and Rome. As they gradually understand the scope of the situation, the family’s vacation transforms into a struggle to survive amidst the quickly decaying morality of a society driven to desperation. Continue reading
Goodbye, Columbus: Neil’s Light-Blue Polo
Richard Benjamin with Ali MacGraw in Goodbye, Columbus (1969)
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Richard Benjamin as Neil Klugman, listless library employee and Army veteran
Westchester County, New York, Summer 1968
Film: Goodbye, Columbus
Release Date: April 3, 1969
Director: Larry Peerce
Costume Designer: Gene Coffin
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
This springtime casual Friday feels like an appropriate time to address another request to cover Richard Benjamin’s style from Goodbye, Columbus, released 55 years ago this week on April 3, 1969, just two days after Benjamin’s co-star Ali MacGraw celebrated her 30th birthday. Continue reading
Richard Burton in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)
Vitals
Richard Burton as George, weary but witty history professor
New England, Fall 1965
Film: Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Release Date: June 21, 1966
Director: Mike Nichols
Costume Designer: Irene Sharaff
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Hollywood icons Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton were married (for the first of two times) sixty years ago today on March 15, 1964. The A-list couple starred in 11 films over the span of a decade, with arguably the most acclaimed being Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, adapted by Ernest Lehman from Edward Albee’s play of the same name and the directorial debut for then-comedian Mike Nichols. Continue reading
Mad Men: Roger Sterling’s Red Plaid Smoking Jacket
John Slattery as Roger Sterling on Mad Men (Episode 7.03: “Field Trip”)
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John Slattery as Roger Sterling, Madison Avenue ad executive
New York City, Spring 1969
Series: Mad Men
Episode: “Field Trip” (Episode 7.03)
Air Date: April 27, 2014
Director: Christopher Manley
Creator: Matthew Weiner
Costume Designer: Janie Bryant
Background
Four years ago, on Friday the 13th of March 2020, COVID-19 was officially declared a national emergency in the United States. After a week or two of being instructed to reminded to sing “Happy Birthday” twice while washing my hands, it was a very surreal Friday in the office as rumors swirled about how this newly classified pandemic would affect our reality.
As nationwide lockdowns set in across the United States, the following Monday started the first of what was initially intended to be a “two-week” work-from-home policy that ultimately stretched over nearly 15 months. While I applaud those who consistently dressed to work from home as though it were another day in the office, adjusting to this “new normal” for me—even as a style blogger—meant unprecedented levels in workday comfort, eventually finding an agreeable compromise of a presentable upper-half and comfortable lower-half that was best for my own personal productivity.
“What does this have to do with Mad Men?” you ask, in all fairness.
Aside from the fact that Mad Men was one of the first of my favorite shows that I rewatched in its entirety during the spring 2020 quarantine period, the stylish series also presented a look I’d long been wanting to revisit that reminded me of that odd lockdown period as I tried to blend loungewear with business attire.
At the start of Mad Men‘s seventh season, Don Draper (Jon Hamm) demonstrates a nearly half-century head-start on the WFH trend as the recently grounded ad man has been covertly working on accounts from his Manhattan penthouse, currently persona non grata at SC&P after getting a little too candid during a client pitch at the end of the previous season. His reputation resurged enough to secure a job offer from a rival company, Don pays a late visit to his former friend and colleague Roger Sterling (John Slattery), confronting him over feeling abandoned by the agency he co-founded—and, more specifically, his old pal. Continue reading
Point Blank: Lee Marvin’s Green Suit
Lee Marvin in Point Blank (1967)
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Lee Marvin as Walker, revenge-driven armed robber
Los Angeles, Summer 1967
Film: Point Blank
Release Date: August 30, 1967
Director: John Boorman
Costume Designer: Margo Weintz
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
The legendary Lee Marvin was born 100 years ago today on February 19, 1924. After his service with the U.S. Marine Corps during World War II, Marvin began acting on the stage and screen. His lead role on the 1950s police series M Squad elevated him to starring film roles across the ’60s, including The Killers (1964), The Professionals (1966), The Dirty Dozen (1967).
After winning the Academy Award for his performance in the 1965 Western comedy Cat Ballou, Marvin wielded his considerable Hollywood clout for the production of Point Blank, including the selection of English director John Boorman. Continue reading
The Pink Panther: Clouseau’s Après-ski Sweater
Peter Sellers with Claudia Cardinale in The Pink Panther (1963)
Vitals
Peter Sellers as Jacques Clouseau, bumbling Sûreté investigator
Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, Winter 1963
Film: The Pink Panther
Release Date: December 18, 1963
Director: Blake Edwards
Wardrobe Supervisor: Annalisa Nasalli-Rocca
Background
Four months after it premiered in Italy on December 18, 1963 (the same day that Brad Pitt was born, for what it’s worth), The Pink Panther was released in the United States sixty years ago this March, introducing audiences to the inept Inspector Clouseau portrayed by Peter Sellers.
Though future installments would focus more intentionally on Sellers’ pratfall-laden performance as Clouseau, The Pink Panther was initially more of a stylish, star-studded caper, set in the favorite winter destination for Camelot-era jet-setters: Cortina d’Ampezzo in the Italian Alps.
Clouseau is in the midst of his investigation into a prolific jewel thief known only as “the Phantom” when joining his wife Simone (Capucine) in Cortina, where we learn Simone had been planning to meet her lover, the dashing Sir Charles Lytton (David Niven)—who happens to be the mysterious Phantom that Clouseau had been chasing. Adding to the complication is the unexpected arrival of Sir Charles’ mischievous nephew and protege George (Robert Wagner) and the target of Charles and Simone’s next heist: the glamorous Princess Dala (Claudia Cardinale) and her princess gem called “The Pink Panther”.
Of course, Clouseau never suspects any of the intrigue happening right under his nose as he joins the buttoned-up insurance investigator Tucker (Colin Gordon) and the elegant après-ski set in the hotel lounge during a random but Fran-tastic performance of Henry Mancini’s samba “It Had Better Be Tonight (Meglio stasera)”. Continue reading
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