Tagged: 1970s
The Omen: Gregory Peck’s Green Corduroy Suit
Gregory Peck in The Omen (1976)
Vitals
Gregory Peck as Robert Thorn, American ambassador to the United Kingdom
England and Rome, Fall 1975
Film: The Omen
Release Date: June 6, 1976
Director: Richard Donner
Wardrobe Supervisor: Tiny Nicholls
Tailor: H. Huntsman & Sons, London
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
With Halloween just around the corner, there’s no better time to revisit Richard Donner’s 1976 supernatural horror classic The Omen, which marked its 50th anniversary earlier this year on June 6th—a date whose devilish numerical significance aligns with the opening scene in Rome, where American diplomat Robert Thorn (Gregory Peck) learns that his wife Katharine (Lee Remick) gave birth to a son who died shortly after birth. At the urging of a hospital chaplain, he secretly adopts another infant born that same morning, allowing Katherine to believe the child is her own. The couple names the boy Damien, and for the next five years, their seemingly idyllic family life conceals the horrifying truth about their son’s origins.
As a series of increasingly disturbing incidents and the warnings of a mysterious Catholic priest suggest that Damien may be the Antichrist, Robert begins to question everything he knows about his son. After a terrifying encounter with Damien leaves Katherine hospitalized following a miscarriage, Robert joins photographer Keith Jennings (David Warner) on a journey back to Rome to uncover the truth behind Damien’s birth. Continue reading
The Exorcist: Father Karras’ Off-Duty Georgetown Jacket and Fall Layers
Jason Miller as Fr. Karras in The Exorcist (1973)
Vitals
Jason Miller as Fr. Damien Karras, Jesuit psychiatrist and—according to at least one demonic entity—”faithless slime”
Washington, D.C., Fall 1972
Film: The Exorcist
Release Date: December 26, 1973
Director: William Friedkin
Costume Designer: Joseph Fretwell III
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Progressing deeper through spooky season toward Halloween, let’s look at some understated style in William Friedkin’s 1973 horror classic The Exorcist. Playwright and actor Jason Miller made his Academy Award-nominated screen debut as Damien Karras, SJ, the theological psychiatrist summoned to exorcise a demon from the 12-year-old Regan MacNeil (Linda Blair).
A landmark in legitimatizing the horror genre, The Exorcist received ten Oscar nominations including Best Picture and Best Supporting Actor for Miller. Miller’s own experience likely informed his performance as he graduated from the Jesuit-run University of Scranton before dropping out of his studies at the Catholic University of America. He soon found success in theater, where he caught Friedkin’s eye for the role of Father Karras—reportedly beating out ’70s screen giants Paul Newman, Jack Nicholson, and Stacy Keach (who had actually been hired for the part). Even after his Oscar-nominated success, Miller preferred to continue working in regional theater
What’d He Wear?
Georgetown mother Chris MacNeil (Ellen Burstyn) desperately tries to talk Father Karras into exorcising her daughter, but he’s skeptical that she’s actually possessed by a demon—until realizing that Regan shouldn’t have known that he was a priest given his lack of clerical garb when they first meet. Indeed, Karras looks more transplanted from the world of sports than spirituality given his bright royal-blue nylon coach’s jacket paired with smart casual fall layers. Continue reading
Shaft in Africa: Richard Roundtree’s Workwear
Richard Roundtree as John Shaft in Shaft in Africa (1973)
Vitals
Richard Roundtree as John Shaft, tough private detective
Ethiopia to Paris, Winter 1972
Film: Shaft in Africa
Release Date: June 20, 1973
Director: John Guillermin
Wardrobe Credit: Frank Balchus
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Who’s the cat that won’t cop out when there’s danger all about? Shaft! (Right on.)
The groundbreaking role of private investigator John Shaft was originated across three films in the early 1970s by Richard Roundtree, who died three years ago today on October 24, 2023. After successful back-to-back installments set in Shaft’s native New York City, the character crossed the ocean for the bluntly titled 1973 sequel Shaft in Africa. Continue reading
God Told Me To: Tony Lo Bianco’s Tan Suit
Tony Lo Bianco in God Told Me To (1976)
Vitals
Tony Lo Bianco as Peter J. Nicholas, devout NYPD detective
New York City, Spring 1976
Film: God Told Me To
Release Date: October 22, 1976
Director: Larry Cohen
Costume Designer: Halston (credited for Deborah Raffin’s wardrobe)
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Today would have been the 90th birthday of Tony Lo Bianco, born in New York City on October 19, 1936. A terrific character actor who was often on the sidelines of great ’70s cinema like The French Connection (1971), Serpico (1973), and The Seven-Ups (1973), Lo Bianco also shined in starring roles like Leonard Kastle’s haunting 1970 true crime drama The Honeymoon Killers and the sci-fi horror thriller God Told Me To, which was released 50 years ago this week in October 1976.
Lo Bianco stars as NYPD Detective Peter J. Nicholas, who begins questioning his own past while investigating a series of violent crimes perpetrated by people claiming that God informed their murders. Continue reading
Danny’s Apollo Sweater in The Shining
Danny Lloyd as Danny “Doc” Torrance in The Shining (1980)
Vitals
Danny Lloyd as Danny “Doc” Torrance, young boy with supernatural senses
Silver Creek, Colorado, Winter 1979
Film: The Shining
Release Date: May 23, 1980
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Costume Designer: Milena Canonero
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Aside from the occasional student style, most of my BAMF Style posts over the 14 years of this blog’s existence have centered on adult characters. Whether it’s the onset of spooky season or the fact that my own son turns one this month, it finally feels like the right time to make sure I don’t, uh, overlook one of the sickest fits in horror cinema: the Apollo 11 sweater worn by young Danny Torrance as he pedals through the hallways of the haunted Colorado hotel in Stanley Kubrick’s iconic 1980 adaptation of Stephen King’s The Shining.
The role marked the first of only two major screen appearances for Danny Lloyd, who celebrates his 54th birthday today. Born October 13, 1972, Lloyd was just six years old when he was cast as the psychically gifted child navigating an increasingly terrifying winter at the isolated Overlook Hotel with his parents, Jack (Jack Nicholson) and Wendy (Shelley Duvall). Continue reading
Laurence Olivier’s Tailored Shades of Gray in Marathon Man
Laurence Olivier in Marathon Man (1976)
Vitals
Laurence Olivier as Dr. Christian Szell, escaped war criminal aka “Christopher Hess”
New York City, Fall 1975
Film: Marathon Man
Release Date: October 8, 1976
Director: John Schlesinger
Costume Credit: Robert De Mora
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
One of the defining paranoid thrillers of the ’70s, Marathon Man was released 50 years ago today on October 8, 1976 and has spent the subsequent half-century spreading as much positive PR for dentistry as Psycho did for showers.
Adapted by William Goldman from his novel of the same title, Marathon Man follows Columbia grad student “Babe” Levy (Dustin Hoffman), who falls teeth-first into a scheme involving escaped Nazi war criminal Christian Szell (Laurence Olivier) and his cache of diamonds obtained by trading the gold fillings he extracted from Holocaust victims. Babe’s unwitting involvement culminates in Szell’s famously gruesome orthodontic torture as the doctor attempts to learn where the diamonds have been hidden. Continue reading
The Long Goodbye: Sterling Hayden’s Avant-Garde Writing Tweeds
Sterling Hayden in The Long Goodbye (1973)
Vitals
Sterling Hayden as Roger Wade, larger-than-life alcoholic writer
Los Angeles, Summer 1972
Film: The Long Goodbye
Release Date: March 7, 1973
Director: Robert Altman
Men’s Costume Designer: Kent James (uncredited)
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Sterling Hayden storms into The Long Goodbye like a force of nature, a happily hulking 6’5″ direct counter to Elliott Gould’s laidback characterization of private eye Philip Marlowe. It’s a magnificent performance, underscored by Hayden’s own classic noir credentials from films like The Asphalt Jungle (1950) and The Killing (1956) brought to Robert Altman’s inversive deconstruction of the genre.
A year after portraying the crooked Captain McKlusky in The Godfather, Hayden stepped into the ragged tweeds and fisherman sandals of Roger Wade, a gruff, buff, and hard-drinking Hemingway-esque writer who reflects on suicide and “beautiful broads” in the same train of thought. Continue reading
Christopher Plummer’s Cream Suit in The Return of the Pink Panther
Christopher Plummer in The Return of the Pink Panther (1975)
Vitals
Christopher Plummer as Sir Charles Litton, retired jewel thief
The Middle East, Summer 1974
Film: The Return of the Pink Panther
Release Date: May 21, 1975
Director: Blake Edwards
Wardrobe Supervisor: Bridget Sellers
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
If you’re one of the sartorial purists who subscribe to rules like “no white after Labor Day”, then let this post serve as inspiration for the upcoming weekend; if you don’t believe in such restrictions, then this post can inspire you all year long.
After an eleven-year hiatus (ignoring Alan Arkin’s take on the role in ’68), director Blake Edwards and actor Peter Sellers brought the bumbling Inspector Clouseau back to the big screen in The Return of the Pink Panther. Unlike subsequent films that seemed to redefine the titular “Pink Panther” as Clouseau himself, this title correctly refers to the reappearance of the priceless pink gem from the first film.
Clouseau again finds himself facing off against the master thief Sir Charles Litton, now portrayed by Christopher Plummer since David Niven—who played Sir Charles Lytton in the Pink Panther—was now unavailable. The role was then offered to Douglas Fairbanks Jr., only four months older than Niven, who would have brought a similar dashing gravitas. After Fairbanks also declined, the role ultimately went to Plummer, who was twenty years younger than both Niven and Fairbanks and infused a more sinister than suave characterization.
This time, however, Sir Charles is innocent and—realizing he has been framed for the diamond’s theft—flies from his villa in Nice to the fictional Middle Eastern nation of Lugash to clear his name. Continue reading
Burt Reynolds in Double Denim as Gator McKlusky
Burt Reynolds in Gator (1976)
Vitals
Burt Reynolds as Bobby “Gator” McKlusky, paroled moonshine runner
Okefanokee Swamp, Summer 1975
Film: Gator
Release Date: August 25, 1976
Director: Burt Reynolds
Costume Designer: Norman Salling
Background
Burt Reynolds followed up his sweaty 1973 “hick flick” White Lightning with his self-directed sequel Gator, widely released 50 years ago today on August 25, 1976. The three-year gap had been kind to Reynolds, who had since grown his stardom… and that trademark mustache. (Unlike Sterling Archer, I prefer White Lightning over its lighter-hearted sequel.)
Reynolds reprises his role as moonshiner Bobby “Gator” McKlusky, recently released after serving 26 months in a Georgia state prison where he proudly learned how to make “quality license plates”. As in White Lightning, Gator is called back into government service, this time to help nab his one-time pal “Bama” McCall (Jerry Reed), now a ruthless crime boss in the fictional Dunston County. Of course, the government has to catch Gator first, kicking things off with a raucous speedboat chase through the Okefanokee Swamp. Continue reading
Taxi Driver: De Niro’s Date-ready Maroon Corduroy Jacket as Travis Bickle
Robert De Niro as Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver (1976)
Vitals
Robert De Niro as Travis Bickle, disturbed taxi driver and Vietnam War veteran
New York City, Spring 1976
Film: Taxi Driver
Release Date: February 9, 1976
Director: Martin Scorsese
Costume Designer: Ruth Morley
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Ahead of Robert De Niro’s birthday tomorrow, let’s celebrate Taxi Driver‘s 50th anniversary this year by seeing how well Travis Bickle cleans himself up for a date. Paul Schrader’s screenplay indicates the importance of Travis making a good impression on the more sophisticated campaign volunteer Betsy (Cybill Shepherd) by describing his approach:
TRAVIS, dressed to the teeth, walks brightly down the sidewalk. His face is freshly shaved, his hair combed, his tie straightened.
Of course, while Travis may know enough to look the part, he hasn’t quite grasped the concept of taking his first date literally anywhere but a porn palace. Continue reading
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