Tagged: 1970s
The Silent Partner: Elliott Gould’s Navy Blazer at Christmas
Elliott Gould as Miles Cullen in The Silent Partner (1978)
Vitals
Elliott Gould as Miles Cullen, mild-mannered bank teller
Toronto, Christmas 1977 to Summer 1978
Film: The Silent Partner
Release Date: September 7, 1978
Director: Daryl Duke
Wardrobe Credit: Debi Weldon
Background
Daryl Duke’s often darkly comic thriller The Silent Partner was just mentioned by Letterboxd among its list of twenty underseen holiday favorites, and you’ll know right from the description if it’s the sort of thing that would interest you: Elliott Gould plays a bank teller (alongside a young John Candy) who foils the robbery plans of a sadistic mall Santa played by Christopher Plummer, pocketing several thousand for himself, only for “Santa” to swear his violent revenge. Continue reading
Bob Newhart’s Red Leisure Jacket on Thanksgiving
Bob Newhart as Dr. Bob Hartley in “Over the River and Through the Woods”, the fourth-season Thanksgiving-themed episode of The Bob Newhart Show.
Vitals
Bob Newhart as Robert Hartley, PhD, deadpan psychologist
Chicago, Thanksgiving 1975
Series: The Bob Newhart Show
Episode: “Over the River and Through the Woods” (Episode 4.11)
Air Date: November 22, 1975
Director: James Burrows
Created by: David Davis & Lorenzo Music
Men’s Costumes: Ralph T. Schlain
Clothes by: Botany 500
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
One of the most iconic Thanksgiving-themed TV episodes of all time aired fifty years ago this week: “Over the River and Through the Woods”, from the fourth season of The Bob Newhart Show, the 1970s sitcom starring Bob Newhart and Suzanne Pleshette as Chicago couple Robert and Emily Hartley.
The demands of a psychologist’s patients during the holidays keep Bob home in Chicago for Turkey Day, though he’s hardly remiss to be missing Emily’s family’s annual gala in Seattle that includes square dancing and skipping stones across Puget Sound. Come Thursday, Bob hosts his fellow “Thanksgiving orphans”: orthodontist and office-mate Dr. Jerry Robinson (Peter Bonerz) his airheaded next-door neighbor Howard Borden (Bill Daily), and his chronic patient Elliot F. Carlin (Jack Riley), who declares “you know you’re at a bad party when Elliot Carlin is the happiest man in the room.” Continue reading
The Amityville Horror: James Brolin’s Corduroy Jacket and Cargo Pants
James Brolin and Margot Kidder in The Amityville Horror (1979)
Vitals
James Brolin as George Lutz, surveyor and stepdad
Long Island, New York, Fall 1975
Film: The Amityville Horror
Release Date: July 27, 1979
Director: Stuart Rosenberg
Men’s Costumes: Richard Butz
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Fifty years ago next month, George Lutz and his family moved into 112 Ocean Avenue in Amityville on the south shore of Long Island. Amity, as you know, means friendship (as the mayor in Jaws has made clear), but there’s nothing friendly about the paranormal activity that drove the Lutz family from that Dutch Colonial Revival house after only 28 days.
Though the veracity of the events have been called into question (and, I believe, generally debunked), they remain in the forefront of public consciousness thanks to Jay Anson’s 1977 book The Amityville Horror and its subsequent film adaptations—the best-known and best-regarded of which being the 1979 horror thriller of the same name starring James Brolin and Margot Kidder as George and Kathy Lutz. Continue reading
Rock Hudson’s Corduroy Jacket on McMillan & Wife (“Murder by the Barrel”)
Rock Hudson on McMillan and Wife (Episode 1.01: “Murder by the Barrel”)
Vitals
Rock Hudson as Stuart “Mac” McMillan, San Francisco police commissioner and former defense attorney
San Francisco, Fall 1971
Series: McMillan & Wife
Episode: “Murder by the Barrel” (Episode 1.01)
Air Date: September 29, 1971
Director: John Astin
Creator: Leonard B. Stern
Costumes: Burton Miller
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Screen icon Rock Hudson was born 100 years ago today on November 17, 1925. After launching his career as a romantic leading man through the 1950s and ’60s, Hudson redefined the second phase of his career with a dramatic role in John Frankenheimer’s excellent experimental drama Seconds (1966) and the espionage thriller Ice Station Zebra (1968)—the latter a favorite of both Hudson himself and eccentric superfan Howard Hughes. Unsatisfied with the screen roles he was being offered, even after creating his own production companies, Hudson turned to television with the mystery series McMillan & Wife.
Hudson starred as San Francisco police commissioner Stuart “Mac” McMillan with Susan Saint James as his titular wife, Sally. The series may be the closest spiritual successor to The Thin Man films, as Mac and Sally’s witty banter and affectionate, equal-footed partnership recall the dynamic charm of William Powell and Myrna Loy’s Nick and Nora Charles. What sets McMillan & Wife apart from contemporaries, however, is that Mac isn’t a typical TV detective but a high-ranking commissioner, whose background as a criminal defense attorney gives him a greater familiarity with the city’s crooks and their cohorts.
Like the other NBC Mystery Movie pilots that debuted during the 1971-1972 season (specifically Columbo and McCloud), McMillan & Wife became a hit and the first canonical episode, “Murder by the Barrel”, aired less than two weeks later after its feature-length debut. Continue reading
Casino: Robert De Niro’s Lookbook as Ace Rothstein
Robert De Niro as Sam “Ace” Rothstein in Casino (1995)
Vitals
Robert De Niro as Sam “Ace” Rothstein, Vegas casino executive and mob associate
Las Vegas, 1973 to 1983
Film: Casino
Release Date: November 22, 1995
Director: Martin Scorsese
Costume Design: Rita Ryack & John A. Dunn
Tailors: Carlos Velasco, Tommy Velasco, and Vincent Zullo
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Martin Scorsese’s Las Vegas-centric crime epic Casino premiered in New York City thirty years ago tonight on November 14, 1995, eight days before its wider release.
Chronicling the rise and fall of the midwest mob’s influence in Sin City during the 1970s and ’80s, Casino stars Robert De Niro as Sam “Ace” Rothstein, a fictionalization of real-life bookie Frank “Lefty” Rosenthal (1929-2008). De Niro was re-teamed with Joe Pesci as yet another volatile gangster—this time the hotheaded Chicago hitman Nicky Santoro, based on Lefty’s actual pal Tony “the Ant” Spilotro, and Sharon Stone received an Academy Award nomination as Ace’s hustler wife Ginger.
Part of Casino‘s legacy is due to the lavish costume design by Rita Ryack and John A. Dunn, who researched and worked with the real Lefty’s tailors and shirt-makers to recreate the gambler’s eye-catching style for the screen. Continue reading
No Country for Old Men: Javier Bardem as Anton Chigurh
Javier Bardem as Anton Chigurh in No Country for Old Men (2007)
Vitals
Javier Bardem as Anton Chigurh, relentless psychopathic killer (“but so what? there’s plenty of them around”)
Texas, Summer 1980
Film: No Country for Old Men
Release Date: November 9, 2007
Director: Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
Costume Designer: Mary Zophres
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
The Coen brothers’ masterful adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s novel No Country for Old Men was released eighteen years ago today on November 9, 2007. The film won in four of its eight nominated categories at the Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Director, Adapted Screenplay, and Supporting Actor for Javier Bardem’s chilling performance as the amoral and awful-coiffed Anton Chigurh. Continue reading
Patrick Wilson’s Argyle Zip Sweater in The Conjuring
Patrick Wilson as Ed Warren in The Conjuring (2013)
Vitals
Patrick Wilson as Ed Warren, paranormal investigator
Harrisville, Rhode Island, Fall 1971
Film: The Conjuring
Release Date: July 19, 2013
Director: James Wan
Costume Designer: Kristin M. Burke
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
With ten days until Halloween, let’s shift into horror mode with the first installment of The Conjuring franchise, based on real-life demonologists Ed and Lorraine Warren’s 1971 investigation into the possible haunting of the Perron family’s Rhode Island home. Starring Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga as Ed and Lorraine, this movie was the first in a shared cinematic universe of nine films to date—most recently The Conjuring: Last Rites, which was released last month. Continue reading
Al Lettieri in The Getaway: From Chalk-striped Suit to Corduroy and Chambray
Al Lettieri in The Getaway (1972)
Vitals
Al Lettieri as Rudy Butler, menacing and duplicitous armed robber
Texas, Spring 1972
Film: The Getaway
Release Date: December 13, 1972
Director: Sam Peckinpah
Men’s Costumer: Kent James
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
From The Godfather and The Getaway to McQ and Mr. Majestyk, if you needed a swarthy, mean, and snakishly charming son-of-a-bitch in the early ’70s, chances are you would call Al Lettieri. A bona fide tough guy who channeled his real-life connections to less reputable characters into his dynamic performances, Lettieri was only 47 years old when he died of a heart attack fifty years ago today on October 18, 1975.
Adapted from pulp author Jim Thompson’s 1958 crime novel of the same name, The Getaway was released in the final weeks of 1972—Lettieri’s breakthrough year, following the release of The Godfather in March. 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
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
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