Tagged: 1980s
Magnum, P.I.: Tom Selleck’s Red Jungle Bird Aloha Shirt
Tom Selleck as Thomas Magnum on Magnum, P.I.
Based on his red “jungle bird”-printed aloha shirt having a breast pocket—as well as his personalized belt buckle, MIA/POW bracelet, and Rolex—this promotional photo was likely taken sometime during the final seasons of the show’s eight-year run.
Vitals
Tom Selleck as Thomas Magnum, private investigator and former Navy SEAL
Hawaii, 1980s
Series: Magnum, P.I. (1980-1988)
Creator: Donald P. Bellisario & Glen Larson
Costume Designer: Charles Waldo (credited with first season only)
Costume Supervisor: James Gilmore
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Happy 80th birthday, Tom Selleck! Born January 29, 1945 in Detroit, the actor rose to stardom as the Hawaii-dwelling private investigator Thomas Magnum across all eight seasons of Magnum, P.I.
In addition to highlighting Magnum’s aspirational life on a lush Oahu estate with a red Ferrari at his disposal, the series further humanized Vietnam veterans and addressed their post-war struggles and successes.
Frequently nominated by both groups, Selleck was awarded an Emmy and a Golden Globe for his portrayal of Magnum. His familiar appearance of ubiquitous mustache and the usual aloha shirt and Detroit Tigers baseball cap has kept Magnum a recognizable character even among folks who haven’t seen the series.
Among Magnum’s dozens of aloha shirts, the red “jungle bird” print that appeared in more than two dozen episodes remains the most iconic—to the extent that Selleck donated his screen-worn shirt to the Smithsonian Institute’s National Museum of American History after the series ended in 1988. Continue reading
The Fourth Protocol: Pierce Brosnan’s Black Leather Biker Gear
Pierce Brosnan in The Fourth Protocol (1987). Photo credit: Stanley Bielecki.
Vitals
Pierce Brosnan as Valeri Alekseyevich Petrofsky, cold-blooded undercover KGB operative
Suffolk, England, Spring 1987
Film: The Fourth Protocol
Release Date: March 20, 1987
Director: John Mackenzie
Costume Designer: Tiny Nicholls
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Many James Bond fans know that Pierce Brosnan was first offered the role in the 1980s, but the announcement ironically improved Remington Steele‘s ratings to the point that the series was renewed and Brosnan had to turn down the Bond role to honor his commitments to the series. Three months before the next Bond film—The Living Daylights starring Timothy Dalton—was released in June 1987, Brosnan appeared in a different espionage thriller, The Fourth Protocol.
Indeed, the plot of a British agent trying to stop a rogue Soviet mission to detonate a “false flag” nuclear device at an American airbase must have sounded awfully familiar to Bond fans who watched Roger Moore do the same thing four years earlier in Octopussy… but this time, the maverick British spy is an MI5 agent named John Preston (Michael Caine), squaring off against Brosnan as KGB Major Valeri Petrofsky. Continue reading
A View to a Kill: Roger Moore’s White Bogner Ski Clothes
Roger Moore as James Bond in A View to a Kill (1985). Photo by Keith Hamshere, sourced from Thunderballs archive.
Vitals
Roger Moore as James Bond, British government agent
Siberia, Winter 1985
Film: A View to a Kill
Release Date: May 22, 1985
Director: John Glen
Costume Designer: Emma Porteous
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
On this snowy 00-7th of January, let’s hit the slopes with Roger Moore—and his stunt doubles John Eaves and Martin Grace—in Sir Roger’s swan song as James Bond, A View to a Kill, celebrating its 40th anniversary this May.
Though the title originated from one of Ian Fleming’s short stories, the movie demonstrates how far the franchise had drifted from the source material, exemplified by this pre-credits sequence, which introduces a cringe-worthy “California Girls” needle drop as Moore’s stuntman skis through the mountains of Siberia—though actually filmed at Piz Palü in Switzerland and Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon in Iceland. Continue reading
Clark Griswold’s Christmas Eve Cardigan
Chevy Chase and Beverly D’Angelo in National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989)
Vitals
Chevy Chase as Clark W. Griswold Jr., food additive executive and “last true family man”
Chicago, Christmas Eve 1989
Film: National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation
Release Date: December 1, 1989
Director: Jeremiah S. Chechik
Costume Designer: Michael Kaplan
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Merry Christmas! Now a perennial holiday classic, National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation was released 35 years ago this month in December 1989 as the third installment to feature Chevy Chase as the hapless head of the Griswold family.
After zany misadventures on an American road trip and a European vacation, Clark clings to his idealistic hope for a “fun, old-fashioned family Christmas,” which somehow means inviting both his and his wife’s sets of parents to stay with them for more than a week leading up to the actual holiday. In the meantime, Clark is eager to surprise his family with the news that he placed a down payment on a swimming pool… a payment he’ll be able to cover as soon as he receives his company’s usual holiday bonus.
(For modern readers, a “holiday bonus” is a monetary payment that employers used to give to their employees at the end of each year. In the late 1980s when Christmas Vacation was made, this often amounted to several thousand dollars; for most employees today, this may take the form of a branded reusable water bottle, already-obsolete Bluetooth earbuds, or simply not being fired.)
Inspired by producer and co-writer John Hughes’ semi-autobiographical short story “Christmas ’59”, the festivities culminate on Christmas Eve as both sides of Clark and Ellen’s families gather at the over-illuminated Griswold home for an over-cooked turkey dinner, a surprise rodent guest, and the family’s first kidnapping. Happy holidays!
Die Hard: Hart Bochner as Harry Ellis
Hart Bochner as Harry Ellis in Die Hard (1988)
Vitals
Hart Bochner as Harry Ellis, coked-out Nakatomi Corporation executive
Los Angeles, Christmas 1987
Film: Die Hard
Release Date: July 15, 1988
Director: John McTiernan
Costume Designer: Marilyn Vance
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
As the season of holiday festivities continues, let’s flash back to one of the most famous office Christmas parties in cinematic history—the Nakatomi Corporation’s Christmas Eve extravaganza that was ruined by a dozen armed terrorists led by the charismatic Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman).
Gruber’s takeover definitely ruined plans for Harry Ellis (Hart Bochner), Nakatomi’s sleazy director of international development who masks his holiday loneliness with plenty of cocaine and half-hearted pickup attempts toward his colleague Holly Gennero (Bonnie Bedelia), so he’s none too pleased when her husband John McClane (Bruce Willis) arrives at the party from New York… even as John ultimately proves to be the group’s only chance to fight back against the terrorists.
After Gruber kills their boss Joe Takagi (James Shigeta), Ellis fortifies with a bump and decides to take things into his own hands (“I negotiate million-dollar deals for breakfast, I think I can handle this Euro-trash”), though he’s too coked-out to realize that he’s fatally out of his element against this professional, motivated, and happenin’ group of killers. Continue reading
Jeff Bridges in Starman
Jeff Bridges and Karen Allen in Starman (1984)
Vitals
Jeff Bridges as “Star Man”, an alien taking the humanoid form of Scott Hayden
Wisconsin to Arizona, Spring 1984
Film: Starman
Release Date: December 14, 1984
Director: John Carpenter
Men’s Costumer: Andy Hylton
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Happy 75th birthday to Jeff Bridges, born December 4, 1949. The actor received his third Academy Award nomination for Starman, an interdimensional dramedy considered by director John Carpenter to be his sci-fi twist on romantic classics like It Happened One Night and Brief Encounter. Released 40 years ago this month in December 1984, Starman remains Carpenter’s second-highest grossing movie.
The movie begins seven years after NASA launched the Voyager 2 space probe designed for diplomatic contact with extra-terrestrials when the eponymous “Star Man” crashes to Earth outside the remote Chequamegon Bay in northern Wisconsin. He takes refuge in the lakeside home of young widow Jenny Hayden (Karen Allen) while she skims through memories of her late husband Scott, inadvertently providing the opportunity for our Star Man to assume his likeness.
After initially freaking Jenny out by morphing from an alien-looking child into the form of her deceased husband standing nude before her, Star Man uses his loose grasp of language—despite knowing how to communicate “greetings” in 54 of them, including English—to compel her to drive him to his designated meeting point somewhere in “Arizona maybe”, at the wheel of the burnt-orange ’77 Mustang she had shared with Scott. Continue reading
Scrooged: Bill Murray’s Navy Pinstripe Suit
Bill Murray as Frank Cross in Scrooged (1988)
Vitals
Bill Murray as Frank Cross, cynical TV executive
New York City, December 1988
Film: Scrooged
Release Date: November 23, 1988
Director: Richard Donner
Costume Designer: Wayne A. Finkelman
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Happy December! I’m already in the the midst of rewatching many of my favorite Christmas movies, which range in vibe from sentimental to cynical. Action director Richard Donner helmed two of the most cynical holiday-themed movies—Lethal Weapon and Scrooged—released back-to-back in 1987 and 1988, respectively.
A comic update of Charles Dickens’ classic novel A Christmas Carol, Scrooged stars Bill Murray as Frank Cross, president of the fictional IBC television network who gets the chance to prove whether Murray still ain’t afraid of no ghosts. Continue reading
When Harry Met Sally: Harry’s Leather Flight Jacket
Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan in When Harry Met Sally (1989)
Vitals
Billy Crystal as Harry Burns, sarcastic political consultant and recent divorcée
New York City, Fall 1987
Film: When Harry Met Sally…
Release Date: July 14, 1989
Director: Rob Reiner
Costume Designer: Gloria Gresham
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
One of the most aesthetically pleasing fall movies, Rob Reiner’s romantic comedy When Harry Met Sally celebrated its 35th anniversary earlier this year. Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan—who celebrates her 63rd birthday today—star as the titular enemies-turned-friends-turned lovers. Continue reading
Freddy Krueger in A Nightmare on Elm Street
In the spirit of Halloween tomorrow and following a suggestion received from a BAMF Style reader earlier this year, today’s post explores the costume of a cinematic horror icon who needs little introduction.
Robert Englund as Freddy Krueger in A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
Vitals
Robert Englund as Freddy Krueger, supernatural serial killer
Suburban Ohio, Spring 1981
Film: A Nightmare on Elm Street
Release Date: November 9, 1984
Director: Wes Craven
Costume Designer: Dana Lyman
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Next month will mark the 40th anniversary of A Nightmare on Elm Street, Wes Craven’s iconic slasher film that introduced the world to the terrifying Freddy Krueger, the pizza-faced killer who can target his victims through their dreams—a concept inspired by the mysterious deaths among Hmong refugees who mysteriously died in their sleep following disturbing nightmares.
Craven embodied the terror of a monster who can attack people at their most vulnerable in the form of Freddy Krueger, the undead spirit of a vindictive child murderer. I have to respect Craven’s own vindictiveness, borrowing the name from his childhood bully Fred Krueger and immortalizing it as one of the most grotesque monsters in horror cinema history. Continue reading
Stop Making Sense: David Byrne’s Big Suit
David Byrne models the famous “big suit” he introduced in Stop Making Sense (1984)
Vitals
David Byrne, eccentric Talking Heads frontman
Los Angeles, December 1983
Film: Stop Making Sense
Release Date: October 19, 1984
Director: Jonathan Demme
Costume Designer: Gail Blacker
Background
Widely regarded as one of the best concert films ever made, Stop Making Sense was released 40 years ago today on October 19, 1984. Independently produced by Gary Goetzman and directed by Jonathan Demme, Stop Making Sense captures Talking Heads performing over four nights in December 1983 at the Pantages Theater in Los Angeles, during their tour promoting the album Speaking in Tongues.
As the lead singer and chief songwriter, frontman David Byrne defined much of the band’s quirky personality, energetically dancing across the stage and rotating between his Martin D-35 acoustic guitar, sunburst ’63 Fender Stratocaster, and dual-humbucker Roland guitars.
In a 2020 Newsweek interview with Samuel Spencer, Byrne shared that he maintained a cohesive visual effect by “[asking] everyone to wear medium grey outfits, whatever style they preferred (a questionable decision there), but always in medium grey. It worked—this consistency meant the effects of the various lighting cues and gags were more seamless.” However, drummer Chris Frantz had to break from this neutral formula after his laundry wasn’t returned following the first night’s performance, opting for a turquoise-blue polo shirt each night to maintain continuity.
Still, it’s not Frantz’s splash of color that steals the sartorial spotlight in Stop Making Sense. After Tina Weymouth and Frantz perform “Genius of Love” from their side project Tom Tom Club, Byrne rejoins his band on stage ahead of “Girlfriend is Better”, now dressed in an absurdly oversized business suit. Continue reading
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