Tagged: Beige / Tan Blazers and Odd Jackets
The Godfather: Moe Greene’s Golden Las Vegas Tailoring
Alex Rocco as Moe Greene in The Godfather (1972)
Vitals
Alex Rocco as Moe Greene, brash mob-connected casino operator
Las Vegas, Summer 1954
Film: The Godfather
Release Date: March 14, 1972
Director: Francis Ford Coppola
Costume Designer: Anna Hill Johnstone
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Do you know who I am? I’m Moe Greene! I made my bones when you were going out with cheerleaders!
Despite his inflated opinion of himself and his importance to the city, Moe Greene actually had little to do with Las Vegas being founded 121 years ago tomorrow on May 15, 1905.
Portrayed by Alex Rocco in The Godfather, the fictional character Moe Greene was inspired by the real-life gangster Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel, who was born nine months later on the last day of February 1906. Something of a celebrity gangster, Siegel’s profligate control over the fledgling Flamingo casino during its first months of operation convinced his Mafia Commission partners that he was likely responsible for skimming millions from the mob, resulting in Bugsy’s assassination.
Siegel was sitting in his girlfriend Virginia Hill’s Beverly Hills living room when he was peppered with .30-caliber rounds from an M1 Carbine, including one that launched his left eye several feet from his socket. This would be reflected in The Godfather when an anonymous hitman corners Greene during a massage and fatally shoots him through the eye—an execution method immortalized as “the Moe Greene special” during the first season of The Sopranos. Continue reading
Sweet Bird of Youth: Paul Newman’s Cream Silk Sport Jacket
Paul Newman as Chance Wayne in Sweet Bird of Youth (1962)
Vitals
Paul Newman as Chance Wayne, charismatic gigolo
Mississippi, Easter Weekend 1962
Film: Sweet Bird of Youth
Release Date: March 21, 1962
Director: Richard Brooks
Costume Designer: Orry-Kelly
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Happy Easter! Early in his screen career, Paul Newman reprised his stage role as Chance Wayne from Tennessee Williams’ play Sweet Bird of Youth, set across Holy Saturday into Easter Sunday in Chance’s fictional hometown of St. Cloud, Mississippi. Continue reading
George C. Scott’s Funky Brown Shirt and Tan Blazer in Hardcore
George C. Scott in Hardcore (1979)
Vitals
George C. Scott as Jake Van Dorn, serious Midwestern family man
San Francisco, Spring 1978
Film: Hardcore
Release Date: February 9, 1979
Director: Paul Schrader
Men’s Wardrobe Supervisor: G. Tony Scarano
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Oh my God, that’s my daughter.
Happy Father’s Day to all the dads who read BAMF Style… and to this soon-to-be first-time dad who writes BAMF Style, as my wife is expecting our first this October!
Of course, since I’m the same insane person who writes about Psycho and The Grifters for Mother’s Day, today’s Father’s Day post centers around George C. Scott’s style in Paul Schrader’s 1979 neo-noir Hardcore as Jake Van Dorn, a Michigan rivet manufacturing executive who goes deep undercover in the California porn industry to try to save his daughter Kristen (Ilah Davis) after he learns from private detective Andy Mast (Peter Boyle) that she’s been appearing in stag films. Continue reading
California Split: Elliott Gould’s Tan Sport Jacket and Printed Shirts
Elliott Gould in California Split (1974)
Vitals
Elliott Gould as Charlie Waters, garrulous gambler
Los Angeles to Reno, Winter 1973
Film: California Split
Release Date: August 7, 1974
Director: Robert Altman
Costumer: Hugh McFarland
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
If I had a nickel for every great 1974 movie where the male lead had a bandaged nose for a significant portion of its runtime… well, California Split and Chinatown would yield me only 10 cents, but it would be well worth it for their shared existence.
Robert Altman’s excellently chaotic meditation on gambling, California Split, was released 50 years ago today on August 7, 1974, starring Elliott Gould and George Segal as a pair of two-time losers who meet over an L.A. card game. Initially more of a recreational gambler, Segal’s Bill Denny grows increasingly addicted through his friendship with Gould’s Charlie Waters, a charismatic hustler constantly on the make between card games and the horse track for his next big score. Continue reading
The Killers (1964): John Cassavetes On the Run in Corduroy
John Cassavetes and Angie Dickinson in The Killers (1964)
Vitals
John Cassavetes as Johnny North, race car driver-turned-robber
Southern California, Spring 1960
Film: The Killers
Release Date: July 7, 1964
Director: Don Siegel
Costume Designer: Helen Colvig
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Earlier this week, I kicked off #Noirvember with a look at Burt Lancaster as the hapless and doomed “Swede” Anderson, whose murder at the start of Robert Siodmak’s seminal noir The Killers kicks off the series of flashbacks investigating what led to his decision to give in to the two armed killers.
Two decades later, the material was revisited by director Don Siegel and screenwriter Gene L. Coon, who drifted even further from Ernest Hemingway’s source material to focus on the two slick hitmen who set about learning more about the man they had been hired to kill, now reimagined as a race car driver named Johnny North.
Tony Soprano’s Tan Herringbone Sport Jacket
James Gandolfini as Tony Soprano on The Sopranos (Episode 6.20: “The Blue Comet”)
Vitals
James Gandolfini as Tony Soprano, New Jersey mob boss
Montclair, New Jersey, Fall 2007
Series: The Sopranos
Episodes:
– “The Ride” (Episode 6.09, dir. Alan Taylor, aired May 7, 2006)
– “Chasing It” (Episode 6.16, dir. Tim Van Patten, aired April 29, 2007)
– “The Blue Comet” (Episode 6.20, dir. Alan Taylor, aired June 3, 2007)
Creator: David Chase
Costume Designer: Juliet Polcsa
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
On the seventh anniversary of James Gandolfini’s death, I chose to celebrate the actor’s legacy with another look from the landmark HBO series The Sopranos. (Fans of the Skip’s outfits should already be following my friend @TonySopranoStyle on Instagram!)
In the series’ penultimate episode, “The Blue Comet”, Tony Soprano had no idea that this therapy session would be his last, blissfully idling his time in Dr. Jennifer Melfi’s waiting room by purloining a pepper-marinated steak recipe from Departures magazine. Unbeknownst to him, it’s one ravaged periodical too many as Dr. Melfi is already having serious concerns about having potentially spent the last seven years enabling a dangerous sociopath rather than helping him.
Goodbye, Columbus: Neil’s Corduroy Blazer
Richard Benjamin as Neil Klugman in Goodbye, Columbus (1969)
Vitals
Richard Benjamin as Neil Klugman, listless library employee and Army veteran
Radcliffe College (Cambridge, Massachusetts), Fall 1968
Film: Goodbye, Columbus
Release Date: April 3, 1969
Director: Larry Peerce
Costume Designer: Gene Coffin
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Based on a novella by Philip Roth, Goodbye, Columbus marked the first major screen appearances for both Richard Benjamin and Ali MacGraw, who would receive a Golden Globe for Most Promising Newcomer and a Laurel Award for Female New Face.
Goodbye, Columbus was released two years after The Graduate (though Roth’s source novella was published four years before Charles Webb’s The Graduate), and the similarities invited comparison between the two, with some critics like Dennis Schwartz favoring Goodbye, Columbus though it would be far lesser-known in the decades to follow. Continue reading
The Irishman: Joe Pesci’s Tan Road Trip Sports Coat
Joe Pesci as Russell Bufalino in The Irishman (2019)
Vitals
Joe Pesci as Russell Bufalino, old-school northeast Pennsylvania Mafia boss
Philadelphia to Detroit, Summer 1975
Film: The Irishman
Release Date: November 1, 2019
Director: Martin Scorsese
Costume Design: Sandy Powell & Christopher Peterson
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Happy 77th birthday, Joe Pesci! The Newark-born actor emerged from nearly 20 years of retirement to again collaborate with director Martin Scorsese and star Robert De Niro in The Irishman, which is up for multiple Academy Awards tonight including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Costume Design, and Best Supporting Actor for both Pesci and his co-star Al Pacino.
Should Pesci take home the statue tonight, it would be his second Academy Award after he received a well-deserved Oscar for Best Supporting Actor recognizing his work in Goodfellas. Continue reading
The Graduate: Dustin Hoffman’s Corduroy Sports Coat
Dustin Hoffman as Benjamin Braddock in The Graduate (1967)
Vitals
Dustin Hoffman as Benjamin Braddock, nervous and aimless college graduate
Los Angeles, Summer through Fall 1967
Film: The Graduate
Release Date: December 22, 1967
Director: Mike Nichols
Costume Designer: Patricia Zipprodt
Background
Dustin Hoffman’s Ivy style mastery in The Graduate has been a frequent request from BAMF Style readers including Kyle, Ryan, Zubair, and more, so—in the spirit of the “back to school” season—let’s take a look at one of the most iconic outfits that Hoffman wore as the listless Benjamin Braddock.
Benjamin is getting tired of his wordless, emotionless trysts with Mrs. Robinson (Anne Bancroft), the sultry and troubled wife of his father’s law partner. One night in their usual room at the Taft Hotel, Benjamin suggests that the two talk more. In the words of Simon and Garfunkel, “We’d like to know a little bit about you for our files / We’d like to help you learn to help yourself…”
Bond’s Cream Safari Jacket and Tie in The Man with the Golden Gun
Roger Moore, flanked by co-stars Maud Adams and Britt Ekland, in his second film as James Bond, The Man with the Golden Gun (1974)
Vitals
Roger Moore as James Bond, British government agent
Macau, Spring 1974
Film: The Man with the Golden Gun
Release Date: December 20, 1974
Director: Guy Hamilton
Tailor: Cyril Castle
Wardrobe Supervisor: Elsa Fennell
Background
Following the release of Orlebar Brown’s 007-inspired collection earlier this year, the company’s take on Roger Moore’s green safari jacket from The Man with the Golden Gun renewed my interest in the actor’s sophomore adventure as James Bond which also happened to be the first 007 movie I had ever seen.
After Bond retrieves a gold bullet during his rendezvous with Saida the belly dancer, Q identifies the soft 23-karat gold dum-dum bullet plopped from Saida’s navel as a product of Portuguese gunmaker Lazar (Marne Maitland), currently living in Macau.
“An unexpected honor, Mr. Bond,” Lazar greets him. “Your reputation precedes you.” Well… so much for that whole “secret agent” thing. Continue reading
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