Tagged: Car Week
Burt Reynolds in Smokey and the Bandit
Burt Reynolds as the Trans Am-driving “Bandit” in Smokey and the Bandit (1977)
Vitals
Burt Reynolds as Bo “the Bandit” Darville, daredevil driver
Texarkana to Atlanta, Summer 1976
Film: Smokey and the Bandit
Release Date: May 27, 1977
Director: Hal Needham
Background
♫ You’ve heard about the legend of Jesse James and John Henry just to mention some names,
Well, there’s a truck-drivin’ legend in the South today, a man called Bandit from Atlanta, GA… ♫
After seven years of biannual Car Week features, how did it take me this long get around to what might be the most famous “car movie” of all? On a day commemorating the anniversary of American independence, it feels appropriate to celebrate Burt Reynolds bedecked in red, white, and blue (or at least red and blue) as he speeds across half the country in a muscle car, all in the name of beer… or as the Bandit himself declares:
For the money, for the glory, and for the fun… but mostly for the money.
Happy birthday, America… from Burt Reynolds and BAMF Style.
Meeting Magnum, P.I.: Navy Lacoste Shirt and Ferrari 308 GTS
Tom Selleck as Thomas Magnum in the Magnum P.I. pilot episode, “Don’t Eat the Snow in Hawaii”
Vitals
Tom Selleck as Thomas Magnum, private investigator and former Navy SEAL
Hawaii, Spring 1980 to Summer 1981
Series: Magnum, P.I.
Episodes:
– “Don’t Eat the Snow in Hawaii, Part 1″ (Episode 1.01, dir. Roger Young, aired 12/11/1980)
– “No Need to Know” (Episode 1.05, dir. Lawrence Doheny, aired 1/8/1981)
– “Don’t Say Goodbye” (Episode 1.15, dir. Winrich Kolbe, aired 3/28/1981)
Creator: Donald P. Bellisario & Glen Larson
Costume Designer: Charles Waldo (credited with first season only)
Costume Supervisor: James Gilmore
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Let’s continue #CarWeek with one of the most famous and popular cars in TV history, the bright red Ferrari 308 GTS driven by Thomas Magnum (Tom Selleck) as a semi-permanent “guest” on author Robin Masters’ Hawaiian estate.
Today is a particularly suitable occasion to write about this set of wheels as we first meet Magnum—and the Ferrari—while our protagonist is clad in a Lacoste tennis shirt, innovated by French tennis icon and Renaissance man René Lacoste, who was born 116 years ago on July 2, 1904. Continue reading
Bond’s Leather Coat and Aston Martin in The Living Daylights
Timothy Dalton poses with an Aston Martin V8 as James Bond in The Living Daylights (1987)
Vitals
Timothy Dalton as James Bond, British government agent
Bratislava to Vienna, Winter 1986
Film: The Living Daylights
Release Date: June 27, 1987
Director: John Glen
Costume Designer: Emma Porteous
Costume Supervisor: Tiny Nicholls
Background
For a wintry #CarWeek post on the 00-7th of December, let’s look back to Timothy Dalton’s first—and best, in my opinion—adventure as James Bond in The Living Daylights, adapted and greatly expanded from Ian Fleming’s short story of the same name, though the primary plot of Fleming’s story is used up during the pre-credits defection sequence.
After noticing that reportedly a KGB sniper was a beautiful blonde cellist during the opening defection, Bond returned to Bratislava to meet the woman, Kara Milovy (Maryam D’Abo), in person. He persuades her to accompany him to Vienna, evading and eventually out-driving their KGB pursuers in 007’s tricked-out Aston Martin, which had been “winterized” and loaded with gadgets by Q (Desmond Llewelyn), MI6’s esteemed and exhausted quartermaster.
The Public Enemy: Cagney’s New Clothes and Car
James Cagney leans on the door of a LaSalle as Tom Powers in The Public Enemy (1931)
Vitals
James Cagney as Tom Powers, dangerous gangster and bootlegger
Chicago, Spring 1920
Film: The Public Enemy
Release Date: April 23, 1931
Director: William A. Wellman
Costume Designer: Edward Stevenson
Wardrobe Credit: Earl Luick
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Today is the 86th anniversary of the 21st Amendment that repealed Prohibition, the 13-year ban on the manufacture and sale of alcoholic beverages in the United States. Even before Prohibition was repealed on December 5, 1933, the wave of organized crime it inspired across the country was a popular subject for movies of the era, with Warner Brothers taking the lead with hits like Little Caesar, The Public Enemy, and Scarface that made stars out of intense actors like Edward G. Robinson and James Cagney.
The latter was particularly renowned for his performance in The Public Enemy, a “ripped-from-the-headlines” tour de force of violence based on an unpublished novel written by two former newspapermen who had witnessed firsthand the impact of Al Capone’s brutal stronghold on Chicago during the beer wars of the roaring ’20s.
As #CarWeek continues, let’s flash back to the Prohibition era as Cagney’s Tom Powers hopes to make an impression with his new tailored suits and shiny new touring convertible. Continue reading
Downhill Racer: Redford’s Blue Skiwear and Yellow Porsche
Robert Redford and Camilla Sparv with her Porsche on the set of Downhill Racer (1969)
Vitals
Robert Redford as Dave Chappellet, U.S. Olympic ski team star
Wengen, Switzerland, Winter 1967
Film: Downhill Racer
Release Date: November 6, 1969
Director: Michael Ritchie
Costume Designer: Edith Head (uncredited!)
Wardrobe Credit: Cynthia May
Background
Let’s kick off a winter #CarWeek with an Alpine vibe, specifically the yellow Porsche that Robert Redford motors through the Alps after a day on the slopes with Camilla Sparv in Michael Ritchie’s directorial debut, Downhill Racer.
Havana – Robert Redford’s Blue Camp Shirt and Cadillac
Robert Redford as Jack Weil driving a 1955 Cadillac in Havana (1990)
Vitals
Robert Redford as Jack Weil, smooth gambler and U.S. Navy veteran
Santa Clara, Cuba, December 1958
Film: Havana
Release Date: December 14, 1990
Director: Sydney Pollack
Costume Designer: Bernie Pollack
Background
Extending #CarWeek to get to casual Friday gives us the opportunity to pay tribute to Robert Redford’s classic casual warm-weather attire behind the wheel of a grand Cadillac convertible from the fabulous ’50s. The film in question is, of course, Havana, Sydney Pollack’s 1990 paean to Casablanca that starred Redford as Jack Weil, a cynical American gambler who finds love in the form of Cuban revolutionary Roberta “Bobby” Duran (Lena Olin) on the eve of that country’s revolution.
Cary Grant’s Beige Summer Jacket and Citroën in That Touch of Mink
Cary Grant and Doris Day in That Touch of Mink (1962)
Vitals
Cary Grant as Philip Shayne, smooth, sophisticated, and suave investment executive and “perfect gentleman”
Bermuda, Spring 1962
Film: That Touch of Mink
Release Date: June 14, 1962
Director: Delbert Mann
Tailor: Cardinal Clothes (credited “for Cary Grant’s suits”)
Background
After being first splashed, then swept, off her feet by the charming tycoon Philip Shayne (Cary Grant), unemployed Manhattanite Cathy Timerblake (Doris Day) finds herself accepting his impromptu invitation to join her for a summery respite in Bermuda. “Nowhere else in the world an you see beaches with pink sand,” Philip promises.
Having purchased every seat on a Pan Am passenger jet to Bermuda, Philip is there to meet her as she deplanes, chauffeuring her in his 1961 Citroën roadster to their luxurious suite at the Victoria Hotel, which is doubled on screen by the Fairmont Miramar Hotel in Santa Monica. Continue reading
Bond Style: Lazenby’s Cream Suit and Aston Martin
George Lazenby as James Bond in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969)
Vitals
George Lazenby as James Bond, smooth British secret agent
Estoril, Portugal, September 1969
Film: On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
Release Date: December 18, 1969
Director: Peter R. Hunt
Tailor: Dimi Major
Costume Designer: Marjory Cornelius
Background
This year commemorates the 50th anniversary of On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, often considered among the best of the James Bond canon. George Lazenby, the Australian actor who batted 1000 with OHMSS as his sole outing as 007, has also activated his Instagram presence this year, sharing photos of himself in many of the same locations he had made famous a half-century ago as the world’s most famous secret agent.
George’s #OHMSS50 tour included calling on the celebrated Palácio Estoril, the Portuguese hotel where his James Bond spent the early scenes of OHMSS chasing and seducing Diana Rigg’s character, Teresa “Tracy” di Vincenzo. During the visit, he even interacted with many of the hotel’s staff who were still in the Palácio Estoril’s employ 50 years after their on-screen cameos.
Today, on the 00-7th of July, let’s take a look at the timeless summer-friendly style that Lazenby’s James Bond wore when he pulled his Aston Martin into the parking lot at Palácio Estoril some fifty years ago. Continue reading
Spectre – Bond’s Black Suit and Aston Martin in Rome
Daniel Craig as James Bond, exiting an Aston Martin DB10 prototype in Spectre (2015)
Vitals
Daniel Craig as James Bond, British government agent
Rome, November 2015
Film: Spectre
Release Date: October 25, 2015
Director: Sam Mendes
Costume Designer: Jany Temime
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Spectre, Daniel Craig’s latest outing as James Bond, featured the globe-trotting agent once again battling the international terrorist organization SPECTRE and confronting the evil megalomaniac at its head, Ernst Stavro Blofeld (Christoph Waltz).
One of the most requested outfits from BAMF Style readers is the black three-piece Tom Ford suit that 007 wears when he arrives in style to a gangster’s funeral in Rome with his prototype Aston Martin. Continue reading
Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow: Renzo and the Rolls
Marcello Mastroianni as Renzo with a 1963 Rolls-Royce in Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow (Ieri, oggi, domani) (1963)
Vitals
Marcello Mastroianni as Renzo, Italian writer
Milan, Italy, October 1963
Film: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow
(Italian title: Ieri, oggi, domani)
Release Date: December 19, 1963
Director: Vittorio De Sica
Costume Designer: Piero Tosi
Background
Car Week continues with a focus on a classic Italian comedy released 55 years ago this month.
After four movies together in the 1950s, Marcello Mastroianni and Sophia Loren reteamed in 1963 for Vittorio De Sica’s Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow—released in Italy as Ieri, oggi, domani—a stylish anthology about life, love, and lust. The film is split into three segments that each star Loren and Mastroianni as a different couple.
The second segment, “Anna”, is the shortest of the three and stars Loren as an industrialist’s glamorous wife—dressed to the nines in Christian Dior—as she is forced to choose between her husband’s Rolls-Royce and her unassuming lover Renzo (Mastroianni).
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