Tagged: Christopher Plummer
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
Christopher Plummer in The Silent Partner
Christopher Plummer in The Silent Partner (1978)
Vitals
Christopher Plummer as Harry Reikle, sadistic armed robber
Toronto, Christmas 1977 through Summer 1978
Film: The Silent Partner
Release Date: September 7, 1978
Director: Daryl Duke
Wardrobe Credit: Debi Weldon
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Today would have been the 95th birthday of Christopher Plummer, born December 13, 1929. To celebrate the Toronto-born actor’s birthday amidst the holiday season, today’s post centers around Daryl Duke’s Canadian Christmas-centric 1978 thriller, The Silent Partner.
Plummer appears as Harry Reikle, a ruthless criminal who begins terrorizing Miles Cullen (Elliott Gould), a mild-mannered teller who foiled Harry’s earlier attempt to rob a branch of the First Bank of Toronto within Eaton Centre, a then-new shopping mall filled with bustling holiday shoppers who may have expected long lines but certainly would not expect to see Santa Claus exchanging shots with a bank security guard.
The real Bad Santa.
Battle of Britain: Christopher Plummer’s RCAF Uniform and Flying Jacket
Christopher Plummer in Battle of Britain (1969)
Vitals
Christopher Plummer as RAF Squadron Leader Colin Harvey
France and England, Spring to Summer 1940
Film: Battle of Britain
Release Date: September 15, 1969
Director: Guy Hamilton
Wardrobe Credit: Bert Henrikson
Background
Battle of Britain Day is commemorated in England on September 15th and in Canada on the third Sunday of September. Both dates coincide this year, making it the perfect time to review the dashing style of Canadian actor Christopher Plummer’s portrayal of a Royal Canadian Air Force officer in Guy Hamilton’s 1969 war epic, Battle of Britain.
Plummer stars as Squadron Leader Colin Harvey, whom we meet while commanding Squadron No. 188’s retreat from France in May 1940. After finding out the following month that he’s been assigned to a position in Scotland, he joins his wife, Section Officer Maggie Harvey (Susannah York) at a country pub in Denton to discuss the opportunity. He enjoys a “large Scotch”, perhaps to get into the spirit of his upcoming command, but it’s hard for him to feel spirited rather than disappointed when he learns that Maggie can’t apply for a job near him, responding to her with “What have we got? What the hell is this? Is it a marriage or a flaming Air Force committee?”
Colin’s new command distinguishes itself in battle after Adlertag (“Eagle Day”), the first day of the Luftwaffe’s attempted air invasion of the United Kingdom, though he and Maggie fail to reconcile before he’s badly burned during the climactic air battle over London on September 15, 1940, 84 years ago today.
The resulting British victory that day likely prevented a full-scale German invasion of the UK, prompting Prime Minister Winston Churchill to famously declare:
Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.
Christopher Plummer in Knives Out
Christopher Plummer as Harlan Thrombey in Knives Out (2019)
Vitals
Christopher Plummer as Harlan Thrombey, mystery novelist and wealthy patriarch
Massachusetts, November 2018
Film: Knives Out
Release Date: November 27, 2019
Director: Rian Johnson
Costume Designer: Jenny Eagan
Background
The great Canadian actor Christopher Plummer died a week ago today at the age of 91 after three quarters of a century honing his craft across stage and screen from Shakespeare to The Sound of Music.
In his penultimate screen credit, Knives Out, Plummer starred as Harlan Thrombey, a charismatic writer who built his fortune through writing mystery novels and, on his 85th birthday, resolves to finally set his free-loading family free. Continue reading
The Sound of Music: Christopher Plummer’s Flap-Pocket Country Suits
Christopher Plummer as Captain Georg von Trapp in The Sound of Music (1965)
Vitals
Christopher Plummer as Captain Georg von Trapp, widowed ex-Imperial Austro-Hungarian Navy officer
Salzburg, Austria, Spring 1938
Film: The Sound of Music
Release Date: March 2, 1965
Director: Robert Wise
Costume Designer: Dorothy Jeakins
Background
Happy birthday, Christopher Plummer! Born 91 years ago in Toronto, the distinguished actor continues to be a familiar face on screen, most recently as the doomed mystery writer at the center of Knives Out (2019). Plummer’s most recognizable performance remains arguably that of Georg von Trapp, the Austro-Hungarian patriarch whose family of young singers was depicted in The Sound of Music.
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