Tagged: Cowboy Boots
Once Upon a Time in the West: Charles Bronson as Harmonica
Charles Bronson in Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)
Vitals
Charles Bronson as “Harmonica”, vengeful drifter
Arizona, circa 1875
Film: Once Upon a Time in the West
(Italian title: C’era una volta il West)
Release Date: December 21, 1968
Director: Sergio Leone
Costume Designer: Carlo Simi
Background
After establishing the spaghetti Western with the popular “Dollars trilogy”, Sergio Leone had intended to move away from the genre until Paramount Pictures compelled him to follow up his success with another Western. With Paramount’s substantial budget in his coffers, Leone reteamed with iconic composer Ennio Morricone and cinematographer Tonino Delli Colli, working with Dario Argento and Bernardo Bertolucci (and, once production began, also Sergio Donati) to conceptualize the vengeance-driven epic that would become Once Upon a Time in the West.
Unlike the Dollars trilogy, which invariably starred Clint Eastwood among a mostly Italian and Spanish cast (with the rare exception for Lee Van Cleef and Eli Wallach), Once Upon a Time in the West featured a cast well-known to Americans, led by Henry Fonda playing one of the few villains of his career. The cast also included Claudia Cardinale (who was a Tunisian-born Italian actress but known to Americans thanks to films like The Pink Panther), Jason Robards, Keenan Wynn, American Western regulars like Jack Elam and Woody Strode, and Charles Bronson, who was recruited after Eastwood turned down the role. Continue reading
Willie Nelson’s Fringe Jacket in The Electric Horseman
Willie Nelson as Wendell Hickson in The Electric Horseman (1979)
Vitals
Willie Nelson as Wendell Hickson, trusty talent manager and cowboy singer
Las Vegas, Fall 1978
Film: The Electric Horseman
Release Date: December 21, 1979
Director: Sydney Pollack
Costume Designer: Bernie Pollack
Background
Happy 90th birthday, Willie Nelson! Best known as a country singer/songwriter and prolific stoner, Nelson made his screen acting debut in The Electric Horseman as Wendell Hickson, the laidback and loyal yet understandably weary manager to Sonny Steele (Robert Redford), an increasingly erratic ex-rodeo star who has been reduced to PR appearances promoting cereal for his corporate overlords.
Naturally, Willie also contributed three songs for the film’s soundtrack, including the outlaw standards “Mammas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys”, “Midnight Rider”, and “My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys”. Continue reading
Jack Nicholson in Easy Rider
Jack Nicholson as George Hanson in Easy Rider (1969)
Vitals
Jack Nicholson as George Hanson, civil rights attorney
New Mexico to Louisiana, February 1968
Film: Easy Rider
Release Date: July 14, 1969
Director: Dennis Hopper
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Today is the 86th birthday of Jack Nicholson, the screen icon who recently [sort of] made headlines—and more than a few memes—after being photographed for the first time in 18 months, proving that not even an octogenarian retiree is spared superficial judgements about appearance.
Nicholson’s prolific career spanned six decades, and his 12 Academy Award nominations establish him as the most nominated male acting nominee in Oscar history. His first nomination recognized his memorable turn in Easy Rider as George Hanson, the easygoing lawyer who joins countercultural bikers Wyatt (Peter Fonda) and Billy (Dennis Hopper) on their freewheeling trek across America. Continue reading
Tom Selleck in Quigley Down Under
Tom Selleck as Matthew Quigley in Quigley Down Under (1990)
Vitals
Tom Selleck as Matthew Quigley, taciturn sharpshooter from Wyoming
Western Australia, early 1870s
Film: Quigley Down Under
Release Date: October 17, 1990
Director: Simon Wincer
Costume Designer: Wayne A. Finkelman
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
I only recently learned that January 26 is observed as Australia Day, a national holiday that commemorates the landing of the First Fleet at Sydney Cove in 1788 and is celebrated today by presentations of the Australian of the Year Awards and announcement of the Australia Day Honours. Since at least 1938, which was the 150th anniversary of the landing, there has been a movement led by Indigenous Australians to redefine the observance as Invasion Day or Survival Day, a Day of Mourning for the British arrival that resulted in often violent colonization.
Given the movie’s setting and themes of a protagonist who refuses to engage in violence against Aborigines, the unique 1990 Western Quigley Down Under felt like an appropriate choice to write about today.
As suggested by the latter two-thirds of its title, Quigley Down Under follows the tradition of predecessors like The Sundowners (1960) and Ned Kelly (1970) as an Australian-set Western, or “meat pie Western”. The eponymous Quigley is Matthew Quigley (Tom Selleck), a cowboy with a penchant for riflery. Continue reading
Yellowstone: Kevin Costner’s Western Ski Jacket
Kevin Costner as John Dutton on Yellowstone
Vitals
Kevin Costner as John Dutton, wealthy ranch patriarch and Montana Livestock Association commissioner
Western Montana, Fall 2017
Series: Yellowstone
Episodes:
– “Daybreak” (Episode 1.01, dir. Taylor Sheridan, aired 6/20/2018)
– “Kill the Messenger” (Episode 1.02, dir. Taylor Sheridan, aired 6/27/2018)
– “The Remembering” (Episode 1.06, dir. Taylor Sheridan, aired 8/1/2018)
– “A Monster Is Among Us” (Episode 1.07, dir. Taylor Sheridan, aired 8/8/2018)
– “A Thundering” (Episode 2.01, dir. Ed Bianchi, aired 6/19/2019)
– “New Beginnings” (Episode 2.02, dir. Ed Bianchi, aired 6/26/2019)
Creator: Taylor Sheridan & John Linson
Costume Designers: Ruth E. Carter & Brit Ellerman (Season 1) & Johnetta Boone (Season 2 onward)
Background
Tomorrow night, the Dutton family returns to TV with the fifth season premiere of Yellowstone, Taylor Sheridan and John Linson’s modern-day Western series chronicling the fictional conflicts of a cattle ranch, an Indian reservation, and land developers against a lush Montana landscape.
The series centers around the widowed Yellowstone Ranch patriarch, John Dutton III (Kevin Costner), who puts considerable thought into his words and actions and whose primary motivation seems to be proudly maintaining his ranch to continue his family’s legacy to his now-adult children. Continue reading
The Electric Horseman: Robert Redford’s Denim Western Style
Robert Redford in The Electric Horseman (1979)
Vitals
Robert Redford as Norman “Sonny” Steele, championship rodeo rider-turned-cowboy cereal spokesman
Red Rock Canyon, Nevada, Fall 1978
Film: The Electric Horseman
Release Date: December 21, 1979
Director: Sydney Pollack
Costume Designer: Bernie Pollack
Background
I’ve been feeling romantic leading up to my wedding this weekend, so today’s fall-inspired fashions come by way of The Electric Horseman, Robert Redford’s fifth collaboration with director Sydney Pollack.
Redford plays Sonny Steele, the eponymous equestrian and former rodeo champion turned cynical after selling out to hock cereal touted as “a champ’s way to start a better day!” Continue reading
Hugh Jackman’s Leather Jacket as Wolverine in X-Men
I’m again pleased to present a guest post contributed by my friend Ken Stauffer, who has written several pieces for BAMF Style previously and chronicles the style of the Ocean’s film series on his excellent Instagram account, @oceansographer.
Hugh Jackman as Logan, a.k.a. Wolverine, in X-Men (2000)
Vitals
Hugh Jackman as Logan a.k.a Wolverine, itinerant and amnesiac cage-fighter and part-time superhero
Northern Alberta, Canada and Westchester, New York, in the not too distant future
Film: X-Men
Release Date: July 15, 2000
Director: Bryan Singer
Costume Designer: Louise Mingenbach
Background
Happy Birthday to Hugh Jackman! The charismatic Australian song-and-dance man turns 54 today.
Earlier this month, Ryan Reynolds broke the Internet with his announcement that Hugh would be strapping on the claws to play Wolverine once more in Deadpool III. Despite his repeated declarations that James Mangold’s Logan in 2017 would be his last dance with the character, it seems he just couldn’t say no to the prospect of reprising the role that made him famous. Continue reading
The Misfits: Marilyn Monroe’s Denim Western Wear
Marilyn Monroe as Roslyn Tabor in The Misfits (1961). Photo by Eve Arnold.
Vitals
Marilyn Monroe as Roslyn Tabor, recent divorcée
Nevada desert, Summer 1960
Film: The Misfits
Release Date: February 1, 1961
Director: John Huston
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Sixty years after her fatal overdose on August 4, 1962, Marilyn Monroe remains a major figure in pop culture, the subject of countless books, art, music, and movies, including Blonde, scheduled to release next month starring Ana de Armas as the actress. Monroe’s final completed film was John Huston’s The Misfits, an elegiac contemporary Western written by her then-husband Arthur Miller that afforded the actress with the opportunity to provide her arguably best performance, which earned her the 1961 Golden Globe Award for “World Film Favorite” despite her own reported contempt for her performance. Continue reading
Harrison Ford in American Graffiti
Harrison Ford as Bob Falfa in American Graffiti (1973)
Vitals
Harrison Ford as Bob Falfa, confident street cruiser
Modesto, California, Summer 1962
Film: American Graffiti
Release Date: August 11, 1973
Director: George Lucas
Costume Designer: Aggie Guerard Rodgers
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Happy 80th birthday, Harrison Ford! Before his star-making performances as Han Solo and Indiana Jones, one of the Chicago-born actor’s most visible roles was in American Graffiti, George Lucas’ nostalgic coming-of-age comedy set one late summer night in 1962.
American Graffiti primarily centers around four friends and recent high school graduates enjoying one last Saturday night of R&R… rock ‘n roll and road races. Among the four, the ’32 Ford-driving John Milner (Paul Le Mat) is arguably the most prolific racer, called out when one of his fellow hot-rodding friends warns him that “there’s a very wicked ’55 Chevy looking for you.” Continue reading
Dennis Hopper in Easy Rider
Dennis Hopper as Billy in Easy Rider (1969)
Vitals
Dennis Hopper as Billy, cowboy-styled biker and cocaine smuggler
Across the southern United States from Los Angeles through Louisiana, February 1968
Film: Easy Rider
Release Date: July 14, 1969
Director: Dennis Hopper
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
The late Dennis Hopper was born 86 years ago today on May 17, 1936. The iconoclastic filmmaker had been acting on screen since the ’50s before he made his directorial debut with the groundbreaking Easy Rider.
Filmed early in 1968 but not released until the tumultuous summer of ’69, Easy Rider had been conceptualized by Hopper with screenwriter Terry Southern and fellow actor Peter Fonda, who would join Hopper on screen as the pair of freedom-loving bikers we follow across the country following a lucrative cocaine sale. There’s plenty more drug use along the way, from a few LSD tabs scored from a fellow traveler to introducing the wild-eyed lawyer George Hanson (Jack Nicholson) to marijuana, but the substances are secondary as Easy Rider allegorizes the death—or, perhaps, the contemporary redefinition—of the American dream. Continue reading