Tagged: Derby Shoes
The Sugarland Express: William Atherton’s Getaway Shirt and Jeans
William Atherton and Goldie Hawn in The Sugarland Express (1974)
Vitals
William Atherton as Clovis Michael Poplin, escaped fugitive and petty crook
Texas, Spring 1973
Film: The Sugarland Express
Release Date: March 30, 1974
Director: Steven Spielberg
Costume Design: Robert Ellsworth & James Gilmore (uncredited)
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Released 50 years ago at the end of March 1974, The Sugarland Express was Steven Spielberg’s theatrical debut after a number of well-received television productions like the ABC thriller Duel (1971) and “Murder by the Book,” the first episode of Columbo following two earlier pilots.
The Sugarland Express could be argued as fine companion viewing for fans of The Getaway (1972), Dirty Mary Crazy Larry (1974), and Dog Day Afternoon (1975), with Spielberg’s unique touch propelling this darkly funny piece of ’70s cinema that was also the director’s first collaboration with composer John Williams.
Following a title card that informs us “this film is based upon a real event which happened in Texas in 1969,” the fledgling director’s talent becomes evident from the start as he crafts an engaging and often funny road drama with the simple-minded Clovis Michael Poplin (William Atherton) and his Texas Gold stamp-obsessed wife Lou Jean (Goldie Hawn) representing the real-life Bobby and Ila Fae Dent. Continue reading
Jackie Chan in Rush Hour
Jackie Chan in Rush Hour (1998)
Vitals
Jackie Chan as Yan Naing Lee, athletic Hong Kong Police Force detective
Los Angeles, Fall 1997
Film: Rush Hour
Release Date: September 18, 1998
Director: Brett Ratner
Costume Designer: Sharen Davis
Background
Happy 70th birthday, Jackie Chan! Born April 7, 1954 in Hong Kong, Chan grew to fame for his impressive stunts and his ability to blend such acrobatic fighting with comic timing—a skill exemplified throughout the action-packed 1998 buddy comedy Rush Hour, a DVD that my high school friends must have watched dozens of times.
After a Chinese diplomat’s daughter is kidnapped in Los Angeles, the consul calls on a devoted friend from the Hong Kong Police Force to assist the investigation. Unwilling to accept the foreign detective’s help, the FBI passes Inspector Lee off to the LAPD—specifically the loquacious and foolhardy Detective James Carter (Chris Tucker), who resents being tasked with a babysitting assignment. While the feds follow the investigation by-the-book, Tucker’s unorthodox methods and Lee’s familiarity with those involved give the mismatched pair an advantage as they track down Soo Yung’s kidnappers… much to the FBI’s chagrin. Continue reading
George Clooney’s Charcoal Car Coat in Out of Sight
I’m pleased to again 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 (and beyond!) on his excellent Instagram account, @oceansographer.
George Clooney as Jack Foley in Out of Sight (1998). Photo credit: Merrick Morton.
Vitals
George Clooney as Jack Foley, charismatic bank robber and prison escapee
Detroit, February 3-5, 1999
Film: Out of Sight
Release Date: June 26, 1998
Director: Steven Soderbergh
Costume Designer: Betsy Heimann
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
When people lament that Hollywood studios should go back to making more high quality, mid-budget movies, Out of Sight is exactly what they’re referring to, even if they don’t realize it. Looking back on it today, the film is not only perfectly cast and beautifully shot, but it manages to strike the perfect balance of character and plot, humor and drama, while telling a unique story.
Based on a then-just-published novel by Elmore Leonard, the movie stars George Clooney as lifelong bank robber Jack Foley who breaks out of prison in Florida, getting away by hiding himself in a car trunk with U.S. Marshal Karen Sisco (Jennifer Lopez). With the law hot on his tail, Foley and his best friend Buddy (Ving Rhames) hoof it to Detroit to pull off one last score at the home of two-faced businessman Richard Ripley (Albert Brooks), whom they did time with years earlier. They’re forced to form an uneasy alliance with a far more violent crew led by the murderous “Snoopy” Miller (Don Cheadle). Continue reading
The Sopranos: Tony’s Gray Suit and Shirt in the Pilot Episode
James Gandolfini as Tony Soprano on The Sopranos (Episode 1.01)
Vitals
James Gandolfini as Tony Soprano, New Jersey mob chief
North Caldwell, New Jersey, Summer 1998
Series: The Sopranos
Episode: “The Sopranos” (Episode 1.01)
Air Date: January 10, 1999
Director: David Chase
Creator: David Chase
Costume Designer: Juliet Polcsa
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
The Sopranos premiered 25 years ago tonight, introducing HBO audiences to New Jersey Mafia chief Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), driven to therapy following stress-induced panic attacks as he attempts to balance family and The Family.
“Written and directed by [David] Chase, the pilot is a hybrid slapstick comedy, domestic sitcom, and crime thriller, with dabs of ’70s American New Wave grit,” conclude Matt Zoller Seitz and Alan Sepinwall in The Sopranos Sessions. “The device of putting the hero in therapy lets Chase deliver reams of information about Tony, his crew, his bosses, his family, and their overlaps, along with the points where Tony’s personal and professional distress are inseparable, all without the usual pilot-episode busy work.” Continue reading
The Holdovers: Paul Giamatti’s Tan Corduroy Suit and Sweater Vest
Paul Giamatti in The Holdovers (2023)
Vitals
Paul Giamatti as Paul Hunham, cantankerous boarding school professor
Massachusetts, Winter 1970/1971
Film: The Holdovers
Release Date: October 27, 2023
Director: Alexander Payne
Costume Designer: Wendy Chuck
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
One of my favorite new releases in 2023 is The Holdovers, Alexander Payne’s comedy-drama centered around the skeleton staff chaperoning a group of boarding school students who aren’t going home for the holidays.
Set through the 1970 winter break, The Holdovers centers around the cranky classics professor Paul Hunham (Paul Giamatti), an odorous, lazy-eyed loner whose few friends among the Barton Academy staff include cafeteria manager Mary Lamb (Da’Vine Joy Randolph) and administrator Lydia Crane (Carrie Preston). After four of the five students are given the opportunity to leave Barton days before Christmas, Paul and the remaining student—the bright but troubled Angus Tully (Dominic Sessa)—transform their mutual dislike into a surprising bond.
As many are returning to work and school this week after the holidays, let’s take a deeper look at Paul’s classic Ivy fashions that he wears to bookend the Barton Academy holiday break. Continue reading
Succession: Connor Roy’s Blue Glen Plaid Three-Piece “Rehearsal” Suit
Alan Ruck as Connor Roy on Succession, Episode 4.02 (“Rehearsal”)
Vitals
Alan Ruck as Connor Roy, neglected millionaire heir and failed presidential candidate
New York City, Fall 2020
Series: Succession
Episode: “Rehearsal” (Episode 4.02)
Air Date: April 2, 2023
Director: Becky Martin
Creator: Jesse Armstrong
Costume Designer: Michelle Matland
Background
It’s four in the morning, the end of December…
By Succession‘s timeline, poor Connor Roy (Alan Ruck) still had two months to go until the end of December when crooning Leonard Cohen’s 1971 folk ballad “Famous Blue Raincoat” in the private room of a Midtown Manhattan karaoke lounge. I use the adjective “poor” rather loosely here as Connor’s the kind of guy who can afford to spare millions on a misguided presidential campaign merely to prove his own relevance to himself and his family, but that’s beside the point. Continue reading
Blast of Silence: Allen Baron’s Killer Style
Allen Baron in Blast of Silence (1961)
Vitals
Allen Baron as Frankie Bono, misanthropic Mafia hitman
New York City, Christmas 1959
Film: Blast of Silence
Release Date: March 20, 1961
Director: Allen Baron
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Time to kill. 24 hours to stay faceless in the crowd. Get yourself lost in the city. Lose yourself in the Christmas spirit with the rest of the suckers.
I love Christmas movies—whether bona fide holiday classics like It’s a Wonderful Life, National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, or White Christmas, schlocky made-for-Hallmark holiday romances, or among of the many great movies set at yuletide even when the holiday isn’t central to the plot (looking at you, Die Hard, Lethal Weapon, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, The Thin Man, Three Days of the Condor.)
When the Criterion Channel announced their Holiday Noir lineup this month, I was understandably thrilled. A few, like Lady in the Lake and They Drive By Night, I was already familiar with, but I had long wanted to see Blast of Silence, the stark neo-noir filmed guerilla-style on location in New York City during the 1959 holiday season, following Frankie Bono, a lonely killer working for the Cleveland mob who has returned to the Big Apple for a hit. Blast of Silence was written and directed by Allen Baron, who also starred as Frankie after his first choice—Peter Falk(!)—was hired instead for the similarly themed film Murder, Inc.
Days before Christmas, Frankie Bono steps off the train onto the platform in Manhattan, taking in his hometown through a cloud of cigarette smoke while a choir sings “Silent Night”. “The railroad company makes sure you don’t forget you’re coming to town on Christmas,” Frankie narrates. “It gives you the creeps, but that’s alright! Everyone on the goodwill kit, maybe they’ll leave you alone?” Continue reading
Succession: Cousin Greg’s Pre-Thanksgiving Puffer Vest
Nicholas Braun as “Cousin Greg” Hirsch on Succession, Episode 1.05: “I Went to Market”
Vitals
Nicholas Braun as Greg Hirsch, mild-mannered media conglomerate underling and family outsider
Canada to New York City, The day before Thanksgiving 2018
Series: Succession
Episode: “I Went to Market” (Episode 1.05)
Air Date: July 1, 2018
Director: Adam Arkin
Creator: Jesse Armstrong
Costume Designer: Michelle Matland
Background
Ahead of Thanksgiving tomorrow, one of the things I’m grateful for is that—if Succession had to end this year—the fact that it did so perfectly when the series finale ended in May. To commemorate the final year from this landmark series, let’s flash back to the first season as we joined the Roys for their annual Turkey Day celebration.
From the start of Succession, the anxious Greg Hirsch (Nicholas Braun), aka “Cousin Greg”, aka “Greg the Egg”, initially served as an audience surrogate as we were all collectively introduced to the world of the extremely wealthy and highly dysfunctional Roy family, led by domineering patriarch Logan (Brian Cox) as his children Connor (Alan Ruck), Kendall (Jeremy Strong), Roman (Kieran Culkin), and Siobhan (Sarah Snook) wrested for their withholding father’s favor… and the keys to control his media conglomerate, Waystar RoyCo.
The outsider Greg had never been part of their circle, thrust into it during Logan’s 80th birthday party when his mother—Logan’s niece—dispatched him to New York for a job after he was fired from one of a Waystar amusement park for getting high inside a mascot costume. Within a month, he’s got a job with the company that pays himself just enough that he needn’t sneak food out of the Waystar break room in doggie-doo bags anymore, and he can afford enough gas to power his three-year-old Hyundai to Canada (“with the healthcare and the ennui!”) and back to transport his grandfather Ewan (James Cromwell) to New York for Logan’s Thanksgiving dinner.
Greg: Happy Thanksgiving!
Ewan: Not for the Indians.
Greg: No sir! Nope… that is still true.
Bad Lieutenant: Harvey Keitel’s Gray Nailhead Jacket
Harvey Keitel in Bad Lieutenant (1992)
Vitals
Harvey Keitel as “The Lieutenant”, morally corrupt NYPD lieutenant
New York City, Fall 1991
Film: Bad Lieutenant
Release Date: November 20, 1992
Director: Abel Ferrara
Costume Designer: David Sawaryn
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Released 31 years ago today in 1992, Abel Ferrara’s controversial drama Bad Lieutenant features a fearless, uncompromising performance of a lifetime from Harvey Keitel, who replaced Christopher Walken in the titular role as the unnamed detective who regularly neglects his law enforcement duties in favor of a nightmarish spiral of blow, baseball, and broads. Continue reading
The Last Detail: Jack Nicholson’s Navy Crackerjack Uniform and Pea Coat
Jack Nicholson in The Last Detail (1973)
Vitals
Jack Nicholson as Billy L. “Badass” Buddusky, brash U.S. Navy Signalman 1st Class
Norfolk, Virginia, to Portsmouth Naval Prison, December 1972
Film: The Last Detail
Release Date: December 12, 1973
Director: Hal Ashby
Costume Designer: Theodore R. Parvin
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
On the “birthday” of the U.S. Navy, founded October 13, 1775, check out Cracker Jack Nicholson’s uniform in The Last Detail—released 50 years ago this December.
In the spirit of today also being Friday the 13th, The Last Detail chronicles the story of unlucky Larry Meadows (Randy Quaid), a glum kleptomaniac seaman being transferred to a military prison. The profane Navy lifer Billy Buddusky (Jack Nicholson) and his more even-tempered colleague Richard “Mule” Mulhall (Otis Young) are tasked with accompanying Larry from the Norfolk Naval Investigative Service Office headquarters (“Shit City”) up to Portsmouth Naval Prison, where Larry has been sentenced to an eight-year stretch for the attempted theft of no more than $40 from a polio charity box.
The profane Navy lifer Buddusky conspires with Mule to make the most of their “shit detail”, stretching a two-day trip out to its full allotted week so unlucky Larry can live it up along the way with burgers, beer, and broads. Continue reading