Tagged: Desert Boots

Terry-Thomas in It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World

Terry-Thomas as J. Algernon Hawthorne in It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963)

Vitals

Terry-Thomas as J. Algernon Hawthorne, British Army officer and rare plant collector

Southern California, Summer 1962

Film: It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
Release Date: November 7, 1963
Director: Stanley Kramer
Costume Designer: Bill Thomas

Background

Today wraps up Car Week and a mini-celebration of the 60th anniversary year of the star-studded madcap road comedy It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, following on Wednesday’s post by commemorating yet another star’s birthday. Although many sources list July 10 as his birthday, Terry-Thomas himself listed July 14, 1911 as his birthday in his autobiographies, so we’ll celebrate the famously gap-toothed English character actor today by way of his Jeep-driving Lieutenant Colonel J. Algernon Hawthorne. Continue reading

Jimmy Stewart in The Flight of the Phoenix

James Stewart as Frank Towns in The Flight of the Phoenix (1965)

Vitals

James Stewart as Frank Towns, experienced cargo pilot and war veteran

Libyan desert, Spring 1965

Film: The Flight of the Phoenix
Release Date: December 15, 1965
Director: Robert Aldrich
Costume Designer: Norma Koch

Background

James Maitland Stewart had to fly. His earliest memories of flight involved colorful covers of Literary Digest depicting the Great War, then in progress, and the incredible use of air power by both sides. Jim tacked up each magazine cover on the wall in his bedroom. “Airplanes were the last thing I thought of every night and the first thing I thought of every morning,” he would say as an adult.

— Robert Matzen, Mission: Jimmy Stewart and the Fight for Europe, Chapter 1

Born 115 years ago today on May 20, 1908, Jimmy Stewart had a lifelong passion for flight that followed him through his career, from the model airplane he lovingly constructed with Henry Fonda during their salad days on Broadway through his celebrated service flying dangerous combat missions as a U.S. Army Air Forces officer during World War II. Reticent to discuss his service after the war, Stewart flew B-24 Liberators on 20 combat missions over Europe and, by war’s end, was one of only a handful of Americans to rise from the rank of private to colonel in only four years.

Aviation continued to be a theme of Stewart’s life during his postwar film career, often starring in flight-themed dramas like No Highway in the Sky (1951), The Glenn Miller Story (1954), Strategic Air Command (1955), and The Spirit of St. Louis (1957), playing famed aviator Charles Lindbergh.

One of the last—and perhaps best—of Stewart’s aviation-centered films is The Flight of the Phoenix, Robert Aldrich’s 1965 survival drama based on Elleston Trevor’s novel of the same name. Stewart plays civilian cargo pilot Frank Towns, described by his navigator Lew Moran (Richard Attenborough) as “one of the few really great pilots left in this push-button world of yours.” Continue reading

Bugsy’s Houndstooth Sports Coat

Warren Beatty as Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel in Bugsy (1991)

Warren Beatty as Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel in Bugsy (1991)

Vitals

Warren Beatty as Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel, “celebrity” gangster and casino builder

Los Angeles, Spring 1945 and Las Vegas, Fall 1946

Film: Bugsy
Release Date: December 13, 1991
Director: Barry Levinson
Costume Designer: Albert Wolsky

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

Everybody deserves a fresh start once in a while.

At least three times while wearing this outfit alone, Warren Beatty’s Bugsy Siegel pontificates on the power of fresh starts. While the real Siegel may not have been quite as forgiving, Beatty plays him with the actor’s characteristic charisma to better communicate to audiences how a violent gangster could have charmed the stars of “golden age” Hollywood.

Continue reading

New Girl – Nick’s Holiday Party Tweed for “The 23rd”

Jake Johnson as Nick Miller on New Girl (Episode 1.09: "The 23rd")

Jake Johnson as Nick Miller on New Girl (Episode 1.09: “The 23rd”)

Vitals

Jake Johnson as Nick Miller, grumpy bartender

Los Angeles, December 23, 2010 (“Christmas Eve Eve“)

Series: New Girl
Episode: “The 23rd” (Episode 1.09)
Air Date: December 13, 2011
Director: Jason Winer
Creator: Elizabeth Meriwether
Costume Designer: Debra McGuire

Background

Nick: All dressed up. What, are you in The Temptations tonight?
Winston: That’s so cute, Nick, you’re intimidated by my style. But one of us is walking out of here with a job.

Nick Miller is easily the least fashion-conscious of the dwellers of the 4D loft. Between Winston Bishop (Lamorne Morris) with his colorful printed “bird shirts” to the materialistic Schmidt (Max Greenfield), who is obsessive about his tailoring and whose heart could be won over by a pair of gray Calvin Klein slacks, Nick is the most content to roll out of bed in a stained henley shirt and unwashed sweatpants before heading straight to work at his bar. Continue reading

Bugsy’s Checked Jacket and Mint Green Shirt

Warren Beatty as Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel in Bugsy (1991)

Warren Beatty as Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel in Bugsy (1991)

Vitals

Warren Beatty as Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel, “celebrity” gangster and casino builder

Los Angeles, Spring 1945

Film: Bugsy
Release Date: December 13, 1991
Director: Barry Levinson
Costume Designer: Albert Wolsky

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

BAMF Style goes green for the first #MafiaMonday after St. Patrick’s Day!

We catch up with Ben “don’t-call-him-Bugsy” Siegel in the middle of realizing his dream – the Flamingo Hotel and Casino and, by extension, Las Vegas. Continue reading

The Rum Diary: Gabardine Windbreaker and Chinos

Johnny Depp as Paul Kemp in The Rum Diary (2011)

Johnny Depp as Paul Kemp in The Rum Diary (2011)

Vitals

Johnny Depp as Paul Kemp, expatriate American journalist

San Juan, Puerto Rico, Summer 1960

Film: The Rum Diary
Release Date: October 28, 2011
Director: Bruce Robinson
Costume Designer: Colleen Atwood

Background

“In summary, this airman, although talented, will not be guided by policy,” heralded Hunter S. Thompson’s honorable discharge from the U.S. Air Force in November 1957, a considerable understatement given the iconic writer’s eventual symbolic anti-authoritarian status.

Following his discharge, Thompson tried a few journalistic stints in New York but was fired by Time (for insubordination) and the Middletown Daily Record (for damaging a candy machine) and moved to Puerto Rico in 1960.

Having failed to procure a position with the San Juan Star, Thompson wrote for the El Sportivo sporting magazine… though it folded quickly after his arrival. His experiences in San Juan formed the basis of The Rum Diary, a novel that he penned shortly after his return to the U.S. the following year, although it wasn’t published for more than three decades.

While it would be inaccurate to describe The Rum Diary as a strict roman à clef, its morose, restless narrator Paul Kemp is clearly modeled on Thompson himself, and Thompson’s friend Johnny Depp was naturally tapped to play the role in the film adaptation. Continue reading

Harry’s Suede Shirt-Jacket in The Enforcer

Clint Eastwood as "Dirty Harry" Callahan in The Enforcer (1976)

Clint Eastwood as “Dirty Harry” Callahan in The Enforcer (1976)

Vitals

Clint Eastwood as Insp. Harry Callahan, reassigned San Francisco inspector

San Francisco, Summer 1976

Film: The Enforcer
Release Date: December 22, 1976
Director: James Fargo
Costume Designer: Glenn Wright

Background

After all the romance of Valentine’s Day, Clint Eastwood is bringing some toughness back to BAMF Style as one of his most iconic characters, “Dirty Harry” Callahan. The third film in the “Dirty Harry” series, The Enforcer, finds Harry teamed up with tough rookie detective Kate Moore (Tyne Daly) against a gang of militant revolutionaries.

Harry begins the final day of his investigation roughing up a massage parlor, noting that it’s the sort of place where “for $75, you get to make it with a rubber dolly.” A tip leads him to a gunfight in a church which ultimately leads to a gunfight at Alcatraz. Continue reading

Bond’s Blue Hawaiian Shirt in Die Another Day

Pierce Brosnan as James Bond in Die Another Day (2002)

Pierce Brosnan as James Bond in Die Another Day (2002)

Vitals

Pierce Brosnan as James Bond, suave semi-rogue British government agent and “ornithologist”

Havana, Fall 2002

Film: Die Another Day
Release Date: November 20, 2002
Director: Lee Tamahori
Costume Designer: Lindy Hemming

Background

For this 00-7th of June, BAMF Style is honoring a request from Troy Swezey to analyze how the world’s least secret secret agent dresses casually for a warm afternoon under the Cuban sun.

After his release from North Korean captivity and subsequent escape from British medical captivity, James Bond follows a lead to Havana to get some answers. While there, he meets fellow badass Giacinta “Jinx” Johnson (Halle Berry), an American NSA agent who is able to meets him toe-to-toe when it comes to trading liquor shots, gunshots, or innuendo-laced wit. Continue reading

Bond Style – Bolivian Desert Combat in Quantum of Solace

Daniel Craig as a dirty James Bond in Quantum of Solace.

Daniel Craig as a dirty James Bond in Quantum of Solace (2008).

Vitals

Daniel Craig as James Bond, rogue British secret agent

Bolivia, Summer 2008

Film: Quantum of Solace
Release Date: October 31, 2008
Director: Marc Forster
Costume Designer: Louise Frogley

Background

Recently, I covered Butch Cassidy’s attire while in Bolivia. Exactly 100 years later, James Bond was wreaking havoc on the country in Quantum of Solace. Of course, real Bond fans know that the film’s version of “Bolivia” was actually filmed in the Atacama Desert in Chile.

Some have complained about Bond wearing jeans for these scenes, but it’s actually very utilitarian and – come on already, people – this was 2008, not 1958. With some jeans costing thousands of dollars, albeit impractically, denim has come a long way from being the domain of the laborer. Continue reading

Vintage Hank Moody in NYC: The “In Utero” Flashback on Californication

David Duchovny and Natascha McElhone in New York City while filming

David Duchovny and Natascha McElhone in New York City while filming “In Utero”, the tenth episode of Californication‘s second season.

Vitals

David Duchovny as Hank Moody, aspiring novelist

New York City, April 1994

Series: Californication
Episode: “In Utero” (Episode 2.10)
Air Date: November 30, 2008
Director: David Von Ancken
Costume Designer: Peggy A. Schnitzer

Background

“In Utero” (2.10) is often cited as a favorite episode among Californication fans. It serves as an origins episode for Hank and Karen, popular in this era of reboots including Batman Begins and Casino Royale. Here, we see Hank as a young, struggling writer, having just met – and subsequently knocked up – Karen. The two are anything but ready for an unexpected pregnancy, as they’re both middling in their respective careers and dating other people. Adding to the couple’s problems, news has just broken of Kurt Cobain’s death by suicide, thus dating the episode’s setting to April 8, 1994.

Of course, the baby in question turns out to be Becca, the center of Hank’s life as we know it. Given that this is the artistic center of New York City in 1994, Hank and Karen are both younger, grungier versions of themselves. Continue reading