Vitals

Eddie Murphy as Reggie Hammond, smooth criminal

San Francisco, Summer 1982

Film: 48 Hrs.
Release Date: December 8, 1982
Director: Walter Hill
Costume Designer: Marilyn Vance

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

Happy 65th birthday to Eddie Murphy, born April 3, 1961! Following his success as a stand-up comic and on Saturday Night Live, Murphy made his screen debut opposite Nick Nolte in 48 Hrs. Though often considered seminal in the “buddy cop” subgenre, half the duo isn’t even a cop as Murphy plays smooth-talking ex-con Reggie Hammond, reluctantly paired with Nolte’s brusque SFPD Inspector Jack Cates.

With six months left on his three-year sentence for armed robbery, Reggie convinces Jack that his assistance is essential to capture his former associate, the vicious killer Albert Ganz (James Remar). Once Jack secures a temporary 48-hour release for his new partner, it becomes clear that Reggie’s primary goal is a “trim hunt” as he’s constantly on the make. But he eventually relishes working on the other side of the law, taking the lead in rousting a sawdust joint where one of Ganz’s accomplices used to work:

And I want the rest of you cowboys to know something! There’s a new sheriff in town, and his name is Reggie Hammond. Y’all be cool. Right on.

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What’d He Wear?

Jack: This prison give out $400 suits?
Reggie: $957, and I wore this shit in.
Jack: We’re after a killer, not a bunch of hookers.
Reggie: Yeah, well I got a reputation for lookin’ real nice with the ladies, man.

Two years after the designer’s threads turned heads in American Gigolo, Giorgio Armani was again commanding cinematic attention as costume designer Marilyn Vance outfitted Eddie Murphy in an Armani-made Prince of Wales check suit described in the original screenplay as “a beautifully tailored plaid suit.”

Maintaining his rep for style, Reggie’s wool suiting has a black-and-cream glen plaid foundation and a muted red windowpane overcheck. One of Murphy’s screen-matched suits was auctioned by Prop Store, though the original screen-worn gray buttons appear to have been replaced with light-brown buttons at some point during the four decades between the film’s release and the November 2022 auction.

The suit demonstrates many hallmarks of 1980s tailoring, including its double-breasted jacket rigged with low-gorge notch lapels—an uncommon combination that was most popular during the decade. The shoulders are padded, framing a full fit that continues through the ventless skirt. The four buttons are configured in a 4×1 arrangement known as “Kent” style as this was popularized by Prince George, the Duke of Kent. The straight jetted hip pockets are supplemented by a welted breast pocket that Reggie dresses with a pale slate-gray silk pocket square.

The flat-front suit trousers have side pockets, button-through back pockets, and plain-hemmed bottoms. Rising to just below Murphy’s waist, the trousers are held up with a brown leather belt that closes through a small silver-toned square single-prong buckle.

Reggie’s pale-pink cotton shirt nicely coordinates to the muted red overcheck in his suiting. It has a breast pocket, button cuffs, and a narrow collar held neatly in place with a gold clip. This pushes forward the four-in-hand knot of Reggie’s skinny dark indigo tie with its printed pinkish oval medallions against a tonal cross-hatched ground.

Reggie counters the businesslike suiting and fussy shirt collar with flashy all-white loafers—styled with an apron-toe, fixed instep straps, and dark brown leather soles. He wears them with thin mid-gray dress socks which effectively continue his trouser leg-lines into the shoes.

Both Murphy and Nolte wear their watches on their right wrist; while Nolte’s Jack Cates wears an affordable “Blue Thunder” Casio digital piece, Reggie opts for a more luxurious yellow-gold watch on a matching bracelet. Detailed simply with gold baton-style indices, the large white dial fills out the gold-finished TV-shaped case. Often powered by quartz movements, these TV-case watches resembled a hybrid of tonneau- and cushion-cased styles and were popular through the 1970s and ’80s from watchmakers like Bulova, Citizen, Omega, and Seiko. (When Murphy famously played a policeman two years later in Beverly Hills Cop, Axel Foley followed Inspector Cates’ example by wearing a more affordable Casio.)

Two gold rings shine from the last two fingers of Reggie’s right hand: a ridged band on his pinky and a chunkier ring with a row of diamonds on his ring finger.

Murphy would later reprise the role—and the suit—in the 1990 sequel, Another 48 Hrs.

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The Guns

Jack refuses to arm Reggie, but Reggie takes care of that himself—first by knocking out the fleeing Luther Kelly (David Patrick Kelly) and disarming him of his heavy Colt revolver. Luther’s piece follows the aesthetic of most early 20th century Colt revolvers with its free-hanging ejector rod and wooden grips, with the larger frame, wide bore, and front sight’s shape specifically suggesting the Colt New Service revolver.

This heavy-duty double-action revolver was introduced in 1898 and produced in a variety of calibers over nearly a half-century, including .357 Magnum, .44 Special, .44-40 Winchester Center Fire (WCF), .45 Long Colt, and even .45 ACP, with the latter two calibers adopted for U.S. military service as the Model 1909 and M1917, respectively.

After Jack forces him to surrender the New Service, the wily Reggie secures himself another sidearm by slipping a Jennings J-25 from a redneck in a cowboy bar. Made from a zinc alloy, these budget subcompact pistols were a common “Saturday night special” during the 1970s and ’80s.

Jennings Firearms was founded in 1978 by Bruce Jennings, son of Raven Arms founder George Jennings, establishing its lineage among what the ATF described as the “Ring of Fire” of inexpensive firearms manufacturers that would be re-established as Bryco Arms, Jiminez Arms, and ultimately JA Industries over the course of several bankruptcies and legal issues over the following four decades. (For reference, the 14th edition of The Official Gun Digest Book of Guns & Prices suggests that a Model 25—even in “Excellent” condition—would be worth no more than $90. Compare this to $300 for a late model Colt New Service in “Poor” condition!)

That should tell you all you need to know about the type of gun Reggie lifts—and the type of person he nabbed it from. The blowback-operated J-25 was one of the first pistols produced after Jennings Firearms was founded, fed from a six-round magazine of anemic .25 ACP ammunition and ripe with Jennings/Bryco/Jiminez’s characteristic reliability issues. But J-25 buyers typically weren’t serious shooters, instead just needing something concealable that—occasionally—could go bang.

In the era before trusty 9mm subcompacts, the J-25’s strongest asset was its size, measuring less than five inches overall with a 12-ounce weight. Unfortunately for Reggie, the Jennings wasn’t small enough to go unobserved by Jack. Reggie makes the case to keep it but doesn’t appreciate Jack keeping the magazine, so he tosses it down the street in protest.

Third time’s the charm. “I’ll let you in on a little secret, Jack,” Reggie confides before showing Jack the snub-nosed Smith & Wesson Model 19 revolver in his trouser waistband. “Keep it, I’m too tired to argue about that,” Jack responds with resignation.

Twenty years after they pioneered the .357 Magnum cartridge, Smith & Wesson introduced the double-action “.357 Combat Magnum” in 1955 with its heavy, four-inch barrel in response to shooting expert Bill Jordan’s vision for a “peace officer’s dream” handgun. Two years later, this was re-designated the Model 19 when Smith & Wesson changed to a numbered nomenclature. The Model 19 was initially only produced with a four-inch barrel, with six-inch and 2.5-inch barrel options added in the 1960s.

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What to Imbibe

At the country-and-western bar Torchy’s, Reggie requests “preferably some vodka,” which prompts the bartender (Peter Jason) to sternly suggest a Black Russian. Reggie laughs it off, but insists on just “plain old vodka… that’d be nice,” so the bartender pours him a shot of Smirnoff.

He clearly likes vodka, ordering “vodka with a twist” when beginning his tab at Norman’s.

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The Car

We only see him drive it at the very end, but much of the plot revolves around the money stashed in the trunk of Reggie’s dust-covered Intermeccanica 356 A Speedster—a replica of the famous 1950s Porsche model. Frank Reisner founded Intermeccanica in 1959 in Turin, where it initially manufactured automotive tuning kits.

After developing its own designs, Intermeccanica relocated to North America in 1975, when it refocused on replica cars like the Porsche 356 Speedster facsimile first offered the following year. Approximately 600 Speedster replicas were built in California during Reisner’s initial partnership with Tony Baumgartner prior to operations moving to Vancouver, where it continues building Speedster (“S”) and Roadster (“D”) replicas today.

Reggie’s Speedster makes its first appearance when he and Jack surveil Luther retrieving it from three years stored in a parking garage. “I didn’t know you darker people went in for foreign jobs,” Jack comments of the car’s European-informed design.

“Yeah, well, I had no choice, some white asshole bought the last piece-of-shit sky-blue Cadillac,” Reggie retorts in reference to Jack’s dilapidated ’64 Coupe de Ville convertible that they’re following in.

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How to Get the Look

“Look at you, you got a $500 suit on and you’re still a lowlife,” Jack comments. “Yeah, but I look good,” Reggie responds.

• Black-and-cream glen plaid with muted red windowpane overcheck Prince of Wales check suit by Giorgio Armani:
  • Double-breasted jacket with low-gorge notch lapels, 4×1-button front, welted breast pocket, straight jetted hip pockets, 2-button cuffs, and ventless back
  • Flat-front trousers with belt loops, side pockets, button-through back pockets, and plain-hemmed bottoms
• Pale-pink cotton shirt with narrow collar, breast pocket, and button cuffs
  • Gold collar clip
• Dark-indigo tonal cross-hatched tie with pinkish medallion print
• Brown leather belt with silver-toned squared single-prong buckle
• White leather apron-toe fixed-strap loafers
• Mid-gray dress socks
• Gold diamond-studded ring
• Gold ridged pinky ring
• Gold TV-shaped dress watch with white dial and gold bracelet

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Do Yourself a Favor and…

Check out the movie.

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The Quote

I’ve been in prison for three years. My dick gets hard if the wind blows.