Tagged: Fall
John Wayne’s Blue Cowboy Bib Shirt in The Searchers
John Wayne in The Searchers (1956)
Vitals
John Wayne as Ethan Edwards, obsessive Confederate Army veteran
West Texas and New Mexico Territory, Fall 1868 through 1873
Film: The Searchers
Release Date: May 26, 1956
Director: John Ford
Costume Designer: Charles Arrico (uncredited)
Background
Ten days after its Chicago premiere, John Ford’s Western epic The Searchers was released 70 years ago today on May 26, 1956—which coincided with its star John Wayne’s 49th birthday. Successful upon its release, The Searchers remains considered not just one of the greatest Westerns but also one of the best films of all time, influencing generations of contemporary and future filmmakers including David Lean, George Lucas, Sam Peckinpah, Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, and Wim Wenders. Continue reading
Sterling Hayden’s Four-Pocket Sport Jackets in The Killing
Sterling Hayden in The Killing (1956)
Vitals
Sterling Hayden as Johnny Clay, professional armed robber and ex-convict
Los Angeles, Fall 1955
Film: The Killing
Release Date: May 19, 1956
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Wardrobe Credit: Jack Masters
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Stanley Kubrick’s third directorial feature The Killing arrived in select theaters 70 years ago today on May 19, 1956. The limited release hurt its box office, though it was well-received by critics and even received a BAFTA nomination for Best Film. In addition to establishing Kubrick as a more mainstream talent, it remains a quintessential example of heist film noir, influencing filmmakers like Quentin Tarantino who described his own debut Reservoir Dogs as his own take on The Killing.
Kubrick collaborated with pulp novelist Jim Thompson on the hard-boiled screenplay, adapted from Lionel White’s novel Clean Break. The action centers around recently paroled Johnny Clay (Sterling Hayden), who is already planning his next heist: the two-million-dollar robbery of a thoroughbred racetrack. Johnny’s scrappy gang includes two track employees, a crooked cop, a self-destructive former associate, and a sharpshooter whose job will be to shoot the favored horse and create chaos that distracts from the robbery. Continue reading
Mean Streets: De Niro’s Plaid Jacket and Dobbs Hat as Johnny Boy
Robert De Niro in Mean Streets (1973)
Vitals
Robert De Niro as Johnny Boy Civello, irresponsible mob associate
New York, Fall 1972
Film: Mean Streets
Release Date: October 14, 1973
Director: Martin Scorsese
Wardrobe Credit: Norman Salling
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
“You’ve blogged about this movie, right?” my wife asked me during her first-ever viewing of Mean Streets this weekend. When I responded that of course I have, she nodded and pointed to Robert De Niro swinging a broken pool cue in a bar full of angry mooks, adding “I can tell. This outfit is very you.” And that’s when I realized I needed to quickly rectify my BAMF Style blind spot that had so far overlooked Robert De Niro’s style as the reckless Johnny Boy in director Martin Scorsese’s breakthrough feature.
Heeding his pal John Cassavetes’ advice to make something more personal than his last film (Boxcar Bertha), Scorsese crafted Mean Streets as his own spin on I Vitelloni (1953), drawing on experiences and characters he knew growing up in New York’s Little Italy. He shot the film over 27 days in spring 1973, including seven days on location in New York City—often without permits.
Harvey Keitel led the billing as mob associate Charlie Cappa, whose internal conflict swirls around intense Catholic guilt, his ambitions within his uncle’s organized crime family, and his self-imposed responsibility for the self-destructive Johnny Boy—whose brash attitude doesn’t endear him to the mob loan sharks who are chasing him over his increasing debts to them. Continue reading
Glenn Ford’s Tanker Jacket in Human Desire
Glenn Ford in Human Desire (1954)
Vitals
Glenn Ford as Jeff Warren, railroad engineer and Army veteran
El Reno, Oklahoma, Fall 1953
Film: Human Desire
Release Date: August 6, 1954
Director: Fritz Lang
Costume Designer: Jean Louis (gowns)
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Glenn Ford was born 110 years ago on May 1, 1916. The Quebec-born actor specialized as everymen with a tough side, making him the ideal star in classic film noir like Gilda (1946) and The Big Heat (1953) as well as westerns like 3:10 to Yuma (1957) and the school-set social drama Blackboard Jungle (1955) that featured both “Rock Around the Clock” and a young Sidney Poitier. In addition to being one of the most popular and bankable stars in the United States for a decade, Ford also enlisted in the Marine Corps during World War II and returned to service with a Navy Reserve commission in 1958.
While I always liked Ford’s screen presence which reminds me of my grandfather, the Golden Globe-winning actor’s complicated personal life as a serial womanizer included four marriages that all ended in divorce and—according to his son Peter’s biography—affairs with at least 140 Hollywood actresses, including an on-and-off romance with Gilda co-star Rita Hayworth that lasted four decades. He also recorded all of his home’s phone calls (resulting from a paranoid belief that his first wife Eleanor Powell would discover his frequent infidelity), supported candidates on both sides of the political arena, and was busted for illegally raising 140 white leghorn chickens.
Hardly the best-known from either its stars or director, the solid 1954 film noir Human Desire reteamed Ford with director Fritz Lang and co-star Gloria Grahame one year after their previous collaboration in The Big Heat. Continue reading
Breezy: William Holden’s Shawl-Collar Cardigan
William Holden and Kay Lenz in Breezy (1973)
Vitals
William Holden as Frank Harmon, cynical realtor and “nobody’s fool”
Los Angeles, Fall 1972
Film: Breezy
Release Date: November 18, 1973
Director: Clint Eastwood
Men’s Costumer: Glenn Wright
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Born 108 years ago on April 17, 1918, William Holden was one of the most bankable stars of the 1950s with an Oscar-winning performance in Stalag 17 (1953) as well as roles in enduring classics like Sunset Blvd. (1950), Sabrina (1954), and The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957). After his career struggled through the ’60s, Holden embarked on a comeback as grizzled outlaw leader Pike Bishop in Sam Peckinpah’s violent 1969 western The Wild Bunch, though this didn’t generate as much momentum as the now middle-aged actor had hoped as new stars like Clint Eastwood dominated the scene.
The two actors’ paths would cross by 1972, when Holden was so grateful to be approached for the lead in Eastwood’s upcoming film Breezy that he agreed to star at no salary—accepting only a cut of the profits. (When there turned out to be no profits, even against Breezy‘s modest budget under a million dollars, SAG compelled Eastwood to pay Holden $4,000.)
Eastwood’s friend and frequent collaborator Jo Heims penned Breezy as an age-gap romance with equal parts tenderness and wit. This may strike viewers as a surprisingly sensitive story for Eastwood to direct at this stage in his career, at the time best known for acting in Westerns, war films, and hard-boiled crime stories like Dirty Harry (1971), and with only two directorial credits before it. It’s to Clint’s credit that he not only accepted the assignment to challenge his contemporary screen image but also willingly stepped off screen—save for a brief cameo at Fisherman’s Village—and cast the more age-appropriate Holden in the leading role of the disillusioned divorcee Frank Harmon.
“You know, I’ve been that guy,” Holden reportedly told Eastwood after he was cast. “Yeah, I thought so,” Eastwood replied. Continue reading
Val Kilmer’s Leather Jacket in Top Secret!
Val Kilmer and Lucy Gutteridge in Top Secret! (1984)
Vitals
Val Kilmer as Nick Rivers, American rock star who is not Mel Tormé
East Germany, Fall 1983
Film: Top Secret!
Release Date: June 22, 1984
Directed by: Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, and Jerry Zucker
Costume Designer: Emma Porteous
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Val Kilmer died one year ago today on April 1, 2025 at age 65, following a prolific career demonstrating his versatile talent for action, comedy, and drama across a range of genres. He made his screen debut in 1984 starring in Top Secret!, the Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker team’s follow-up to Airplane! and Police Squad. Filled with ZAZ’s trademark sight gags and wordplay, the movie was conceptualized as a modern spy spoof that blended elements of World War II espionage thrillers with Elvis Presley’s musicals of the 1950s and ’60s.
Even with a nonexistent screen resume before he was cast, Kilmer proved he was ready for the task with his signature dedication: dressed as Elvis for his audition and performing every song for the soundtrack, including the Beach Boys-inspired “Skeet Surfin'” over the opening credits.
Kilmer stars as Nick Rivers, a ’50s-like rockabilly singer whose global stardom seems to even eclipse Stevie Wonder, Linda Ronstadt, and Frank Sinatra on billings. After Leonard Bernstein is unable to attend, Nick is hired by the East German government to perform at the cultural festival that they’re hosting as a diversion from their plan to reunite Germany under totalitarian rule. Already something of a rebel, Nick’s trip grows more complicated as he falls for the mysterious Hillary Flammond (Lucy Gutteridge), a member of the local resistance group. Continue reading
The Sopranos, Season 6: Christopher’s Houndstooth Sports Coat
Michael Imperioli as Christopher Moltisanti on The Sopranos (Episode 6.09: “The Ride”)
Vitals
Michael Imperioli as Christopher Moltisanti, ambitious Mafia captain
New Jersey, Fall 2006
Series: The Sopranos
Episodes:
– “The Ride” (Episode 6.09, dir. Alan Taylor, aired 5/7/2006)
– “Walk Like a Man” (Episode 6.17, dir. Terence Winter, aired 5/6/2007)
Creator: David Chase
Costume Designer: Juliet Polcsa
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
On Michael Imperioli’s 60th birthday, it feels right to look at one of the more matured looks from his acclaimed performance as Christopher Moltisanti. Christopher’s signature style throughout The Sopranos had been track suits and leather jackets, though his ascension through the ranks of the New Jersey underworld brought a more sophisticated style to fit his status. Continue reading
Steve McQueen’s Denim in Baby the Rain Must Fall
Steve McQueen in Baby the Rain Must Fall (1965)
Vitals
Steve McQueen as Henry Thomas, irresponsible musician and ex-convict
Columbus, Texas, Fall 1963
Film: Baby the Rain Must Fall
Release Date: January 23, 1965
Director: Robert Mulligan
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Screen and style icon Steve McQueen was born 96 years ago today on March 24, 1930. After his breakthrough success in The Magnificent Seven (1960), The Great Escape (1963), and the TV series Wanted Dead or Alive, McQueen was plucked out of westerns and war movies into more dramatic fare like Love with the Proper Stranger (1963) and Baby the Rain Must Fall (1965).
Adapted by Horton Foote from his own play The Traveling Lady, the latter film was more aligned with McQueen’s rougher and tougher screen image. He stars as Henry Thomas, a small-time rockabilly singer estranged from his wife Georgette (Lee Remick) and their six-year-old daughter Margaret Rose (Kimberley Block), whom he’s never met… until the gals surprise him in his hometown of Columbus, Texas, where he’s recently been released from a jail stint. Continue reading
Bottle Rocket: Owen Wilson’s Cabana Shirt
Owen Wilson in Bottle Rocket (1996)
Vitals
Owen Wilson as Dignan, small-time crook and big-time dreamer
Texas, Fall 1995
Film: Bottle Rocket
Release Date: February 21, 1996
Director: Wes Anderson
Costume Designer: Karen Patch
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Wes Anderson and his friend—and frequent collaborator—Owen Wilson shared their respective directorial and acting debuts thirty years ago today when Bottle Rocket premiered on February 21, 1996.
The director and brothers Owen and Luke Wilson had previously filmed the story as a 13-minute black-and-white short that was screened at the 1993 Sundance Film Festival, where it caught the attention of James L. Brooks, who agreed to finance a full-length version. Brooks’ financial involvement bumped the budget to $5 million, attracting co-star James Caan to bring experience and credibility alongside Anderson and the Wilson brothers’ freshman talent. Continue reading
The Pitt: Dr. Robby’s Season 1 Hoodie, Scrubs, and Seiko
Noah Wyle as Dr. Robby on The Pitt, Episode 1.01: “7:00 A.M.”
Vitals
Noah Wyle as Dr. Michael “Robby” Robinavitch, emergency department attending physician
Pittsburgh, September 2025
Series: The Pitt (Season 1)
Air Dates: January 9, 2025 to April 10, 2025 (Season 1)
Creator: R. Scott Gemmill
Costume Designer: Lyn Paolo
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Happy The Pitt Thursday to all who tune in! Especially here in my hometown of Pittsburgh, we’ve been riding high on the success of The Pitt as it continues through its second season.
Conceived by ER creator R. Scott Gemmill and longtime star Noah Wyle as a way to retool the medical drama three decades later, the series trades the late-’90s urgency of Chicago County General for a 21st century emergency department shaped by COVID’s lingering trauma, internet-fueled health misinformation, staffing shortages, and the growing threats of gun violence. And for locals like me, the show’s Pittsburgh specificity lands with a wink, flavored by local institutions from Primanti’s to Wiener World.
The Pitt is set at the fictional Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Center (PTMC), a composite of Allegheny General Hospital on the North Side (which provided the hospital exteriors) and UPMC, with its unmistakable tower standing against the skyline during the opening titles and the roof-set scenes bookending the first season. The Pitt follows a grayer, steadier Wyle as Dr. Michael Robinavitch (“but everyone calls me Dr. Robby”), senior attending in the ED. Far removed from the fresh-faced John Carter, Robby is a seasoned, pragmatic, and quietly haunted leader who delegates with trust, shoulders blame, and never asks of his team what he wouldn’t do himself. Continue reading
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