Tagged: FN Browning Model 1910
The V.I.P.s: Richard Burton’s Astrakhan Coat and Holiday Red
Richard Burton as Paul Andros in The V.I.P.s (1963)
Vitals
Richard Burton as Paul Andros, millionaire industrialist
Heathrow Airport, London, Winter 1963
Film: The V.I.P.s
(also released as Hotel International)
Release Date: September 19, 1963
Director: Anthony Asquith
Costume Designer: Pierre Cardin (uncredited)
Background
As December continues and plans are being made to travel home for the holidays, we’d be well-served to recall Anthony Asquith’s paean to the Jet Age, The V.I.P.s, a lavish and star-studded drama released five years after more passengers were making their transatlantic crossings by air than by sea.
Also known as Hotel International, The V.I.P.s was released in September 1963, just three months after Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton scandalized the silver screen in Cleopatra. Though Cleopatra met with polarizing reviews, the buzz around Taylor and Burton’s illicit affair generated enough buzz about their subsequent cinematic collaboration, though The V.I.P.s was a relatively tame effort when compared to the Egyptian epic that had been the most expensive movie ever made at the time of its release.
Bond’s Navy Blazer and Sunbeam Alpine in Dr. No
Sean Connery as James Bond in Dr. No (1962).
Vitals
Sean Connery as James Bond, suave British government agent
Jamaica, Summer 1962
Film: Dr. No
Release Date: October 5, 1962
Director: Terence Young
Wardrobe Master: John Brady
Tailor: Anthony Sinclair
Background
Yesterday’s Car Week post focused on a man on an assignment in the Caribbean wearing a blue sport coat and slacks, speeding a sporty roadster along the coast in the early 1960s. Today’s post is going to be exactly the same thing but different.
All kidding aside, plenty of the elements people know and love from James Bond films can be found in the very first movie, 1962’s Dr. No. Here, we see Bond sharply attired as he downs vodka martinis, shoots bad guys, beds exotic beauties, and gets into a car chase… all between cringe-worthy quips and double entendres. Today, I’ll be focusing on the very first James Bond “action car” seen on screen, a blue Sunbeam Alpine roadster. Continue reading