Tagged: Gangster

Harvey Keitel’s Navy Chalkstripe Suit in Mean Streets

Harvey Keitel in Mean Streets (1973)

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Harvey Keitel as Charlie Cappa, conflicted Mafia 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 don’t make up for your sins in the church. You do it in the streets. The rest is bullshit and you know it.

This month marks the 50th anniversary of Mean Streets, Martin Scorsese’s breakthrough film that premiered today in 1972 during the New York Film Festival, twelve days before it was widely released.

Though arguably the first of his movies to include many of his now-familiar themes and techniques, Mean Streets was actually Scorsese’s third film, following his debut Who’s That Knocking On My Door? (1967) and Boxcar Bertha (1972), the latter one of the low-budget Depression-era crime flicks produced by Roger Corman’s American International Pictures in the wake of the successful Bonnie and Clyde (1967).

Following John Cassavetes’ encouragement to “write what you know” and incorporate more of his own experiences onto the screen, Scorsese reintroduced himself to the world with the remarkable Mean Streets—essentially his own retelling of I Vitelloni (1953) set among the mobbed-up mooks in Little Italy—viewed through the same unapologetically gritty lens that Scorsese would return to three years later in Taxi Driver (1976).

Unlike the then-recent hit The Godfather (1972), Mean Streets focused not on the dons leading these crime families but rather the street-level hoods whose lives are defined by small-time scores, gambling debts, and long nights. Reuniting with Scorsese after appearing in his directorial debut, Harvey Keitel stars as Mean Streets‘ ostensible protagonist Charlie Cappa. Continue reading

A Bronx Tale: Sonny’s Gray Silk Jacket

Chazz Palminteri in A Bronx Tale (1993)

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Chazz Palminteri as Sonny LoSpecchio, local mob capo

The Bronx, New York, Fall 1960

Film: A Bronx Tale
Release Date: September 29, 1993
Director: Robert De Niro
Costume Designer: Rita Ryack

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

Thirty years ago this week, A Bronx Tale was released in theaters across the United States, two weeks after it premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. This mobbed-up coming-of-age story was adapted from Chazz Palminteri’s autobiographical one-man show of the same name, recalling Palminteri’s own childhood experiences growing up in the Bronx during the 1960s. Continue reading

Peter Falk’s Tuxedo in Machine Gun McCain

Peter Falk as Charlie Adamo in Machine Gun McCain (1969)

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Peter Falk as Charlie Adamo, ambitious gangster

San Francisco and Las Vegas, Summer 1968

Film: Machine Gun McCain
(Italian title: Gli intoccabili)
Release Date:
April 1, 1969
Director: Giuliano Montaldo
Costume Designer: Enrico Sabbatini

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

Born 96 years ago today on September 16, 1927, Peter Falk may be best remembered as the rumpled but indefatigable Lieutenant Columbo (to the extent that his September 16th is also observed as “Wrinkled Raincoat Day”), but Falk spending most of his screen time wearing a handsomely tailored tuxedo in the 1969 Italian crime film Machine Gun McCain illustrates how the Bronx-born actor could clean up well. (And yes, I do plan on writing about Falk’s iconic wardrobe in Columbo someday!)

Released in Italy as Gli intoccabili (translated to “The Untouchables”) and based on the Ovid Demaris novel Candyleg, Machine Gun McCain joins the subject of my prior post as a prime example of poliziottesco, an Italian crime subgenre that emerged during the nation’s violent “Years of Lead” era and typified by corruption, violence, cynicism… and American lead actors. In this case, Falk was joined by his pal and frequent collaborator John Cassavetes, who portrays the eponymous ex-bank robber opposite Falk as gangster Charlie Adamo. Continue reading

The Godfather, Part II: De Niro’s Blue Two-Toned Shirt as Young Vito

Robert De Niro as Vito Corleone in The Godfather, Part II (1974)

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Robert De Niro as Vito Corleone, née Andolini, Sicilian-born immigrant-turned-gangster

New York City, Summer 1917 to Spring 1920

Film: The Godfather Part II
Release Date: December 12, 1974
Director: Francis Ford Coppola
Costume Designer: Theadora Van Runkle

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

On screen legend Robert De Niro’s 80th birthday, today’s post revisits his star-making, Oscar-winning role as the young Vito Corleone in The Godfather, Part II.

Born August 17, 1943, De Niro’s birthday falls the day after the traditional August 16th observance of the Feast of San Rocco—the backdrop of the young Vito’s 1917 assassination of Black Hand extortionist Don Fanucci (Gastone Moschin) that propels his gangland ascension. Continue reading

Boardwalk Empire: Al Capone’s Ivory Suit in 1931

Stephen Graham as Al Capone on Boardwalk Empire (Episode 5.08: “Eldorado”)

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Stephen Graham as Al Capone, infamous mob boss

Chicago, Spring 1931

Series: Boardwalk Empire
Episode: “Eldorado” (Episode 5.08)
Air Date: October 26, 2014
Director: Tim Van Patten
Creator: Terence Winter
Costume Designer: John A. Dunn

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

Happy 50th birthday to Stephen Graham, whose memorable performance as Al Capone on Boardwalk Empire counts among the best cinematic depictions of the real-life Chicago crime lord, who was also been portrayed on screen by Robert De Niro, Ben Gazzara, Tom Hardy, Rod Steiger, Neville Brand, and—curiously, given Al’s stout physique—F. Murray Abraham and Jason Robards.

To the appropriately funereal tune of Vince Giordano and his Nighthawks Orchestra adapting Duke Ellington’s 1930 classic “Mood Indigo”, the Boardwalk Empire series finale spends one last moment with Graham’s Capone as he surrenders himself at a Chicago federal court to face trials for tax evasion and Volstead Act violations. Though the wily Capone had managed to evade consequences for building his criminal empire over the decade, the roaring ’20s are now over and Capone seems aware that it’s all over for him. Continue reading

The Sopranos: The Don Wearing Shorts

James Gandolfini as Tony Soprano on The Sopranos (Episode 2.01: “Guy Walks into a Psychiatrist’s Office…”)

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James Gandolfini as Tony Soprano, New Jersey mob boss

North Caldwell, New Jersey, Summer 1999

Series: The Sopranos
Episode: “Guy Walks into a Psychiatrist’s Office…” (Episode 2.01)
Air Date: January 16, 2000
Director: Allen Coulter
Creator: David Chase
Costume Designer: Juliet Polcsa

Background

“A Don doesn’t wear shorts.” Yeah, yeah, every fan of The Sopranos knows the story… but after the record-breaking heat last month, I think we can all agree that Tony Soprano would get a pash for that as we head into August.

Continue reading

Once Upon a Time in America: Max’s Beige Beachwear

James Woods and Tuesday Weld in Once Upon a Time in America (1984)

James Woods and Tuesday Weld in Once Upon a Time in America (1984)

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James Woods as Max Bercovicz, ambitious mob bootlegger

Miami Beach, Fall 1933

Film: Once Upon a Time in America
Release Date: May 23, 1984
Director: Sergio Leone
Costume Designer: Gabriella Pescucci

Background

Happy first weekend of summer… at least to my fellow readers in the Northern Hemisphere! Today’s post continues embracing sun-friendly resort-wear, this time by way of Sergio Leone’s controversial gangster epic Once Upon a Time in America.

Robert De Niro and James Woods star as Noodles and Max, a pair of gangsters who worked their way up from teenage street hoods to bootleggers viciously ruling the streets of New York in the latter Prohibition era. Between Max’s megalomania and Noodles having spent much of their mob’s formative years in prison, resentments grow between the pair, but the influx of cash is enough to bury any problems… at least until late 1933.

While lazing under the sun with their respective molls in Miami Beach to the dulcet tones of Cole Porter’s “Night and Day”, Noodles learns from the newspaper that they’re about to be “unemployed” with the repeal of the Volstead Act just weeks away. Continue reading

Tony Soprano’s Mint-and-Black Bowling Shirt in “Members Only”

James Gandolfini as Tony Soprano on The Sopranos (Episode 6.01: “Members Only”)

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James Gandolfini as Tony Soprano, New Jersey mob boss

New Jersey, Spring 2006

Series: The Sopranos
Episode: “Members Only” (Episode 6.01)
Air Date: March 12, 2006
Director: Tim Van Patten
Creator: David Chase
Costume Designer: Juliet Polcsa

Background

Ten years ago today, James Gandolfini died suddenly of a heart attack after a day spent sightseeing in Rome with his family. To commemorate this brilliant, influential, and beloved actor’s legacy, I want to revisit the style from his iconic, Emmy-winning performance as Tony Soprano.

The two-part final season of The Sopranos begins with “Members Only”, an episode rich with themes that set in place the series’ endgame—with some even citing its title as a significant clue to the finale episode. Despite its gangster characters and depiction of the underworld, The Sopranos was always far more philosophical than just a show about the mob, reflecting on themes of identity, masculinity, and mental health, or, as Tony so eloquently describes to Dr. Melfi (Lorraine Bracco) during this episode’s therapy session:

The circle jerk of life.

Continue reading

Tony Soprano’s Depressed Dad Duds in “Isabella”

James Gandolfini as Tony Soprano on The Sopranos (Episode 1.12: “Isabella”)

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James Gandolfini as Tony Soprano, depressed New Jersey mob chief

Montclair, New Jersey, Fall 1998

Series: The Sopranos
Episode: “Isabella” (Episode 1.12)
Air Date: March 28, 1999
Director: Allen Coulter
Creator: David Chase
Costume Designer: Juliet Polcsa

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

Since 1949, May has been observed as Mental Health Awareness Month. The first day of May aligning with the informal BAMF Style observance of “Mafia Monday” feels fortuitous as it was The Sopranos that helped me get more in touch with my own anxiety and depression.

I was starting college when I first watched The Sopranos, just months after the final episode stymied audiences when it cut to black. I had long loved movies like GoodfellasCasino, and The Godfather, so I was excited when my roommate introduced me to this acclaimed HBO series centered around the mob… and I was instantly intrigued when it pulled me into a deeper exploration of identity, masculinity, and mental health. Tony’s psychiatric treatment with Dr. Melfi helped me recognize symptoms that I thought were just “normal” sadness as brought me to a point where—with the added help of real-life professionals (of course!)—I was more comfortable with healthy expression than repression.

The twelfth episode, “Isabella”, arguably presents Tony Soprano at his lowest point—heavily medicated to the point of hallucination, barely dressing himself, and hardly enough wits to fight back during an attempted assassination as two gunmen corner him on Bloomfield Avenue in Montclair. Continue reading

The Departed: Jack Nicholson’s IRISH T-Shirt

Jack Nicholson as Frank Costello in The Departed (2006)

Vitals

Jack Nicholson as Francis “Frank” Costello, sadistic Irish-American mob boss

Boston, Spring 2007

Film: The Departed
Release Date: October 6, 2006
Director: Martin Scorsese
Costume Designer: Sandy Powell

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

Happy St. Patrick’s Day, BAMF Style readers!

After decades of cinematic focus on Italian-American culture and its proximity to the Mafia, Martin Scorsese turned his directorial lens onto the Irish mob in The Departed, the film which finally earned the director an Academy Award for Best Director after five previous nominations. Continue reading