Tagged: Gene Hackman
Night Moves: Gene Hackman’s Blue Lacoste Shirt
Gene Hackman as Harry Moseby in Night Moves (1975)
Vitals
Gene Hackman as Harry Moseby, private detective and former professional football player
Florida Keys, Fall 1973
Film: Night Moves
Release Date: June 11, 1975
Director: Arthur Penn
Costumer: Arnie Lipin
Costume Supervisor: Rita Riggs
Background
I love sweaty ’70s movies during the summer, especially when our star is rocking a superb soup-strainer.
Released 50 years ago in June 1975, the dolorous detective thriller Night Moves features the marvelous mustached private eye Harry Moseby (Gene Hackman) dressed in array of casual attire, from super-trendy safari shirts and suede shirt-jacs to more timeless attire like a smart tweed sports coat and a classic Lacoste tennis shirt to beat the heat when his work takes him to the Florida Keys. Continue reading
Night Moves: Gene Hackman’s Ivory Levi’s Shirt-Jacket
Gene Hackman as Harry Moseby in Night Moves (1975)
Vitals
Gene Hackman as Harry Moseby, private detective and former professional football player
Florida Keys, Fall 1973
Film: Night Moves
Release Date: June 11, 1975
Director: Arthur Penn
Costumer: Arnie Lipin
Costume Supervisor: Rita Riggs
Background
Arthur Penn’s neo-noir Night Moves premiered 50 years ago today on June 11, 1975, starring the late Gene Hackman as football pro-turned-private eye Harry Moseby, one of the most effective roles in demonstrating Hackman’s talent for balancing traditional masculinity with emotional depth and vulnerability.
Harry was recently hired by a washed-up Hollywood starlet to find her 16-year-old daughter Delly (Melanie Griffith), whom he eventually traces to the Florida Keys, where she’s living with her stepfather Tom (John Crawford) and his girlfriend Paula (Jennifer Warren) who eventually spends a night with Harry before he returns to L.A.
After a simple runaway case twists into murky layers of smuggling, betrayal, incest, and an increasing body count, Harry takes a late TWA flight back to the Keys—to the resigned dismay of his estranged wife Ellen (Susan Clark). Continue reading
French Connection II: Gene Hackman’s Windowpane Jacket and Aloha Shirt
Gene Hackman as “Popeye” Doyle in French Connection II (1975)
Vitals
Gene Hackman as Jimmy “Popeye” Doyle, gruff NYPD narcotics detective
Marseille, France, Spring 1975
Film: French Connection II
Release Date: May 21, 1975
Director: John Frankenheimer
Costume Designer: Pierre Nourry
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
A lot of people may not even know they made a sequel to The French Connection. And why’s that? Because they didn’t really need to make it. But Gene Hackman’s portrayal of the profane detective “Popeye” Doyle was lightning in a bottle, and the late actor went two for two in bringing Popeye to the screen.
The French Connection‘s director William Friedkin was more reluctant than its star to get involved, citing French Connection II and follow-ups to The Exorcist as “shit… simply made to cash in on the title.” Hackman may have agreed with Hurricane Billy but was admirably never shy about admitting when a movie was simply a “money job,” as he tersely described The Poseidon Adventure to Ben Stiller when the two co-starred in The Royal Tenenbaums.
And so Hackman reprised his Academy Award-winning role for French Connection II, released fifty years ago today on May 21, 1975. The sequel—which indeed does not include the definite article “The” in the title—picks up the action shortly after its predecessor, with NYPD narc Doyle still on the trail of the elusive and urbane drug kingpin Alain Charnier (Fernando Rey), who absconded to his native Marseille after the events of The French Connection. Continue reading
The Conversation: Gene Hackman’s Puppytooth Suit and Raincoat
Gene Hackman as Harry Caul in The Conversation (1974)
Vitals
Gene Hackman as Harry Caul, anxious audio surveillance expert and saxophonist
San Francisco, December 1972
Film: The Conversation
Release Date: April 7, 1974
Director: Francis Ford Coppola
Costume Designer: Aggie Guerard Rodgers
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Released today in 1974, The Conversation featured a characteristically great starring performance from the late Gene Hackman. Hackman stars as San Francisco surveillance specialist Harry Caul, a paranoid loner described by one of his few pals as “the best bugger on the West Coast.”
Director Francis Ford Coppola later shared that, though Hackman initially struggled to connect with the repressed and introspective Caul due to their contrasting personalities, he ultimately came to regard the role as one of his personal favorites. Continue reading
Gene Hackman as Royal Tenenbaum
Gene Hackman as Royal Tenenbaum in The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)
Vitals
Gene Hackman as Royal Tenenbaum, hedonistic patriarch
New York City, Fall to winter 2001
Film: The Royal Tenenbaums
Release Date: December 14, 2001
Director: Wes Anderson
Costume Designer: Karen Patch
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Happy 93rd birthday to Gene Hackman, the versatile two-time Oscar-winning actor born January 30, 1930 in San Bernardino. Hackman’s prolific career began during the “New Hollywood” era with excellent performances in films like Bonnie & Clyde, The French Connection, and The Conversation, with many more hits in the decades to follow. Before he retired from acting in 2004, Hackman delivered one of his most memorable performances as the eponymous estranged patriarch in The Royal Tenenbaums. Continue reading
Night Moves: Gene Hackman’s Brown Suede Jacket
Gene Hackman as Harry Moseby in Night Moves (1975)
Vitals
Gene Hackman as Harry Moseby, private detective and former professional football player
Los Angeles to New Mexico, Fall 1973
Film: Night Moves
Release Date: June 11, 1975
Director: Arthur Penn
Costumer: Arnie Lipin
Costume Supervisor: Rita Riggs
Background
He may wear rollnecks and drive a green ’68 Mustang, but Harry Moseby ain’t no Frank Bullitt. Five years earlier, this type of character may have been styled in the manner of the cooler-than-cool Steve McQueen archetype, but the tumultuous half-decade that passed between the production of Bullitt and Night Moves saw waves of political assassinations, civil unrest, disillusionment in Vietnam, and post-Watergate paranoia that shifted the zeitgeist to a pessimistic cynicism that permeated much of ’70s cinema.
A decade after his career with the Oakland Raiders, Harry Moseby’s best days are well behind him as he continues eking out a living as a shabby Hollywood private eye, entertaining himself by playing chess on the passenger seat of his Mustang. Continue reading
The Poseidon Adventure: Gene Hackman’s New Year’s Eve Turtleneck
Gene Hackman as Reverend Frank Scott in The Poseidon Adventure (1972)
Vitals
Gene Hackman as Reverend Frank Scott, fiery, independent-minded minister
aboard the S.S. Poseidon en route Athens, New Year’s Eve 1972
Film: The Poseidon Adventure
Release Date: December 12, 1972
Director: Ronald Neame
Costume Designer: Paul Zastupnevich
Background
Happy New Year’s Eve… and #TurtleneckThursday? After this disaster of a year, I can’t think of a better movie to bid good riddance to 2020 than one of the most famous disaster movies of the ’70s.
Produced by “Master of Disaster” Irwin Allen, The Poseidon Adventure followed the Airport template of a star-studded cast fighting to survive a perilous disaster while tackling their own personal issues. While Airport had originated the disaster film boom of the ’70s, The Poseidon Adventure proved its enduring box office power, recouping more than 25 times its initial budget and paving the way for a decade’s worth of similar stories set amidst tropical storms, within fire-prone skyscrapers, and even aboard a famous airship.
Unlike the ill-fated Titanic which sank during its maiden voyage in 1912, the fictional S.S. Poseidon—partially filmed aboard the decommissioned Cunard liner RMS Queen Mary—is making one last run before it will be scrapped in Athens. The cautious Captain Harrison (Leslie Nielsen) finds his authority challenged by the ship’s aggressive owner Linarcos (Fred Sadoff), establishing the dangers of hubris that would remain a consistent theme throughout the disaster sub-genre.
Down in the ship’s elegant dining room, the Poseidon‘s glamorous passengers are celebrating New Year’s Eve amidst their own personal dramas or crises of faith. Seated at the captain’s table are New York detective Mike Rogo (Ernest Borgnine), his ex-prostitute wife Linda (Stella Stevens), and Reverend Frank Scott (Gene Hackman), a controversial cleric yet popular passenger who had captivated a congregation earlier that day with his religious philosophy said to be based on director Ronald Neame’s own hybrid of Christian, Buddhist, and New Age spiritualist beliefs.
While the champagne pops and auld acquaintances be forgot, the crew learns of a massive undersea earthquake that results in a rare wave that strikes the ship broadside, capsizing the S.S. Poseidon and quite literally turning the lives of its passengers upside down.
2020, as summed up by The Poseidon Adventure.
We’re floating upside-down… we’ve gotta climb up.
Gene Hackman’s Ranch Suit in Prime Cut
Gene Hackman as Mary Ann in Prime Cut (1972)
Vitals
Gene Hackman as Mary Ann, brutal “meat mobster”
Kansas City, summer 1972
Film: Prime Cut
Release Date: June 28, 1972
Director: Michael Ritchie
Costume Designer: Patricia Norris
Background
Today, March 10, is officially National Ranch Dressing Day. What could possibly be the relevance to menswear, you ask? Well, I managed to find a connection for National Potato Day so let’s use today’s observance to explore and celebrate that oft-tragic American phenomenon, the ranch suit.
The French Connection – Popeye Doyle’s Overcoat and Gray Suit
Gene Hackman as “Popeye” Doyle in The French Connection (1971). Over his right shoulder is Eddie Egan, the real-life inspiration for the character.
Vitals
Gene Hackman as Jimmy “Popeye” Doyle, gruff NYPD narcotics detective
New York City, December 1970
Film: The French Connection
Release Date: October 9, 1971
Director: William Friedkin
Costume Designer: Joseph Fretwell III
Background
Happy birthday to Gene Hackman, born this day in 1930! This year’s Academy Award nominations were announced last week, so today’s post explores the birthday boy’s first Oscar-winning performance as NYPD narc “Popeye” Doyle in The French Connection.
Eddie Egan was a real detective with the NYPD who, with his partner Sonny Grosso, was instrumental in a 1961 investigation that dissolved a massive heroin ring. The case would form the basis of a 1969 non-fiction book by Robin Moore that was swiftly adapted into the fictionalized film The French Connection. Gene Hackman, who by now had two Oscar nominations to his credit, was tapped for the role of “Popeye” Doyle, the profane detective modeled after Egan, while Egan himself would serve as technical advisor and play the smaller role of Walt Simonson, Doyle’s supervisor. Continue reading
Gene Hackman’s Tweed Suit as Buck Barrow
Gene Hackman and Estelle Parsons as Buck and Blanche Barrow in Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
Vitals
Gene Hackman as “Buck” Barrow, bank robber, ex-convict, and family man
Texas, May 1933
Film: Bonnie & Clyde
Release Date: August 13, 1967
Director: Arthur Penn
Costume Designer: Theadora Van Runkle
Background
Happy birthday to Gene Hackman, who turns 86 years old today!
Bonnie and Clyde marked the first major role for Hackman, who had spent much of the ’60s as a struggling actor who shared rooms with fellow struggling actors Dustin Hoffman and Robert Duvall. 1967 turned out to be a banner year for the friends and roommates, earning Hackman and Hoffman their first Academy Award nominations.
Hackman brings an easygoing charm to the role of the more famous Clyde’s older brother Buck, and the film gets many of the “on paper” details right about Buck. As Clyde’s older brother, he had more experience tangling with the law and spent the first few months of Clyde’s criminal career in the Texas state prison. He had escaped once, but—as Hackman tells Warren Beatty’s Clyde—it was his new wife Blanche that talked him into returning to prison to serve out the rest of his sentence, and he would be pardoned 15 months later. Buck and Blanche journeyed to visit Bonnie and Clyde, ostensibly for a reunion and possibly for Buck to try and talk Clyde into following his good example. Of course, the murder of two Joplin policemen during this reunion meant Buck would be wanted again as well, and the brothers led the motley “Barrow Gang” in a string of small-town stickups and kidnappings over the next three months. Continue reading