Tagged: Greece
The Guns of Navarone: David Niven’s Commando Coats
David Niven as Corporal Miller in The Guns of Navarone (1961)
Vitals
David Niven as Corporal Miller, British Army commando and explosives expert
Aegean Sea, Fall 1943
Film: The Guns of Navarone
Release Date: April 27, 1961
Director: J. Lee Thompson
Wardrobe Credit: Monty M. Berman & Olga Lehmann
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Tomorrow would have been the 110th birthday of David Niven, the Academy Award-winning English actor, author, and decorated war veteran. Instead of looking at one of the famously debonair Niven’s tailored suits or elegant dinner jackets, let’s explore his scrappier seafaring attire as a covert commando in The Guns of Navarone, the 1961 adaptation of Alistair MacLean’s World War II-set adventure novel.
Escape to Athena: Telly Savalas’ Leather Jacket
Telly Savalas as Zeno in Escape to Athena (1979)
Vitals
Telly Savalas as Zeno, Greek resistance leader
“Somewhere in the Greek islands”, Fall 1944
Film: Escape to Athena
Release Date: June 6, 1979
Director: George P. Cosmatos
Costume Designer: Yvonne Blake
Background
Escape to Athena assembles an incredible cast for a World War II adventure comedy in the spirit of The Dirty Dozen… or am I just saying the latter because it co-stars Telly Savalas?
Gregory Peck’s Duffel Coat in The Guns of Navarone
Gregory Peck as Captain Keith Mallory in The Guns of Navarone (1961)
Vitals
Gregory Peck as Captain Keith Mallory, experienced Allied spy and mountain climber
“Navarone Island”, Greece, Fall 1943
Film: The Guns of Navarone
Release Date: April 27, 1961
Director: J. Lee Thompson
Wardrobe Credit: Monty M. Berman & Olga Lehmann
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
After leading his scrappy team of British Army commandos through Greece, Captain Keith Mallory finds himself at the crucial point of his mission, the infiltration of an enemy fortress on the fictional Navarone Island. Mallory and his team had been briefly detained in Mandrakos, where they turned the table on their Nazi captors and stole the German military uniforms to provide them ideal cover as they sneak into the fortress and disable the guns and, ideally, escape with their lives.
Skyfall – Bond “Enjoying Death” in Exile
Daniel Craig as James Bond in Skyfall.
So summer is almost ending. You’re reasonably upset about it. Stretch it out a little longer by going into self-exile. All you need is a leather jacket, a case of booze, and a remote beach.
Vitals
Daniel Craig as James Bond, supposedly dead British secret agent
A remote Greek beach, Spring 2012
Film: Skyfall
Release Date: November 9, 2012
Director: Sam Mendes
Costume Designer: Jany Temime
Background
James Bond is reasonably turned off by the British Secret Service after a rushed order from his boss leaves him with a gunshot wound to the chest that sent him falling from the top of a moving train. Luckily, Bond pulls through but, rather than reporting back to duty, chooses to stay “dead” by indulging himself on a Greek beach with gorgeous women and dangerous drinking games. Continue reading
