Tagged: Gun
Gerald Mohr’s Flight Jacket in Guns, Girls, and Gangsters
Gerald Mohr in Guns, Girls, and Gangsters (1959)
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Gerald Mohr as Chuck Wheeler, slick armed robber and ex-convict
December 1958 to January 1959, Nevada/California state line
Film: Guns, Girls, and Gangsters
Release Date: January 1959
Director: Edward L. Cahn
Men’s Costumes: Einar Bourman
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
“Noirvember” continues with a post from the lean and lurid 1959 noir Guns, Girls, and Gangsters starring Gerald Mohr, a prolific mid-century actor who died 58 years ago today on November 9, 1968. Despite a relatively brief career, Mohr’s acting credits include more than a hundred half-hour radio plays as Raymond Chandler’s iconic private eye Philip Marlowe. Also starring Mamie Van Doren and Lee Van Cleef, Guns, Girls, and Gangsters pits Mohr on the other side of the law as Chuck Wheeler, described by the film’s insipid narration as “known to the police as a slick and ingenious crook.” Continue reading
Something Wild: Ray Liotta in Black Leather and Black Watch Plaid
Ray Liotta in Something Wild (1986)
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Ray Liotta as Ray Sinclair, volatile ex-convict
Pennsylvania to Virginia, June 1986
Film: Something Wild
Release Date: November 7, 1986
Director: Jonathan Demme
Costume Designer: Norma Moriceau
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Three years after his film debut in the 1983 box-office bomb The Lonely Lady, Ray Liotta made a more explosive impact through his Golden Globe-nominated breakthrough performance in Jonathan Demme’s darkly comic thriller Something Wild, released 40 years ago today on November 7, 1986.
The film follows uptight banker Charlie Driggs (Jeff Daniels) on an impulsive adventure with the free-spirited “Lulu” (Melanie Griffith), who seduces him into abandoning his old yuppie life. Their larcenous escapades lead them to her Pennsylvania hometown, where she introduces Charlie to her mother as her husband. They continue this romantic charade that evening at her high school’s ten-year class reunion, where they encounter Lulu’s devilish ex-husband Ray Sinclair (Ray Liotta). Continue reading
Shaft in Africa: Richard Roundtree’s Workwear
Richard Roundtree as John Shaft in Shaft in Africa (1973)
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Richard Roundtree as John Shaft, tough private detective
Ethiopia to Paris, Winter 1972
Film: Shaft in Africa
Release Date: June 20, 1973
Director: John Guillermin
Wardrobe Credit: Frank Balchus
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Who’s the cat that won’t cop out when there’s danger all about? Shaft! (Right on.)
The groundbreaking role of private investigator John Shaft was originated across three films in the early 1970s by Richard Roundtree, who died three years ago today on October 24, 2023. After successful back-to-back installments set in Shaft’s native New York City, the character crossed the ocean for the bluntly titled 1973 sequel Shaft in Africa. Continue reading
Sanchez’s Studded Red Leather Jacket in Bastard, Go and Kill
Franco Lantieri in Bastard, Go and Kill (1971)
Vitals
Franco Lantieri as Sanchez, dangerous Mexican henchman
Mexico, circa 1890
Film: Bastard, Go and Kill
(Italian title: Bastardo… vamos a matar!)
Release Date: March 6, 1971
Director: Gino Mangini
Costume Credit: Teresa Miccinelli (credited as seamstress)
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Like so many new parents, I always have plenty of time on my hands to idle away by watching movies I know little about. For those who recognized the sarcasm in that last sentence, you’ll also recognize what a gamble it was when I decided to spend just over an hour with the little-known 1971 Spaghetti Western Bastard, Go and Kill, knowing little about it other than it was called Bastard, Go and Kill and that some guy wore a sick red leather jacket in it.
Said guy turned out to be Franco Lantieri—a Sicilian actor who bears quite a resemblance to Gian Maria Volonté (from the first two films of Sergio Leone’s “Dollars trilogy”)—in the supporting role of Sanchez. Sanchez serves as a henchman for ruthless Mexican landowner Don Felipe Morena (Furio Meniconi), often placing him at odds against the wily, mischievous Chaco (George Eastman). While hardly among the best Spaghetti Westerns, Sanchez’s style alone made Bastard, Go and Kill worth the fistful of minutes I spent watching it earlier this year. Continue reading
Wild at Heart: Nicolas Cage’s Snakeskin Jacket as Sailor Ripley
Nicolas Cage as Sailor Ripley in Wild at Heart (1990)
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Nicolas Cage as Sailor Ripley, an A #1-certified manslaughterer who just broke parole
Cape Fear to Texas via New Orleans, Fall 1989
Film: Wild at Heart
Release Date: August 17, 1990
Director: David Lynch
Costume Designer: Amy Stofsky
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
This week continues to explore unconventional style from David Lynch movies with a long-overdue look at Nic Cage’s snakeskin jacket as the swaggering Sailor Ripley in Wild at Heart, Lynch’s darkly comic adaptation of Barry Gifford’s 1989 novel of the same name. The film premiered at the 1990 Cannes Film Festival where it garnered some controversy for winning the Palme d’Or, three months prior to its wider North American release in August 1990.
Specifically considered for the role after Lynch read Gifford’s novel, Cage described Sailor as “a kind of romantic Southern outlaw,” reunited with his girlfriend Lula Fortune (Laura Dern) after spending 22 months and 18 days in the Pee Dee Correctional Institution for fatally defending himself—and Lula’s honor—against an attacker hired by Lula’s domineering mama Marietta (Dern’s real-life mother Diane Ladd) after Sailor spurned her drunken advances. Two years has done little to dampen Marietta’s dislike for Sailor, who again sends paid killers on Sailor’s trail as he and Lula flee Cape Fear on their way west to sunny California. Continue reading
The Sopranos: Paulie Walnuts’ Black-and-Blue Givenchy Tracksuit
Tony Sirico as “Paulie Walnuts” Gualtieri on The Sopranos (Episode 1.13: “I Dream of Jeannie Cusamano”)
Vitals
Tony Sirico as “Paulie Walnuts” Gualtieri, mob enforcer and Army veteran
New Jersey, Fall 1998
Series: The Sopranos
Episode: “I Dream of Jeannie Cusamano” (Episode 1.13)
Air Date: April 4, 1999
Director: John Patterson
Creator: David Chase
Costume Designer: Juliet Polcsa
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
One of my closest friends recently started watching The Sopranos for the first time, and our conversations as she makes her way through the first season inspired me to revisit the signature style of my all-time favorite series. Her progress toward the season finale reminded me of one of my favorite sequences, balancing the show’s casual brutality with equally casual absurdity.
After a season spent making life difficult—and more obnoxious—for New Jersey mob boss Tony Soprano, Uncle Junior’s scuzzy consigliere Mikey Palmice (Al Sapienza) finds his morning jog turned into a literal run for his life as Soprano enforcers Paulie Walnuts (Tony Sirico) and Christopher Moltisanti (Michael Imperoli) chase him through the autumnal suburban woods. Peppered with fatal 9mm rounds, Mikey isn’t the only casualty of the aftenroon as poor Paulie also comes away from the hit with a mild case of poison ivy. Continue reading
Cliff Robertson as Cole Younger in The Great Northfield, Minnesota Raid
Cliff Robertson as Cole Younger in The Great Northfield, Minnesota Raid (1972)
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Cliff Robertson as Cole Younger, infamous bandit gang co-leader and ex-Confederate guerrilla
Northfield, Minnesota, September 1876
Film: The Great Northfield, Minnesota Raid
Release Date: June 14, 1972
Director: Philip Kaufman
Costume Designer: Helen Colvig
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
150 years ago today, the James-Younger Gang further bloodied its infamous history when eight bandits outfitted with matching beige dusters and Winchester rifles rode into Northfield, Minnesota, intending to rob the First National Bank… but the small farm town fought back, arming themselves from hardware stores and sending the six surviving—and badly wounded—bandits fleeing with far more lead in their bodies than loot in their sacks. Two weeks later, only Frank and Jesse James remained at large after the three wounded Younger brothers were captured and another gang member killed.
The gang’s violent failure in Northfield marked the beginning of Jesse James’ downfall as the wild west’s arguably first outlaw king. Six years later, Jesse was betrayed and killed by his youngest recruit, Bob Ford, prompting his weary older brother Frank to ultimately surrender. Cole Younger and his brothers Bob and Jim would continue to languish in prison, though only Cole and Jim survived to be paroled in July 1901 as Bob died of tuberculosis more than a decade earlier. Jim committed suicide fifteen months after gaining his freedom, leaving Cole the lone surviving Younger. Continue reading
Deadwood: Timothy Olyphant as Seth Bullock
Timothy Olyphant as Seth Bullock on the first season of Deadwood.
Vitals
Timothy Olyphant as Seth Bullock, taciturn Canadian-born lawman and hardware store owner
Deadwood, Summer 1876 to 1877
Series: Deadwood
Air Dates: March 21, 2004 to August 27, 2006
Creator: David Milch
Costume Designer: Janie Bryant
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
One of my favorite shows of all time, Deadwood aired its final episode 20 years ago tonight on August 27, 2006, shot down in its prime by HBO before series creator David Milch could fully execute his vision. Milch micro-lensed his poetically profane reflection on civilization through the real-life settlement of Deadwood, from its rugged origins as a lawless frontier mining camp to an incorporated town in Dakota Territory within a year. While Deadwood frames its narrative with actual figures and events, the series dramatizes and fictionalizes when needed to serve the story’s greater impact.
Though arguably an ensemble series (and one of the best to do it), Deadwood‘s closest equivalent to a lead character is Timothy Olyphant’s portrayal of real-life lawman Seth Bullock. Continue reading
Manhunter: William Petersen’s Dark Sport Jackets as Will Graham
William Petersen as Will Graham in Manhunter (1986)
Vitals
William Petersen as Will Graham, tortured FBI criminal profiler
Across the United States, Fall 1986
Film: Manhunter
Release Date: August 15, 1986
Director: Michael Mann
Costume Designer: Colleen Atwood
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
While the Oscar-winning The Silence of the Lambs is a deservedly great movie that brought Thomas Harris’ fictional killer psychiatrist Hannibal Lecter to widespread public attention, the cannibalistic murderer had actually made his cinematic debut a half-decade earlier when Brian Cox portrayed the renamed Dr. Lecktor in Manhunter. Adapted by writer/director Michael Mann from Harris’ 1981 novel Red Dragon (with its title changed by producer Dino De Laurentiis), Manhunter was released 40 years ago this week on August 15, 1986.
Cox starred opposite William Petersen as FBI agent Will Graham, establishing the characters’ antagonistically layered screen dynamic that would be repeated in the 2002 remake Red Dragon and the NBC TV adaptation Hannibal. Continue reading
The Killer Inside Me: Casey Affleck as Texas Deputy Lou Ford
Casey Affleck in a promotional image for The Killer Inside Me (2010)
Vitals
Casey Affleck as Lou Ford, diabolical deputy sheriff and sadistic sociopath
West Texas, Summer 1952
Film: The Killer Inside Me
Release Date: June 18, 2010
Director: Michael Winterbottom
Costume Designer: Lynette Meyer
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
The trouble with growin’ up in a small town is everybody thinks they know who you are…
…begins Casey Affleck’s narration as West Texas deputy sheriff Lou Ford in The Killer Inside Me, Michael Winterbottom’s 2010 adaptation of Jim Thompson’s 1952 novel of the same name. Ford exemplifies a favorite Thompson trope: the amoral Southern lawman who masks his murderous, psychopathic personality behind a dim, folksy exterior; imagine Barney Fife was secretly Ted Bundy, and you’ve got Thompson’s novels like The Killer Inside Me and, my personal favorite, the darkly comic Pop. 1280.
The cinematic possibilties of this rich plot naturally brought Hollywood calling, beginning with 20th Century Fox optioning The Killer Inside Me shortly after its publication with Marlon Brando, Elizabeth Taylor, and Marilyn Monroe to star. Despite this dream cast, setbacks kept The Killer Inside Me out of production for two decades. It finally arrived on screen in 1976, just six months before Thompson’s death, with Stacy Keach now playing Deputy Ford and the action transferred to 1970s Montana.
But Burt Kennedy’s 1976 adaptation wasn’t enough. Quentin Tarantino and Dominic Sena showed interest in directing, with rumors of Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt to star. When a more faithful adaptation of The Killer Inside Me finally premirered at Sundance in January 2010, it starred Casey Affleck—born 51 years ago today on August 12, 1975—as Lou Ford. Continue reading
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