Tagged: Italy
It Started in Naples: Clark Gable’s Taupe Suit
Clark Gable as Mike Hamilton in It Started in Naples (1960)
Vitals
Clark Gable as Michael Hamilton, Philadelphia lawyer and World War II veteran
Naples to Capri, Italy, Late Summer 1959
Film: It Started in Naples
Release Date: August 7, 1960
Director: Melville Shavelson
Costume Designer: Orietta Nasalli-Rocca
Background
Screen legend Clark Gable was born 119 years ago today on February 1, 1901, the start of a storied life that included an Academy Award for It Happened One Night (1934), acclaimed performances in iconic movies like Gone with the Wind (1939) and Mogambo (1953), and decorated service with the U.S. Army Air Force during World War II. While The Misfits (1961) co-starring Marilyn Monroe was Gable’s final film to be theatrically released, It Started in Naples was his final performance released during his lifetime. Continue reading
Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow: Mastroianni’s Beige Summer Suit
Marcello Mastroianni with Sophia Loren in the third and final segment of Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow (Ieri, oggi, domani) (1963)
Vitals
Marcello Mastroianni as Augusto Rusconi, bombastic Bolognese businessman and bon vivant
Rome, Summer 1963
Film: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow
(Italian title: Ieri, oggi, domani)
Release Date: December 19, 1963
Director: Vittorio De Sica
Costume Designer: Piero Tosi
Background
“It is sometimes said that the French spend their money on their food, the English on their gardens, and the Italians on their clothes,” wrote Sir Hardy Amies for his seminal ABCs of Men’s Fashion in 1964. “Certainly the Italians give the impression of taking great pains with their appearance, especially in summer when we see most of them.”
As summer comes to a close, let’s heed Sir Hardy’s words by focusing on the warm-weather menswear worn by Marcello Mastroianni in Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow, which marked the fifth of his 13 collaborations with his frequent screen partner and real-life friend Sophia Loren, who celebrates her 85th birthday today. Continue reading
The Mechanic: Charles Bronson’s Black Leather Racer Jacket
Charles Bronson as Arthur Bishop in The Mechanic (1972). Photo by MGM.
Vitals
Charles Bronson as Arthur Bishop, disciplined but depressed contract killer
Los Angeles to Naples, Italy, Fall 1972
Film: The Mechanic
Release Date: November 17, 1972
Director: Michael Winner
Costume Designer: Lambert Marks
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
After serving in supporting roles for many great Westerns and war movies of the ’60s—including The Magnificent Seven, The Great Escape, The Dirty Dozen, and Once Upon a Time in the West—Hollywood was ready for Charles Bronson to take on leading roles that would establish him as one of the greatest silver screen “tough guys” of all time.
The Mechanic starred Bronson as Arthur Bishop, a skilled assassin whose quiet, luxurious lifestyle is disrupted when he takes on a protégé, Steve McKenna (Jan-Michael Vincent), the hotheaded, sociopathic son of his former boss “Big Harry” (Keenan Wynn) who he was assigned to kill. Arthur begins mentoring Steve after Big Harry’s death, taking the narcissistic young man flying, giving him shooting lessons, and eventually bringing him along for several hits.
The Talented Mr. Ripley: Dickie’s White-and-Gray Shirt
Jude Law as Dickie Greenleaf in The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)
Vitals
Jude Law as Dickie Greenleaf, narcissistic profligate playboy
Italy, Summer 1958
Film: The Talented Mr. Ripley
Release Date: December 25, 1999
Director: Anthony Minghella
Costume Design: Ann Roth & Gary Jones
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
As this summer continues into August, so too did summer advance for the idiosyncratic trio of rich Amalfi Coast playboy Dickie Greenleaf (Jude Law), his girlfriend Marge Sherwood (Gwyneth Paltrow), and their pathological companion Tom Ripley (Matt Damon) in Anthony Minghella’s 1999 adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s classic psychological thriller The Talented Mr. Ripley.
Spending time with Marge and Dickie allows Tom Ripley to grow increasingly enamored with the latter, and the young con artist manipulates an opportunity for the couple to insist that he remain with them at the picturesque seaside villa in Mongibello. Continue reading
Alain Delon’s Black Linen Shirt in Purple Noon
Alain Delon as Tom Ripley in Purple Noon (1960)
Vitals
Alain Delon as Tom Ripley, charming American con artist and sophisticated sociopath
on Mediterranean Sea off Italy, August 1959
Film: Purple Noon
(French title: Plein soleil)
Release Date: March 10, 1960
Director: René Clément
Costume Designer: Bella Clément
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
As I leave for my annual week at the beach tomorrow, I’ll be hoping to channel the style—if not the discomfort and petty cruelty—of the idyllic-looking, sun-drenched Mediterranean voyage where sociopathic American con man Tom Ripley (Alain Delon) forms an uncomfortable seagoing trio with the brash, arrogant playboy Philippe Greenleaf (Maurice Ronet) and Philippe’s demure girlfriend Marge (Marie Laforêt). Continue reading
The Talented Mr. Ripley: Dickie’s Navy Silk Blazer
Jude Law as Dickie Greenleaf in The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)
Vitals
Jude Law as Dickie Greenleaf, narcissistic profligate playboy
Italy, October 1958
Film: The Talented Mr. Ripley
Release Date: December 25, 1999
Director: Anthony Minghella
Costume Design: Ann Roth & Gary Jones
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Whether you’re dressing for a snazzy summer brunch this sunny Sunday morning or taking sprezzatura inspiration for the office, Jude Law’s wardrobe from The Talented Mr. Ripley radiates mid-century Mediterranean luxury essential for your spring-to-summer sartorial transformation.
This 1999 adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s classic psychological thriller novel spends more time with the doomed Dickie Greenleaf (Jude Law) than its stylish French predecessor, Plein soleil (1960), including this brief foray from Naples to Rome where the obsessive Tom Ripley (Matt Damon) joins Dickie for some drinks al fresco.
Purple Noon: Alain Delon’s White Suit
Alain Delon as Tom Ripley in Purple Noon (1960)
Vitals
Alain Delon as Tom Ripley, American con artist and sophisticated sociopath
Rome, Italy, August 1959
Film: Purple Noon
(French title: Plein soleil)
Release Date: March 10, 1960
Director: René Clément
Costume Designer: Bella Clément
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Whether or not you subscribe to the mindset that it’s only appropriate in the Northern Hemisphere after Memorial Day, there’s a strong chance you’ll be seeing a lot more white over the summer months to follow. For gents interested in standing out with a white suit this summer, Alain Delon sets a characteristic gold standard in Plein soleil, itself a paean to elegant summer style. Continue reading
David Niven’s Skiwear in The Pink Panther
David Niven and Claudia Cardinale in The Pink Panther (1963)
Vitals
David Niven as Sir Charles Lytton, urbane master jewel thief
Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, Winter 1963
Film: The Pink Panther
Release Date: December 19, 1963
Director: Blake Edwards
Wardrobe Supervisor: Annalisa Nasalli-Rocca
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Going skiing this weekend? A surprisingly stylish look at elegant mid-century ski culture comes from The Pink Panther, the 1963 comedy crime caper starring David Niven that would spur a series of sequels focused on the bumbling Inspector Clouseau (Peter Sellers). Continue reading
Spectre – Bond’s Black Suit and Aston Martin in Rome
Daniel Craig as James Bond, exiting an Aston Martin DB10 prototype in Spectre (2015)
Vitals
Daniel Craig as James Bond, British government agent
Rome, November 2015
Film: Spectre
Release Date: October 25, 2015
Director: Sam Mendes
Costume Designer: Jany Temime
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Spectre, Daniel Craig’s latest outing as James Bond, featured the globe-trotting agent once again battling the international terrorist organization SPECTRE and confronting the evil megalomaniac at its head, Ernst Stavro Blofeld (Christoph Waltz).
One of the most requested outfits from BAMF Style readers is the black three-piece Tom Ford suit that 007 wears when he arrives in style to a gangster’s funeral in Rome with his prototype Aston Martin. Continue reading
Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow: Renzo and the Rolls
Marcello Mastroianni as Renzo with a 1963 Rolls-Royce in Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow (Ieri, oggi, domani) (1963)
Vitals
Marcello Mastroianni as Renzo, Italian writer
Milan, Italy, October 1963
Film: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow
(Italian title: Ieri, oggi, domani)
Release Date: December 19, 1963
Director: Vittorio De Sica
Costume Designer: Piero Tosi
Background
Car Week continues with a focus on a classic Italian comedy released 55 years ago this month.
After four movies together in the 1950s, Marcello Mastroianni and Sophia Loren reteamed in 1963 for Vittorio De Sica’s Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow – released in Italy as Ieri, oggi, domani – a stylish anthology about life and love. The film is split into three segments that each star Loren and Mastroianni as a different couple.
The second segment, “Anna”, is the shortest of the three and stars Loren as an industrialist’s glamorous wife – dressed to the nines in Christian Dior – as she is forced to choose between her husband’s Rolls-Royce and her unassuming lover Renzo (Mastroianni).
