Tagged: Jack Nicholson
Jack Nicholson’s Red Nylon Jacket in Five Easy Pieces
Jack Nicholson as Robert “Bobby” Dupea in Five Easy Pieces (1970)
Vitals
Jack Nicholson as Bobby Dupea, aimless oil worker and classical piano prodigy
Bakersfield, CA, to Puget Sound, Fall to Winter 1970
Film: Five Easy Pieces
Release Date: September 12, 1970
Director: Bob Rafelson
Wardrobe Credit: Bucky Rous
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Happy birthday, Jack Nicholson! The prolific actor was born 82 years ago today on April 22, 1937.
Five Easy Pieces remains among my favorite of Nicholson’s extensive filmography. His performance as Bobby Dupea—”a man condemned to search for the meaning of his life,” according to director Bob Rafelson—earned the actor his second of 12 Academy Award nominations.
The Shining – Jack Nicholson’s Corduroy Jacket
Jack Nicholson as Jack Torrance in The Shining (1980)
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.
Vitals
Jack Nicholson as Jack Torrance, stir-crazy writer
Silver Creek, Colorado, Winter 1990
Film: The Shining
Release Date: May 23, 1980
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Costume Designer: Milena Canonero
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Happy Halloween, BAMF Style readers! What better way to observe the most haunted holiday than with a look at one of the scariest and most suspenseful psychological horror movies, The Shining.
Three years after Stephen King’s novel was published, Stanley Kubrick brought his own adaptation of the story to the big screen with a screenplay co-written by novelist Diane Johnson, significantly altering the characters and motivations of the source novel.
Perhaps most significantly – and certainly cited as one of King’s greatest dissatisfactions with the movie – was Jack Nicholson’s portrayal of the central character, Jack Torrance, the new caretaker who brings his family to the Overlook Hotel for the winter and hopes the seclusion will help him with his writing… and to continue overcoming his battle with alcoholism. “Instead of playing a normal man who becomes insane, Nicholson portrays a crazy man attempting to remain sane,” wrote Cinefantastique editor Frederick S. Clarke in 1996. Continue reading
Jack Nicholson’s Corduroy Blazer in Five Easy Pieces
Jack Nicholson as Robert “Bobby” Dupea in Five Easy Pieces (1970)
Vitals
Jack Nicholson as Bobby Dupea, aimless oil worker and classical piano prodigy
Puget Sound, Fall to Winter 1970
Film: Five Easy Pieces
Release Date: September 12, 1970
Director: Bob Rafelson
Wardrobe Credit: Bucky Rous
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Bobby Dupea’s homecoming leads to an existential crisis in Five Easy Pieces, one of the many triumphant highlights of Jack Nicholson’s early filmography and the second of his 12 Academy Award-nominated roles.
“When we sense the boy, tormented and insecure, trapped inside the adult man, Five Easy Pieces becomes a masterpiece of heartbreaking intensity,” reviewed Roger Ebert, who rated this four-star film to be his favorite of 1970 and went on to name it “one of the best American films.” Continue reading
BAMF Style: My 5 Formative Movie Suits
For my birthday today (July 21, same as Ernest Hemingway and Robin Williams), I hope you’ll excuse an indulgent post as I explore the suits that grabbed my attention from a young age and stirred my early interest in men’s style. Though, given the dapper white jacket that Sean Connery wore on the cover of GQ the month I was born, I should have known what direction my life would eventually take!
While not necessarily the greatest suits to every appear in the movies, these five each contributed to my interest in menswear that led to the eventual creation of BAMF Style a decade later. Interestingly, all of the featured outfits are from period films, highlighting fashion of an earlier era (the 1930s, in more cases than not) and accentuated by a musical soundtrack designed to emphasize the character and the moment.
Warren Beatty in Bonnie and Clyde (1967), Jack Nicholson in Chinatown (1974), Nicholas Clay in Evil Under the Sun (1982), Ray Liotta in Goodfellas (1990), and Robert Redford in The Sting (1973)
Chinatown – J.J. Gittes’ Light Gray Suit
Jack Nicholson on set as J.J. Gittes in Chinatown (1974)
Vitals
Jack Nicholson as J.J. Gittes, private investigator and ex-policeman
Los Angeles, September 1937
Film: Chinatown
Release Date: June 20, 1974
Director: Roman Polanski
Costume Designer: Anthea Sylbert
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Now that summer is upon us in the Northern Hemisphere, it’s high time to make sure that you’ve got some duds in your closet that are as appropriate for a day at the office as they are for the sunniest season.
A self-employed gumshoe like J.J. Gittes calls his own shots. As Chinatown is set in 1937, suits were de rigeur for men, but Gittes is hardly the type to rely on the gray flannel suit trope, especially in the sunny southern California locales. Continue reading
Jack Nicholson’s Lavender Sportcoat in The Departed
Jack Nicholson as Francis “Frank” Costello in The Departed (2006)
Vitals
Jack Nicholson as Francis “Frank” Costello, sadistic Irish-American mob boss
Boston, Summer 2006
Film: The Departed
Release Date: October 6, 2006
Director: Martin Scorsese
Costume Designer: Sandy Powell
Background
To celebrate Jack Nicholson’s 80th birthday today, April 22, BAMF Style is looking at an iconic role from his latter career as crime boss Francis “Frank” Costello in The Departed. Nicholson reportedly wanted “a little something more” for his character*, and elements of real-life Boston mobster Whitey Bulger were incorporated into Jack’s eccentric and erratic character.
This brief but memorable scene, featuring Nicholson in some timely springtime pastels, was filmed June 28, 2005 at the Long Wharf in Boston. Two of Massachusetts’ finest, Captain Queenan (Martin Sheen) and Sergeant Dignam (Mark Wahlberg), are monitoring Costello’s movements and decide to show their face. Continue reading
Chinatown – J.J. Gittes’ Gray Striped Suit
Jack Nicholson as J.J. Gittes in Chinatown (1974)
Vitals
Jack Nicholson as J.J. Gittes, private investigator and ex-policeman
Los Angeles, September 1937
Film: Chinatown
Release Date: June 20, 1974
Director: Roman Polanski
Costume Designer: Anthea Sylbert
Background
J.J. Gittes begins his final day investigating the Mulwray case in Chinatown with his usual cheekiness, even when surprised by walking into a murder scene. He trades barbs with increasingly suspicious detectives, including the pugnacious Detective Loach (Richard Bakalyan) who inquires about Gittes’ sliced-up nose; Edward Norton’s character in Rounders would pay homage to Gittes’ response of “Your wife got excited. She crossed her legs a little too quick.”
But Gittes’ good humor wears off by the end, following a series of misadventures – mostly at gunpoint – involving sisters, daughters, and a shot-out eyeball. As his assistant Walsh (Joe Mantell) sagely – and now famously – advises him:
Forget it, Jake. It’s Chinatown.
Chinatown – J.J. Gittes’ Glen Plaid Suit
Jack Nicholson as private eye J.J. Gittes in Chinatown (1974)
Vitals
Jack Nicholson as J.J. Gittes, private investigator and ex-policeman
Los Angeles, September 1937
Film: Chinatown
Release Date: June 20, 1974
Director: Roman Polanski
Costume Designer: Anthea Sylbert
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Chinatown begins in the spirit of the best of film noir, with a private eye getting a case promised to be filled with sex and violence and fueled with countless cigarettes and potent whiskey. Gittes, resplendent in a creamy white three-piece suit, accepts the case from Mrs. Mulwray to follow her husband Hollis to determine if he is having an affair.
Hollis Mulwray is the head of L.A.’s Department of Water and Power, so Gittes first tracks him down to a public hearing where Mulwray is at the center of the controversial construction of a dam that would supposedly bring more water to L.A. Gittes is able to learn next to nothing about the man’s sexual proclivities from the meeting, but he does seem surprised that his subject is a mousy, conservative public servant and not a swaggering lothario. Continue reading
Chinatown – Gittes’ Tan Birdseye Tweed Sportcoat
Jack Nicholson as J.J. “Jake” Gittes in Chinatown (1974)
Vitals
Jack Nicholson as J.J. Gittes, private investigator and ex-policeman
Los Angeles, September 1937
Film: Chinatown
Release Date: June 20, 1974
Director: Roman Polanski
Costume Designer: Anthea Sylbert
Background
When not donning a more businesslike gray for his investigations in the city, J.J. Gittes shows a clear preference for earth tones. He is seen earlier wearing a cream suit around the office, and he sports a nice sandy brown three-piece when visiting the Mulwray home.
Gittes heads out to Catalina Island to meet Noah Cross, played by a charmingly sinister John Huston, for lunch. Following lunch, Gittes follows tip after tip, taking him from the hall of records to the San Fernando Valley orange groves to a dubiously-administrated retirement home. Nearly each step of his journey is met with increasing resistance, but he is luckily dressed for his long day in arguably his most comfortable outfit in the movie. Continue reading
J.J. Gittes’ Gray Pinstripe Double-Breasted Suit in Chinatown
Jack Nicholson as J.J. Gittes in Chinatown (1974)
Vitals
Jack Nicholson as J.J. Gittes, private investigator and all-around “nosy fella”
Los Angeles, September 1937
Film: Chinatown
Release Date: June 20, 1974
Director: Roman Polanski
Costume Designer: Anthea Sylbert
Background
Many of the suits Jack Nicholson wears in Chinatown are intentionally loud and showy. As an easygoing yin to the cynical Philip Marlowe’s yang, Gittes happily shows off the fruits of his labors with extravagant and noticeable suits in various earth tones and shades of cream.
However, when it’s time to get down to business, Gittes knows the last thing he needs is to stand out during a stakeout. For this, he has an army of gray suits at his disposal. None of the suits are boring by any means, and they’re only conservative in relation to his other apparel. For client visits and “pubic relations”, Gittes is the flashy PI in brighty-colored suits and shirts.
When Gittes shows up as Evelyn Mulwray’s “knight in shining armor” after her husband’s corpse is found, he is appropriately suited in gray. We’d seen him in gray suits before during his initial investigations of Mulwray, and it’s our signifier that his day doesn’t end with a few quips in front of the hungry press (“Gittes – two t’s and an e!”) Indeed, after Mrs. Mulwray departs, Gittes immediately gets right back to work, investigating the dry river bed and the dams. Continue reading
