Tagged: Nevada
Kill Me Again: Michael Madsen’s Leather Jacket
Michael Madsen in Kill Me Again (1989)
Vitals
Michael Madsen as Vince Miller, ruthless armed robber
Nevada, Spring 1989
Film: Kill Me Again
Release Date: October 27, 1989
Director: John Dahl
Costume Designer: Terry Dresbach
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
This year has seen the loss of screen legends across generations, from Gene Hackman and Robert Redford to Val Kilmer and Michael Madsen. On the first anniversary of Madsen’s September 25, 1957 birthday, let’s look at the one film where he and Kilmer starred together—the 1989 crime thriller Kill Me Again, where both men are drawn into a dangerous web spun by Fay, a femme fatale played by Kilmer’s then-wife Joanne Whalley.
Madsen steadily grew his career as a supporting actor through the ’80s in movies like WarGames (1982) and The Natural (1984) before appearing in Kill Me Again as the murderous thief Vince Miller, who could be argued as a template for the vicious villains he would play in movies like Reservoir Dogs (1992), The Getaway (1994), and Donnie Brasco (1997). Continue reading
California Split: Elliott Gould’s Tan Sport Jacket and Printed Shirts
Elliott Gould in California Split (1974)
Vitals
Elliott Gould as Charlie Waters, garrulous gambler
Los Angeles to Reno, Winter 1973
Film: California Split
Release Date: August 7, 1974
Director: Robert Altman
Costumer: Hugh McFarland
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
If I had a nickel for every great 1974 movie where the male lead had a bandaged nose for a significant portion of its runtime… well, California Split and Chinatown would yield me only 10 cents, but it would be well worth it for their shared existence.
Robert Altman’s excellently chaotic meditation on gambling, California Split, was released 50 years ago today on August 7, 1974, starring Elliott Gould and George Segal as a pair of two-time losers who meet over an L.A. card game. Initially more of a recreational gambler, Segal’s Bill Denny grows increasingly addicted through his friendship with Gould’s Charlie Waters, a charismatic hustler constantly on the make between card games and the horse track for his next big score. Continue reading
Desert Fury: John Hodiak’s Suede Loafer Jacket
John Hodiak as Eddie Bendix in Desert Fury (1947)
Vitals
John Hodiak as Eddie Bendix, smooth gangster and gambler
Nevada, Spring 1947
Film: Desert Fury
Release Date: August 15, 1947
Director: Lewis Allen
Costume Designer: Edith Head
Background
John Hodiak was born 110 years ago today on April 16, 1914 in Pittsburgh. The actor’s first prominent role was in Alfred Hitchcock’s seagoing 1944 drama Lifeboat, followed by a brief but memorable career—consisting largely of war movies and westerns—before his October 1955 death of a heart attack at age 41.
One of Hodiak’s screen credits was the 1947 crime drama Desert Fury, a “color noir” among the likes of Leave Her to Heaven (1945) and Niagara (1953) that maintain the themes, style, and story elements frequently associated with traditional film noir. Continue reading
The Godfather, Part II: Tom Hagen’s Gray Striped Suit
Robert Duvall as Tom Hagen in The Godfather, Part II (1974)
Vitals
Robert Duvall as Tom Hagen, levelheaded Mafia lawyer
Nevada and Washington, D.C., Winter 1958 through Spring 1959
Film: The Godfather Part II
Release Date: December 12, 1974
Director: Francis Ford Coppola
Costume Designer: Theadora Van Runkle
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Today is the 93rd birthday of Robert Duvall, the prolific actor born January 5, 1931 whose extensive filmography includes the first two films of The Godfather saga as Tom Hagen, the orphan informally adopted by the Corleone family—and whose cool head and legal savvy resulted in his position as the family’s trusted consigliere.
As this is the 50th anniversary year of The Godfather Part II, today’s post will explore Tom’s character and costume in this masterful second installment, set across the late 1950s as Michael Corleone (Al Pacino) continues consolidating his power and seeks to legitimatize the family’s interest as Tom had long advised him to do.
Although he’s been transitioned from consigliere to being the family’s lawyer in Las Vegas, Tom still serving as Michael’s right-hand man, with duties beyond legal counsel including everything from buying Christmas presents for the don’s children to blackmailing a senator whom they’ve framed for the murder for a prostitute. Continue reading
Desert Fury: Burt Lancaster’s Colorful Noir Cowboy Style
Burt Lancaster in Desert Fury (1947)
Vitals
Burt Lancaster as Tom Hanson, affable deputy sheriff
Nevada, Spring 1947
Film: Desert Fury
Release Date: August 15, 1947
Director: Lewis Allen
Costume Designer: Edith Head
Background
Born 110 years ago today on November 2, 1913, Burt Lancaster’s connection to film noir begins with his screen debut in The Killers (1946), followed by performances in Brute Force (1947), I Walk Alone (1947), Sorry, Wrong Number (1948), Criss Cross (1949), and Sweet Smell of Success (1957)—to name just a few of his noir credentials.
While the existence of “color noir” may sound contradictory, there were a handful of films made during the ’40s and ’50s that have been qualified as such, including the 1947 drama Desert Fury which maintains its noir techniques and themes but with lush Technicolor cinematography as opposed to the shadowy black-and-white typically associated with the style.
Let’s kick off #Noirvember in post-World War II Nevada, where Lancaster’s friendly Tom Hanson takes a break from serving as deputy sheriff in the fictional town of Chickawalla to practice his equestrian abilities. Continue reading
Willie Nelson’s Fringe Jacket in The Electric Horseman
Willie Nelson as Wendell Hickson in The Electric Horseman (1979)
Vitals
Willie Nelson as Wendell Hickson, trusty talent manager and cowboy singer
Las Vegas, Fall 1978
Film: The Electric Horseman
Release Date: December 21, 1979
Director: Sydney Pollack
Costume Designer: Bernie Pollack
Background
Happy 90th birthday, Willie Nelson! Best known as a country singer/songwriter and prolific stoner, Nelson made his screen acting debut in The Electric Horseman as Wendell Hickson, the laidback and loyal yet understandably weary manager to Sonny Steele (Robert Redford), an increasingly erratic ex-rodeo star who has been reduced to PR appearances promoting cereal for his corporate overlords.
Naturally, Willie also contributed three songs for the film’s soundtrack, including the outlaw standards “Mammas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys”, “Midnight Rider”, and “My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys”. Continue reading
Poker Face: Charlie’s Jacquard Cardigan
Natasha Lyonne as Charlie Cale on Poker Face, Episode 1.01: “Dead Man’s Hand”
Vitals
Natasha Lyonne as Charlie Cale, casino cocktail waitress and human lie detector
Nevada, November 2021
Series: Poker Face
Episode: “Dead Man’s Hand” (Episode 1.01)
Air Date: January 26, 2023
Director: Rian Johnson
Creator: Rian Johnson
Costume Designer: Trayce Gigi Field
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Despite the mysteries that drive each episode, it was no mystery to me that Poker Face would immediately become one of my favorite new shows of 2023. As intended, this case-of-the-week series could softly be described as a modern update to Columbo, with its “howcatchem” structure (rather than the traditional murder-mystery “whodunit”) and a scrappy lead character with an uncanny ability to read people, here brought to life by the amazing Natasha Lyonne, who celebrates her 44th birthday today. Continue reading
Desert Fury: Wendell Corey’s Herringbone Tweed Suit
Wendell Corey as Johnny Ryan in Desert Fury (1947)
Vitals
Wendell Corey as Johnny Ryan, stone-cold mob enforcer
Nevada, Spring 1947
Film: Desert Fury
Release Date: August 15, 1947
Director: Lewis Allen
Costume Designer: Edith Head
Background
In the spirit of #Noirvember, I want to celebrate an entry in the relatively rare “color noir” category as well as the career of Wendell Corey, the Massachusetts-born actor and one-time AMPAS President who died on this day in 1968.
Corey was a familiar face in classic film noir like I Walk Alone (1948), Sorry, Wrong Number (1948), and The File on Thelma Jordon (1950) before his perhaps most recognized performance as the skeptical Detective Tom Doyle assisting Jimmy Stewart‘s peeping amateur crime-solver in Rear Window (1954). It had been an impressive rise for an actor whose feature film debut had only been a few years earlier, appearing in Desert Fury (1947) as the gay-coded mob killer Johnny Ryan, right-hand man to smooth racketeer Eddie Bendix (John Hodiak).
Also starring Lizabeth Scott and Burt Lancaster, with whom Corey would again co-star in I Walk Alone, Desert Fury joins contemporaries like Leave Her to Heaven (1945) and Niagara (1953) as the rare examples of full-color movies that maintain enough of the themes, style, and sinister story elements of traditional film noir to still qualify for this classification. Continue reading
The Electric Horseman: Robert Redford’s Denim Western Style
Robert Redford in The Electric Horseman (1979)
Vitals
Robert Redford as Norman “Sonny” Steele, championship rodeo rider-turned-cowboy cereal spokesman
Red Rock Canyon, Nevada, Fall 1978
Film: The Electric Horseman
Release Date: December 21, 1979
Director: Sydney Pollack
Costume Designer: Bernie Pollack
Background
I’ve been feeling romantic leading up to my wedding this weekend, so today’s fall-inspired fashions come by way of The Electric Horseman, Robert Redford’s fifth collaboration with director Sydney Pollack.
Redford plays Sonny Steele, the eponymous equestrian and former rodeo champion turned cynical after selling out to hock cereal touted as “a champ’s way to start a better day!” Continue reading
The Misfits: Marilyn Monroe’s Denim Western Wear
Marilyn Monroe as Roslyn Tabor in The Misfits (1961). Photo by Eve Arnold.
Vitals
Marilyn Monroe as Roslyn Tabor, recent divorcée
Nevada desert, Summer 1960
Film: The Misfits
Release Date: February 1, 1961
Director: John Huston
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Sixty years after her fatal overdose on August 4, 1962, Marilyn Monroe remains a major figure in pop culture, the subject of countless books, art, music, and movies, including Blonde, scheduled to release next month starring Ana de Armas as the actress. Monroe’s final completed film was John Huston’s The Misfits, an elegiac contemporary Western written by her then-husband Arthur Miller that afforded the actress with the opportunity to provide her arguably best performance, which earned her the 1961 Golden Globe Award for “World Film Favorite” despite her own reported contempt for her performance. Continue reading
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