Tagged: New York City
Hoodlum: Tim Roth’s Gray Checked Suit as Dutch Schultz
Tim Roth as Dutch Schultz in Hoodlum (1997)
Vitals
Tim Roth as Dutch Schultz, volatile gangster
New York City and Newark, New Jersey, Spring 1934 through Fall 1935
Film: Hoodlum
Release Date: August 27, 1997
Director: Bill Duke
Costume Designer: Richard Bruno
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Ninety years ago today on October 23, 1935, notorious New York gangster Dutch Schultz was fatally shot along with his accountant Otto Berman, his lieutenant Abe Landau, and his bodyguard Bernard “Lulu” Rosencrantz at the Palace Chop House in Newark, New Jersey. Transferred to Newark City Hospital, Schultz lingered for nearly a day, with his fevered final ramblings about dot-dash systems and French-Canadian bean soup meticulously recorded by police stenographer F.J. Lang before the 34-year-old criminal finally died of peritonitis.
The famous gangland slaying was fictionalized for the denouement of Hoodlum, Bill Duke’s chronicle of Schultz’s war against underworld rivals Stephanie “Madame Queen” St. Clair (Cicely Tyson), Ellsworth “Bumpy” Johnson (Laurence Fishburne), and Charles “Lucky” Luciano (Andy Garcia) as the Harlem numbers racket became increasingly lucrative following the repeal of Prohibition. Though the 1997 drama isn’t without its flaws, one of its strongest elements may be Tim Roth’s performance as Schultz—perhaps the best on-screen representation of the actual gangster’s appearance and temperament. Continue reading
Dustin Hoffman in Double Denim as Lenny Bruce
Dustin Hoffman as Lenny Bruce in Lenny (1974)
Vitals
Dustin Hoffman as Lenny Bruce, controversial comedian
New York, Spring 1964
Film: Lenny
Release Date: November 10, 1974
Director: Bob Fosse
Costume Designer: Albert Wolsky
Background
Did you know that Eleanor Roosevelt gave Lou Gehrig the clap?
Groundbreaking stand-up comedian Lenny Bruce was born 100 years ago, on October 13, 1925, in Long Island. His first steps into comedy were fittingly unconventional; while serving in the Navy during World War II, he dressed in drag to entertain his shipmates, eventually leading to his discharge. After struggling through the New York comedy circuit in the 1950s, Bruce began to find his footing toward the end of the decade, releasing his first solo record The Sick Humor of Lenny Bruce in 1959 and delivering his now-legendary Carnegie Hall set during a snowstorm in February 1961.
Legal battles soon became inseparable from the outspoken Bruce’s act and reputation. His October 1961 arrest for obscenity put him squarely in the crosshairs of law enforcement, and over the next five years his performances were increasingly shadowed by surveillance, arrests, and prosecutions for obscenity and drug possession, while he became a living symbol of the struggle for free speech.
On August 3, 1966, the 40-year-old Bruce was found dead of an apparent morphine overdose at his home in the Hollywood Hills. Reflecting on the irony of a man persecuted for words, journalist Dick Schaap concluded his Playboy eulogy with a bitter epitaph: “One last four-letter word for Lenny: Dead. At forty. That’s obscene.”
Decades before he was reintroduced to modern audiences through Luke Kirby’s Emmy-winning performance in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Lenny Bruce was the focus of Bob Fosse’s 1974 biographical film Lenny starring Dustin Hoffman as the titular comedian. The movie received six Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor for Hoffman, though it won zero. Continue reading
Goodfellas: De Niro’s Windowpane Sport Jacket as Jimmy Conway
Robert De Niro as Jimmy Conway in Goodfellas (1990)
Vitals
Robert De Niro as Jimmy Conway, feared mob associate
Queens, New York, Spring 1980
Film: Goodfellas
Release Date: September 19, 1990
Director: Martin Scorsese
Costume Designer: Richard Bruno
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Today marks 35 years since the release of Goodfellas, Martin Scorsese’s kinetic crime epic chronicling three decades of Mafia life through the eyes of real-life Lucchese family associate-turned-informant Henry Hill (Ray Liotta). Though Henry was the ostensible protagonist, top billing went to Robert De Niro as one of Henry’s mentors-in-crime, Jimmy Conway. Continue reading
Three Days of the Condor: Cliff Robertson’s Fur-collared Coat and Tweeds as Higgins
Cliff Robertson in Three Days of the Condor (1975)
Vitals
Cliff Robertson as Higgins, pragmatic CIA deputy director and Korean War veteran
New York City and Washington, D.C., Winter 1975
Film: Three Days of the Condor
Release Date: September 24, 1975
Director: Sydney Pollack
Costume Designer: Joseph G. Aulisi
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
This month marks the 50th anniversary of Sydney Pollack’s Christmas-set political thriller Three Days of the Condor. While Robert Redford’s rugged casual-wear as the bookish CIA analyst Joe Turner (codename “Condor”) has commanded considerable sartorial attention—including one of my very first blog posts!—the men pursuing him from the shadows are also stylish dressers, from Max Von Sydow as the professional European hitman Joubert to the workaholic CIA deputy director Higgins played by Cliff Robertson, who died fourteen years ago today on September 10, 2011. Continue reading
Dean Martin’s Matching Cabana Set in Artists and Models
Dean Martin and Dorothy Malone in Artists and Models (1955)
Vitals
Dean Martin as Rick Todd, struggling but smooth-talking painter
New York City, Summer 1955
Film: Artists and Models
Release Date: November 7, 1955
Director: Frank Tashlin
Costume Designer: Edith Head
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Iconic entertainer Dean Martin was born 108 years ago today on June 7, 1917 in Steubenville, Ohio. Born Dino Crocetti, the singer and actor remains well-known for his joint acts like the Rat Pack and a decade-long partnership with comedian Jerry Lewis.
After debuting together in Atlantic City in 1946, Martin and Lewis made a total of 16 movies together. Their 14th feature, Artists and Models, was released 70 years ago on November 7, 1955—five months to the day after Martin’s 38th birthday. Though the team would make two more movies before the dissolution of their partnership the following year, Artists and Models foreshadowed the future directions of their respective solo careers as the first of eight collaborations between Lewis and Looney Tunes director Frank Tashlin and the first of seven times that Martin would star with Shirley MacLaine.
Martin and Lewis brought their usual personas to Artists and Models as the romantic painter Rick Todd and goofy children’s author Eugene Fullstack, respectively. In her second film appearance, MacLaine co-stars as Lewis’ love interest Bessie Sparrowbush, who also helps Rick woo her friend, professional artist Abigail Parker (Dorothy Malone). Continue reading
Sweet Smell of Success – Tony Curtis’ Dark Pinstripe Suit
Tony Curtis as Sidney Falco in Sweet Smell of Success (1957)
Vitals
Tony Curtis as Sidney Falco, unscrupulous publicity agent
New York City, Fall 1956
Film: Sweet Smell of Success
Release Date: June 27, 1957
Director: Alexander Mackendrick
Costume Designer: Mary Grant
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Today would have been the 100th birthday of prolific actor Tony Curtis.
Born Bernard Schwartz in East Harlem on June 3, 1925, Curtis was inspired by war movies made by his screen heroes Cary Grant and Tyrone Power to join the U.S. Navy, serving aboard a submarine in the Asiatic Fleet through the end of World War II.
Arriving in Hollywood after the war, the rechristened “Anthony Curtis” grew his fandom after memorable bit parts in Johnny Stool Pigeon (1949) and Winchester ’73 (1950). His career grew to being one of the biggest stars of the ’50s, including his Academy Award-nominated performance in The Defiant Ones (1958) and iconic cross-dressing role in Some Like It Hot (1959).
While the latter is one of my favorite movies, my favorite Tony Curtis performance is the shameless Sidney Falco in Sweet Smell of Success (1957), Alexander Mackendrick’s slick and satirical film noir featuring the whip-fast dialogue of Clifford Odets and Ernest Lehman’s screenplay and James Wong Howe’s atmospheric cinematography of New York City during the fabulous fifties. Curtis taps his inner Gemini to convincingly portray all aspects of Falco’s cutthroat ambition, from the wily Manhattan publicist to the subservient PR flack desperate to please the powerful columnist J.J. Hunsecker (Burt Lancaster).
Don Draper’s Gray Jacket and Striped Tie for a “Zou Bisou” Birthday Surprise
Jon Hamm and Jessica Paré on Mad Men, Episode 5.01: “A Little Kiss, Part 1”. Photo by Ron Jaffe/AMC.
Vitals
Jon Hamm as Don Draper, 40-year-old remarried ad man
New York City, June 1966
Series: Mad Men
Episode: “A Little Kiss, Part 1” (Episode 5.01)
Air Date: March 25, 2012
Director: Jennifer Getzinger
Creator: Matthew Weiner
Costume Designer: Janie Bryant
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Mad Men‘s fifth season double-episode premiere “A Little Kiss” begins on Memorial Day 1966 and follows through the next weekend, when Don Draper’s new wife Megan (Jessica Paré) curiously decides to throw her husband a surprise 40th birthday party… despite knowing literally anything about him. Continue reading
The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan: Timothée Chalamet in A Complete Unknown
Timothée Chalamet and Monica Barbaro in A Complete Unknown (2024). Photo by Macall Polay.
Vitals
Timothée Chalamet as Bob Dylan, folk singer-songwriter
New York City and Monterey, California, Spring to Summer 1963
Film: A Complete Unknown
Release Date: December 25, 2024
Director: James Mangold
Costume Designer: Arianne Phillips
Jacket Maker: Jimmy McBride
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Happy 84th birthday, Bob Dylan! Born as Robert Allen Zimmerman on May 24, 1941, the iconoclastic musician’s early career was recently depicted in James Mangold’s biopic A Complete Unknown, starring Timothée Chalamet. Chalamet’s extensive work to achieve Dylan’s distinctive voice, mannerisms, and playing style resulted in a characteristically dedicated performance that earned the actor his second Academy Award nomination—one of eight total for the film, including Best Picture.
A Complete Unknown begins in early 1961 when the young Minnesota-born troubadour arrives in New York City, seeking out his ailing idol Woody Guthrie (Scoot McNairy). As Dylan’s star power evolves among the Greenwich Village folk scene, so do his tumultuous relationships and friendships with contemporaries like Joan Baez (Monica Barbaro), Pete Seeger (Edward Norton), and Johnny Cash (Boyd Holbrook)—who had previously been the subject of the Mangold-directed 2005 biopic Walk the Line starring Joaquin Phoenix.
Adapted from Elijah Wald’s nonfiction volume Dylan Goes Electric!, the film spans these four crucial years of Dylan’s early career leading up to his controversial performance at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival, fifty years ago this summer.
Dylan’s primary motivation through A Complete Unknown is presented as total musical freedom, often at the cost of public popularity or traditional friendships. Baez and other characters bemoan their struggle to know Dylan on a deeper level; indeed, some reviewers even cited this as a flaw of the film—however, I see it as part of its overall thesis: even after a career of 60+ years and hundreds of compositions and recordings, Dylan remains the titular “complete unknown”, to borrow a lyrics from his 1965 hit “Like a Rolling Stone”. The only human connection that never frustrates the cinematic Dylan is his bond with Woody Guthrie, centered purely around music—and no doubt helped by the fact that Woody’s medical condition has rendered him all but mute, never asking Dylan anything about himself that he doesn’t want to answer.
After his self-titled first album is comprised primarily of cover songs, Dylan embraces the opportunity to make a stronger musical signature by recording more original tracks on his follow-up record, The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan. A Complete Unknown very briefly depicts CBS staff photographer Don Hunstein’s cover photo shoot on the streets of Greenwich Village in February 1963, with a casually dressed Dylan and his then-girlfriend, Suze Rotolo—renamed at Dylan’s own request to “Sylvie Russo” (Elle Fanning) for the screen, citing that the late Ms. Rotolo was one of the few people in his life who never sought fame.
“It is one of those cultural markers that influenced the look of album covers precisely because of its casual down-home spontaneity and sensibility,” Rotolo wrote in her memoir, A Freewheelin’ Time. “Most albums were carefully staged and controlled, to terrific effect on the Blue Note jazz album covers… and to not-so-great effect on the perfectly posed and clean-cut pop and folks albums. Whoever was responsible for choosing that particular photograph for The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan really had an eye for a new look.”
Denzel Washington as Malcolm X: Gray Suit and Astrakhan Hat for the Finale
Denzel Washington in Malcolm X (1992)
Vitals
Denzel Washington as Malcolm X, revolutionary minister and civil rights activist
New York City, February 1965
Film: Malcolm X
Release Date: November 18, 1992
Director: Spike Lee
Costume Designer: Ruth E. Carter
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Malcolm X was born 100 years ago today on May 19, 1925 in Omaha, Nebraska. A charismatic and complex voice in the civil rights movement, he became the subject of Malcolm X, Spike Lee’s sweeping 1992 biopic starring Denzel Washington in the title role.
Washington had first portrayed Malcolm a decade earlier in Laurence Holder’s one-act play When the Chickens Come Home to Roost was always Lee’s top choice for the film. His performance earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor—one of two Oscar nominations for Malcolm X, the other recognizing Ruth E. Carter’s striking costume design. Continue reading
Rosemary’s Baby: John Cassavetes’ Light Blue Summer Sport Jacket
John Cassavetes and Mia Farrow in Rosemary’s Baby (1968). Photo by Paul Slade.
Vitals
John Cassavetes as Guy Woodhouse, ambitious actor
New York City, Summer 1965
Film: Rosemary’s Baby
Release Date: June 12, 1968
Director: Roman Polanski
Costume Designer: Anthea Sylbert
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Happy Mother’s Day! In honor of one of cinema’s most infamous pregnancies, today’s post looks at the enduring style of Rosemary’s Baby—Roman Polanski’s 1968 adaptation of Ira Levin’s best-selling horror novel, which had been published less than six months before filming began.
Though the film’s fashion legacy largely belongs to Mia Farrow’s iconic pixie cut and stylish wardrobe as the titular Rosemary Woodhouse, her on-screen husband Guy—a struggling actor played by John Cassavetes—also exhibits a sharp and understated sense of style. Continue reading
You must be logged in to post a comment.