Tagged: New York City
The Panic in Needle Park: Al Pacino’s Deck Jacket and Layers
Al Pacino and Kitty Winn in The Panic in Needle Park (1971)
Vitals
Al Pacino as Bobby, desperate drug addict
New York City, Fall 1970
Film: The Panic in Needle Park
Release Date: July 13, 1971
Director: Jerry Schatzberg
Costume Designer: Jo Ynocencio
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
On Al Pacino’s 85th birthday, let’s look back at the Manhattan-born actor’s first leading screen role that launched his prolific career.
Born April 25, 1940, Pacino studied acting through the ’60s at the HB Studio and Actors Studio, which led to a handful of acclaimed stage roles. His manager, Martin Bregman, then helped him land what would become his breakout film performance as hustler and heroin addict Bobby in The Panic in Needle Park, directed by Bregman’s fellow client Jerry Schatzberg, a photographer who had just completed his directorial debut Puzzle of a Downfall Child.
“I had made my theater bones playing these types of street characters, so I was grateful to have that choice for a first film,” Pacino later recalled in his 2024 memoir Sonny Boy. “The Panic in Needle Park turned out to be a showcase for me. It’s still lauded today, and Jerry Schatzberg did such a magnificent job.”
Written by John Didion and John Gregory Dunne, The Panic in Needle Park centers around Bobby and his girlfriend Helen (Kitty Winn), navigating their worsening heroin addictions among a network of fellow junkies whose presence in a section of New York’s Upper West Side resulted in the titular “Needle Park” nickname. Continue reading
The Gambler: James Caan’s Tan Cardigan
James Caan as Axel Freed in The Gambler (1974)
Vitals
James Caan as Axel Freed, gambling-addicted English professor
New York City, Fall 1973
Film: The Gambler
Release Date: October 2, 1974
Director: Karel Reisz
Costume Designer: Albert Wolsky
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Today’s post honors the late James Caan, born 85 years ago on March 26, 1940. Just after his star-making performance in The Godfather, Caan starred as Axel Freed in The Gambler (1974), the eponymous English professor whose crippling addiction lands him deep in debt.
Axel’s struggle to climb out of the $44,000 hole he’s dug for himself is central to the film. Early on, Axel joins his mother at the beach where, upon learning of the extent of his debt, she bemoans her failure in raising a son “with the morals of a snail.” As Axel spirals further, he seeks out ways to cover the debt, meeting with his girlfriend Billie (Lauren Hutton) before attempting a desperate plan to hustle cash. Continue reading
John Cazale in Dog Day Afternoon
John Cazale as Sal in Dog Day Afternoon (1975)
Vitals
John Cazale as Sal Naturile, desperate bank robber and ex-convict
Brooklyn, Summer 1972
Film: Dog Day Afternoon
Release Date: September 21, 1975
Director: Sidney Lumet
Costume Designer: Anna Hill Johnstone
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
On August 22, 1972, an attempted bank robbery in Brooklyn became a media circus as dozens of police and spectators surrounded the Gravesend branch of the Chase Manhattan Bank where armed bandits John “Sonny” Wojtowicz and Salvatore “Sal” Naturile spent nearly 14 hours holed up with the handful of bank employees they held hostage. The stranger-than-fiction story was the basis for P.F. Kluge and Thomas Moore’s Life feature “The Boys in the Bank”, which was then adapted by screenwriter Frank Pierson and director Sidney Lumet into Dog Day Afternoon, starring Al Pacino and John Cazale as Sonny and Sal, respectively.
Before he died of lung cancer 47 years ago today on March 13, 1978, Cazale’s brief but brilliant screen career was batting a thousand. He had memorably co-starred in The Godfather, The Godfather Part II, The Conversation, Dog Day Afternoon, and The Deer Hunter—all of which were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. Despite his contemporary acclaim and generational influence, Cazale’s sole screen award recognition was a Golden Globe nomination for his tragicomic and characteristically intense performance in Dog Day Afternoon. Continue reading
Star Trek: Spock’s Pea Coat in “The City on the Edge of Forever”
Leonard Nimoy as Mr. Spock on Star Trek, Episode 1.28: “The City on the Edge of Forever”
Vitals
Leonard Nimoy as Spock, time-traveling starship officer
New York City, Fall 1930
Series: Star Trek
Episode: “The City on the Edge of Forever” (Episode 1.28)
Air Date: April 6, 1967
Director: Joseph Pevney
Creator: Gene Roddenberry
Costume Designer: William Ware Theiss
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Last year, a BAMF Style reader smartly suggested writing about the classic workwear commandeered by two USS Enterprise officers upon “passing through ripples in time” and landing in Depression-era New York City in the landmark Star Trek episode “The City on the Edge of Forever”.
Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) and his part-Vulcan first officer, the brilliant Mr. Spock (Leonard Nimoy), were forced to leap through a portal on a mysterious planet, in pursuit of their cordrazine-crazed medical officer “Bones” McCoy (DeForest Kelley), whose actions on the other side of the portal inadvertently altered the past to a degree that erased the Enterprise and its crew from existence. Without their advanced technology at his disposal, Spock is forced to improvise “to construct a mnemonic memory circuit using stone knives and bearskins” and determine how Bones’ actions affected the future, eventually finding Kirk’s new love interest, pacifist missionary Edith Keeler (Joan Collins), to be at the center of it all.
As actor Leonard Nimoy died ten years ago today on February 27, 2015, today’s post follows up on my previous entry about Captain Kirk’s found workwear by exploring Spock’s purloined pea coat and jeans. Continue reading
The Cotton Club: Richard Gere in Prohibition-era Black Tie
Richard Gere as “Dixie” Dwyer in The Cotton Club (1984)
Vitals
Richard Gere as Dixie Dwyer, mob-connected movie star and jazz trumpeter
New York Spring, Winter 1928 to Winter 1931
Film: The Cotton Club
Release Date: December 14, 1984
Director: Francis Ford Coppola
Costume Designer: Milena Canonero
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Fraught with almost as much deadly drama behind the scenes as depicted on screen, Francis Ford Coppola’s contentious crime epic The Cotton Club was released 40 years ago last month in December 1984. From a story by Coppola, William Kennedy, and Mario Puzo, the story centers around the real-life titular Harlem nightclub that operated during Prohibition, which was first enforced across the United States 105 years ago today on January 17, 1920. The movie was received about as well as Prohibition itself, with both Oscar and Razzie nominations, four-star ratings and dead financiers.
The Cotton Club blends actual gangsters like Owney Madden and Dutch Schultz and popular musicians like Cab Calloway and Duke Ellington with fictional characters inspired by real-life figures. Richard Gere stars as “Dixie” Dwyer, a jazz musician destined for stardom as a matinee idol who shares biographical traits with the actor George Raft and alliteratively named trumpeter Bix Beiderbecke. Dixie finds himself vying against Schultz for the affections of Vera Cicero (Diane Lane), a vivacious singer reminiscent of nightclub owner “Texas” Guinan—who also inspired Gladys George’s brassy character in The Roaring Twenties. Continue reading
Maestro: Bradley Cooper’s Tan Sport Suit as Leonard Bernstein
Bradley Cooper as Leonard Bernstein on the set of Maestro (2023)
Vitals
Bradley Cooper as Leonard Bernstein, acclaimed conductor
New York City, Summer 1977
Film: Maestro
Release Date: November 22, 2023
Director: Bradley Cooper
Costume Designer: Mark Bridges
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Happy 50th birthday to Bradley Cooper! The actor followed his acclaimed 2018 directorial debut A Star is Born with Maestro, chronicling the life of iconic American conductor and composer Leonard Bernstein. In addition to directing and co-writing the screenplay, Cooper starred as Bernstein opposite Carey Mulligan as his stylish, talented, and outspoken wife, Felicia Montealegre.
Maestro was frequently nominated in the Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay, and acting categories recognizing Cooper’s and Mulligan’s performances by award bodies including the Academy Awards, BAFTAs, Critics’ Choice, Golden Globes, and Satellite Awards. Continue reading
Kiss of Death: Richard Widmark as Tommy Udo
Richard Widmark as Tommy Udo in Kiss of Death (1947)
Vitals
Richard Widmark as Tommy Udo, psychopathic mob hitman
New York City, Spring 1947
Film: Kiss of Death
Release Date: August 13, 1947
Director: Henry Hathaway
Wardrobe Director: Charles Le Maire
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Born 110 years ago today on December 26, 1914, Richard Widmark made his explosive and Academy Award-nominated screen debut in Henry Hathaway’s 1947 noir thriller Kiss of Death, filmed on location that spring in New York City and the surrounding area. Though Hathaway had fought Darryl F. Zanuck on casting Widmark, the director and actor developed a mutual respect for the other that would lead to five additional cinematic collaborations and Widmark serving as pallbearer during Hathaway’s 1985 funeral.
After a Christmas Eve jewelry heist gone wrong, Nick Bianco (Victor Mature) shares a jail cell with the sadistic Tommy Udo (Richard Widmark), a psychopathic criminal “picked up just for shovelin’ a guy’s ears off his head…. traffic ticket stuff.” Refusing to name his accomplices, Nick is sentenced to 20 years in Sing Sing, handcuffed on the train to Tommy who remembers that it’s his birthday… making this an especially appropriate post for today!
Scrooged: Bill Murray’s Navy Pinstripe Suit
Bill Murray as Frank Cross in Scrooged (1988)
Vitals
Bill Murray as Frank Cross, cynical TV executive
New York City, December 1988
Film: Scrooged
Release Date: November 23, 1988
Director: Richard Donner
Costume Designer: Wayne A. Finkelman
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Happy December! I’m already in the the midst of rewatching many of my favorite Christmas movies, which range in vibe from sentimental to cynical. Action director Richard Donner helmed two of the most cynical holiday-themed movies—Lethal Weapon and Scrooged—released back-to-back in 1987 and 1988, respectively.
A comic update of Charles Dickens’ classic novel A Christmas Carol, Scrooged stars Bill Murray as Frank Cross, president of the fictional IBC television network who gets the chance to prove whether Murray still ain’t afraid of no ghosts. Continue reading
Maestro: Lenny’s “Holiday Houndstooth” Jacket and Turtleneck on Thanksgiving
Bradley Cooper as Leonard Bernstein in Maestro (2023)
Vitals
Bradley Cooper as Leonard Bernstein, acclaimed conductor
New York City, Thanksgiving 1971
Film: Maestro
Release Date: November 22, 2023
Director: Bradley Cooper
Costume Designer: Mark Bridges
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Happy Thanksgiving!
Bradley Cooper’s Oscar-nominated sophomore directorial effort Maestro was released one year ago this month on Thanksgiving Eve 2023, the day before Cooper himself spent Turkey Day with the family of Leonard Bernstein, the legendary American conductor he portrayed on screen.
Also co-produced and co-written by Cooper, Maestro spans nearly fifty years of Bernstein’s life—prominently chronicling his tumultuous marriage to the stylish Costa Rican performer Felicia Montealegre (Carey Mulligan).
The real Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990), conducting rehearsals at London’s Royal Albert Hall for the Igor Stravinsky Memorial Concert in April 1972.
“There’s one scene in particular that I cannot stop thinking about,” wrote Britt Hayes for The Mary Sue. “And it involves a certain little guy from Peanuts.” Continue reading
When Harry Met Sally: Harry’s Leather Flight Jacket
Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan in When Harry Met Sally (1989)
Vitals
Billy Crystal as Harry Burns, sarcastic political consultant and recent divorcée
New York City, Fall 1987
Film: When Harry Met Sally…
Release Date: July 14, 1989
Director: Rob Reiner
Costume Designer: Gloria Gresham
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
One of the most aesthetically pleasing fall movies, Rob Reiner’s romantic comedy When Harry Met Sally celebrated its 35th anniversary earlier this year. Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan—who celebrates her 63rd birthday today—star as the titular enemies-turned-friends-turned lovers. Continue reading
You must be logged in to post a comment.