Tagged: Once Upon a Time in America
Once Upon a Time in America: Max’s Beige Beachwear
James Woods and Tuesday Weld in Once Upon a Time in America (1984)
Vitals
James Woods as Max Bercovicz, ambitious mob bootlegger
Miami Beach, Fall 1933
Film: Once Upon a Time in America
Release Date: May 23, 1984
Director: Sergio Leone
Costume Designer: Gabriella Pescucci
Background
Happy first weekend of summer… at least to my fellow readers in the Northern Hemisphere! Today’s post continues embracing sun-friendly resort-wear, this time by way of Sergio Leone’s controversial gangster epic Once Upon a Time in America.
Robert De Niro and James Woods star as Noodles and Max, a pair of gangsters who worked their way up from teenage street hoods to bootleggers viciously ruling the streets of New York in the latter Prohibition era. Between Max’s megalomania and Noodles having spent much of their mob’s formative years in prison, resentments grow between the pair, but the influx of cash is enough to bury any problems… at least until late 1933.
While lazing under the sun with their respective molls in Miami Beach to the dulcet tones of Cole Porter’s “Night and Day”, Noodles learns from the newspaper that they’re about to be “unemployed” with the repeal of the Volstead Act just weeks away. Continue reading
Once Upon a Time in America: De Niro’s Herringbone for a Heist
Robert De Niro as David “Noodles” Aaronson in Once Upon a Time in America (1984)
Vitals
Robert De Niro as David “Noodles” Aaronson, mob bootlegger and ex-convict
Detroit, Fall 1932
Film: Once Upon a Time in America
Release Date: May 23, 1984
Director: Sergio Leone
Costume Designer: Gabriella Pescucci
Background
After premiering at Cannes in May and undergoing a truncated release stateside that summer, Sergio Leone’s controversial mob saga Once Upon a Time in America was finally released in the Italian-born director’s home country on this day in 1984. Leone’s final film, and the first he had directed in 13 years, Once Upon a Time in America marked the conclusion to his unofficial “Once Upon a Time…” trilogy.
De Niro as Noodles – Charcoal Red-Striped Flannel Suit
Robert De Niro as “Noodles” Aaronson in Once Upon a Time in America (1984).
Vitals
Robert De Niro as David “Noodles” Aaronson, mob bootlegger and violent ex-convict
New York City, December 1933
Film: Once Upon a Time in America
Release Date: May 23, 1984
Director: Sergio Leone
Costume Designer: Gabriella Pescucci
Background
83 years ago today, the 21st amendment was ratified to officially repeal Prohibition, delighting a thirsty American public but leaving many criminals who had made their fortunes from bootlegging effectively “unemployed”. This Mafia Monday post checks in with Robert De Niro as a mobster coming to terms with what that means for his career and personal life in 1984’s Once Upon a Time in America. Continue reading