Tagged: Policeman
The Untouchables: Ness’ Gray 3-Piece Suit
Kevin Costner as Eliot Ness in The Untouchables (1987).
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Kevin Costner as Eliot Ness, honest and intrepid federal agent
Chicago, September 1930
Film: The Untouchables
Release Date: June 3, 1987
Director: Brian De Palma
Costume Designer: Marilyn Vance
Wardrobe: Giorgio Armani
Background
This blog has been focusing on a lot of bad guys lately, so let’s take a look at a good guy… at least according to the film about him.
Despite what Robert Stack and Kevin Costner’s portrayals may have you believe, Eliot Ness didn’t single-handedly stop Al Capone’s reign of terror over the city of Chicago. Even Ness’ own account paints himself as a crime-fighting pariah who overcame the odds with a tight-knit group of rogue lawmen and brought down a monster. Continue reading
Bruce Willis in Die Hard 2
Bruce Willis as John McClane in Die Hard 2 (1990)
Merry Christmas from BAMF Style to you and yours!
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Bruce Willis as John McClane, LAPD detective lieutenant
Washington, D.C., Christmas 1990
Film: Die Hard 2: Die Harder
Release Date: July 4, 1990
Director: Renny Harlin
Costume Designer: Marilyn Vance
Bruce Willis’ Key Costumer: Charles Mercuri
Background
One of the complaints about the Die Hard series is that there’s no way the same thing can keep happening to the one guy in the world who’s able to save it. Of course, these sort of complaints mostly started cropping up after the fourth installment in 2007 where John McClane literally saved the world. Prior to that, he’d saved about 30 lives in an office building, a few hundred in airplanes, and the population of New York City. Okay, so the scale kept getting bigger, but at least then he had a reason for being around. It’s even lampshaded in Die Hard 2 when McClane rants to himself:
Oh man, I can’t fucking believe this. Another basement, another elevator. How can the same shit happen to the same guy twice?
Lethal Weapon: Riggs’ Gray Jacket and Jeans
Mel Gibson as Det. Martin Riggs in Lethal Weapon (1987).
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Mel Gibson as Martin Riggs, suicidal LAPD detective
Los Angeles, Christmas 1987
Film: Lethal Weapon
Release Date: March 6, 1987
Director: Richard Donner
Costume Designer: Mary Malin
Background
In a way, Lethal Weapon is too entertaining for its own good. It’s a bit corny, it’s a bit ’80s, and it’s a bit over-the-top, but it set the standard for the “buddy cop comedy” with its bizarre but efficient mix of neo-noir (a sax soundtrack in L.A.) and The Three Stooges. Over the years, it has been constantly compared to Die Hard, often unfavorably. While they both involve “loose cannon” left-handed cops in L.A. at Christmas, both armed with Beretta 92F pistols, the two films are radically different.
Lethal Weapon‘s main character (partnership be damned) is Martin Riggs, an LAPD narc who is very good at his job, mostly because he doesn’t care if he lives or dies. The film follows Riggs as he is partnered with the older and wiser Sgt. Roger Murtaugh. They both learn from each other and manage to solve the case by throwing smoke grenades in the desert, getting electroshocked, and beating the shit out of Gary Busey. Now if that doesn’t sound entertaining, what does? Continue reading
Dirty Harry’s Brown Suit
Clint Eastwood in the climactic scene of Dirty Harry (1971).
After stuffing our faces and stomachs during the Thanksgiving holiday this weekend, it’s certainly appropriate that you’d want to return to work feeling like a badass. That’s what Clint Eastwood is here for.
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Clint Eastwood as Insp. Harry Callahan, frustrated San Francisco inspector
San Francisco, Summer 1971
Film: Dirty Harry
Release Date: December 23, 1971
Director: Don Siegel
Wardrobe Department: Glenn Wright
Background
Having established his central look earlier in the film as a sport coat and slacks (gray herringbone and brown plaid), Dirty Harry throws a lateral for the final confrontation against the brutal “Scorpio Killer” by wearing a sharp, slim cut brown three-piece suit.
A brown 3-piece suit is a very traditional look, but the fit and styling of Harry’s suit is very contemporary and fashion-forward for 1971. The traditional suiting makes sense for Harry, a contrast to the more liberal film cops like Bullitt and their more fashionable wardrobes. While not outfitted in a frock coat and striped cravat, Harry still looks more old-fashioned next to Bullitt in his shooting jacket and polo neck jumper. Continue reading
Bullitt’s Navy Suit
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Steve McQueen as Bullitt (1968).Vitals
Steve McQueen as Lt. Frank Bullitt, maverick SFPD inspector
San Francisco, Spring 1968
Film: Bullitt
Release Date: October 17, 1968
Director: Peter Yates
Costume Designer: Theadora Van Runkle
Tailor: Douglas Hayward
Background
There is little dispute among both film and automobile fans that 1968’s Bullitt features the best car chase scene in movie history. Steve McQueen faces off in a fastback Mustang GT against two hitmen in a black Charger. By now, diehard fans of the film know that the Charger legendarily overtook and outpowered the Mustang during the actual filming, although it was still edited to have McQueen’s driving emerge victorious as the Charger ended up, sadly, in a ball of flame. Continue reading
Bullitt’s Cardigan at the Hospital
Steve McQueen as Bullitt (1968)
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Steve McQueen as Lt. Frank Bullitt, renegade San Francisco inspector
San Francisco, Spring 1968
Film: Bullitt
Release Date: October 17, 1968
Director: Peter Yates
Costume Designer: Theadora Van Runkle
Background
Steve McQueen’s character in Bullitt is often remembered for two things: his handling of the green fastback Mustang during the car chase and the iconic tweed sport jacket and rollneck jumper he wore. Just before that sequence, we see Lieutenant Bullitt pulling an all-nighter at the hospital after the fatal shooting of the witness his men were protecting.
Our groggy lieutenant arrives at the hospital with a thick, high-fastening cardigan layered over his casual open-neck shirt, trousers, and—of course—his shoulder holster. Continue reading
Bruce Willis in Die Hard
BAMF Style’s 5 Days of Christmas
One of my all-time favorite Christmas movies is Die Hard. If you’re traveling for the holidays this year, make sure you dress comfortably for the plane ride and for taking on a skyscraper full of European terrorists. Don’t worry about packing extra shoes.
Bruce Willis as Det. John McClane in Die Hard (1988)
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Bruce Willis as John McClane, NYPD detective
Los Angeles, Christmas 1987
Film: Die Hard
Release Date: July 15, 1988
Director: John McTiernan
Costume Designer: Marilyn Vance
Bruce Willis’ Key Costumer: Charles Mercuri
Background
John McClane was the direct American response to James Bond. Nothing against Bond; we’re obviously fans here, but McClane provided a brutal anti-hero that the ’80s needed. Before we delve into the attire, let’s briefly contrast these two. (This is all pre-Craig Bond being compared as Dan Craig certainly exemplifies a jaded physical toughness that McClane would be proud of.) Continue reading
A Black Tie Christmas with Nick Charles
BAMF Style’s 5 Days of Christmas
To celebrate the holidays, BAMF Style will be chronicling the finest yuletide looks from some of our favorites. If you have any suggestions that don’t make it onto the blog this week, don’t worry, there’s always next year. Or the year after. (Or, if it’s a really good one, Christmas in July?)
William Powell as Nick Charles in The Thin Man (1934).
The easiest way to begin (and to celebrate Formal Friday) is naturally…
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William Powell as Nick Charles, retired private detective
New York City, Christmas 1933
Film: The Thin Man
Release Date: May 25, 1934
Director: W.S. Van Dyke
Wardrobe Credit: Dolly Tree
Background
Following his Christmas celebrations, Nick Charles is naturally called upon by the police to solve a murder. With the two most useful tools at his disposal – a sharp wife and an infallible liver – he does so with gusto. Unlike most policemen’s standard procedure of bringing a suspect in for questioning, this would be the waste of a fine dinner party opportunity for a bon vivant like Nick. Naturally, the suspects are the guests of honor, aptly served their dinner and drinks by armed policemen. Continue reading
The Thin Man: Nick Charles’ First Suit
William Powell as Nick Charles in The Thin Man (1934)
The holidays are a time of homecoming, family, tradition, and libations.
Unless you’re Nick Charles, who believes in getting far away from family to spend Christmas Eve with criminals he had sent to prison during his days as a policeman. Naturally, the libations part is still essential.
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William Powell as Nick Charles, retired private detective
New York City, Christmas 1933
Film: The Thin Man
Release Date: May 25, 1934
Director: W.S. Van Dyke
Wardrobe Credit: Dolly Tree
Background
The big screen’s introduction to Nick Charles is one of my favorites. We have already met the “Thin Man” himself, Clyde Wynant, during the film’s opening scene. (Despite Powell’s slim frame, he actually is not the “Thin Man” of the title) We then cut to a big Christmas party at a bar – drinks, dancing, fun. Clearly people are still celebrating the end of Prohibition which, according to the film’s storyline, had been only weeks earlier.
We search through the party and, naturally, find William Powell standing at the bar, shaking a cobbler shaker vigorously “to waltz time”. He strains into a tiny martini glass and, ever the gentleman, places it on the waiter’s tray. He then turns back to the waiter, accepts his drink with a polite smile, and enjoys his first onscreen Martini. Or the sixth, according to him. Continue reading
L.A. Confidential – Jack Vincennes at a Christmas Party
Kevin Spacey as Sgt. Jack Vincennes in L.A. Confidential (1997).
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Kevin Spacey as Sgt. Jack Vincennes, swaggering LAPD “celebrity” narcotics detective
Los Angeles, Christmas 1952
Film: L.A. Confidential
Release Date: September 19, 1997
Director: Curtis Hanson
Costume Designer: Ruth Myers
Background
Curtis Hanson’s 1997 film adaptation of James Ellroy’s raw book is neo-noir at its finest. The story has it all: crooked cops, femme fatales, drugs, corruption, prostitution, gunfights, cigarettes, muted trumpets, and whiskey – straight. Needless to say, the three LAPD detectives each bring their own level of BAMF to the film.
The most notable, from a sartorial standpoint is Narcotics Sgt. Jack Vincennes, a cynical half-celebrity who forgot his motivations for police work long ago and now lives for his half-celebrity status, acting as technical advisor on a Dragnet-like TV show that stars the guy who played Lloyd Braun on Seinfeld.
Interestingly, Spacey was told to base part of his portrayal of Vincennes on Dean Martin. Spacey does this perfectly, paying homage to Martin without making his character a portrayal of the famous Rat Packer with a badge and gun. His gestures, persona, and the way he swings through the film, winning people’s trust with his charisma, is very reminiscent of the personable Dean Martin. Continue reading
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