Tagged: Polo Shirt
The Departed: Jack Nicholson’s Seersucker Sport Jacket
Jack Nicholson as Frank Costello in The Departed (2006)
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Jack Nicholson as Francis “Frank” Costello, sadistic Irish-American mob boss
Boston, Spring 2007
Film: The Departed
Release Date: October 6, 2006
Director: Martin Scorsese
Costume Designer: Sandy Powell
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
With 12 Academy Award nominations (and three wins), today’s birthday boy Jack Nicholson remains the most-nominated male actor in Oscar history. Following a prolific career that began in the late 1950s, Nicholson delivered one final characteristically intense performance in The Departed (2006), his first—and, given his decades-long retirement from acting, only—collaboration with director Martin Scorsese. Continue reading
The Godfather, Part II: Hyman Roth’s Birthday Party Knit Shirt
Lee Strasberg as Hyman Roth in The Godfather Part II (1974)
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Lee Strasberg as Hyman Roth, mobster and gambling kingpin
Havana, New Year’s Eve 1958
Film: The Godfather Part II
Release Date: December 12, 1974
Director: Francis Ford Coppola
Costume Designer: Theadora Van Runkle
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Released 50 years ago this month, The Godfather Part II expands the Corleone crime family chronicles to include Hyman Roth (Lee Strasberg), a respected gangster inspired by the real-life Meyer Lansky. Al Pacino had been one of Strasberg’s students at the Actors Studio and recommended his former acting coach for the role that would eventually garner Strasberg his sole Academy Award nomination.
Decades after his rumrunning partnership with the Corleones during Prohibition, the aging Roth is now based in Miami, where he’s visited by Michael Corleone (Al Pacino) to discuss a history-making collaboration. The two travel to Havana to work with representatives from American corporations and Fulgencio Batista’s corrupt Cuban government to take over a Reno casino—all while Roth is plotting to fatally double-cross Michael.
Of course, it’s the last week of December 1958, so the Batista government’s days are numbered as Fidel Castro’s rebels are getting closer to their New Year’s Eve victory. However, the primary celebration on Hyman Roth’s mind is his 67th birthday, which he celebrates on a Havana rooftop with Michael, Roth’s right-hand man Johnny Ola (Dominic Chianese), and other criminal cohorts. Continue reading
And Then There Were None (2015): Anthony Marston’s Pink Terry Shirt
Douglas Booth as Anthony Marston in And Then There Were None (2015)
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Douglas Booth as Anthony Marston, irresponsible socialite
Devon, England, August 1939
Series Title: And Then There Were None
Air Date: December 26-28, 2015
Director: Craig Viveiros
Costume Designer: Lindsay Pugh
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
A recent rewatch of the 2015 BBC One series And Then There Were None brought to mind the exquisite parade of interesting menswear designed by Lindsay Pugh for the half-dozen gents summoned to the mysterious Soldier Island off the coast of Devon. The series is set during a late summer weekend in August 1939 on the brink of World War II, a specter that hauntingly looms over the darkly faithful series which is the first English-language adaptation to restore Agatha Christie’s original ending.
The story centers around ten strangers—eight guests and a married couple to serve as their staff—invited to the island by the enigmatic U.N. Owen, whom it is quickly established none of the ten have ever met… nor will they meet him, as their unknown host only makes his presence known by a recording accusing each of the ten of murder. All but two of the attendees respond with horrified denials, with the roguish adventurer Philip Lombard (Aidan Turner) and brash socialite Anthony Marston (Douglas Booth) being the only two to instantly own up to their past crimes. Continue reading
The Gambler: James Caan’s White Tennis Gear
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
In addition to today being the first day of summer, June 20th is also observed as International Tennis Day, established ten years ago to recognize the day when the first “Tennis Court Oath” was taken in 1789 at a tennis court near the Palace of Versailles.
The sport has found renewed interest this year after the release of Luca Guadagnino’s Challengers starring Zendaya, Josh O’Connor, and Mike Faist, a film not without its own notable style including—but certainly not limited to—the “I TOLD YA” T-shirt homage to John F. Kennedy Jr. that costume designer J.W. Anderson chose for Zendaya’s wardrobe.
“We don’t talk enough about the scene in the original version of The Gambler where the James Caan character absolutely destroys his own mother at tennis,” Matt Zoller Seitz tweeted after Caan’s death in July 2022, so I’m hoping to rectify this oversight.
While Challengers will have its BAMF Style spotlight soon, the intersection of International Tennis Day and the summer solstice during the 50th anniversary year of The Gambler drew me toward the Fred Perry-branded tennis whites that Caan wore as Axel Freed in this 1974 drama. Continue reading
Mandalay: Ricardo Cortez’s White Linen Suit and Captain’s Hat
Ricardo Cortez as Tony Evans in Mandalay (1934)
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Ricardo Cortez as Tony Evans, shady ship’s captain
Rangoon, Burma (now Myanmar), Summer 1933
Film: Mandalay
Release Date: February 10, 1934
Director: Michael Curtiz
Costume Designer: Orry-Kelly
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
As Memorial Day weekend typically marks the unofficial start of summer style season, many gents are rotating their whites back to the front of their wardrobe. In the spirit of this transition, today’s post takes some perhaps recherché inspiration in the 90-year-old pre-Code drama Mandalay.
Written by Austin Parker and Charles Kenyon from a story by Paul Hervey Fox, Mandalay was one of nearly 200 films directed by Michael Curtiz, who used this as a cinematic playground to pioneer what were then cutting-edge techniques like wipes and opticals. The drama begins in Burma (now Myanmar), where the greedily opportunistic Tony Evans (Ricardo Cortez) essentially trades his charming girlfriend Tanya (Kay Francis) to the unscrupulous local nightclub owner Nick (Warner Oland) in exchange for taking on a job running guns for him. Continue reading
Here Comes Mr. Jordan: Robert Montgomery’s Belted Leather Jacket
Robert Montgomery in Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941)
Vitals
Robert Montgomery as Joe Pendleton, prizefighter and pilot known as “The Flying Pug”
En route New York City, Spring 1941
Film: Here Comes Mr. Jordan
Release Date: August 7, 1941
Director: Alexander Hall
Costume Designer: Edith Head (gowns)
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Perhaps one of the first true “Renaissance men” in Hollywood, Robert Montgomery was born 120 years ago today on May 21, 1904 in New York’s Hudson Valley. Montgomery displayed a versatile range across movies and television, his comedic and dramatic abilities resulting in two Academy Award nominations and two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He was also an inventive director, pioneering an unusual but daring first-person narrative style for his 1947 directorial debut Lady in the Lake, adapted from Raymond Chandler’s pulp novel of the same name.
When World War II began in Europe, Montgomery enlisted for the American Field Service in London and drove ambulances in France up through the famous Dunkirk evacuation. After the United States entered the war a year and a half later, Montgomery joined the U.S. Navy and rose to the rank of lieutenant commander.
Amidst all this, Montgomery received his second Oscar nomination for his performance as the charismatic, saxophone-playing boxer Joe Pendleton in the smart supernatural comedy Here Comes Mr. Jordan, based on Harry Segall’s 1938 play Heaven Can Wait. Continue reading
Against All Odds: Jeff Bridges’ Burgundy Polo and Herringbone Jacket
Jeff Bridges as Terry Brogan in Against All Odds (1984)
Vitals
Jeff Bridges as Terry Brogan, recently cut football player
Los Angeles, Fall 1983
Film: Against All Odds
Release Date: March 2, 1984
Director: Taylor Hackford
Costume Designer: Michael Kaplan
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
I’ve received several requests, most recently from BAMF Style reader Cecil, to highlight the style from Against All Odds, released forty years ago this weekend. A loose remake of Jacques Tourneur’s seminal 1947 film noir Out of the Past, Against All Odds reimagines the private eye protagonist as professional football player Terry Brogan (Jeff Bridges). Continue reading
The Sopranos: Tony’s Gray Suit and Shirt in the Pilot Episode
James Gandolfini as Tony Soprano on The Sopranos (Episode 1.01)
Vitals
James Gandolfini as Tony Soprano, New Jersey mob chief
North Caldwell, New Jersey, Summer 1998
Series: The Sopranos
Episode: “The Sopranos” (Episode 1.01)
Air Date: January 10, 1999
Director: David Chase
Creator: David Chase
Costume Designer: Juliet Polcsa
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
The Sopranos premiered 25 years ago tonight, introducing HBO audiences to New Jersey Mafia chief Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), driven to therapy following stress-induced panic attacks as he attempts to balance family and The Family.
“Written and directed by [David] Chase, the pilot is a hybrid slapstick comedy, domestic sitcom, and crime thriller, with dabs of ’70s American New Wave grit,” conclude Matt Zoller Seitz and Alan Sepinwall in The Sopranos Sessions. “The device of putting the hero in therapy lets Chase deliver reams of information about Tony, his crew, his bosses, his family, and their overlaps, along with the points where Tony’s personal and professional distress are inseparable, all without the usual pilot-episode busy work.” Continue reading
Bad Lieutenant: Harvey Keitel’s Gray Nailhead Jacket
Harvey Keitel in Bad Lieutenant (1992)
Vitals
Harvey Keitel as “The Lieutenant”, morally corrupt NYPD lieutenant
New York City, Fall 1991
Film: Bad Lieutenant
Release Date: November 20, 1992
Director: Abel Ferrara
Costume Designer: David Sawaryn
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Released 31 years ago today in 1992, Abel Ferrara’s controversial drama Bad Lieutenant features a fearless, uncompromising performance of a lifetime from Harvey Keitel, who replaced Christopher Walken in the titular role as the unnamed detective who regularly neglects his law enforcement duties in favor of a nightmarish spiral of blow, baseball, and broads. Continue reading
Sunset Boulevard: William Holden’s Mini-Check Sport Jacket and “Dreadful Shirt”
William Holden as Joe Gillis in Sunset Boulevard (1950)
Vitals
William Holden as Joe Gillis, struggling screenwriter
Los Angeles, Fall 1949
Film: Sunset Boulevard
Release Date: August 10, 1950
Director: Billy Wilder
Costume Designer: Edith Head
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Noirvember continues with Sunset Boulevard, one of the great films noir that shines a light—or, more appropriately, casts a shadow—on the darker side of Hollywood, a theme popular with contemporary dramas like In a Lonely Place (1950) and The Bad and the Beautiful (1952), with an added verisimilitude through mentions of real studios like 20th Century Fox and Paramount Pictures—who, of course, produced Sunset Boulevard—and cameos from Cecil B. DeMille, Hedda Hopper, and Buster Keaton.
William Holden stars as Joe Gillis, who describes himself in the opening narration as “a movie writer with a couple of B pictures to his credit.” On “the day when it all started,” Joe recounts living in a seedy one-room Hollywood apartment where he owes three months back rent, grinding out two original screenplays a week and fretting that he’s lost his touch. Three payments behind on his Plymouth, his screenplays aren’t selling, and his agent isn’t willing to help, instead insisting that “the finest things on the world have been written on an empty stomach,” though that may be just to get out of having to lend his client the $290 he needs to keep his car. Continue reading
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