Tagged: Private Detective

Richard Roundtree’s Black Leather as Shaft

Richard Roundtree as John Shaft in Shaft (1971)

Vitals

Richard Roundtree as John Shaft, tough private detective

New York City, Winter 1971 and 1972

Film: Shaft
Release Date: June 25, 1971
Director: Gordon Parks
Costume Designer: Joseph G. Aulisi

Film: Shaft’s Big Score!
Release Date: June 21, 1972
Director: Gordon Parks
Costume Designer: Joseph G. Aulisi

Background

R.I.P. Richard Roundtree (1942-2023), who shot to stardom in the early 1970s after making his iconic screen debut as the eponymous detective in Shaft. Continue reading

Magnum, P.I.: Black Star Orchid Aloha Shirt

Tom Selleck as Thomas Magnum on Magnum, P.I., Episode 1.17: “J. ‘Digger’ Doyle”

Vitals

Tom Selleck as Thomas Magnum, private investigator and former Navy SEAL

Hawaii, Summer 1981

Series: Magnum, P.I.
Episodes:
– “No Need to Know” (Episode 1.05, dir. Lawrence Doheny, aired 1/8/1981)
– “All Roads Lead to Floyd” (Episode 1.13, dir. Ron Satlof, aired 3/12/1980)
– “J. ‘Digger’ Doyle” (Episode 1.17, dir. Winrich Kolbe, aired 4/9/1981)
Creator: Donald P. Bellisario & Glen Larson
Costume Designer: Charles Waldo (credited with first season only)
Costume Supervisor: James Gilmore

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

Today is the end of Hawaiian History Month as well as one week before my first-ever trip to the Aloha State, so let’s return to the Paradise of the Pacific via the aloha style frequently worn by Tom Selleck in Magnum, P.I.

As established from the beginning of the series, Magnum is a private investigator and former Navy SEAL who exchanges his security expertise for his cushy dwellings in the guesthouse of enigmatic author Robin Masters’ lush Oahu estate. Taking cases as they suit him, speeding around the island in Masters’ red Ferrari, and working with old war pals T.C. (Roger E. Mosley) and Rick (Larry Manetti), the only drawback to Magnum’s lifestyle are the limitations imposed by Masters’ strict majordomo Jonathan Quayle Higgins III (John Hillerman)… though even Magnum can often work his charm and trade favors for Higgins to earn a few extra perks—like access to Masters’ wine cellar.

Magnum’s wardrobe blends preppy staples of the ’80s, military-inspired garb, and the floral shirts associated with the Hawaiian islands—a contrast to the previous major Hawaiian-set series, Hawaii Five-O, where Jack Lord’s cop character Steve McGarrett regularly wore conservative suits and ties. On the other hand, Magnum embraces dressing casually at every opportunity, even wearing jeans when he’s forced to borrow a dinner jacket for the evening in “No Need to Know” (Episode 1.05).

This episode is the first to feature the black colorway of Magnum’s “Star Orchid”-printed aloha shirt, a variation of the green Star Orchid shirt that appears multiple times throughout the first three seasons. Continue reading

And Then There Were None: Roland Young’s Tweed as Blore

Roland Young as William Henry Blore in And Then There Were None (1945)

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Roland Young as William Henry Blore, oblivious private investigator

Devon, England, Summer 1945

Film: And Then There Were None
Release Date: October 30, 1945
Director: René Clair
Costume Designer: René Hubert (uncredited)

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

The great English character actor Roland Young died 70 years ago today on June 5, 1953. Perhaps best known for his Academy Award-nominated performance as Cosmo Topper in Topper (1937) and its two subsequent sequels, Young was also a memorable performer among the ensemble cast of René Clair’s 1945 adaptation of And Then There Were None. Continue reading

Glass Onion: Benoit Blanc’s Striped Seersucker Swimwear

Daniel Craig as Benoit Blanc in Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022). Photo by John Wilson.

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Daniel Craig as Benoit Blanc, famous Southern detective

Spetses, Greece, May 2020

Film: Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
Release Date: November 23, 2022
Director: Rian Johnson
Costume Designer: Jenny Eagan

Background

Three years ago this month, eccentric billionaire tech developer Miles Bron (Edward Norton) pulled together a half-dozen of his closest friends frenemies for a weekend at his private Greek island. It’s May 2020, and—as in real life—the height of the COVID-19 lock-downs, though there appear to be no restrictions for Miles’ upper-class coterie.

While Miles welcomes some from outside his college clique, such as the laidback loafer Derol (Noah Segan), he’s unpleasantly surprised to greet the woman he had known as his former business partner Andi Brand (Janelle Monáe) and the famed detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig). Continue reading

Tom Selleck’s Kelly Green Rugby Shirt on Magnum, P.I.

Tom Selleck as Thomas Magnum on Magnum, P.I. (Episode 1.13: “All Roads Lead to Floyd”)

Vitals

Tom Selleck as Thomas Magnum, private investigator and former Navy SEAL

Hawaii, Summer 1981

Series: Magnum, P.I.
Episode: “All Roads Lead to Floyd” (Episode 1.13)
Air Date: March 12, 1981
Director: Ron Satlof
Creator: Donald P. Bellisario & Glen Larson
Costume Designer: Charles Waldo
Costume Supervisor: James Gilmore

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

It’s been about six months since I last posted about Thomas Magnum, and some renewed interest in the style of Magnum, P.I. (at least according to a few Instagram DMs I’ve received!) inspired me to check back in with Tom Selleck as the paradise-dwelling private eye—er, private investigator.

With St. Patrick’s Day at the end of this week, it feels appropriate on this #MagnumMonday—which isn’t as much of an established thing as I’d like it to be—to find Magnum wearing some Irish green. Fans of the series know he wore rugby shirts and polos with almost as much frequency as his famous aloha shirts, including a Kelly green short-sleeved rugger that made its sole appearance in the first-season episode “All Roads Lead to Floyd”, which originally aired 42 years ago yesterday on March 12, 1981. Continue reading

Glass Onion: Benoit Blanc’s Striped Sweater

Daniel Craig as Benoit Blanc in Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022)

Vitals

Daniel Craig as Benoit Blanc, “in your words, the world’s greatest detective”

Spetses, Greece, May 2020

Film: Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
Release Date: November 23, 2022
Director: Rian Johnson
Costume Designer: Jenny Eagan

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

As its quick ascension to the #1 movie on the service suggests, many are spending their Christmas holiday and its surrounding days watching Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, which had only a one-week theatrical release earlier this year before it premiered on Netflix on December 23. My wife and I watched it last night and enjoyed yet another fun, stylish, and unorthodox mystery centered around Southern-fried investigator Benoit Blanc, reprised by Daniel Craig after his entertaining turn in Knives Out. Continue reading

Thomas Magnum’s Cream Rugby Shirt

Tom Selleck on Magnum, P.I.

Tom Selleck as Thomas Magnum on Magnum, P.I., Episode 1.10: “Lest We Forget”

Vitals

Tom Selleck as Thomas Magnum, private investigator and former Navy SEAL

Hawaii, early 1980s

Series: Magnum, P.I.
Episodes:
– “China Doll” (Episode 1.03, dir. Donald P. Bellisario, aired 12/18/1980)
– “Lest We Forget” (Episode 1.10, dir. Lawrence Doheny, aired 2/12/1981)
– “From Moscow to Maui” (Episode 2.04, dir. Michael Vejar, aired 10/29/1981)
– “Did You See the Sunrise?, Part 2” (Episode 3.02, dir. Ray Austin, aired 9/30/1982)
– “The Arrow That Is Not Aimed” (Episode 3.14, dir. James Frawley, aired 1/27/1983)
– “Paradise Blues” (Episode 4.15, dir. Bernard L. Kowalski, aired 2/9/1984)
– “On Face Value” (Episode 4.19, dir. Harry S. Laidman, aired 3/15/1984)
Creator: Donald P. Bellisario & Glen Larson
Costume Designer: Charles Waldo (credited with first season only)
Costume Supervisor: James Gilmore

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

So the fall weather’s getting cooler but you still want to find ways to dress like Thomas Magnum? You’re in luck, you esoterically inclined person, you!

In addition to his famed aloha shirts, Hawaii’s most in-demand—and dashingly mustached—private investigator of the ’80s included a variety of short- and long-sleeved rugby shirts in his wardrobe, including one prominently featured at the end of the pivotal two-part “Did You See the Sunrise?” that kicked off Magnum, P.I.‘s third season when it aired 40 years ago tonight. Continue reading

The Nice Guys: Russell Crowe’s Blue ’70s Leather Jacket

Russell Crowe as Jackson Healy in The Nice Guys (2016)

Russell Crowe as Jackson Healy in The Nice Guys (2016)

Vitals

Russell Crowe as Jackson Healy, unlicensed private detective

Los Angeles, Fall 1977

Film: The Nice Guys
Release Date: May 20, 2016
Director: Shane Black
Costume Designer: Kym Barrett

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

I was pleased to again join my friends Pete Brooker and Ken Stauffer on another episode of Pete’s podcast From Tailors With Love, this time discussing the fun ’70s style of Shane Black’s action comedy The Nice Guys.

For those unfamiliar, the “nice guys” in question are Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling, bringing back Black’s signature buddy comedy style in a big way as competing private eyes Jackson Healy and Holland March, respectively.

The older and worldlier yet paunchier Jack is more an enforcer than investigator, balancing his limb-breaking toughness with at least some remaining scruples, particularly when compared to the younger and less experienced Holly, who’s not above taking a case agreeing to help an aging woman track down her “missing” husband… whose ashes rest in an urn just a few feet away from them.

Like Crowe’s star-making turn almost twenty years earlierThe Nice Guys’ conspiratorial heartbeat is driven by Kim Basinger’s role at the intersection of corruption and porn in the City of Angels forty years prior, but the villains’ overcomplicated scheme are certainly secondary to the comedic chemistry between Crowe and Gosling, whom I—and Crowe himself—would love to see re-team for a follow-up… and with a built-in sequel title like The Nicer Guys, what’s stopping them? Continue reading

Magnum, P.I.: The Black Jungle Bird Aloha Shirt

Tom Selleck as Thomas Magnum on Magnum, P.I.

Tom Selleck as Thomas Magnum on Magnum, P.I.

Vitals

Tom Selleck as Thomas Magnum, private investigator and former Navy SEAL

Hawaii, Summer 1981

Series: Magnum, P.I.
Episodes:
– “Skin Deep” (Episode 1.06, dir. Lawrence Doheny, aired 1/15/1981)
– “The Curse of the King Kamehameha Club” (Episode 1.11, dir. Winrich Kolbe, aired 2/19/1981)
Creator: Donald P. Bellisario & Glen Larson
Costume Designer: Charles Waldo (credited with first season only)
Costume Supervisor: James Gilmore

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

Happy Aloha Friday!

Even those who have never seen Magnum, P.I. are familiar with its title character’s image: the cherry-red Ferrari, a mustache to rival Burt Reynolds, and—very frequently—the Hawaiian shirts, contextually appropriate given the series’ Hawaiian setting. In fact, Tom Selleck’s characterization of the Oahu-based private investigator arguably established Thomas Magnum as the most iconic Hawaiian shirt-wearer of all time. Continue reading

Humphrey Bogart in The Maltese Falcon

Humphrey Bogart as Sam Spade in The Maltese Falcon (1941)

Humphrey Bogart as Sam Spade in The Maltese Falcon (1941)

Vitals

Humphrey Bogart as Sam Spade, smooth private detective and “a chap worth knowing”

San Francisco, Spring 1941

Film: The Maltese Falcon
Release Date: October 3, 1941
Director: John Huston
Costume Designer: Orry-Kelly (credited for gowns)

Background

Now considered a seminal film noir, The Maltese Falcon celebrated its 80th anniversary last month. Dashiell Hammett’s excellent 1930 detective novel had already been adapted twice for the screen—once as a “lewd” pre-Code thriller and recycled as a zanier mid-’30s vehicle for Bette Davis—before Warner Bros. finally got it right.

The Maltese Falcon was the directorial debut for John Huston, who had faithfully adapted Hammett’s source material for his sharp script and demonstrated his sense of methodical efficiency, resulting in a masterpiece that benefited from the formula of director of photography Arthur Edelson’s low-key cinematography and a perfect cast led by Humphrey Bogart as the wisecracking gumshoe who “don’t mind a reasonable amount of trouble.” Continue reading