Tagged: Raincoat
Taffin: Pierce Brosnan’s Leather U-Boat Coat and Black Jeans
Pierce Brosnan in Taffin (1988)
Vitals
Pierce Brosnan as Mark Taffin, debt collector
Ballymoran, Ireland, Fall 1987
Film: Taffin
Release Date: February 26, 1988
Director: Francis Megahy
Costume Designer: Imogen Magnus
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
In the years between his career-defining roles as Remington Steele and James Bond, Pierce Brosnan’s career spanned a variety of roles, from classic adventurer Phileas Fogg in a TV production of Around the World in 80 Days to spurned lovers in Love Affair (1994) and Mrs. Doubtfire (1993)—losing his love interest to Warren Beatty (makes sense) and Robin Williams dressed as a fussy old British woman (oh!), respectively.
For the 00-7th of October today, let’s look at one of Brosnan’s more Bond-like roles during this period, portraying the title character in Taffin, adapted from Lyndon Mallet’s book series of the same name. Mallet reportedly balked at the casting choice as his literary Mark Taffin was described as overweight and unattractive—two words which would not describe Pierce Brosnan.
Taffin works as a debt collector in his small Irish hometown, filmed in County Wicklow, where his popularity ranges based on whether he’s helped you recover your debts… or had him knocking at your door on someone else’s behalf. Despite his cynical attitude and less-than-reputable profession, Taffin emerges as the town’s de facto defender, working against the developers who’ll stop at nothing to capitalize on the land. Continue reading
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 Conversation: Gene Hackman’s Puppytooth Suit and Raincoat
Gene Hackman as Harry Caul in The Conversation (1974)
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Gene Hackman as Harry Caul, anxious audio surveillance expert and saxophonist
San Francisco, December 1972
Film: The Conversation
Release Date: April 7, 1974
Director: Francis Ford Coppola
Costume Designer: Aggie Guerard Rodgers
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Released today in 1974, The Conversation featured a characteristically great starring performance from the late Gene Hackman. Hackman stars as San Francisco surveillance specialist Harry Caul, a paranoid loner described by one of his few pals as “the best bugger on the West Coast.”
Director Francis Ford Coppola later shared that, though Hackman initially struggled to connect with the repressed and introspective Caul due to their contrasting personalities, he ultimately came to regard the role as one of his personal favorites. Continue reading
Anthropoid: Cillian Murphy’s Brown Striped Suit and Raincoat as Jozef Gabčík
Cillian Murphy in Anthropoid (2016)
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Cillian Murphy as Jozef Gabčík, Czechoslovak Army soldier and SOE agent
Prague, Spring 1942
Film: Anthropoid
Release Date: September 9, 2016
Director: Sean Ellis
Costume Designer: Josef Cechota
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
This week in 1942, one of the most evil officials of the Third Reich (and that’s saying something!) finally succumbed to injuries received after he was ambushed by two Czechoslovak Army soldiers operating on behalf of the Special Operations Executive (SOE).
The SOE had collaborated with Czechoslovak intelligence to plan “Operation Anthropoid”—the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich, the Nazi security chief who helped organize Kristallnacht and was considered a principal architect of the Holocaust. As Deputy Protector of Bohemia and Moravia, Heydrich’s brutality earned him nicknames like the “Butcher of Prague”, making him a strategic target for the exiled Czechoslovak government. From among nearly 2,000 Czechoslovak Army personnel now exiled to England, Czechoslovak intelligence chief František Moravec selected two dozen—including paratroopers Jozef Gabčík, Jan Kubiš, and Karel Svoboda—to be trained by the SOE in Scotland for the dangerous mission to remove Heydrich. Continue reading
Fatal Attraction: Michael Douglas’ Plaid Sport Jacket
Michael Douglas as Dan Gallagher in Fatal Attraction (1987)
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Michael Douglas as Dan Gallagher, lawyer
New York City, Fall 1986
Film: Fatal Attraction
Release Date: September 18, 1987
Director: Adrian Lyne
Costume Designer: Ellen Mirojnick
Background
Inspired by costume designer Ellen Mirojnick’s recent podcast appearance on From Tailors With Love that clarified a few misconceptions held around Michael Douglas’ tailored costumes in some of his most prominent movies, let’s finally cover the 35-year-old noir-ish thriller that spawned a cinematic sub-genre centered around Douglas’ sex life getting him in deep trouble. Continue reading
Alan Ladd in This Gun for Hire
Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake in This Gun for Hire (1942)
Vitals
Alan Ladd as Philip Raven, cold-blooded, cat-loving contract killer
San Francisco to Los Angeles, Spring 1942
Film: This Gun for Hire
Release Date: April 24, 1942
Director: Frank Tuttle
Costume Designer: Edith Head
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
I had already been planning to write about This Gun for Hire this month when I realized that today would have been the 100th birthday of Veronica Lake, who was born in Brooklyn on November 14, 1922 with the decidedly less glamorous name of Constance Ockelman. Lake was still in her teens when cast in her first starring role in Sullivan’s Travels (1941), the success of which convinced Paramount to cast her in their upcoming thriller, which would also be a vehicle to launch their next up-and-comer, Alan Ladd. Continue reading
Paul Newman in Paris Blues
Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward, filming Paris Blues (1961)
Vitals
Paul Newman as Ram Bowen, temperamental jazz trombonist
Paris, Fall 1960
Film: Paris Blues
Release Date: September 27, 1961
Director: Martin Ritt
Background
On this day in 1958, one of the most legendary marriages in Hollywood history began when Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward tied the knot in Las Vegas, three days after his 33rd birthday. The two had met earlier that decade during a Broadway production of Picnic and reunited while filming The Long, Hot Summer for director Martin Ritt. Newman and Woodward would co-star in several subsequent movies together, but their next collaboration with their ostensible “matchmaker” Ritt was Paris Blues, adapted from Harold Flender’s 1957 novel of the same name.
Paris Blues: Sidney Poitier’s Jazzy Flannel Suit
Sidney Poitier as Eddie Cook in Paris Blues (1961)
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Sidney Poitier as Eddie Cook, expatriate jazz saxophonist
Paris, Fall 1960
Film: Paris Blues
Release Date: September 27, 1961
Director: Martin Ritt
Background
Ten years ago, the United Nations established April 30 as International Jazz Day, a global celebration envisioned by Grammy-winning musician and UNESCO Goodwill ambassador Herbie Hancock “to highlight jazz and its diplomatic role of uniting people in all corners of the globe.” The observance feels ideal for taking a first look at the sleek style in Martin Ritt’s cooler-than-ice 1961 drama, Paris Blues, starring Paul Newman and Sidney Poitier as yankee jazzmen making their living in a French nightclub and romancing a pair of American tourists played by Joanne Woodward and Diahann Carroll. Continue reading
Walter Matthau in The Taking of Pelham One Two Three
Walter Matthau as Zachary Garber in The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974)
Vitals
Walter Matthau as Zachary Garber, New York City Transit Authority police lieutenant
New York City, December 1973
Film: The Taking of Pelham One Two Three
Release Date: October 2, 1974
Director: Joseph Sargent
Costume Designer: Anna Hill Johnstone
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Today would have been the 100th birthday of Walter Matthau, perhaps best known to today’s audiences for his roles opposite Jack Lemmon such as The Odd Couple and the Grumpy Old Men movies, though the New York-born actor’s rich filmography expands a range of genres from westerns and war movies to comedies and crime capers. One of my favorites falls into the latter category, the action thriller The Taking of Pelham One Two Three. Continue reading
Selma: John Lewis’ Iconic Raincoat
The real John Lewis in 1965 and Stephan James portraying Lewis in Selma (2014)
Vitals
Stephan James as John Lewis, civil rights activist and future congressman
Selma, Alabama, Spring 1965
Film: Selma
Release Date: December 25, 2014
Director: Ava DuVernay
Costume Designer: Ruth E. Carter
Background
On the 55th anniversary of the signing of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, today’s post celebrates the life and legacy of the late John Lewis, the prolific civil rights activist and longtime member of the U.S. House of Representatives who had been an instrumental force in the fight for voter and racial equality.
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