Tagged: Shawl-Collar Cardigan

Lee Marvin’s Brown Shawl Cardigan in The Professionals

Lee Marvin as Henry "Rico" Fardan in The Professionals (1966)

Lee Marvin as Henry “Rico” Fardan in The Professionals (1966)

Vitals

Lee Marvin as Henry “Rico” Fardan, tough mercenary

Texas, January 1917

Film: The Professionals
Release Date: November 2, 1966
Director: Richard Brooks
Wardrobe Credit: Jack Martell

Background

Written, produced, and directed by prolific auteur Richard Brooks, The Professionals depicts a band of mercenaries hired by rancher baron Joe Grant (Ralph Bellamy) to rescue his wife. Though it is often overlooked in the shadow of its “bigger” contemporaries like The Wild BunchButch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, and Sergio Leone’s “Man With No Name” trilogy of spaghetti westerns, The Professionals was Columbia Pictures’ biggest hit of 1966.

Lee Marvin starred as Henry “Rico” Fardan, a cynical weapons specialist whose experience fighting under Pancho Villa’s command makes him invaluable to the team pursuing one of Villa’s former revolutionaries who supposedly kidnapped Grant’s wife Maria (Claudia Cardinale). Continue reading

Steve McQueen’s Brown Shawl Cardigan as The Cincinnati Kid

Steve McQueen as Eric "The Kid" Stoner in The Cincinnati Kid (1965)

Steve McQueen as Eric “The Kid” Stoner in The Cincinnati Kid (1965)

Vitals

Steve McQueen as Eric “the Kid” Stoner, hotshot poker player

New Orleans, Fall 1936

Film: The Cincinnati Kid
Release Date: October 15, 1965
Director: Norman Jewison
Costume Designer: Donfeld (Donald Lee Feld)

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

“King of Cool” Steve McQueen could also be called the king of the cardigan, considering his role in re-establishing the sweater as a functional and fashionable garment for young rebels rather than as the staid staple of TV dads like Ward Cleaver.

Both on and off screen, the shawl collar cardigan was a McQueen favorite. Continue reading

Bond Style – Bond Relaxes in Quantum of Solace

Daniel Craig and Lucrezia Lante della Rovere in Quantum of Solace (2008)

Daniel Craig and Lucrezia Lante della Rovere in Quantum of Solace (2008)

Vitals

Daniel Craig as James Bond, rogue but relaxed British secret agent

Talamone, Italy, September 2006

Film: Quantum of Solace
Release Date: October 31, 2008
Director: Marc Forster
Costume Designer: Louise Frogley

Background

After once again upsetting off his boss by killing a few folks in Austria, James Bond goes off the map, going rogue for at least the third or fourth time in the series. 007’s first stop is Villa Le Torre near Talamone, a Tuscan village where his old friend Mathis (Giancarlo Giannini) now resides in retirement with his Italian girlfriend Gemma (Lucrezia Lante della Rovere). Brosnan’s Bond would’ve almost certainly (and unnecessarily) worn a suit for this occasion, but Craig’s Bond smartly wears a professional but indubitably casual cardigan and slacks for his apologetic visit. Continue reading

Bullitt’s Cardigan at the Hospital

Steve McQueen as Bullitt

Steve McQueen as Bullitt (1968)

Vitals

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