Tagged: South America
Michael Fassbender’s White Polo in X-Men: First Class
Michael Fassbender as Erik Lehnsherr in X-Men: First Class (2011)
Vitals
Michael Fassbender as Erik Lehnsherr, relentless mutant Nazi hunter to be christened Magneto
Villa Gesell, Argentina, Fall 1962
Film: X-Men: First Class
Release Date: June 1, 2011
Director: Matthew Vaughn
Costume Designer: Sammy Sheldon
Background
While I’m not traditionally a fan of superhero movies (at least as not as big a fan as some people!), I’ve appreciated how the recent stretch of Marvel movies have stretched across genres in its multi-billion-dollar appeal to varying audiences. For me, it’s been the entries rooted in history—like the MCU’s Captain America: The First Avenger and Fox’s X-Men: First Class, both released in 2011—that have had the most appeal of those I’ve seen. The latter, released ten years ago this summer, had been a subject of multiple requests since BAMF Style’s early years, so I hope I’m not too late in finally paying tribute to a briefly seen but timelessly stylish outfit from this Cold War-set adventure.
Cary Grant’s Flight Jacket in Only Angels Have Wings
Cary Grant as Geoff Carter in Only Angels Have Wings (1939)
Vitals
Cary Grant as Geoff Carter, regional airline manager and pilot
South America, Spring 1939
Film: Only Angels Have Wings
Release Date: May 15, 1939
Director: Howard Hawks
Costume Designer: Robert Kalloch
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Calling Barranca, calling Barranca…
Set in the fictional “port of call for the South American banana boats”, Only Angels Have Wings begins with the arrival of Bonnie Lee (Jean Arthur), a Brooklyn musician who soon catches the eye of two American aviators, Joe (Noah Beery Jr.) and Les (Allyn Joslyn). While the daredevil duo gambles for the opportunity to take Bonnie to dinner, Cary Grant makes his swaggering introduction as Geoff Carter, a fellow pilot and manager of a regional mail carrier flying regular routes over the treacherous Andes Mountains.
Jurassic Park: Jeff Goldblum as Dr. Ian Malcolm
Jeff Goldblum as Dr. Ian Malcolm in Jurassic Park (1993)
Vitals
Jeff Goldblum as Dr. Ian Malcolm, “rock star” chaos theorist
“Isla Nublar”, 120 miles west of Costa Rica, Summer 1993
Film: Jurassic Park
Release Date: June 11, 1993
Director: Steven Spielburg
Costumes: Mitchell Ray Kenney, Sue Moore, Kelly Porter, and Eric H. Sandberg
Background
International Dinosaur Day is celebrated twice a year, always on June 1st but also the third Tuesday in May, making today—May 19, 2020—the first observance of Dinosaur Day for the year. Why the chaotic timing?
The answer to questions like that may rest with a chaos theorist like Dr. Ian Malcolm, the swaggering, skeptical, and somewhat frantic mathematician portrayed by Jeff Goldblum in Jurassic Park, adapted from Michael Crichton’s novel.
“I bring the scientists, you bring a rock star,” the park’s exuberant founder John Hammond (Richard Attenborough) comments upon the first impressions that Dr. Malcolm makes on Hammond’s distinguished guests from the scientific community, Drs. Alan Grant (Sam Neill) and Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern).
“You’ll have to get used to Dr. Malcolm, he suffers from a deplorable excessive personality… especially for a mathematician,” Hammond adds. “Chaotician,” Ian corrects.
Jurassic Park: Sam Neill as Dr. Alan Grant
Sam Neill as Dr. Alan Grant in Jurassic Park (1993)
Vitals
Sam Neill as Dr. Alan Grant, top paleontologist
“Isla Nublar”, 120 miles west of Costa Rica, Summer 1993
Film: Jurassic Park
Release Date: June 11, 1993
Director: Steven Spielburg
Costumes: Mitchell Ray Kenney, Sue Moore, Kelly Porter, and Eric H. Sandberg
Background
Happy birthday, Sam Neill! The actor—born 72 years ago today on September 14, 1947—racked up plenty of BAMF Style points early in his career for his depiction of real-life spy Sidney Reilly in Reilly: Ace of Spies, a stylish mini-series that established Neill as a strong contender to succeed Roger Moore as James Bond. Neill’s greatest commercial success as a star was arguably his role of esteemed paleontologist Alan Grant in Jurassic Park, the 1993 blockbuster that needs no introduction.
Kingsman: The Secret Service – Jack Davenport as Lancelot
Jack Davenport as “Lancelot” in Kingsman: The Secret Service (2014)
Vitals
Jack Davenport as James Spencer, aka “Lancelot”, smooth British agent
Argentina, Winter 2014
Film: Kingsman: The Secret Service
Release Date: January 29, 2015
Director: Matthew Vaughn
Costume Designer: Arianne Phillips
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
James Spencer, aka “Lancelot” (Jack Davenport), is introduced to audiences in the manner one would expect of a story’s hero. He transitions between dry wit and superhuman agility as he deftly takes out a room full of assassins in his attempt to rescue Professor James Arnold (Mark Hamill) from his kidnappers.
The vignette concludes with a Lancelot in the traditional pose of an action hero, gun up and smirking while on bended knee… Continue reading
Bond Style – Dark Herringbone Tweed in Diamonds are Forever
Sean Connery as James Bond in Diamonds are Forever (1971)
Vitals
Sean Connery as James Bond, British government agent
South America, Spring 1971
Film: Diamonds are Forever
Release Date: December 17, 1971
Director: Guy Hamilton
Wardrobe Master: Ray Beck
Tailor: Anthony Sinclair
Background
Making mud pies, 007?
Did you know that today, August 19, is National Potato Day? In Diamonds are Forever, James Bond’s hunt for vengeance after the events of On Her Majesty’s Secret Service leads him to an undisclosed location in search of his enemy, Ernst Stavro Blofeld, who has taken to cloning himself in order to form a group of decoy doubles to distract 007. Part of the pre-operation procedure consists of a volunteer decoy resting in an 80°F mud bath (while armed with a revolver, for some reason), and that’s where National Potato Day comes in. Continue reading
Quantum of Solace – Felix Leiter’s Striped Shirt
Jeffrey Wright as Felix Leiter in Quantum of Solace (2008)
Vitals
Jeffrey Wright as Felix Leiter, cynical CIA agent
Bolivia, Summer 2008
Film: Quantum of Solace
Release Date: October 31, 2008
Director: Marc Forster
Costume Designer: Louise Frogley
Background
The brilliant Jeffrey Wright was the first actor to reprise the mercurial role of Felix Leiter in consecutive Bond outings, appearing as the reliable if cynical CIA agent in Quantum of Solace two years after his introduction in Casino Royale. (David Hedison is the only actor to have played Felix twice: first with Roger Moore’s Bond in Live and Let Die in 1973, then reprising his role with Timothy Dalton’s Bond in 1989’s Licence to Kill.)
Ian Fleming wrote Felix Leiter to be the closest thing to a friend that James Bond would have, first described as a lanky Texan in the first literary Bond adventure Casino Royale. Leiter reappeared in the next novel, Live and Let Die, where he lost his leg in an incident that fans of the 007 cinematic universe would recollect from the events of Licence to Kill. Continue reading
Quantum of Solace – Bond’s Brown Suit
Daniel Craig as James Bond in Quantum of Solace (2008)
Vitals
Daniel Craig as James Bond, rogue British government agent
La Paz, Bolivia, August 2008
Film: Quantum of Solace
Release Date: October 31, 2008
Director: Marc Forster
Costume Designer: Louise Frogley
Background
The last post found us sailing down to Bolivia with the Sundance Kid, so let’s hang around and see what kind of trouble James Bond gets into in the same country for the 00-7th of April.
Exactly 100 years after Butch and Sundance met their fate in San Vicente, Daniel Craig’s rogue James Bond arrived in the country with his former MI6 handler Mathis (Giancarlo Giannini), where they are immediately interrupted by the efficient Agent Fields (Gemma Arterton, who recently expressed that she wouldn’t take the role if offered it today). Continue reading
The Tailor of Panama: Andy Osnard’s Check Sportcoat
Pierce Brosnan as Andy Osnard in The Tailor of Panama (2001).
Vitals
Pierce Brosnan as Andy Osnard, sleazy and shrewd MI6 agent
Panama City, Fall 1999
Film: The Tailor of Panama
Release Date: March 30, 2001
Director: John Boorman
Costume Designer: Maeve Paterson
Background
Pierce Brosnan had a reputation for playing smooth, dapper characters like Remington Steele, Thomas Crown, and – of course – James Bond, making it all the more entertaining when he traded in that image to play unapologetic cad Andy Osnard in John Boorman’s 2001 adaptation of John le Carré’s spy novel The Tailor of Panama.
Viewers at the time may have thought “Pierce Brosnan playing a British spy in an exotic setting? Won’t that just be James Bond?” John le Carré readers who were familiar with the book knew the answer was a resounding “Hell, no!” Continue reading
The Tailor of Panama: Harry Pendel’s Cream Suit
Geoffrey Rush as Harry Pendel in The Tailor of Panama (2001).
Vitals
Geoffrey Rush as Harry Pendel, tailor to Panama’s finest and ex-con
Panama City, Fall 1999
Film: The Tailor of Panama
Release Date: March 30, 2001
Director: John Boorman
Costume Designer: Maeve Paterson
Background
I tend to get grumpy about sartorial “rules”, including the snobbish American insistence that white can only be worn between Memorial Day and Labor Day. While I wouldn’t see much of a need to wear white (or that of its ilk) on a chilly winter day in Pittsburgh, it’s still frustrating to be informed what I can and can’t wear. For all of his faults, Boss Hogg deserves some credit for refusing to yield to arbitrary rules of dress and proudly wearing his white busting-at-the-seams three-piece suit all year round.
Luckily for Harry Pendel, this rule doesn’t apply in the tropical locale of Panama where the British expat (and ex-con) has set up his tailor shop. Harry is one of the few characters from his novels that John le Carré felt he could relate to, stating that “I was exploring the relationship between myself and my own fabricator. Anybody in the creative business, as you might call it, has some sense of guilt about fooling around with fact, that you’re committing larceny, that all of life is material for your fabulations.”
Director John Boorman said he always imagined Geoffrey Rush for the role. “You never lose sympathy for Geoffrey on screen, even when he does dreadful things,” explained Boorman. “There’s something worn yet innocent about him.” Continue reading