Tagged: Sport Coat & Slacks
Sterling Hayden’s Four-Pocket Sport Jackets in The Killing
Sterling Hayden in The Killing (1956)
Vitals
Sterling Hayden as Johnny Clay, professional armed robber and ex-convict
Los Angeles, Fall 1955
Film: The Killing
Release Date: May 19, 1956
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Wardrobe Credit: Jack Masters
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Stanley Kubrick’s third directorial feature The Killing arrived in select theaters 70 years ago today on May 19, 1956. The limited release hurt its box office, though it was well-received by critics and even received a BAFTA nomination for Best Film. In addition to establishing Kubrick as a more mainstream talent, it remains a quintessential example of heist film noir, influencing filmmakers like Quentin Tarantino who described his own debut Reservoir Dogs as his own take on The Killing.
Kubrick collaborated with pulp novelist Jim Thompson on the hard-boiled screenplay, adapted from Lionel White’s novel Clean Break. The action centers around recently paroled Johnny Clay (Sterling Hayden), who is already planning his next heist: the two-million-dollar robbery of a thoroughbred racetrack. Johnny’s scrappy gang includes two track employees, a crooked cop, a self-destructive former associate, and a sharpshooter whose job will be to shoot the favored horse and create chaos that distracts from the robbery. Continue reading
Mean Streets: De Niro’s Plaid Jacket and Dobbs Hat as Johnny Boy
Robert De Niro in Mean Streets (1973)
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Robert De Niro as Johnny Boy Civello, irresponsible mob associate
New York, Fall 1972
Film: Mean Streets
Release Date: October 14, 1973
Director: Martin Scorsese
Wardrobe Credit: Norman Salling
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
“You’ve blogged about this movie, right?” my wife asked me during her first-ever viewing of Mean Streets this weekend. When I responded that of course I have, she nodded and pointed to Robert De Niro swinging a broken pool cue in a bar full of angry mooks, adding “I can tell. This outfit is very you.” And that’s when I realized I needed to quickly rectify my BAMF Style blind spot that had so far overlooked Robert De Niro’s style as the reckless Johnny Boy in director Martin Scorsese’s breakthrough feature.
Heeding his pal John Cassavetes’ advice to make something more personal than his last film (Boxcar Bertha), Scorsese crafted Mean Streets as his own spin on I Vitelloni (1953), drawing on experiences and characters he knew growing up in New York’s Little Italy. He shot the film over 27 days in spring 1973, including seven days on location in New York City—often without permits.
Harvey Keitel led the billing as mob associate Charlie Cappa, whose internal conflict swirls around intense Catholic guilt, his ambitions within his uncle’s organized crime family, and his self-imposed responsibility for the self-destructive Johnny Boy—whose brash attitude doesn’t endear him to the mob loan sharks who are chasing him over his increasing debts to them. Continue reading
The Godfather: Moe Greene’s Golden Las Vegas Tailoring
Alex Rocco as Moe Greene in The Godfather (1972)
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Alex Rocco as Moe Greene, brash mob-connected casino operator
Las Vegas, Summer 1954
Film: The Godfather
Release Date: March 14, 1972
Director: Francis Ford Coppola
Costume Designer: Anna Hill Johnstone
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Do you know who I am? I’m Moe Greene! I made my bones when you were going out with cheerleaders!
Despite his inflated opinion of himself and his importance to the city, Moe Greene actually had little to do with Las Vegas being founded 121 years ago tomorrow on May 15, 1905.
Portrayed by Alex Rocco in The Godfather, the fictional character Moe Greene was inspired by the real-life gangster Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel, who was born nine months later on the last day of February 1906. Something of a celebrity gangster, Siegel’s profligate control over the fledgling Flamingo casino during its first months of operation convinced his Mafia Commission partners that he was likely responsible for skimming millions from the mob, resulting in Bugsy’s assassination.
Siegel was sitting in his girlfriend Virginia Hill’s Beverly Hills living room when he was peppered with .30-caliber rounds from an M1 Carbine, including one that launched his left eye several feet from his socket. This would be reflected in The Godfather when an anonymous hitman corners Greene during a massage and fatally shoots him through the eye—an execution method immortalized as “the Moe Greene special” during the first season of The Sopranos. Continue reading
Gary Cooper’s Patterned Sport Jacket and White Bucks in Bluebeard’s Eighth Wife
Gary Cooper photographed by William Richard Walling Jr. in 1937, dressed in the same costume he would wear in Bluebeard’s Eighth Wife (1938).
Vitals
Gary Cooper as Michael Brandon, millionaire industrialist
French Riviera, Summer 1937
Film: Bluebeard’s Eighth Wife
Release Date: March 23, 1938
Director: Ernst Lubitsch
Costume Designer: Travis Banton
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Born 125 years ago today on May 7, 1901, Gary Cooper established a screen legacy through Oscar-winning performances in Sergeant York (1941) and High Noon (1952) in addition to being a well-regarded style icon throughout his career. The modern #menswear community frequently looks to Coop for inspiration, including the frequently shared portraits taken by William Richard Walling Jr., in 1937, dressed in the same uniquely patterned sport jacket, deco swirl tie, and rakish belt holding up pleated trousers that he wore as a costume in Ernst Lubitsch’s 1938 screwball comedy Bluebeard’s Eighth Wife. Continue reading
Sweet Bird of Youth: Paul Newman’s Cream Silk Sport Jacket
Paul Newman as Chance Wayne in Sweet Bird of Youth (1962)
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Paul Newman as Chance Wayne, charismatic gigolo
Mississippi, Easter Weekend 1962
Film: Sweet Bird of Youth
Release Date: March 21, 1962
Director: Richard Brooks
Costume Designer: Orry-Kelly
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Happy Easter! Early in his screen career, Paul Newman reprised his stage role as Chance Wayne from Tennessee Williams’ play Sweet Bird of Youth, set across Holy Saturday into Easter Sunday in Chance’s fictional hometown of St. Cloud, Mississippi. Continue reading
Blow: A Colorful New Year’s Eve Sport Jacket
Johnny Depp as George Jung in Blow (2001)
Vitals
Johnny Depp as George Jung, successful cocaine smuggler
Miami, New Year’s Eve 1979
Film: Blow
Release Date: April 6, 2001
Director: Ted Demme
Costume Designer: Mark Bridges
Background
I’ll be the first to admit my hypocritical cowardice. I’ve written many posts celebrating turtlenecks, but it wasn’t until this year that I truly started embracing them in my personal style, the result of a New Year’s resolution to myself. “What kind of resolution is that?” you might ask. “Didn’t you become a father this year? Why are you worried about turtlenecks?” you may also ask. And I’ll ignore all those questions.
I always had a soft spot for Blow, Ted Demme’s Scorsese-inspired movie following the rise and fall of the late drug dealer “Boston George” Jung, played to trichological perfection by Johnny Depp. Even at the height of George’s success, Depp convincingly sells George as the kind of himbo whose right connections at the right place at the right time converged for him to make millions smuggling cocaine for the Medellín Cartel through the 1970s and ’80s.
During a New Year’s Eve party (scored by KC and the Sunshine Band’s disco hit “Keep It Comin’, Love”), George learns from one of his partners that his old partner Diego Delgado—a thinly veiled stand-in for the real-life Carlos Lehder—has double-crossed him, cutting George out to conduct his own smuggling operations from Norman’s Cay… though it takes George a few beats to comprehend that “Norman Cay” isn’t a person but a place. Continue reading
The Silent Partner: Elliott Gould’s Navy Blazer at Christmas
Elliott Gould as Miles Cullen in The Silent Partner (1978)
Vitals
Elliott Gould as Miles Cullen, mild-mannered bank teller
Toronto, Christmas 1977 to Summer 1978
Film: The Silent Partner
Release Date: September 7, 1978
Director: Daryl Duke
Wardrobe Credit: Debi Weldon
Background
Daryl Duke’s often darkly comic thriller The Silent Partner was just mentioned by Letterboxd among its list of twenty underseen holiday favorites, and you’ll know right from the description if it’s the sort of thing that would interest you: Elliott Gould plays a bank teller (alongside a young John Candy) who foils the robbery plans of a sadistic mall Santa played by Christopher Plummer, pocketing several thousand for himself, only for “Santa” to swear his violent revenge. Continue reading
Rock Hudson’s Corduroy Jacket on McMillan & Wife (“Murder by the Barrel”)
Rock Hudson on McMillan and Wife (Episode 1.01: “Murder by the Barrel”)
Vitals
Rock Hudson as Stuart “Mac” McMillan, San Francisco police commissioner and former defense attorney
San Francisco, Fall 1971
Series: McMillan & Wife
Episode: “Murder by the Barrel” (Episode 1.01)
Air Date: September 29, 1971
Director: John Astin
Creator: Leonard B. Stern
Costumes: Burton Miller
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Screen icon Rock Hudson was born 100 years ago today on November 17, 1925. After launching his career as a romantic leading man through the 1950s and ’60s, Hudson redefined the second phase of his career with a dramatic role in John Frankenheimer’s excellent experimental drama Seconds (1966) and the espionage thriller Ice Station Zebra (1968)—the latter a favorite of both Hudson himself and eccentric superfan Howard Hughes. Unsatisfied with the screen roles he was being offered, even after creating his own production companies, Hudson turned to television with the mystery series McMillan & Wife.
Hudson starred as San Francisco police commissioner Stuart “Mac” McMillan with Susan Saint James as his titular wife, Sally. The series may be the closest spiritual successor to The Thin Man films, as Mac and Sally’s witty banter and affectionate, equal-footed partnership recall the dynamic charm of William Powell and Myrna Loy’s Nick and Nora Charles. What sets McMillan & Wife apart from contemporaries, however, is that Mac isn’t a typical TV detective but a high-ranking commissioner, whose background as a criminal defense attorney gives him a greater familiarity with the city’s crooks and their cohorts.
Like the other NBC Mystery Movie pilots that debuted during the 1971-1972 season (specifically Columbo and McCloud), McMillan & Wife became a hit and the first canonical episode, “Murder by the Barrel”, aired less than two weeks later after its feature-length debut. Continue reading
Casino: Robert De Niro’s Lookbook as Ace Rothstein
Robert De Niro as Sam “Ace” Rothstein in Casino (1995)
Vitals
Robert De Niro as Sam “Ace” Rothstein, Vegas casino executive and mob associate
Las Vegas, 1973 to 1983
Film: Casino
Release Date: November 22, 1995
Director: Martin Scorsese
Costume Design: Rita Ryack & John A. Dunn
Tailors: Carlos Velasco, Tommy Velasco, and Vincent Zullo
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Martin Scorsese’s Las Vegas-centric crime epic Casino premiered in New York City thirty years ago tonight on November 14, 1995, eight days before its wider release.
Chronicling the rise and fall of the midwest mob’s influence in Sin City during the 1970s and ’80s, Casino stars Robert De Niro as Sam “Ace” Rothstein, a fictionalization of real-life bookie Frank “Lefty” Rosenthal (1929-2008). De Niro was re-teamed with Joe Pesci as yet another volatile gangster—this time the hotheaded Chicago hitman Nicky Santoro, based on Lefty’s actual pal Tony “the Ant” Spilotro, and Sharon Stone received an Academy Award nomination as Ace’s hustler wife Ginger.
Part of Casino‘s legacy is due to the lavish costume design by Rita Ryack and John A. Dunn, who researched and worked with the real Lefty’s tailors and shirt-makers to recreate the gambler’s eye-catching style for the screen. Continue reading
Killer’s Kiss: Jamie Smith’s Nailhead Jacket and Knitwear
Jamie Smith as Davey Gordon in Killer’s Kiss (1955)
Vitals
Jamie Smith as Davey Gordon, washed-up welterweight boxer
New York City, Fall 1954
Film: Killer’s Kiss
Release Date: October 1, 1955
Director: Stanley Kubrick
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Stanley Kubrick’s independently produced sophomore film Killer’s Kiss was released 70 years ago this fall—premiering in New York City on September 21, 1955, followed by a wider release on October 1st.
Pittsburgh-born Jamie Smith stars as burned-out ex-boxer Davey Gordon, whose growing romantic involvement with his neighbor—the alluring blonde taxi dancer Gloria Price (Chris Chase, credited as Irene Kane)—sets him dangerously at odds with her shady employer, Vincent Rapallo (Frank Silvera). Inventively shot and economically packaged (if somewhat underwritten) on a $75,000 budget, this tight thriller clocks in just under 70 minutes, benefiting from on-location shooting across New York from Penn Station and Times Square to the Brooklyn waterfront and “Hell’s Hundred Acres” in SoHo.
As Davey and Gloria plot their escape from the neon-lit nights of 1950s New York, the storyline and atmosphere read like a blend of Detour (1945) and Sweet Smell of Success (1957), making this little-known landmark noir an ideal starting point for Noirvember! Continue reading
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