Tagged: Spy
The Professional: Belmondo’s Blue Leather Jacket
Jean-Paul Belmondo as Joss Beaumont in The Professional/Le Professionnel (1981)
Vitals
Jean-Paul Belmondo as Josselin “Joss” Beaumont, vengeful French secret agent specializing in “espionage and brawls”
Paris, Spring 1981
Film: The Professional
(French title: Le Professionnel)
Release Date: October 21, 1981
Director: Georges Lautner
Costume Designer: Paulette Breil
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Today would have been the 90th birthday of Jean-Paul Belmondo, the prolific and popular French star who rose to fame during the New Wave cinematic movement in movies like Breathless and Pierrot le Fou before he was established as a dynamic hero of action and adventure movies. Belmondo actually appeared in a 1984 movie titled Happy Easter, but—despite the egg-cellent holiday today—let’s refocus to three years earlier and Bébel’s iconic action role in The Professional, released in France as Le Professionnel. Continue reading
Roger Moore’s Ivory Dinner Jacket in Octopussy
Roger Moore and Kristina Wayborn in Octopussy (1983)
Vitals
Roger Moore as James Bond, British government agent
Udaipur, India, Spring 1983
Film: Octopussy
Release Date: June 6, 1983
Director: John Glen
Costume Designer: Emma Porteous
Tailor: Douglas Hayward
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Happy 00-7th of April! Easter weekend feels like the appropriate occasion to celebrate the debonair Roger Moore’s evening-wear for James Bond’s memorable “egg hunt” in his penultimate 007 adventure—the provocatively titled Octopussy, which celebrates its 40th anniversary this June. Continue reading
Black Sunday: Robert Shaw in Brown Silk at the Super Bowl
Robert Shaw in Black Sunday (1977)
Vitals
Robert Shaw as David Kabakov, experienced Mossad agent and Major
Miami, January 1976
Film: Black Sunday
Release Date: April 1, 1977
Director: John Frankenheimer
Costume Designer: Ray Summers
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
It’s Super Bowl Sunday! To many of us, the Big Game (as the NFL would prefer us unlicensed folks call it) is an opportunity to spend a Sunday with friends, beer, and buffalo chicken dip while halfheartedly rooting for a team that we may not care about and catching a glimpse of some over-produced multimillion-dollar ad buys. For director John Frankenheimer, it’s an opportunity to yet again present the thrills and cynicism of ruthless criminals exploiting geopolitical dilemmas for their own gain with considerable human lives at stake. In short: Black Sunday.
Die Another Day: Bond’s Turtleneck and Diving Gear in Iceland
Pierce Brosnan as James Bond in Die Another Day (2002).
Photo sourced from thunderballs.org.
Vitals
Pierce Brosnan as James Bond, smooth British government agent
Iceland, Winter 2002
Film: Die Another Day
Release Date: November 20, 2002
Director: Lee Tamahori
Costume Designer: Lindy Hemming
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Keep warm on this chilly 00-7th of February! Some of 007’s cinematic adventures are ideal “summer movies” (looking at you, Thunderball) while other adventures that follow Mr. Bond into snowy surroundings feel more appropriate to watch around this time of the year. Pierce Brosnan made his fourth and final appearance as James Bond in Die Another Day, which—with its Icelandic ice palace and cozy turtlenecks—clearly falls into the latter.
All the Old Knives: Chris Pine’s Peacoat
Chris Pine as Henry Pelham in All the Old Knives (2022)
©Click News and Media
Vitals
Chris Pine as Henry Pelham, CIA “clandestine case officer extraordinaire”
London, Winter 2020
Film: All the Old Knives
Release Date: April 8, 2022
Director: Janus Metz Pedersen
Costume Designer: Stephanie Collie
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
On one hand, I appreciated All the Old Knives‘ dedication to a le Carré-esque depiction of spywork as more of a subdued, slow-burning investigation rather than the action-packed world of James Bond and Ethan Hunt. On the other hand, does “subdued” necessarily have to feel so… subdued?
Nearly eight years after the disastrous terrorist attack of Turkish Airlines Flight 127, the CIA reopens its investigation with the secret information that the hijackers may have been assisted by a mole within its Vienna station. Agent Henry Pelham (Chris Pine) is assigned to the case by his chief Vick Wallinger (Laurence Fishburne), who advises him not to tread lightly even if the clues should point to Pelham’s former fellow agent and paramour Celia (Thandiwe Newton). Continue reading
Bond Style: Lazenby’s Christmas Eve Ski Suit and Cougar
George Lazenby as James Bond in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969)
Vitals
George Lazenby as James Bond, smooth British secret agent
Bern, Switzerland, Christmas Eve 1969
Film: On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
Release Date: December 18, 1969
Director: Peter R. Hunt
Costume Designer: Marjory Cornelius
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Wrapping up this winter Car Week on the 00-7th of December, let’s flash back to 1969 and Aussie actor George Lazenby’s sole adventure as James Bond. Whether the Bond production team was reversing its formula after the larger-than-life You Only Live Twice or playing it safe after Sean Connery left the role, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service closely follows the plot of Ian Fleming’s source novel, chronicling the agent’s romance with the self-destructive Teresa “Tracy” di Vicenzo (Diana Rigg) as well as setting up his snowbound investigation of arch-nemesis Ernst Stavro Blofeld (Telly Savalas) at his research institute Piz Gloria, located high in the picturesque Swiss Alps.
The action culminates in a Christmas Eve confrontation that results in 007’s alpine getaway on commandeered skis, assisted by Tracy and her bright red 1969 Mercury Cougar XR-7 that had first captured his attention when they met in Portugal three months prior. Continue reading
Dr. No: Bond’s Gray Mohair Suit and Walther in Jamaica
Sean Connery as James Bond in Dr. No (1962)
Vitals
Sean Connery as James Bond, sophisticated and resourceful British government agent
Morgan’s Harbour, Jamaica, Spring 1962
Film: Dr. No
Release Date: October 5, 1962
Director: Terence Young
Wardrobe Master: John Brady
Tailor: Anthony Sinclair
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
With the release of Dr. No sixty years ago today, October 5 has since been immortalized as Global James Bond Day in commemoration of when Sean Connery first uttered that now-iconic character introduction:
Bond. James Bond.
Dr. No had actually been Ian Fleming’s sixth novel featuring the worldly secret agent, set primarily in Jamaica as he penned the novel from his Jamaican estate Goldeneye. The author had tired of the character and left Bond’s fate somewhat ambiguous at the end of his previous novel From Russia With Love, though ultimately choosing that the agent would live to die another day and beginning Dr. No with 007’s recovery from the poison inflicted by the sharp-shoed Rosa Klebb.
Back to relatively full health, Bond finds his punishment in the form of a simple assignment meant to ease him back into duty (and possibly penalize him for letting his guard down), investigating the disappearance of a station chief and his secretary in Jamaica. There, Bond learns that the late chief had been investigating an eccentric recluse with the equally eccentric name of Doctor Julius No (Joseph Wiseman). With the help of his CIA buddy Felix Leiter (Jack Lord) and local contact Quarrel (John Kitzmiller), Bond ultimately determines that he and his newly issued Walther owe the good bad doctor a long-overdue visit. Continue reading
Sam Neill’s Peacoat as Sidney Reilly
Sam Neill as Sidney Reilly in Reilly: Ace of Spies (Episode 3: “The Visiting Fireman”)
Vitals
Sam Neill as Sidney Reilly, shrewd and opportunistic Russian-born British agent
Hamburg, Germany, Spring 1905
Series: Reilly: Ace of Spies
Episode: “The Visiting Fireman” (Episode 3)
Air Date: September 14, 1983
Director: Martin Campbell
Costume Designer: Elizabeth Waller
Background
In honor of Sam Neill’s 75th birthday this week, I want to revisit one of my favorite roles for the New Zealand actor. Almost a decade before his starring role in the groundbreaking groundshaking blockbuster Jurassic Park, Neill had been one of the contenders suggested to replace Roger Moore as James Bond, though the actor himself had been reluctant to take what he’s since called a “mortifying” audition and was likely grateful when the role went to Timothy Dalton instead. Neill may have been considered after his excellent performance earlier in the ’80s as Sidney Reilly, a real-life spy whose early 20th century exploits had been cited by Ian Fleming as one of his inspirations for the literary 007. Continue reading
Ryan Gosling’s Gray Sharkskin Suit in The Gray Man
On “just another Thursday,” I’m pleased to present another guest post contributed by my friend Ken Stauffer, who has written several pieces for BAMF Style previously and chronicles the style of the Ocean’s film series on his excellent Instagram account, @oceansographer.
Ryan Gosling as Sierra Six in The Gray Man (2022)
Vitals
Ryan Gosling as Courtland “Court” Gentry, a.k.a. Sierra Six, off-the-books CIA operative
London and Hong Kong, 2019
Film: The Gray Man
Release Date: July 22, 2022
Director: Joe and Anthony Russo
Costume Designer: Judianna Makovsky
Mr. Gosling’s Costumer: Mark Avery
Background
If you haven’t checked out The Gray Man yet, it seems you’re in the minority. Released last month directly on Netflix, the film has consistently stayed on the streamer’s top watched list around the globe. Based on Mark Greaney’s popular book series, it’s a bit of a throwback to ’90s action movies, chock full of offhand quips and casual explosions, but modernized with drone shots and a popular, A-list cast. Continue reading
Jason Bourne’s Style Across Four Movies
Matt Damon as Jason Bourne in The Bourne Identity (2002)
To commemorate the 20th anniversary of when The Bourne Identity was widely released, check out this comprehensive breakdown of how Matt Damon’s style as the amnesiac assassin Jason Bourne, née David Webb, evolved over the course of the original Bourne trilogy and was updated a decade later in Jason Bourne.
Unlike his fellow J.B.-named super-spy, Bourne never dressed to impress, instead favoring a more subdued and utilitarian wardrobe consistent with the “gray man” philosophy of blending in, specifically in urban environments like the European capitals where he evades his one-time CIA overlords.