Tagged: Summer
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof: Paul Newman’s Pajamas
Paul Newman as Brick Pollitt in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958)
Vitals
Paul Newman as Brick Pollitt, bitter and repressed ex-athlete
Mississippi, Summer 1958
Film: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
Release Date: August 27, 1958
Director: Richard Brooks
Wardrobe Credit: Helen Rose
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
April 16 is traditionally National Wear Your Pajamas to Work Day, designed as a sartorial reprieve after the stress of meeting a late-night deadline to file taxes by April 15. As it felt incongruous to celebrate that “holiday” on a Sunday, I waited until today to celebrate a Hollywood icon who had the good fortune to wear pajamas for the majority of his screen-time in his first Oscar-nominated performance.
Thanks to movies like Somebody Up There Likes Me and The Long, Hot Summer, Paul Newman’s career was on the rise through the late 1950s when he was cast as Brick Pollitt alongside Elizabeth Taylor in the cinematic adaptation of Tennessee Williams’ play Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Continue reading
The Birds: Mitch’s Donegal Tweed Suit
Rod Taylor and Tippi Hedren filming The Birds (1963)
Vitals
Rod Taylor as Mitch Brenner, defense lawyer
Bodega Bay, California, Summer 1962
Film: The Birds
Release Date: March 28, 1963
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Wardrobe Supervisor: Rita Riggs
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Today is the 60th anniversary of the release of The Birds, Alfred Hitchcock’s avian horror yarn adapted from Daphne du Maurier’s 1952 novella and a real-life incident in August 1961 as scores of birds crashed into the streets and rooftops of the central California town of Capitola.
The Birds centers around Melanie Daniels (Tippi Hedren), an attractive travelers’ aid secretary from San Francisco whose flirtatious pranks with the charming attorney Mitch Brenner (Rod Taylor) lead about an hour north to the idyllic seaside village of Bodega Bay. Melanie’s surprise visit isn’t ultimately unwelcome, and Mitch invites her to join his little sister Cathy’s 11th birthday parry the following day. Continue reading
Succession: Tom’s Cream Suit in Tuscany
Matthew Macfadyen as Tom Wambsgans on Succession (Episode 3.09: “All the Bells Say”).
Photo credit: Graeme Hunter.
Vitals
Matthew Macfadyen as Tom Wambsgans, obsequious corporate media executive
Val d’Orcia, Tuscany, Italy, Summer 2020
Series: Succession
Episode: “All the Bells Say” (Episode 3.09)
Air Date: December 12, 2021
Director: Mark Mylod
Creator: Jesse Armstrong
Costume Designer: Michelle Matland
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Succession‘s fourth and most likely final season returns tonight! When we last saw the conniving Roy family, the setting was a Tuscan wedding… though, as usual with the Roys, love was the furthest thing from everyone’s mind. Continue reading
The Hot Rock: George Segal’s Seersucker Suit
George Segal as Andy Kelp in The Hot Rock (1972)
Vitals
George Segal as Andy Kelp, jewel thief and locksmith
New York City, Summer 1971
Film: The Hot Rock
Release Date: January 26, 1972
Director: Peter Yates
Costume Designer: Ruth Morley
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
The start of spring this week means warmer weather ahead, with linen and seersucker replacing tweed and flannel at the front of my closet. One of my favorite cinematic seersucker suits is the colorfully appointed two-piece suit worn in The Hot Rock by George Segal, the prolific and versatile actor who died two years ago today on March 23, 2021. Continue reading
The Untouchables: Billy Drago’s White Suit as Frank Nitti
Billy Drago as Frank Nitti in The Untouchables (1987)
Vitals
Billy Drago as Frank Nitti, ruthless Chicago Outfit enforcer
Chicago, Fall 1930 to Spring 1931
Film: The Untouchables
Release Date: June 3, 1987
Director: Brian De Palma
Costume Designer: Marilyn Vance
Wardrobe: Giorgio Armani
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Eighty years ago today on the morning of March 19, 1943, 57-year-old Chicago resident Frank Nitti enjoyed breakfast with Toni, his third wife whom he had married the previous May. He began drinking heavily and, after Toni left for church, Nitti walked five blocks to a local railroad yard in North Riverside, where he attempted to shoot himself in the head. The first shot merely perforated his hat and the second wounded him in the jaw, but the third shot hit its mark as the inebriated mob boss slumped to his death.
Loosely based on the end of Al Capone’s infamous reign of the Chicago underworld (and more directly based on the 1950s TV show of the same name), Brian De Palma’s 1987 film The Untouchables retains a few basic details of Capone’s fall from power, including real figures on both sides of the law like self-aggrandizing Prohibition agent Eliot Ness and the vicious mobster who would ultimately succeed Capone as leader of the Chicago Outfit: Frank Nitti, chillingly portrayed by the late, great Billy Drago. Continue reading
Tom Selleck’s Kelly Green Rugby Shirt on Magnum, P.I.
Tom Selleck as Thomas Magnum on Magnum, P.I. (Episode 1.13: “All Roads Lead to Floyd”)
Vitals
Tom Selleck as Thomas Magnum, private investigator and former Navy SEAL
Hawaii, Summer 1981
Series: Magnum, P.I.
Episode: “All Roads Lead to Floyd” (Episode 1.13)
Air Date: March 12, 1981
Director: Ron Satlof
Creator: Donald P. Bellisario & Glen Larson
Costume Designer: Charles Waldo
Costume Supervisor: James Gilmore
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
It’s been about six months since I last posted about Thomas Magnum, and some renewed interest in the style of Magnum, P.I. (at least according to a few Instagram DMs I’ve received!) inspired me to check back in with Tom Selleck as the paradise-dwelling private eye—er, private investigator.
With St. Patrick’s Day at the end of this week, it feels appropriate on this #MagnumMonday—which isn’t as much of an established thing as I’d like it to be—to find Magnum wearing some Irish green. Fans of the series know he wore rugby shirts and polos with almost as much frequency as his famous aloha shirts, including a Kelly green short-sleeved rugger that made its sole appearance in the first-season episode “All Roads Lead to Floyd”, which originally aired 42 years ago yesterday on March 12, 1981. Continue reading
The White Lotus: Shane’s Pink Seersucker Shirt and Swimwear
Jake Lacy as Shane Patton on The White Lotus (Episode 1.02: “New Day”)
Vitals
Jake Lacy as Shane Patton, smug and spoiled newlywed
Maui, Hawaii, Summer 2020
Series: The White Lotus
Episode: “New Day” (Episode 1.02)
Air Date: July 18, 2021
Director: Mike White
Creator: Mike White
Costume Designer: Alex Bovaird
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
While it’s the second season of The White Lotus that’s currently dominating memes and award show headlines, my honeymoon this week had me—for better or worse—recalling the frat-tastic style of the newlywed realtor Shane Patton (Jake Lacy) from the first season, set in Hawaii.
Lacy himself has described Shane as “the most entitled victim possible,” unable to enjoy his Hawaiian honeymoon with his new wife Rachel (Alexandra Daddario) after being assigned to a different luxury suite than expected, beginning a private battle against the beleaguered hotelier Armond (Murray Bartlett) that escalates through a series of drugs, defecation, and daggers. But before that… breakfast! Continue reading
Cocktail: Tom Cruise’s Violet Four-Petaled Tropical Shirt
Tom Cruise and Elisabeth Shue in Cocktail (1988)
Vitals
Tom Cruise as Brian Flanagan, ambitious tropical bartender
Ocho Rios, Jamaica, Spring 1988
Film: Cocktail
Release Date: July 29, 1988
Director: Roger Donaldson
Costume Designer: Ellen Mirojnick
Background
As I’ve already stated in a few recent posts, I’m spending this week enjoying my honeymoon in Jamaica, the setting for a handful of James Bond movies as well as the critical flop but mega box-office hit Cocktail, released 35 years ago this summer.
Adapted from Heywood Gould’s semi-autobiographical novel of the same name, Cocktail stars Tom Cruise as Brian Flanagan, an ambitious and arrogant Army veteran with Wall Street dreams… and a TGI Fridays reality, as he begins working as a bartender to make money while attending business school.
Brian finds he has a knack for bartendering, specifically the flashy brand of flairtending taught to him by more experienced barman Doug Coughlin (Bryan Brown), with whom he partners at a trendy club and leaves his business ambitions behind. As with all friendships where both parties end up sleeping with Gina Gershon, the tension between Brian and Doug culminates in a very public blowout that results in Brian’s self-imposed exile to a beachside tourist bar in Jamaica. Continue reading
Death on the Nile: Simon MacCorkindale’s Honeymoon on Horseback
Simon MacCorkindale and Lois Chiles in Death on the Nile (1978)
Vitals
Simon MacCorkindale as Simon Doyle, newlywed honeymooner
Egypt, September 1937
Film: Death on the Nile
Release Date: September 29, 1978
Director: John Guillermin
Costume Designer: Anthony Powell
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
As my wife and I are basking in the sun during our Jamaican honeymoon this week, I wanted to focus on another cinematic honeymoon… though I hope I’m not dooming us by pulling an example from Agatha Christie’s poison pen. Based on her 1937 novel of the same name, the 1978 adaptation of Death on the Nile was the first of six films to star Peter Ustinov as Christie’s eccentric Belgian detective Hercule Poirot, here pulled into a dangerous love triangle.
Simon Doyle (Simon MacCorkindale) was a simple young Englishman, relatively devoid of funds and creativity, but charming enough to attract the fiery Jacqueline de Bellefort (Mia Farrow). The seemingly happy couple’s engagement doesn’t last long after Simon meets Jackie’s dazzlingly wealthy and glamorous friend, Linnet Ridgeway (Lois Chiles), and it’s she whom Simon marries instead. The Doyles spend their honeymoon touring Egypt and exploring the pyramids, “some of the most recognizable—not to mention pointiest—buildings in history,” according to the great Philomena Cunk. Continue reading
No Time to Die: Retired Bond’s T-Shirt and Shorts in Jamaica
Daniel Craig as James Bond in No Time to Die (2021). Photo credit: Nicola Dove.
Vitals
Daniel Craig as James Bond, retired British secret agent
Jamaica to Cuba, Spring 2020
Film: No Time to Die
Release Date: September 30, 2021
Director: Cary Joji Fukunaga
Costume Designer: Suttirat Anne Larlarb
Background
Happy birthday, Daniel Craig! Born March 2, 1968, the English actor celebrates his 55th birthday today. I had been debating how to sartorially celebrate Craig, especially considering his stylish reprisal of detective Benoit Blanc in Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, but my upcoming Jamaican honeymoon encouraged a return to his style in No Time to Die as a now-retired James Bond, living a life of comfortable solitude in Jamaica.
Bond fans are well-aware of the significance of Jamaica to the 007 series: it was at his Goldeneye estate on Oracabessa Bay where Ian Fleming wrote the first novel (Casino Royale) in 1952, most of the first movie (Dr. No) was set and filmed in Jamaica, and Roger Moore’s first Bond film (Live and Let Die) was also filmed extensively in Jamaica. There’s very much a “where it all began” association between Bond and this scenic Caribbean nation, making it all the more appropriate that No Time to Die establishes it the setting for Bond’s retirement, specifically a secluded home on Jamaica’s northeastern coast near Port Antonio. Continue reading
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