Vitals

James Caan as Axel Freed, gambling-addicted English professor

New York City, Fall 1973

Film: The Gambler
Release Date: October 2, 1974
Director: Karel Reisz
Costume Designer: Albert Wolsky

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

In addition to today being the first day of summer, June 20th is also observed as International Tennis Day, established ten years ago to recognize the day when the first “Tennis Court Oath” was taken in 1789 at a tennis court near the Palace of Versailles.

The sport has found renewed interest this year after the release of Luca Guadagnino’s Challengers starring Zendaya, Josh O’Connor, and Mike Faist, a film not without its own notable style including—but certainly not limited to—the “I TOLD YA” T-shirt homage to John F. Kennedy Jr. that costume designer J.W. Anderson chose for Zendaya’s wardrobe.

“We don’t talk enough about the scene in the original version of The Gambler where the James Caan character absolutely destroys his own mother at tennis,” Matt Zoller Seitz tweeted after Caan’s death in July 2022, so I’m hoping to rectify this oversight.

While Challengers will have its BAMF Style spotlight soon, the intersection of International Tennis Day and the summer solstice during the 50th anniversary year of The Gambler drew me toward the Fred Perry-branded tennis whites that Caan wore as Axel Freed in this 1974 drama. Continue reading →