Tagged: The South
Selma: David Oyelowo’s Navy Suit as Martin Luther King Jr.
David Oyelowo as Martin Luther King Jr. in Selma (2014)
Vitals
David Oyelowo as Martin Luther King Jr., iconic civil rights activist
Alabama, January to March 1965
Film: Selma
Release Date: December 25, 2014
Director: Ava DuVernay
Costume Designer: Ruth E. Carter
Background
Since 1986, Martin Luther King Jr. Day has been observed on the third Monday of each January since President Ronald Reagan signed Rep. Katie Hall’s proposed bill into law. Though King was actually born on January 15, 1929, “MLK Day” follows the pattern of the Uniform Monday Holiday Act that designates several American federal holidays to be permanently observed at the start of the workweek, like Presidents Day and Memorial Day.
Nominated for Best Picture at the 87th Academy Awards, Ava DuVernay’s 2014 drama Selma chronicles the events leading up to the famous Selma-to-Montgomery marches in March 1965, organized by nonviolent activists to protest the widespread denial of Black Americans exercising their constitutional voting rights. Continue reading
Silkwood: Kurt Russell’s A-2 Deck Jacket
Kurt Russell in Silkwood (1983)
Vitals
Kurt Russell as Drew Stephens, mechanic and former nuclear plant technician
Oklahoma, Fall 1974
Film: Silkwood
Release Date: December 14, 1983
Director: Mike Nichols
Costume Designer: Ann Roth
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Fifty years ago tonight, chemical technician and labor activist Karen Silkwood died in a mysterious car accident near Crescent, Oklahoma. Silkwood had recently testified to the Atomic Energy Commission about safety concerns at the Kerr-McGee Corporation plant where she worked and was subsequently found to be contaminated with plutonium.
On the evening of November 13, 1974, the 28-year-old Silkwood was en route to meet a journalist from the New York Times and her national union representative when her white 1973 Honda Civic crashed into the wall of a concrete culvert off Highway 74, and she was pronounced dead at the scene. Contemporary findings strongly suggested foul play, though it was more likely that her pursuer’s intent was to intimidate Silkwood rather than to kill her.
The tumultuous last year of Karen Silkwood’s life was depicted in Mike Nichols’ 1983 drama Silkwood, starring Meryl Streep as the titular technician, Cher as her co-worker and roommate, and Kurt Russell as her boyfriend and fellow Kerr-McGee colleague Drew Stephens. Continue reading
The Last American Hero: Jeff Bridges in Denim
Jeff Bridges in The Last American Hero (1973)
Vitals
Jeff Bridges as Elroy “Junior” Jackson, Jr., moonshine runner and aspiring race car driver
Gaston County, North Carolina, Fall 1972
Film: The Last American Hero
Release Date: July 27, 1973
Director: Lamont Johnson
Wardrobe Credit: Alan Levine
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Amid the playoffs ahead of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoff Race at Martinsville a week from today on November 3, today’s post celebrates one of the more underdiscussed “mooonshine movies” that also draws on the link between Appalachain bootleggers and stock car racing.
Photographed by cinematographer George Silano against an authentic North Carolina autumn in late 1972, The Last American Hero was adapted from Tom Wolfe’s Esquire essay about moonshiner-turned-NASCAR star Robert “Junior” Johnson, represented on screen by Jeff Bridges (in one of his first starring roles) as Elroy “Junior” Jackson, Jr., who speeds through the mountains of North Carolina in his ’67 Mustang to run moonshine for his father Elroy (Art Lund) and brother Wayne (Gary Busey). Continue reading
Dillinger (1973): Ben Johnson’s Stone Summer Suit as Melvin Purvis
Ben Johnson as Melvin Purvis in Dillinger (1973)
Vitals
Ben Johnson as Melvin Purvis, experienced federal agent
Memphis, Tennessee, September 1933
Film: Dillinger
Release Date: July 20, 1973
Director: John Milius
Costume Designer: James M. George
Background
My most recent post commemorated the 90th anniversary of outlaw “Pretty Boy” Floyd’s death following a brief manhunt through rural Ohio led by federal agent Melvin Purvis, as portrayed by Christian Bale in Michael Mann’s 2009 drama Public Enemies. Two days later, on what would have been his 121st birthday, agent Purvis has inspired his second consecutive BAMF Style post—this time via Ben Johnson’s more grizzled characterization in John Milius’ bullet-riddled 1973 film Dillinger. Continue reading
Cape Fear (1991): Robert De Niro’s White Terrycloth Shirt as Max Cady
Robert De Niro as Max Cady in Cape Fear (1991)
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Robert De Niro as Max Cady, psychopathic parolee
New Essex, North Carolina, Summer 1991
Film: Cape Fear
Release Date: November 15, 1991
Director: Martin Scorsese
Costume Designer: Rita Ryack
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Happy birthday to Robert De Niro, born August 17, 1943. One of the prolific actor’s less-discussed but still acclaimed performances is his Academy Award-nominated characterization of the dangerously psychotic Max Cady in Cape Fear, Martin Scorsese’s 1991 remake of the 1962 thriller and the 7th of ten collaborations to date between De Niro and Scorsese. Continue reading
Cockfighter: Warren Oates’ Black Shirt and Lee Jeans
Warren Oates in Cockfighter (1974)
Vitals
Warren Oates as Frank Mansfield, voluntarily mute cockfighter
Georgia, Spring 1973
Film: Cockfighter
Release Date: July 30, 1974
Director: Monte Hellman
Wardrobe Credit: Carol Hammond & Patty Shaw
Background
Fifty years ago today on July 30, 1974, the locally filmed B-movie Cockfighter premiered in Roswell, Georgia.
“King of Cult” producer and director Roger Corman had spied Charles Willeford’s novel of the same name in an airport bookstore and had read no more than the title and the back cover before buying the adaptation rights, explaining to his editor that “with a title like this, if we can’t sell it, we’re in big trouble.” Unfortunately… they couldn’t sell it.
Perhaps dismayed that Hellman took a more philosophical than exploitative approach, Corman tried every trick at his disposal to grow an audience. After hiring Joe Dante to recut the film, he rotated through alternate titles like Born to Kill, Gamblin’ Man, and Wild Drifter, until eventually accepting a rare defeat, citing Cockfighter as the only New World Pictures release to lose money, despite its already meager $400,000 budget.
Like many other Corman films, Cockfighter found a cult following in the decades after its release, certainly in part to the talent involved. Working from a screenplay that Willeford adapted from his own novel, Monte Hellman was hired to direct as his first feature since Two-Lane Blacktop. Hellman assembled a cast that included Two-Lane Blacktop alumna Warren Oates, Laurie Bird, and Oates’ friend and frequent co-star Harry Dean Stanton (the subject of my first Cockfighter post), as well as ’50s screen idol Troy Donahue, character actors Robert Earl Jones and Richard B. Shull, and a young Ed Begley Jr. in one of his first prominent roles.
Three years after Hellman directed him to magnificence as “GTO” in Two-Lane Blacktop, Oates delivered one of his arguably career-best performances as Frank Mansfield, a determined gambler who vows to remain mute until he can be awarded Southern Conference Cockfighter of the Year. As Frank increases the stakes by betting everything he owns along the way, we see the lengths to which he goes to build up the odds against his gamecock Sandspur, such as disfiguring the beak to appear cracked. Continue reading
The Andy Griffith Show: Barney Fife’s Return to Mayberry in an Aloha Shirt and Cardigan
Don Knotts as Barney Fife on The Andy Griffith Show (Episode 6.17: “The Return of Barney Fife”)
Vitals
Don Knotts as Barney Fife, bumbling Raleigh detective and former deputy sheriff
Mayberry, North Carolina, Fall 1965
Series: The Andy Griffith Show
Episode: “The Return of Barney Fife” (Episode 6.17)
Air Date: January 10, 1966
Director: Alan Rafkin
Creator: Sheldon Leonard
Costume Designer: Stanley Kufel
Background
Today would have been the 100th birthday of Don Knotts, born July 21, 1924 in Morgantown, West Virginia. The comedian who shares my birthday (though 68 years older) remains arguably best known for his celebrated role as the overly officious country deputy Barney Fife on The Andy Griffith Show, though he also appeared across the latter seasons of Three’s Company as wannabe swinger landlord Ralph Furley.
Knotts’ five Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series remains a record-setting amount in that category and was also the most wins for a performer in the same role in the same series until Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ sixth and final win for Veep in 2017. In addition, his characterization of Barney Fife was ranked ninth on TV Guide‘s 1999 list of the 50 Greatest TV Characters of All Time.
Despite the accolades, Knotts amicably left The Andy Griffith Show at the end of the fifth season to pursue his film career, but the in-universe explanation that Barney was hired as a detective in Raleigh allowed for the actor to occasionally return to the series, including his Emmy-winning performance in the sixth season’s “The Return of Barney Fife”. Continue reading
Harry Dean Stanton’s Cream Suit in Cockfighter
Harry Dean Stanton in Cockfighter (1974)
Vitals
Harry Dean Stanton as Jack Burke, country cockfighter
Georgia, Spring 1973
Film: Cockfighter
Release Date: July 30, 1974
Director: Monte Hellman
Wardrobe Credit: Carol Hammond & Patty Shaw
Background
The great character actor Harry Dean Stanton was born 98 years ago tomorrow on July 14, 1926. A familiar face among the supporting cast of classic movies for a career spanning more than a half-century, Stanton also shined in his rare leading roles in Paris, Texas (1984), Repo Man (1984), and Lucky (2017).
One of the lesser-known entries in Stanton’s filmography is Cockfighter, reuniting him with Two-Lane Blacktop director Monte Hellman and his friend and frequent co-star Warren Oates. Released 50 years ago this month, Cockfighter was controversial upon its release for its uncompromising portrayal of the titular bloodsport. Continue reading
Barry Newman in Fear Is the Key
Barry Newman in Fear is the Key (1972)
Vitals
Barry Newman as John Talbot, “truculent, insolent, and a man of violence”
Louisiana, Spring 1972
Film: Fear Is the Key
Release Date: December 26, 1972
Director: Michael Tuchner
Wardrobe Credit: Mike Jarvis
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
I had never heard of Fear Is the Key before I had the pleasure of catching it streaming on the Criterion Channel last November, so I feel comfortable describing it as underrated—the kind of raw ’70s-style adventure intended for pure entertainment with a thrilling momentum, great score, and a fine cast led by Barry Newman that also included Suzy Kendall, John Vernon, Dolph Sweet, and a “young”—well… middle-aged—Ben Kingsley. Perhaps best known for his performances in Vanishing Point and the TV series Petrocelli, the Boston-born Newman died one year ago today on May 11, 2023 at the age of 92.
Based on Alistair MacLean’s 1961 novel centered around one man’s mission for revenge against a criminal organization that killed his family, the movie blends classic adventure, ’70s grit, and international intrigue into a package adjacent to contemporary “hick flicks”. Maybe you’d describe it as Smokey and the Bandit meets Crank—or James Bond meets The Dukes of Hazzard—all with a twist of Three Days of the Condor. Continue reading
The Big Chill: Tom Berenger’s Convertible Down Jacket
Tom Berenger in The Big Chill (1983)
Vitals
Tom Berenger as Sam Weber, jaded TV star
Beaufort, South Carolina, Fall 1983
Film: The Big Chill
Release Date: September 28, 1983
Director: Lawrence Kasdan
Costume Designer: April Ferry
Background
As I prepare to gather with friends today for our annual Friendsgiving celebration, there’s a cinematic choice that perfectly captures the essence of fall, friendship, and the shared warmth of communal meals.
Despite not being centered around the holiday itself, The Big Chill has earned a place among many as a quintessential “Thanksgiving movie” with its autumnal setting, the camaraderie of old friends reuniting, and the soul-stirring soundtrack creating a nostalgic backdrop reminiscent of the season’s familial gatherings.
Beyond this thematic resonance, the film also offers a visual feast served by costume designer April Ferry’s array of early ’80s threads worn by its ensemble cast. Tom Berenger, Glenn Close, Jeff Goldblum, William Hurt, Kevin Kline, Mary Kay Place, and JoBeth Williams star as college friends who reunite more than a decade after their graduation to mourn one of their group lost to suicide—portrayed by Kevin Costner, who was almost entirely cut from the film. Almost.
I recently had a request to explore Berenger’s style as Sam Weber, who was become arguably the most famous of his college pals, gracing magazine covers as the star of the Magnum, P.I.-like series, J.T. Lancer. Continue reading
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