Tagged: Trench Coat
Twin Peaks: FBI Agent Dale Cooper’s Black Suit
Kyle MacLachlan as FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper on Twin Peaks, in a promotional image for “The Man Behind the Glass” (Episode 2.03).
Vitals
Kyle MacLachlan as Dale Cooper, unusually perceptive FBI agent
Twin Peaks, Washington, February and March 1989
Series: Twin Peaks (Seasons 1-2)
Air Dates: April 8, 1990 to June 10, 1991
Created by: Mark Frost & David Lynch
Costume Design: Sara Markowitz (seasons 1-2) & Patricia Norris (pilot episode only)
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Diane… 11:30 a.m., February 24th, entering the town of Twin Peaks. It’s five miles south of the Canadian border, twelve miles west of the state line.
Twin Peaks canon brought FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan) into this small upstate Washington town exactly 37 years ago today in 1989, narrating the first of many unreturned missives into a tape recorder after the corpse of popular local teenager Laura Palmer (Sheryl Lee) was discovered washed ashore near the town’s lumber mill. Continue reading
Denzel Washington in Déjà Vu
Denzel Washington in Déjà Vu (2006)
Vitals
Denzel Washington as Doug Carlin, ATF agent and Marine Corps veteran
New Orleans, Spring 2006
Film: Déjà Vu
Release Date: November 22, 2006
Director: Tony Scott
Costume Designer: Ellen Mirojnick
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
On this Fat Tuesday, flash back to 20 years ago when the observance set the scene for Tony Scott’s sci-fi crime thriller Déjà Vu. The movie itself is fine, but it’s a shining example of Denzel Washington’s uncanny ability to elevate any material with his considerable charisma and talent.
Déjà Vu begins with an explosion aboard the Sen. Alvin T. Stumpf passenger ferry which killed 543 people—mostly civilian families and U.S. Navy personnel en route New Orleans’ first Mardi Gras celebration following Hurricane Katrina. A task force across federal agencies and local police includes ATF Special Agent Doug Carlin, given the explosive nature of the act and the responsibilities covered by BAFTE’s final letter. Continue reading
Robert Redford’s Blue Bank Robbery Suit in The Old Man & the Gun
Robert Redford and Sissy Spacek in The Old Man & the Gun (2018). Photo credit: Eric Zachanowich.
Vitals
Robert Redford as Forrest Tucker, aging and amiable bank robber and escape artist
Texas, Summer to Fall 1981
Film: The Old Man & the Gun
Release Date: September 28, 2018
Director: David Lowery
Costume Designer: Annell Brodeur
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
After screen legend Robert Redford’s death earlier this month at age 89, I revisited his final leading role in David Lowery’s The Old Man & the Gun—a project Redford chose for his feel-good farewell film because he wanted his “last acting job to be fun.” Lighthearted yet elegiac, this crime caper premiered at the Telluride Film Festival and Toronto International Film Festival before its wider release seven years ago tomorrow. Continue reading
A Shot in the Dark: Inspector Clouseau’s Trench Coat and Trilby
Peter Sellers as Inspector Clouseau in A Shot in the Dark (1964). Photo credit: MGM.
Vitals
Peter Sellers as Jacques Clouseau, bumbling Sûreté investigator
Paris, Fall 1963
Film: A Shot in the Dark
Release Date: June 23, 1964
Director: Blake Edwards
Costume Designer: Margaret Furse
Tailor: Douglas Hayward
Background
Tomorrow will commemorate 60 years since the release of A Shot in the Dark, the sequel to The Pink Panther which introduced Peter Sellers as the inept Investigator Clouseau. Sellers’ comedic talent elevated Clouseau to a breakout favorite among audiences of The Pink Panther, which was otherwise meant to be a stylish ensemble comedy centered around David Niven’s dashing jewel thief in pursuit of the eponymous diamond.
After observing how Clouseau resonated with audiences, director Blake Edwards and his co-screenwriter William Peter Blatty adapted Henry Kurnitz’s comic mystery play A Shot in the Dark—itself a Broadway adaptation of Marcel Archard’s L’Idiote—to reprise Sellers’ characterization of Inspector Clouseau. Set in Clouseau’s home turf, the story introduced Clouseau’s long-suffering boss Commissioner Dreyfus (Herbert Lom) and martial-artist manservant Cato (Burt Kwouk) who would both reappear in all three subsequent Pink Panther films to be released the following decade.
A Shot in the Dark begins at the country estate of millionaire Benjamin Ballon (George Sanders) outside of Paris, where we observe the household and staff watching, evading, and romancing each other in the shadows… until a gunshot rings out and the head chauffeur is found dead in the bedroom of the alluring maid Maria Gambrelli (Elke Sommer), last seen clutching the victim’s own still-smoking Beretta pistol. Enter Inspector Clouseau onto the scene… stepping out of his car and immediately into the Ballon fountain, perfectly introducing the madcap mystery to follow. Continue reading
Allied: Brad Pitt’s Flight Jacket and RCAF Uniform Gear
Brad Pitt as Max Vatan in Allied (2016)
Vitals
Brad Pitt as Max Vatan, Royal Canadian Air Force intelligence officer
London and Dieppe, Spring 1944
Film: Allied
Release Date: November 23, 2016
Director: Robert Zemeckis
Costume Designer: Joanna Johnston
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
The 2016 World War II romantic thriller Allied centered around Brad Pitt’s character Max Vatan, an officer in the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF)—the high-flying branch of the Canadian armed forces that was officially founded 100 years ago today on April 1, 1924.
I’ve read simplifications of Allied‘s plot as “Casablanca meets Notorious“, with Joanna Johnston’s Oscar-nominated costume design maintaining much of the 1940s elegance from both of those acclaimed classics. And indeed, the romantic and action-packed first act of Allied is set in Casablanca, where Max’s dangerous mission for the Special Operations Executive (SOE) pairs him with the alluring French Resistance circuit leader Marianne Beauséjour (Marion Cotillard).
Upon returning to England, Max receives clearance to bring Marianne into the country, where they marry despite Max’s boss, British Army Captain Frank Heslop (Jared Harris) advising him that “marriages made in the field never work.” (In fact, there were a few real-life spies who served the British during World War II that would later marry, such as SOE officers Peter Churchill and Odette Sansom, both of whom had been imprisoned and brutally interrogated by the Germans and whose service and relationship formed the basis of the 1950 film Odette. That said, Frank may have been onto something as the two divorced in 1955 after eight years of marriage.)
The newlywed Vatans in October 1942.
With their newborn daughter, the couple lives in domestic bliss—and domestic Blitz—for over a year until Max’s superiors alert him to their suspicions that Marianne is a German spy! Though he reluctantly agrees to follow the SOE’s plan to test Marianne’s allegiance with a “blue dye” procedure, Max remains convinced of her loyalty and sets out to prove it. Continue reading
The Pink Panther: Clouseau’s Après-ski Sweater
Peter Sellers with Claudia Cardinale in The Pink Panther (1963)
Vitals
Peter Sellers as Jacques Clouseau, bumbling Sûreté investigator
Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, Winter 1963
Film: The Pink Panther
Release Date: December 18, 1963
Director: Blake Edwards
Wardrobe Supervisor: Annalisa Nasalli-Rocca
Background
Four months after it premiered in Italy on December 18, 1963 (the same day that Brad Pitt was born, for what it’s worth), The Pink Panther was released in the United States sixty years ago this March, introducing audiences to the inept Inspector Clouseau portrayed by Peter Sellers.
Though future installments would focus more intentionally on Sellers’ pratfall-laden performance as Clouseau, The Pink Panther was initially more of a stylish, star-studded caper, set in the favorite winter destination for Camelot-era jet-setters: Cortina d’Ampezzo in the Italian Alps.
Clouseau is in the midst of his investigation into a prolific jewel thief known only as “the Phantom” when joining his wife Simone (Capucine) in Cortina, where we learn Simone had been planning to meet her lover, the dashing Sir Charles Lytton (David Niven)—who happens to be the mysterious Phantom that Clouseau had been chasing. Adding to the complication is the unexpected arrival of Sir Charles’ mischievous nephew and protege George (Robert Wagner) and the target of Charles and Simone’s next heist: the glamorous Princess Dala (Claudia Cardinale) and her princess gem called “The Pink Panther”.
Of course, Clouseau never suspects any of the intrigue happening right under his nose as he joins the buttoned-up insurance investigator Tucker (Colin Gordon) and the elegant après-ski set in the hotel lounge during a random but Fran-tastic performance of Henry Mancini’s samba “It Had Better Be Tonight (Meglio stasera)”. Continue reading
Sneakers: Redford’s Varsity Jacket and Karmann Ghia
Robert Redford as Martin Bishop, seated in his Karmann Ghia in Sneakers (1992)
Vitals
Robert Redford as Martin Bishop (formerly Martin Brice), digital security consultant and fugitive hacker
San Francisco, Fall 1991
Film: Sneakers
Release Date: September 11, 1992
Director: Phil Alden Robinson
Costume Designer: Bernie Pollack
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Robert Redford looks like he’s having a great time in Sneakers, Phil Alden Robinson’s 1992 crime comedy about a gang of professional computer hackers. Redford stars as Martin Brice, a digital “sneaker” who has spent more than 20 years on the lam legitimizing his talent to become a security consultant, re-christened Martin Bishop. His background leads to recruitment by two men claiming to work for the NSA, forcing Martin and his team to take on a dubiously legitimate job.
Despite its subject matter, Sneakers never feels excessively dated as it focuses less on the technical aspects of digital hacking and more on the camaraderie among Redford’s motley band, consisting of Sidney Poitier, Dan Aykroyd, David Strathairn, River Phoenix, and Mary McDonnell. Redford’s character zips through the City by the Bay in a classic Karmann Ghia convertible, weathered but reliable like the then-56-year-old actor himself. Continue reading
Batman: Michael Keaton Gets Nuts in Layered Taupe
Michael Keaton as Bruce Wayne in Batman (1989)
Vitals
Michael Keaton as Bruce Wayne, enigmatic millionaire and defender of Gotham
Gotham City, Fall 1989
Film: Batman
Release Date: June 23, 1989
Director: Tim Burton
Costume Designer: Bob Ringwood
Clothes By: Giorgio Armani
Background
Happy 70th birthday, Michael Keaton! Born September 5, 1951 just outside of Pittsburgh, Keaton rose to fame throughout the ’80s in comedies like Night Shift, Mr. Mom, and Beetlejuice before he was tapped for the titular role in Tim Burton’s adaptation of Bob Kane’s famous comics. The casting decision initially soured fans, who mailed thousands of letters to Warner Bros. in protest, but his unassuming performance quickly won over audiences and Batman became one of the top-grossing movies of 1989.
Atlantic City: Burt Lancaster’s White Vintage Sport Jacket
Burt Lancaster as Lou Pascal in Atlantic City (1980)
Vitals
Burt Lancaster as Lou Pascal, aging numbers runner
Atlantic City, Fall 1979
Film: Atlantic City
Release Date: September 3, 1980
Director: Louis Malle
Costume Designer: François Barbeau
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Burt Lancaster kicked off his final decade on the silver screen with Louis Malle’s well-received romantic crime drama, Atlantic City. In addition to securing Lancaster’s fourth and final Academy Award nomination, Atlantic City also earned nomination across all “Big Five” categories, though the film was shut out at the Oscars with Henry Fonda taking home the trophy for his performance in On Golden Pond.
Lancaster plays Lou Pascal, a long-in-the-tooth numbers runner who proudly walks the boardwalk of the titular town, waxing poetic to anyone who’ll listen about the golden age of gangsterdom in America’s Playground, when “it used to be beautiful, whatwith the rackets, whoring, guns.”
Atlantic City had floy floy coming out of its ears in those days. Now it’s all so goddamn legal. Howard Johnson running a casino. Tutti-frutti ice cream with craps don’t mix.
Lou’s comfort among criminality results in a botched cocaine deal that results in a dead dealer and plenty of blow left over for Lou to sell for his own profit as he endeavors to seduce the dealer’s estranged—and now widowed—wife, an attractive and ambitious casino waitress named Sally (Susan Sarandon). Continue reading
Scent of a Woman: Al Pacino’s Navy Striped Suit
Al Pacino as Lt. Col. Frank Slade in Scent of a Woman (1992)
Vitals
Al Pacino as Frank Slade, blind and bitter retired U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel
New York City to New Hampshire, Fall 1992
Film: Scent of a Woman
Release Date: December 23, 1992
Director: Martin Brest
Costume Designer: Aude Bronson-Howard
Tailor: Martin Greenfield
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Happy birthday, Al Pacino! As the legendary actor’s 81st birthday coincides with the Academy Awards tonight, let’s take a look at Scent of a Woman, Martin Brest’s 1992 drama that resulted in Pacino’s sole Oscar to date.
Pacino played retired Lieutenant Colonel Frank Slade, a blind and irascible alcoholic who secretly plans on spending the Thanksgiving holiday with a lavish weekend in New York City before ending his life. Somewhat reluctantly along for the ride is Charlie Simms (Chris O’Donnell), a mild-mannered prep student hired to care for Frank, though the cantankerous colonel seems more than willing to watch out for himself.
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