Tagged: Vest & Trousers
Bonnie and Clyde (1967): Warren Beatty’s “Air Ties” and Vests
Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty in Bonnie & Clyde (1967)
Vitals
Warren Beatty as Clyde Barrow, Depression-era bank robber and gang leader
Across the American South and Midwest, Spring 1932 to 1934
Film: Bonnie & Clyde
Release Date: August 13, 1967
Director: Arthur Penn
Costume Designer: Theadora Van Runkle
Background
Ninety years ago today on the morning of May 23, 1934, a light-gray Ford V-8 sedan traveling northeast on a rural Louisiana highway slowed as it approached a truck stopped by the side of the road. Suddenly, volleys of rifle fire peppered the car, obliterating the young couple in the front seat. After an estimated 167 rounds were fired, a half-dozen lawmen emerged from their ambush positions and approached the Ford, in which wanted outlaws Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow were now unquestionably dead.
Despite their bloody crime spree that left at least a dozen men dead, Bonnie and Clyde captivated the fascination of a Depression-era public that often celebrated the exploits of contemporary outlaws like John Dillinger and “Pretty Boy” Floyd. The scrappy couple was hardly as criminally capable as their fellow “Public Enemies”, but Clyde’s remarkable ability to escape police traps and Bonnie’s frequent involvement added a romantic element that made them a newspaper favorite, especially after the discovery of undeveloped photos depicting the Barrow gang at play, including Bonnie smoking one of Clyde’s cigars—crafting a public image she would greatly resent—and holding him at gunpoint with one of the gang’s cut-down shotguns.
Among the many photos found at the gang’s abandoned Joplin, Missouri hideout after an April 1933 gunfight was this snapshot of Clyde and Bonnie in front of one of their many stolen Ford V-8 coupes, likely photographed earlier that year by their teenage gang member W.D. Jones. In the 1967 film Bonnie & Clyde, Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway posed in a similar manner, but this reenactment didn’t make the final cut.
The frequent news coverage during their lifetime ensured that Bonnie and Clyde wouldn’t be quickly forgotten after their deaths, inspiring a string of “couple of the run” crime movies like You Only Live Once (1937) and the films noir They Live By Night (1948) and Gun Crazy (1950). The couple’s story formed the basis for the highly fictionalized The Bonnie Parker Story, an exploitative 1958 quickie from American International Pictures starring Dorothy Provine as the “cigar-smoking hellcat of the roaring thirties” and Jack Hogan as her simping partner-in-crime, uh, “Guy Darrow”.
The outlaw couple would be immortalized on screen after the release of Bonnie & Clyde in 1967, produced by Warren Beatty who also starred as Clyde opposite newcomer Faye Dunaway as a redoubtable Bonnie Parker. Continue reading
Humphrey Bogart in The Petrified Forest
Humphrey Bogart as Duke Mantee in The Petrified Forest (1936)
Vitals
Humphrey Bogart as “Duke” Mantee, violent desperado and “the last great apostle of rugged individualism”
Black Mesa, Arizona, January 1936
Film: The Petrified Forest
Release Date: February 6, 1936
Director: Archie Mayo
Costume Designer: Orry-Kelly (uncredited)
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
This is Duke Mantee, the world-famous killer, and he’s hungry…
Indeed, Humphrey Bogart was hungry. The 36-year-old actor had spent more than a dozen years honing his craft on the stage and had spent the last five going nowhere as a $750-a-week bit player for the Fox Film Corporation.
It wasn’t until a decade after his debut that Hollywood would start opening the front door for the New York-born actor, starring in Raoul Walsh’s crime flick High Sierra as a tough bank robber clearly modeled after real-life outlaw John Dillinger. It’s only fitting that this character be Bogie’s shot at the big time that he should have earned years earlier as yet another Dillinger surrogate, Duke Mantee.
John Wayne in True Grit
John Wayne as Reuben “Rooster” Cogburn in True Grit (1969)
Vitals
John Wayne as Reuben J. “Rooster” Cogburn, tough Deputy U.S. Marshal
Fort Smith, Arkansas, into Indian Territory, Fall 1880
Film: True Grit
Release Date: June 12, 1969
Director: Henry Hathaway
Costume Designer: Dorothy Jeakins
Wardrobe: Luster Bayless (uncredited)
Background
To commemorate John Wayne’s birthday 113 years ago today on May 26, 1907, let’s take a look at one of Duke’s most enduring roles and the one that won him the Academy Award after more than forty years making over 200 movies.
Swiftly adapted from Charles Portis’ source novel of the same name, True Grit follows 14-year-old Mattie Ross as she seeks the help of a drunken U.S. Marshal, chosen by virtue of his reputation as the meanest marshal, to avenge the murder of her father. Continue reading
Gary Cooper in High Noon
Gary Cooper as Marshal Will Kane in High Noon (1952)
Vitals
Gary Cooper as Will Kane, newlywed city marshal
Hadleyville, New Mexico Territory, Summer 1873
Film: High Noon
Release Date: July 24, 1952
Director: Fred Zinnemann
Men’s Wardrobe Credit: Joe King
Background
Born 119 years ago today on May 7, 1901, Gary Cooper received his second Academy Award for Best Actor in recognition of his now-iconic performance in High Noon as a laconic lawman whose sense of duty compels him to make a lone stand against a band of dangerous outlaws.
Apollo 13: Gene Kranz’s Famous White Vest
Ed Harris as Gene Kranz in Apollo 13 (1995)
Vitals
Ed Harris as Gene Kranz, determined, no-nonsense NASA flight director
Houston, Texas, April 1970
Film: Apollo 13
Release Date: June 30, 1995
Director: Ron Howard
Costume Designer: Rita Ryack
Background
Okay, Houston, we’ve had a problem here…
Apollo 13 astronaut Jack Swigert first transmitted this famous (and oft-misquoted) message 50 years ago today at 3:08 AM (GMT) on Tuesday, April 14, 1970, soon repeated by the mission commander Jim Lovell: “Uh, Houston, we’ve had a problem.” (At the Apollo Mission Control Center in Houston, it was still 10:08 PM on Monday, April 13.)
The craft had launched three days prior from Kennedy Space Center, manned by Swigert, Fred Haise, and mission commander Jim Lovell. The mission was intended to be the third of the American space program that would land on the Moon until the notorious “problem”—an explosion resulting from a failed oxygen tank in the service module—forced the three-man crew and their mission controllers in Houston to improvise solutions that ultimately resulted in the three astronauts safely returning to Earth, splashing down in the South Pacific on April 17 when they were swiftly met by a U.S. Navy recovery team.
While Apollo 13 was technically unsuccessful in its initial objective of a lunar landing, the mission and its outcome have been deemed “a successful failure” due to how different individuals, teams, and departments were able to work together in as tight timeframe to solve the almost-impossible task of bringing the three astronauts home safely, requiring not only the best efforts of Lovell, Haise, and Swigert, but also ingenuity and dedication from the Mission Control team centered in Houston under the “tough and competent” leadership of flight director Gene Kranz.
Sonny Corleone: Dressed Down for a Beat-Down
Sonny Corleone (James Caan) pummels Carlo Rizzi (Gianni Russo) in The Godfather (1972)
Vitals
James Caan as Santino “Sonny” Corleone, hot-headed mob chief
New York City, Summer 1948
Film: The Godfather
Release Date: March 15, 1972
Director: Francis Ford Coppola
Costume Designer: Anna Hill Johnstone
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
For this midsummer #MafiaMonday, BAMF Style is taking a look at this much-requested outfit from Sonny Corleone’s street takedown of his abusive brother-in-law Carlo Rossi (Gianni Russo).
It’s a hot June day in New York City. Carlo and his cronies are all out on the street, loafing around, listening to the radio, and not expecting much from their day… until a black sedan squeals to a stop, and out charges Sonny Corleone, charging after Carlo with designs on at least ruining the latter’s orange two-tone leisure suit. Continue reading
Han Solo
Harrison Ford as Han Solo in Star Wars (1977)
Vitals
Harrison Ford as Han Solo, swaggering space pirate and smuggler
A Long Time Ago in a Galaxy Far Far Away
Film: Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope
Release Date: May 25, 1977
Director: George Lucas
Costume Designer: John Mollo
Film: Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back
Release Date: May 21, 1980
Director: Irvin Kershner
Costume Designer: John Mollo
Film: Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi
Release Date: May 25, 1983
Director: Richard Marquand
Costume Design: Aggie Guerard Rodgers & Nilo Rodis-Jamero
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
May 4th is often celebrated by Star Wars fans so BAMF Style is taking today to honor its favorite fictional space traveler (and no, it’s not James Bond in Moonraker.)
This month marks the 39th anniversary of Star Wars‘ original release in 1977 and laid the foundation for one of the most acclaimed and popular film franchises of all time. Continue reading
Carlito Brigante’s Dressed-Up Black Leather Coat
Al Pacino as Carlito Brigante in Carlito’s Way (1993).
Vitals
Al Pacino as Carlito “Charlie” Brigante, paroled nightclub owner and former heroin dealer
New York City, September 1975
Film: Carlito’s Way
Release Date: November 3, 1993
Director: Brian De Palma
Costume Designer: Aude Bronson-Howard
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Ten years after the wild success of Scarface, Al Pacino strapped on a gat and stepped in front of Brian De Palma’s camera as Carlito Brigante, the character developed in Judge Edwin Torres’ 1970s crime novels Carlito’s Way and After Hours. Despite its title, Carlito’s Way is primarily based on the latter novel, depicting Carlito’s desperate attempts to “go straight” after yet another release from prison. Continue reading
Justified – Boyd Crowder’s Herringbone Sweater-Sportcoat
Walton Goggins as Boyd Crowder on Justified.
(Episode 4.05: “Kin”)
Vitals
Walton Goggins as Boyd Crowder, scrappy Harlan County criminal chieftain
Harlan County, Kentucky, Fall 2012
Series: Justified
Episode: “Kin” (Episode 4.05)
Air Date: February 5, 2013
Director: Peter Werner
Costume Designer: Patia Prouty
Background
For great fall attire, one needs look no further than Justified on FX. The show’s pragmatic anti-hero, Boyd Crowder, came a long way from being the thuggish white supremacist bank robber we met back in the pilot. By the middle of the fourth season, he’s shaping up his own criminal empire in Harlan County and enjoying a romance with his deceased older brother’s widow. (It should be noted that said widow had actually shot his older brother to death with a shotgun… Boyd is evidently the forgiving type.)
With his character transformation came a major costuming transformation. Boyd can’t be pigeon-holed into a particular stratum of the criminal underworld, and his wardrobe reflects that. He needs to look respectable enough for urban mobsters like Wynn Duffy while still keeping in touch with the good ol’ boys under his employ. The result is a mishmash of rustic formality that suits Boyd’s particular brand of dapper style. Continue reading
Nucky Thompson’s Golf Attire
Steve Buscemi as “Nucky” Thompson on Boardwalk Empire (Episode 2.05: “Gimcrack & Bunkum”).
Vitals
Steve Buscemi as Enoch “Nucky” Thompson, crooked city politician and influential mob bootlegger
Atlantic City, Memorial Day 1921
Series: Boardwalk Empire
Episode: “Gimcrack & Bunkum” (Episode 2.05)
Air Date: October 23, 2011
Director: Tim Van Patten
Costume Designer: John A. Dunn
Background
As summer starts winding to a close, make sure you schedule some time this weekend to hit the links with your pals.
In Boardwalk Empire‘s second season, Nucky and political pals Harry Daugherty and Jess Smith blow off some steam after a Memorial Day ceremony by getting out onto the green. Things are tense for Nucky as his old protégé Jimmy Darmody is vying for power in the city, his Attorney General ally is more concerned with his weight than Nucky’s legal situation, and the unreliable Jess Smith is trying to use Nucky for a shady partnership. And that’s all just before they leave the clubhouse.
Nucky Thompson: Do you actually enjoy golfing?
Harry Daugherty: I enjoy being a man with the time to play it.
Maybe golf isn’t so relaxing after all. Continue reading
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