Tagged: Warm Climate
The Cat’s Meow: Cary Elwes’ White Dinner Jacket as Thomas Ince
Cary Elwes as Thomas Ince in The Cat’s Meow (2002)
Vitals
Cary Elwes as Thomas H. Ince, Hollywood movie mogul
USS Oneida off the coast of southern California, November 1924
Film: The Cat’s Meow
Release Date: April 12, 2002
Director: Peter Bogdanovich
Costume Designer: Caroline de Vivaise
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
One hundred years ago this weekend was the mysterious party aboard media tycoon William Randolph Hearst’s luxury yacht that resulted in the death of pioneering filmmaker Thomas H. Ince.
Known a “Father of the Western” with more than 800 producing and directing credits to his name, Ince was celebrating his 44th birthday on Sunday, November 16, 1924 with Hearst’s invited guests aboard the USS Oneida when he reportedly suffered indigestion that led to his death of heart failure three days later. However, Hollywood lore persisted that Ince’s death was actually the result of foul play. Continue reading
Coup de Torchon: Philippe Noiret’s Khaki Uniform
Philippe Noiret in Coup de Torchon (1981)
Vitals
Philippe Noiret as Lucien Cordier, ineffective yet conniving colonial police chief
French West Africa, Summer 1938
Film: Coup de Torchon
(English title: Clean Slate)
Release Date: November 4, 1981
Director: Bertrand Tavernier
Costume Designer: Jacqueline Moreau
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
For the 12th anniversary of my first-ever BAMF Style post, today’s entry is a labor of love analyzing the style from the French adaptation of one of my favorite novels, Pop. 1280 by Jim Thompson. Born 118 years ago tomorrow on September 27, 1906, Thompson specialized in hardboiled crime fiction that has frequently been adapted into movies, including The Getaway, The Grifters, and The Killer Inside Me.
Published sixty years ago in 1964, Pop. 1280 is a darkly comic retread of the themes Thompson explored in The Killer Inside Me, following a southern sheriff whose mild-mannered persona masks his psychopathy. Set during the 1910s, Pop. 1280 is narrated by Nick Corey, the blissfully lazy “high sheriff of Potts County,” the 47th largest in an unnamed state of 47 counties. Nick presents himself as a dimwitted pushover, while secretly manipulating and murdering his way through his friends, family, and mistresses, all while nurturing delusions of being God’s agent sent to punish the sinful town of Pottsville.
Though there are rumors of a future adaptation directed by Yorgos Lanthimos (who seems well-suited for the material), the only major screen adaptation to date is Bertrand Tavernier’s Coup de Torchon, which earned ten César Award nominations and was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the 55th Academy Awards.
Adapted by Tavernier and Jean Aurenche, Coup de Torchon maintains the story’s center around a lazy lawman living with his domineering wife and her overly affectionate and slow-witted, uh, “brother”, in a small town where he’s the constant target of bullies, from those in his own household to a boastful fellow lawman who works several towns away. However, the setting is shifted to the fictional French West African town of Bourkessa on the eve of World War II, and the protagonist is reimagined as Lucien Cordier, played by Philippe Noiret, a two-time César Award-winning actor born in Lille on October 1, 1930.
“Doing nothing is my job, I’m paid for it,” Cordier explains to the two snappily dressed pimps who regularly torment him, adding with some earnestness: “At times—not always—I think I’ve found paradise on Earth.” Continue reading
Asteroid City: Tom Hanks’ Colorful Golf Clothes and 1954 Cadillac
Tom Hanks in Asteroid City (2023)
Vitals
Tom Hanks as Stanley Zak, retired lawyer and grandfather but not a chauffeur
The Mojave Desert, Fall 1955
Film: Asteroid City
Release Date: June 16, 2023
Director: Wes Anderson
Costume Designer: Milena Canonero
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Happy 68th birthday to Tom Hanks, the two-time Academy Award-winning actor born July 9, 1956. Hanks’ most recent major screen credit was the retro-futuristic Asteroid City, Wes Anderson’s sun-bleached reflection on “grief, love, and the creative process,” according to Tegenn Jeffrey for Slick.
Located near a nuclear testing site, the titular town is a fictional desert hamlet with a population of 87—at least until a group of young stargazers arrive with their parents arrive for a convention… unable to leave after an extraterrestrial sighting places them in a weeklong government quarantine.
Among these youths is the precocious Woodrow Steenbeck (Jake Ryan), accompanied by his father Augie (Jason Schwartzman) and three younger sisters. A recent widow, Augie had anticipated stopping in Asteroid City just long enough to drop Woodrow off before continuing on to deposit the three girls with their grandfather, wealthy retiree Stanley Zak (Tom Hanks), at his “beautiful house with a swimming pool” next to a golf course in Rancho Palms.
After the Steenbeck family station wagon breaks down in Asteroid City, Stanley’s resentment for his son-in-law only grows when Augie calls, asking Stanley to come pick up the girls while also revealing that he hasn’t yet told them yet about their mother’s death. Following the awkward exchange (“I’m not their chauffeur, I’m their grandfather,” Stanley reminds Augie), Stanley begrudgingly agrees to join his family in Asteroid City and gives the word to his valet:
Gas up the Cadillac.
After the Sunset: Pierce Brosnan’s Blue Linen Popover Shirt and Camaro
Pierce Brosnan as Max Burdett in After the Sunset (2004)
Vitals
Pierce Brosnan as Max Burdett, retired(?) jewel thief
The Bahamas, Summer 2004
Film: After the Sunset
Release Date: November 12, 2004
Director: Brett Ratner
Costume Designer: Rita Ryack
Pierce Brosnan’s Costumer: Edward T. Hanley
Background
This summer Car Week focus begins on the 00-7th of July by focusing not on Mr. Bond himself but rather one of Pierce Brosnan’s first prominent movies after hanging up 007’s shoulder holster and tuxedo.
Indeed, Max Burdett’s lifestyle in After the Sunset shares some similarities with how we’ve been presented with James Bond’s retirement: a rugged yet swanky seaside home in the Caribbean with a sweet ride and a stashed handgun to greet unwanted visitors. Continue reading
The Graduate: William Daniels’ Blue Cabana Set as Mr. Braddock
William Daniels as Elizabeth Wilson in The Graduate (1967)
Vitals
William Daniels as Mr. Braddock, affable but aloof suburban father
Los Angeles, Summer 1967
Film: The Graduate
Release Date: December 22, 1967
Director: Mike Nichols
Costume Designer: Patricia Zipprodt
Background
The Graduate made Benjamin Braddock (Dustin Hoffman) an icon for many, whether they could identify with his aimless disillusionment or his killer Ivy style. It may be my own “advancing” age—as I’ll officially be old enough to run for president exactly three weeks from today—that recently drew me more to his father’s charmingly dated leisurewear, specifically the matching blue cabana set when unintentionally humiliating poor Benjamin on his 21st birthday by forcing him to model a full scuba suit for “a practical demonstration” in the Braddock family swimming pool in front of their friends.
It may help my affection for the character that Mr. Braddock was portrayed by the great William Daniels, whose prolific career has spanned eight decades with iconic roles like John Adams in the stage and screen presentations of 1776 and as the avuncular Mr. Feeny on ’90s sitcom Boy Meets World, as well as a distinctive voice that he lent to KITT on the ’80s series Knight Rider. Continue reading
Moonraker: Roger Moore’s Cream Suit in Rio
Roger Moore as James Bond in Moonraker (1979)
Vitals
Roger Moore as James Bond, suave and sophisticated British MI6 agent
Rio de Janiero, Brazil, February 1979
Film: Moonraker
Release Date: June 26, 1979
Director: Lewis Gilbert
Costume Designer: Jacques Fonteray
Tailor: Angelo Vitucci
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Moonraker launched James Bond into orbit when it premiered 45 years ago today on June 26, 1979 as the fourth of Sir Roger Moore’s seven adventures as the dashing spy.
Before his out-of-this-world journey, 007 trots the globe from California to Italy and ultimately to Brazil, where he landed in Rio de Janiero during the annual Carnival festivities held in February. February is a summer month in Brazil, so Bond dresses for the warmth in a cream linen suit and open-neck brown shirt and matching pocket square as he alights from his plane. Continue reading
Mandalay: Ricardo Cortez’s White Linen Suit and Captain’s Hat
Ricardo Cortez as Tony Evans in Mandalay (1934)
Vitals
Ricardo Cortez as Tony Evans, shady ship’s captain
Rangoon, Burma (now Myanmar), Summer 1933
Film: Mandalay
Release Date: February 10, 1934
Director: Michael Curtiz
Costume Designer: Orry-Kelly
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
As Memorial Day weekend typically marks the unofficial start of summer style season, many gents are rotating their whites back to the front of their wardrobe. In the spirit of this transition, today’s post takes some perhaps recherché inspiration in the 90-year-old pre-Code drama Mandalay.
Written by Austin Parker and Charles Kenyon from a story by Paul Hervey Fox, Mandalay was one of nearly 200 films directed by Michael Curtiz, who used this as a cinematic playground to pioneer what were then cutting-edge techniques like wipes and opticals. The drama begins in Burma (now Myanmar), where the greedily opportunistic Tony Evans (Ricardo Cortez) essentially trades his charming girlfriend Tanya (Kay Francis) to the unscrupulous local nightclub owner Nick (Warner Oland) in exchange for taking on a job running guns for him. Continue reading
Moonraker: Roger Moore’s Double-Breasted Dinner Jacket
Roger Moore as James Bond in Moonraker (1979). Photo sourced from thunderballs.org archive.
Vitals
Roger Moore as James Bond, suave and sophisticated British MI6 agent
Rio de Janiero, Brazil, February 1979
Film: Moonraker
Release Date: June 26, 1979
Director: Lewis Gilbert
Costume Designer: Jacques Fonteray
Tailor: Angelo Vitucci
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Happy 00-7th of February! To warm up, let’s join James Bond on assignment in Rio de Janiero, his last stop in Moonraker before an unexpected detour into outer space, following both our villain Hugo Drax (Michael Lonsdale) and the overall sci-fi trends of the late ’70s thanks to blockbusters like Star Wars.
Before strapping on a Drax Industries spacesuit, Bond dons a more characteristic suit with the tailored tuxedo he chooses to wear for Carnival, the annual Brazilian festival held every February—scheduled to start at the end of this week. Continue reading
The Godfather, Part II: Fredo’s White Suit on New Year’s Eve
John Cazale as Fredo Corleone in The Godfather Part II (1974)
Vitals
John Cazale as Fredo Corleone, insecure mob family sibling
Havana, New Year’s Eve 1958
Film: The Godfather Part II
Release Date: December 12, 1974
Director: Francis Ford Coppola
Costume Designer: Theadora Van Runkle
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Happy New Year! Ringing in 2024 also celebrates the 50th anniversary of The Godfather, Part II, Francis Ford Coppola’s mob epic that many consider equal or even superior to its masterpiece predecessor.
In the spirit of this weekend’s celebration, let’s travel back to New Year’s Eve 1958 as the weak-willed Fredo Corleone (John Cazale) joins his powerful younger brother Michael (Al Pacino) in Havana to negotiate their family’s casino interests—unaware that all their work will be undone by Fidel Castro’s revolutionaries within 24 hours.
Of course, both Corleones are also tragically unaware that the events of the evening will reveal to Michael that he’s been betrayed by his own brother, whom Michael would bestow with a now-iconic kiss of death at midnight:
Never Say Never Again: Bond’s Cream Tropical Suit
Sean Connery as James Bond in Never Say Never Again (1983)
Vitals
Sean Connery as James Bond, sophisticated secret agent
Nassau, Bahamas, Spring 1983
Film: Never Say Never Again
Release Date: October 7, 1983
Director: Irvin Kershner
Costume Designer: Charles Knode
Tailor: Douglas Hayward
Background
The “Battle of the Bonds” commenced 40 years ago today when Never Say Never Again premiered on the 00-7th of October 1983. Produced by Jack Schwartzman’s Taliafilm, the movie was essentially a reimagining of Thunderball (1965), in which a weathered but game Sean Connery reprised his iconic role of James Bond… but without the official oversight of Eon Productions.
As I’ll be jetting off to a tropical environment this weekend, it feels appropriate to look at one of Bond’s sartorial highlights from this “unofficial” adventure, worn as Connery’s 007 makes some initial contacts upon landing in the Bahamas for his mission to investigate a missing nuclear warhead. (His lodgings are the historic British Colonial Hotel, which had to close during the COVID-19 pandemic but has been extensively renovated and is planned to reopen by the end of the year!) Continue reading
You must be logged in to post a comment.