Tagged: Washington D.C.
Death by Lightning: Michael Shannon’s Frock Coat for President James Garfield’s Assassination
Michael Shannon as President James A. Garfield in Death by Lightning (Episode 4: “Destiny of the Republic”)
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Michael Shannon as James A. Garfield, Ohio farmer-turned-20th President of the United States
Washington, D.C., Summer 1881
Series: Death by Lightning
Episode: “Destiny of the Republic” (Episode 4)
Streaming Date: November 6, 2025
Director: Matt Ross
Creator: Mike Makowsky
Costume Designer: Michael Wilkinson
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
President James Garfield died 145 years ago today, more than two months after he was shot on July 2, 1881 by Charles Guiteau—the culminating incident of last year’s excellent miniseries Death by Lightning, starring Michael Shannon and Matthew Macfadyen as Garfield and Guiteau, respectively. Adapted from Candace Millard’s book Destiny of the Republic, the four-part series takes its title from Garfield’s own stated sentiment regarding the unlikelihood of preventing political murder: “Assassination could be no more guarded against than death by lightning,” which Shannon’s Garfield responds in the third episode when his wife Lucretia (Betty Gilpin) and secretary Joe Brown (Archie Fisher) urge stricter security measures given the president’s fondness for meeting with the public. Continue reading
Meteor: Sean Connery’s Tweed Leisure Suit and Sheepskin Coat
Sean Connery in Meteor (1979)
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Sean Connery as Dr. Paul Bradley, orbital satellite designer-turned-MIT professor
Houston, Texas, Washington, D.C., and New York City, December 1978
Film: Meteor
Release Date: October 19, 1979
Director: Ronald Neame
Costume Designer: Albert Wolsky
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
June 30th is National Meteor Watch Day and, while those of limited imagination may think this exclusively means looking up at the stars, some of us with a more cinematic mindset expand the meaning to include watching stars like Sean Connery, Natalie Wood, Karl Malden, and Martin Landau in Ronald Neame’s poorly regarded 1979 sci-fi flick Meteor.
Released the same year that Moonraker sent the incumbent James Bond to space, the erstwhile 007 stars in Meteor as ex-NASA scientist Dr. Paul Bradley, hastily summoned back to Houston by his old colleague Harry Sherwood (Karl Malden) after a comet collided with the asteroid Orpheus, sending dozens of deadly asteroid fragments hurtling toward Earth—including a five-mile-wide meteor that itself threatens an extinction-level event within a week. Continue reading
Three Days of the Condor: Wicks’ Leather Car Coat and Navy Suit
Michael Kane in Three Days of the Condor (1975)
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Michael Kane as S.W. Wicks, shady CIA section chief
Langley, Virginia to New York City, Winter 1975
Film: Three Days of the Condor
Release Date: September 24, 1975
Director: Sydney Pollack
Costume Designer: Joseph G. Aulisi
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Released in September 1975, the Christmas-adjacent spy thriller Three Days of the Condor celebrated its 50th anniversary earlier this year. Robert Redford stars as the titular “Condor”, the CIA’s codename for its low-level researcher Joe Turner who is the only survivor of a coordinated attack on its deep-cover office in Manhattan.
The massacre is revealed to have been part of an internal conspiracy, involving Turner’s own section chief S.W. Wicks. Though not a prominent character with just a few minutes of screen time across four scenes, Wicks is certainly a significant one and very effectively played by Michael Kane—no, not that Michael Caine—an acclaimed Canadian actor and World War II veteran who died 18 years ago last week on December 14, 2007. Continue reading
Three Days of the Condor: Cliff Robertson’s Fur-collared Coat and Tweeds as Higgins
Cliff Robertson in Three Days of the Condor (1975)
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Cliff Robertson as Higgins, pragmatic CIA deputy director and Korean War veteran
New York City and Washington, D.C., Winter 1975
Film: Three Days of the Condor
Release Date: September 24, 1975
Director: Sydney Pollack
Costume Designer: Joseph G. Aulisi
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
This month marks the 50th anniversary of Sydney Pollack’s Christmas-set political thriller Three Days of the Condor. While Robert Redford’s rugged casual-wear as the bookish CIA analyst Joe Turner (codename “Condor”) has commanded considerable sartorial attention—including one of my very first blog posts!—the men pursuing him from the shadows are also stylish dressers, from Max Von Sydow as the professional European hitman Joubert to the workaholic CIA deputy director Higgins played by Cliff Robertson, who died fourteen years ago today on September 10, 2011. Continue reading
Peter Sellers as Dr. Strangelove
Peter Sellers in Dr. Strangelove (1964)
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Peter Sellers as Dr. Strangelove (né Merkwürdigliebe), ex-Nazi nuclear war expert
Washington, D.C., September 1963
Film: Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
Release Date: January 29, 1964
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Costume Designer: Bridget Sellers
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Comedy icon Peter Sellers was born 100 years ago today on September 8, 1925, making today an ideal opportunity to celebrate Stanley Kubrick’s political satire that featured Sellers in one three of his most memorable roles. Continue reading
The Godfather, Part II: Michael Corleone’s Black Pinstripe Suit
Al Pacino as Michael Corleone in The Godfather Part II (1974)
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Al Pacino as Michael Corleone, calculating Mafia boss
Washington, D.C., Winter 1959
Film: The Godfather Part II
Release Date: December 12, 1974
Director: Francis Ford Coppola
Costume Designer: Theadora Van Runkle
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Just over a week after its New York City premiere on December 12th, The Godfather Part II was widely released 50 years ago today on December 20, 1974. The follow-up to Francis Ford Coppola’s 1972 epic continued chronicling the ambitions of underworld boss Michael Corleone (Al Pacino) following his ascension to power after the death of his father and the orchestrated murders of his enemies.
By the latter half of Part II, the tension between Michael’s public persona and private life reach a boiling point as he’s faced with the consequences of his ruthlessness. Called to testify in front of a Senate subcommittee investigating organized crime, he maintains composure while defending his reputation—starkly contrasted by the emotionally charged confrontation with his wife Kay (Diane Keaton).
Kay’s revelations about the loss of what would have been their third child strains their already fragile marriage to a pivotal breaking point that underscores Michael’s increasing isolation and the personal cost of his choices. Continue reading
Oppenheimer: Cillian Murphy’s Charcoal-Blue 1950s Suit
Cillian Murphy as J. Robert Oppenheimer in Oppenheimer (2023).
Photo credit: Melinda Sue Gordon.
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Cillian Murphy as J. Robert Oppenheimer, theoretical physicist and “father of the atomic bomb”
Washington, D.C., Spring 1954
Film: Oppenheimer
Release Date: July 21, 2023
Director: Christopher Nolan
Costume Designer: Ellen Mirojnick
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Among its seven Oscar wins including Best Picture (as seen by Al Pacino’s eyes), last year’s blockbuster Oppenheimer received the Academy Award for Best Actor for Cillian Murphy’s spectacular performance as the eponymous J. Robert Oppenheimer, born 120 years ago today on April 22, 1904.
The latter portions of Oppenheimer‘s chronography are set across his security clearance hearings throughout the spring 1954. Between April 12th and May 6th, the United States Atomic Energy Commission investigated 24 allegations questioning Oppie’s allegiance, loyalty, and Communist affiliations, as well as his opposition to the hydrogen bomb despite his influential development in nuclear weaponry that resulted in his nickname as the “father of the atomic bomb.” Continue reading
The Last Detail: Jack Nicholson’s Navy Crackerjack Uniform and Pea Coat
Jack Nicholson in The Last Detail (1973)
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Jack Nicholson as Billy L. “Badass” Buddusky, brash U.S. Navy Signalman 1st Class
Norfolk, Virginia, to Portsmouth Naval Prison, December 1972
Film: The Last Detail
Release Date: December 12, 1973
Director: Hal Ashby
Costume Designer: Theodore R. Parvin
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
On the “birthday” of the U.S. Navy, founded October 13, 1775, check out Cracker Jack Nicholson’s uniform in The Last Detail—released 50 years ago this December.
In the spirit of today also being Friday the 13th, The Last Detail chronicles the story of unlucky Larry Meadows (Randy Quaid), a glum kleptomaniac seaman being transferred to a military prison. The profane Navy lifer Billy Buddusky (Jack Nicholson) and his more even-tempered colleague Richard “Mule” Mulhall (Otis Young) are tasked with accompanying Larry from the Norfolk Naval Investigative Service Office headquarters (“Shit City”) up to Portsmouth Naval Prison, where Larry has been sentenced to an eight-year stretch for the attempted theft of no more than $40 from a polio charity box.
The profane Navy lifer Buddusky conspires with Mule to make the most of their “shit detail”, stretching a two-day trip out to its full allotted week so unlucky Larry can live it up along the way with burgers, beer, and broads. Continue reading
Scorpio: Alain Delon’s Black Blazers
Alain Delon as Jean Laurier in Scorpio (1973)
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Alain Delon as Jean Laurier, aka “Scorpio”, dangerous freelance assassin, former French paratrooper, and cat lover
Washington, D.C., and Vienna, Spring 1973
Film: Scorpio
Release Date: April 19, 1973
Director: Michael Winner
Wardrobe Master: Philippe Pickford
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Happy 85th birthday to French cinema icon Alain Delon, whose November 8, 1935 birthday makes him a Scorpio and thus a fitting choice for the title role in Michael Winner’s 1973 espionage thriller Scorpio. (Interestingly, Delon was re-teamed with The Leopard co-star Burt Lancaster, whose November 2, 1913 birthday makes him a Scorpio as well!) The astrological overtones sneak into the script as well as a CIA officer suggests to Delon’s character Jean Laurier that his codename “Scorpio” suits him:
We named you well, you’re a perfect Scorpio! You have a penchant for intrigue, violence…
Three Days of the Condor: Joubert’s Trench Coat
Max von Sydow as Joubert in Three Days of the Condor (1975)
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Max von Sydow as G. Joubert, French Alsatian contract assassin
New York City and Washington, D.C., Winter 1975
Film: Three Days of the Condor
Release Date: September 24, 1975
Director: Sydney Pollack
Costume Designer: Joseph G. Aulisi
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
You may be walking, maybe the first sunny day of the spring, and a car will slow beside you, and a door will open, and someone you know—maybe even trust—will get out of the car, and he will smile a becoming smile… but he will leave open the door of the car and offer to give you a lift.
Happy Spring to my BAMF Style readers in the Northern Hemisphere! Among the many screen credits of the late Max von Sydow, who died at the age of 90 earlier this month, was the taciturn professional assassin known as G. Joubert in the ’70s espionage thriller Three Days of the Condor.
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