BOGARTS FEDORA

[RBH]

Look at all of those sweet hats - why did this fashion style have to die out?!?

Because good men choose not to wear hats...

and thats where we come in!

 

[Flitcraft]

Thanks for the great reference pictures!

 

[Woodfluter]

High Sierra seems to be the black sheep as regards Bogart's hat. All the other hats seem to be nearly identical.

Did Bogart only wear his famous fedora on screen or did he also wear it off screen?

Fantastic collection of photos - muchos gracias Al Ojeda!!!

I don't agree about all the others but High Sierra being nearly identical - the 8th photo (Dead Reckoning) has a lower, tapered crown, and the 9th (Deadline USA) also has a lower crown, but less taper. The 6th (Conflict) also seems lower and has a narrow ribbon. The first (Across the Pacific) has a Cavanagh edge, which might seem like a minor detail...but not to me.

That second photo (All Through the Night) is amazing because of the perspective...you see maybe four very rough, casual diamond creases, and a couple of tidy C-crowns, and a five-sided diamond up front, at least one center dent (not sure about Bogey and his pal). Hey...isn't that Col. Strasser from Casablanca up front, by the map?(!)

The third pic (Bullets or Ballots) is probably from a B-grade gangster flick, but it is one of the most glamorous movie stills I've ever seen. What a cutie he has on his arm, and what sharp suits he and his honey are wearing. As for the fourth, well Edward G. Robinson was no slouch when it came to hat-wearing...look at those really broad side dents.

From this selection, it seems like our man favored pretty tight center pinches on the whole...or else the costume department did!

Bogart is one of my all-time faves. Has always seemed like a babe magnet and a genuine guy's guy at the same time, also someone with a conscience and a soul.

These were definitely from the golden era of hat-wearing in movies - thanks again, it was a joy to see them.

- Bill

 

[HarpPlayerGene]

Yeah, they may not be ALL the same grey hat but I wouldn't be surprised if one of them appears in several pictures.

Reason? In Bogart's day the actors furnished their own clothes. It was part of being a pro to have a good wardrobe and be able to dress yourself for a given contemporary part.

Bogey liked his hats, but probably not as much as we do and probably didn't own dozens of them at a time as we do either.

 

[Woodfluter]

Good observations, Gene!

Without specific knowledge, I think you're probably right...about actors owning wardrobe. I suspect Bogey wasn't a hat freak but he did know quality and what looked good onscreen.

However, while the hats in "All Through the Night" and "Bullets or Ballots" might have been the same, I very seriously doubt that any of the others appeared in more than one of the movie stills posted here.

- Bill

 

[Trebuchet64_Fal]

Fabulous photos,
I wish i looked that good wearing my hats, man he had style.

 

[gtdean48]

Conflict

I LOVE this hat, go figure!!! MANY thanks Al for posting! :eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap

 

[Belegnole]

Great shots...

I love looking at what the people taking the shots were doing. How they placed the hat on certain actors heads to get a certain effect or show more of the face. Some hats were even a size small to allow the viewers to see more.

 

[kaosharper1]

Check those guys seated in the back closest to camera. Those bashes are seriously deep. No special bashing machine used here.

Art Fawcett is delivering a hat to me based upon 1930s models (actually a Maltese Falcon type) and it is a 6" crown with a deep crease. This just confirms that's the right thing to do.

Makes you wonder if the transition was in the 1920s they had high crowns like the Knapp-felt drawings, then the 1930s bashing brought the crowns down so the manufacturers just started making the crowns a little lower in the 1940s in the 5 1/2" - 5 3/4" range.

Just a thought.

 

[Gilgamark]

Maltese Falcon

 

[Gilgamark]

Bogey is the man

Bogey is my favorite hat man. Did some damn fine movies, too. Second would be Sinatra. You have to have a little swagger to pull off a hat.

Couple of interesting stories in the Good-men-quit-wearing-hats vein:

Yesterday, I had lunch with a colleague - actually a competitor now because he's working a candidate running against my candidate in a gubernatorial primary next year. He always says he likes my hats, and I always tell him he should take them up. Yesterday, I added that they are coming back. We ate in an open-front restaurant. Within the first thirty minutes, six different men walked by wearing fedoras. I pointed out each one. By the end of lunch, my colleague said he would visit HatsDirect this weekend.

This morning, I hopped an elevator in a downtown Nashville office building. The gentlemen in the elevator immediately told me he liked my Fed IV. He said he owns a lot of hats and believes men should start wearing fedoras again. I suggested that he wear his.

 

[scottyrocks]

Al, thanks for posting those pics. Makes me want to go find those movies and watch them over Easter break.

 

[Goose.]

Because good men choose not to wear hats...

and thats where we come in!

Yep. I look at the posts here at FL and am humbled to be amongst you. Not just for the hats, but general sense of good will and respect that seems apparent. Not just in your faces, but in your written posts.

Anway, Al Ojeda, I would be remiss by studying this thread and not thanking you and to all for the pics and comments. Thank you.

Kum Ba Yah.

 

[Matt Deckard]

This is a really really great thread! Awesome pics! Good job!

 

[armod]

lovely ladies hats in these two shots as well

not to mention ingrid bergmans coat

 

[Gilgamark]

lovely ladies hats in these two shots as well

not to mention ingrid bergmans coat

Not to mention Ingrid Bergman - period.

 

[Al_Ojeda]

Here you have more pics...


High Sierra

Invisibles Stripes

Kid Galahad

King of The Underworld

Thank Your Lucky Star

The Big Sleep

Enjoy your hats!!

 

[Al_Ojeda]

and more...

The big Sleep

The Maltese Falcon

Portrait

[huh]

Enjoy your hats!!

 

[OddSteve]

Here you have more pics...

Enjoy your hats!!

Wow... what a beautiful picture. :eusa_clap

 

[TopGumby]

As Fred C. Dobbs in Treasure of the Sierra Madre

And proving even Bogey could have a hard time looking like Bogey some days: