They've blown it again...

[Michael Mallory]

The current Vanity Fair features advance pictures of "The Aviator," the new Scorsese movie starring Leo DiCaprio as Howard Hughes. In the first picture there's a shot of someone with what to an untrained eye might look like a vintage fedora, but it has...like always...a pre-blocked crown. I missed the 40's by a few years, so I can't speak from first hand experience, but I contend that you can watch every contemporary movie made from 1930 to 1950 and never see a pre-blocked crown, unless it is straw. All hats back then seemed to be hand bashed and, as someone mentioned elsewhere, had "stovepipe" crowns. Yet in period film after period film, we are treated to an array of modern Stetsons, Biltmores or (worse) Golden Gates, or pricey hand-made ones that are still carefully pre-blocked, usually tapered, and totally out of period.

No director worth his salt would allow a character in a movie set in the forties to whip out a plastic Bic lighter, or address a letter with a zip code, or drink a beer with a twist-off cap, or wear Nikes. But with hats the attitude is always, "It's close enough -- who's going to know?" I wish Hollywood costumers would take lessons in hatting.

 

[Andykev]

Originally posted by Michael Mallory
But with hats the attitude is always, "It's close enough -- who's going to know?" I wish Hollywood costumers would take lessons in hatting.

The truth is that Very FEW people will notice or even care. That's the sad part.

 

[Rundquist]

It is a bummer, I agree.

 

[Bogie1943]

Indeed, sad but true, btw Adam, I love the lid!:cool2:

 

[Art Fawcett]

MM, I haven't seen any clips yet of the film but I vaguely remember being contacted by the costumer for this film. For the life of me I can't remember who is costuming it. Do you know?
There are a few that i have dealt with that are SO into accuracy that they can be a real pain. However, they do great work. Judianna Makovsky is one of the best ( Seabiscuit, Legend of Bagger Vance, Pleasantville). Most directors rely on the expertise of the costumer so it normally comes down to that. The amount of arrogance the costumer exhibits usually tells me all i need to know about them. If they are willing to listen to other experts, they usually get a better product

 

[Michael Mallory]

No, Art, I don't know who's costuming. I may even have been hasty in condeming the costumer, since it's equally possible that the picture was specifically staged on the film set for the magazine with models hired and costumed by someone else. But the problem does seem to be rampant. It was highly noticeable in that recent "Nero Wolfe" TV series that everybody else seems to like but, I thought was quite poor. (That offered a 1950s Nero Wolfe with hair hanging down to his collar!)

 

[Art Fawcett]

MM,
I have had a chance to talk to my wife about this film ( she is my memory dept) and yes, we were approached by this film, they did buy a few things, but the entire production, including the costuming, went to Canada so the costumer never followed through on verbal commitments here. that has been the rule in the last few years rather than the excpetion. So much cheaper to film in Canada than Hollywood I suppose. Since I haven't seen the pic you are speaking of I can only address your statement about not having pre-formed/blocked hats. Up until the postwar years I can agree with you., but, after WWII there was a shift in some of the brands. The most notable is "Adam" hats, followed by Stetson. Marathon did some also. Although this wasn't the norm, it WAS done, usually using cheaper felt and alot of stiffner.
Also, I did watch a few episodes of "Wolf" and couldn't stop laughing. That WAS a spoof, wasn't it? The costuming was so poorly done as far as accuracy, it HAD to be a spoof. It was wasn't it?...please tell me it was...

 

[Michael Mallory]

Aha, well, Canada...then we're talking Biltmore. I like Biltmore hats, I have a few, and they work fine for today, but they're not true to the 1940s. Ah, well. I suppose this isn't as heinous as the shot in Richard Lester's "The Return of the Musketeers," wherein a character looks out of the window of a castle in the 1600s just in time to see a car zoom by on the freeway.

 

[havershaw]

I spoke with a prop guy from the film, and he mentioned that while he didn't know much about the costuming, he said that he was pretty sure Leo's hat was vintage. He recalled there being a big search for a hat that matched Hughes' hats in a few photos (a quest I have embarked upon from time to time).

I'm guessing you're talking about the hat worn by the fellow closest to the stage. But I have a brown Marathon that looks just like it. (My Marathon actually looks even cheaper than that!)

I know that Scorsese is supposed to be a detail maniac, and I know that he suposedly used mostly original vintage clothing for Gangs of New York. I was approached about providing original ashtrays and napkins for the Cocoanut Grove sequences. So it's possible that even that preblocked hat is old. Leo's looks old to me for sure.

 

[Renderking Fisk]

Hey, at least they're still MAKING period films.