Who wears/wore porkpies?

[Captain O]

It looks as if it has an "owner-installed" pinch crease. A round top Porkpie with a crease seemed to fit the Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle's rebellious "maverick" Vice Detective image.

 

[Zombie_61]

It looks as if it has an "owner-installed" pinch crease. A round top Porkpie with a crease seemed to fit the Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle's rebellious "maverick" Vice Detective image.

I agree. It was probably creased by someone in the wardrobe department, but it looks as if it attained that shape by Doyle handling it by the front of the crown day after day. It's been quite some time since I've seen the movie, and I don't remember if Mr. Hackman handled it by the pinch.

 

[Captain O]

If you look carefully, you can see how he never "snapped down" the brim. Look at the television version of the fictitious Erle Stanley Gardiner's "Perry Mason". Perry's brim was!

The prop man did an excellent job. Burr's character had flair!

 

[Zombie_61]

But if you snap the brim down, it's no longer a Pork Pie. I don't know if it then becomes a Fedora or a Trilby, but it's not a Pork Pie which is worn with the brim up all around. That being said, I've only seen a handful of Perry Mason episodes over the years so I'm not familiar with the specific hat you're referring to.

 

[Michael R.]

I always think of Buster Keaton ...

 

[Zombie_61]

I always think of Buster Keaton ...

With those shallow crowns I have no idea how he got them to stay on his head. He used any hats he could get his hands on cheap, and reportedly converted over 1,000 hats into his trademark Pork Pie himself.

 

[Kirk H.]

Mickey Spillane wore porkpies when he was portraying his own fictional private detective, Mike Hammer, in a series of movies he made in the '50's.

In the Mike Hammer books, Spillane had the character wearing a Porkpie.

 

[Kirk H.]

But if you snap the brim down, it's no longer a Pork Pie. I don't know if it then becomes a Fedora or a Trilby, but it's not a Pork Pie which is worn with the brim up all around. That being said, I've only seen a handful of Perry Mason episodes over the years so I'm not familiar with the specific hat you're referring to.

Here are a couple of shots from the series showing him wearing the Porkpie with the brim slightly down. Several of the Police Detectives also wore both felt and straw Porkpies in the series.

 

[Captain O]

Here are a couple of shots from the series showing him wearing the Porkpie with the brim slightly down. Several of the Police Detectives also wore both felt and straw Porkpies in the series.

Perry's Porkpie was a verifiable Porkpie. How do I know? look at the hat when he parks it on the bust of Voltaire in his office. I don't think that turning down the brim makes it any less of a Porkpie. Does "pinching the crown" make it any less Porkpie? It is doubtful.

 

[Michael R.]

Look at @NewJack 's Pork-Pie previously posted on this Thread . I agree . I don't think it matters .

 

[Kirk H.]

I agree too. I wear mine with the brim down.

 

[Frunobulax]

Yeah, I think porkpie refers more to the crease than the brim.

@Bob Roberts has even porkpied a Campdraft.


Sent directly from my mind to yours.

 

[Michael R.]

Yeah, I think porkpie refers more to the crease than the brim.

@Bob Roberts has even porkpied a Campdraft.


Sent directly from my mind to yours.

Yeah , its the crease like a Pork-Pie (the kind you eat , though I never have) , similar to a Telescope , but tighter to the edge , maybe flatter , too . Bob wears his Brim down in the front . The channel between the edge and dome is tight and close . The dome seems more flat to me .

 

[Zombie_61]

I stand corrected. Thank you Gentlemen!

 

[Kirk H.]

Here is Mickey Spillane playing Mike Hammer in the Girl Hunters.

Van Johnson wearing a Pork Pie with a slight pinch from the movie Scene of the Crime.

And of course Ole' Blue Eyes wearing a straw or Milan Pork Pie.

 

[Bob Roberts]

Me!

 

[Kirk H.]

Sweet looking lid Bob!

 

[Frunobulax]

Me! View attachment 74292

CAMPDRAFT! CAMPDRAFT! CAMPDRAFT!​

 

[Captain O]

Me! View attachment 74292

Cool beans, kid.

 

[moontheloon]

I agree. It was probably creased by someone in the wardrobe department, but it looks as if it attained that shape by Doyle handling it by the front of the crown day after day. It's been quite some time since I've seen the movie, and I don't remember if Mr. Hackman handled it by the pinch.

I swear I read somewhere that Gene Hackman creased the hat to fit the character ... just can't find the source right now