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Who wears/wore porkpies?

Captain O

One of the Regulars
Messages
194
Location
Northwestern Oregon.
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.
 
Messages
11,894
Location
Southern California
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

One of the Regulars
Messages
194
Location
Northwestern Oregon.
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!
 
Messages
11,894
Location
Southern California
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.

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,889
Location
West Tennessee USA
I always think of Buster Keaton ...

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Kirk H.

One Too Many
Messages
1,196
Location
Charlotte NC
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.

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per1_zpssm39yyzp.jpg


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

One of the Regulars
Messages
194
Location
Northwestern Oregon.
3e61761af2bef4704dfc5275b5a57118_zpsjsi2dpli.jpg
per1_zpssm39yyzp.jpg


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.

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,889
Location
West Tennessee USA
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 .
 

Kirk H.

One Too Many
Messages
1,196
Location
Charlotte NC
Mike%20Hammer_zps6tyqe264.jpg

Here is Mickey Spillane playing Mike Hammer in the Girl Hunters.
scene-of-the-crime-van-johnson2221531_zpsiwxcxdjd.jpg

Van Johnson wearing a Pork Pie with a slight pinch from the movie Scene of the Crime.
frank-sinatra_zpsmjktghh6.jpg

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

moontheloon

I'll Lock Up
Messages
8,590
Location
NJ
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
 

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