movie hats that inspired you...

[John in Covina]

Hi All!

I purchased my hat about 6-8 years ago after watching the movie "Mulholland Falls" whcih has several pretty cool fedoras in it.

With in a day of viewing I went to the World Hats Mart
at 444 East Colorado Blvd. Pasadena, CA 91101 call 626-405-9998
(That's in Pasadena as in the Rose Parade Fame!)

I got a Stetson Sovreign in Gray. I really like the style, shape and size of that hat. The place is run by an older Chinese fellow James Kwon. When I was there it was a quiet day and I got to ask a lot of questions & tried on several hats, finally settled on the Sovreign. Mr Kwon was very helpful.
John in Covina
PS There is a city councilman in "LA Confidential" that has a cool fedora too.

 

[Siirous]

When I was 14 I remember watching the Dick Tracy Cartoon and wanting a hat, that was the start. At 15 I was in charleston for family vacation and came across a hat store. There was a black fedora that looked fantastic on me, I'll always remember looking in the mirror and being shocked when the man told me that it was both 90 dollars AND made from beavers, which prompted my father to tell me I couldn't have it. Now a little older, wiser and with my own source of income; Road to Perdition had found it's way into my DVD player, and my money found it's way to an ebay hat purchase.

Sincerely,
Rob

 

[Pilgrim]

Most of Bogie's movies - including the Maltese Falcon and Casablanca, of course - have great hats. The man could really wear a lid.

 

[Hemingway Jones]

"Mulhullond Drive" has some excellent hats. I like how Nick Nolte's hat is almost down to his eyes; very sinister. It's also the same color gray as his suit.
"The Untouchables" Period.
"Raiders of the Lost Ark" and not just Indy, but Belloq has an interesting Panama and the Nazi agents in Cairo have very interesting high-crown fedoras.
"The English Patient" has great Panamas, and awesome desert gear, including some period acurrate shorts and high-waisted pants.
Check out "The Barefoot Countessa." Bogie wears his hat and trench from "Casablanca," only it's ten years later and he is older with more introspective eyes -and it is in Technicolor.
I would be remiss if I didn't mention "Tucker: the Man and His Dream." Jeff Bridges looks good in a fedora.

 

[photobyalan]

The Godfather
The Third Man
Now, Voyager(including a couple AWESOME ladies' hats, too!)
Dick Tracy(hats in unbelieveable colors)
Monty Python and the Holy Grail (OK, those were technically helmets, but it's a great movie anyway)
and Mr. Jones is right, you can't go wrong with
The Untouchables

 

[John in Covina]

The Sting has some great hats in it and some swell suits.

(If I could get one Tux type of suit from the movies it is the Morning suit tux that Franklin Pangborn wears as the Hotel Manager in the W.C. Fields movie "International House" it is a great suit.

John in Covina

 

[jake_fink]

Off the top of my head...

There is a nice hat scene (and some nice hats) in Farewell My Lovely in which a very big Jack O'Halloran sits on Robert Mitchum's hat and Mitchum has to plump it back into shape.

Ray Milland uses his hat shamelessly in Lost Weekend (tilting it woozily) and in The Big Clock.

There are some good hats in The Natural, including Robert Redford's sweaty fedora.

I like James Stewart's hat in Vertigo, and those technicolor suits too.

Miller's Crossing is, according to Barry Sonnenfeld, the cinematographer, "a handsome hat movie."

Once Upon a Time in America has some sweet lids, and so does Last Man Standing, though it's a shame about the movie around them.

Pennies from Heaven has hats, lots of hats and Chinatown features a variety of very sharp ensembles for the lead character, Jake Gittes, and one very supercilious stetson on John Huston's bean.

For beaters check out Treasure of the Sierra Madre, and darned if that's not another smug skimmer on director John Huston in his little cameo; this time it's a bright white panama of some sort.

There are also The Shadow, The Rocketeer and a Robert Deniro/Robert Duval period piece called True Confessions.

That's just a start. Any contemporary movie made before 1960 is likely to be filled with hats, the question is then, who's wearing the best ones, and who wears their's best?

Finally, the best hat in film history is either Gable's big fedora in It Happened One Night or W C Field's boater in It's A Gift. I can't decide. Or maybe it's Chaplin's bowler! :kick:

 

[Marc Chevalier]

A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET.

CLOCKWORK ORANGE.



But seriously ... for women's hats, no recent film can hold a candle to EVITA.

 

[Russ]

Here's one that I've never seen mentioned

"The Shiralee" with Bryan Brown, 1987. It was an Australian movie -- actually a TV mini-series that got turned into a movie. I saw it on TV here in Tokyo around 1990. Great movie even without the hats!

When I saw Bryan Brown walking down a dusty country road with battered fedora and suspenders, my life was changed forever -- it sparked an obsession with hats (I've bought nearly 20 hats since then including two Federations last month -- thanks to you all for the heads up!).

Lots of Fedoras and Australian bush hats in that movie, combined with both suits and dirty work clothes.

Unfortunately the DVD is only available in PAL for region 4, so there's no sense in my buying it :cry:

Maybe one of the Australian hat dealers ought to invest in having it converted to NTSC; it's the ultimate Akubra commercial.

On a different note, the original "Miracle on 34th Street" had a lot of great hats as did "It's a Wonderful Life" with James Stewart. Tis the season to watch these two if you're ever gonna do it!

Additional comments four months later: I finally broke down and bought the Shiralee DVD via ebay from an Australian seller plus a region free NTSC-PAL DVD player from a local shop. Incredible! For 16 years I've been watching the video of the movie I taped from the 2 hour edited TV broadcast, and last night I saw an extra 70 minutes that I never knew existed. New characters, story elements, plus more great hat scenes. This DVD is well worth the investment in a new DVD player.

 

[hatflick1]

Hat Flicks

'The Natural' should definitely make any list. Robert Redford, Richard Farnsworth and Robert Duvall all wear classic fedoras. Some great hats and caps can be seen as the camera pans the stands, as well.
'Heaven's Gate' should make honorable mention. Yes, there are some intersting hats worn by the immigrants depicted arriving in the old west. What makes this picture memorable is that director, Michael Cimino(sp?) is alleged to have spent one million dollars on hats alone for this, his swan song flick.
_____________________________________________________
Seeking enlightenment...one hat at a time.

 

[Havana]

I love movies with great hats. I like the true period movies better for hat watching rather than modern movies set in the period. Sometimes you can find some suprise styles and even some mysteries in those old films. Also, I've always been particularly interested in hats seen in westerns. You can just about look at any western and determine when the film was made by the style of hats worn. More recent westerns have paid some attention to historical accuracy but most western flicks feature hats that are indicative of the film's era and not the 19th century west. My personal favorites are the huge buckaroo types from the 20's & 30's, pinch front 50's Roy Rogers style, and the strange short brim Butch and Sundance hats.

 

[Pilgrim]

Did ANYONE ever wield a hat with more panache than Gene Kelly in the rainy street scene in "Singin' in the Rain"? Maybe not what we'd do with out hats by choice, but unforgettable.

 

[scotrace]

Obviously

All of the Thin Man series. William Powell always wears a smart hat, and the other charcaters do too, including Nora.
Come to think of it, in one scene from The Thin Man, Cesar Romero wears a black fedora that he puts on in front of a mirror. It's a nice hat but it seems a size too small as he yanks it down with such force it can't possibly be the right size. Then he tugs it down some more.

The seldom seen Noir film "Touch of Evil" from 1958 has a lot of great hats - a lot of them the Open Road style.

 

[Snrbfshn]

Almost anything made between 1937 and 1951...

Ditto the William Powell comments. Also Joseph Cotton in "The Third Man." Man, that's one tough hat. Film was voted "Best British Film of the 20th Century" by the British Film Institute.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

LIDSVILLE (a '70s TV show).



Part of the show's theme song:


"If you have a chance to go-go there
You'll be glad you did, 'cause
Everybody who goes to Lidsville really flips his lid.
How's that for a topper?

Everybody there wears a HAT
Everybody knows where it's at
In the land of HATS
That's Lidsville

I've seen people put on HATS
Then they tie or pin 'em
In Lidsville there's no need for that
Because they live right in 'em

So if you bump into a BONNET
With ears and nose and eyes upon it
Nope, you haven't gone bats
That's Lidsville

Lidy-lidy-lidy-ville
Not to be confussed with nitty-gritty-ville
The land of LIVING HATS
That's Lidsville!"


I rest my case.

 

[jjunner]

King Kong... just saw it... Too bad the nice hats were blocked by a giant gorilla half the time...Great movie though

 

[Prairie Shade]

Newsreels and Docs

I was watching American Experience on PBS last night, the story of Joe Louis and Max Schmeling (SP?). While I am a boxing fan, the hats really caught my attention. I think Hollywood tries, but if you want reality, check out the old stills. One thing I have noticed is the variety of different styles. From stingy brims, Panamas, to the types more in demand now, they are all there. We all have different ideas of what we want to wear. I particularly liked the shots of Max S. with one brim turned up and one down. Reminds me of another post on this site about style. We're all individuals, thats what great about wearing a hat!!!!

 

[Not-Bogart13]

There are so many...

I just recently saw the Third Man (thank you Turner Classics)! Mr. Cotton's lid makes my list of favorites. Alida Valli scored some points for the ladies, here, too. My other top hat movies;
Seabiscuit, Untouchables, Aviator, and Mulholland Falls. I am, of course, a fan of the Indy movies and the many hats they featured. I recently watched Raiders again, and I could swear I saw a nazi agent with a narrow-brim fedora that looked very 60's. I also have to give honorable mention to Tombstone for it's rather interesting collection, including the women's hats.

 

[photobyalan]

I also saw The Third Man on Saturday and was quite surprised to see one of the Fedora Lounge's own members had a big role in the film! Baron Kurtz, you haven't aged a day in 56 years!

 

[K.D. Lightner]

One of the first movies I saw after I became obsessed with fedoras was Dead End, Bogart was in it as well as his henchmen. And then there was Joel McRae, and all those ornery kids (who later became the Dead End Kids and later the Bowery Boys)

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0006TPDZC.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

I saw the Godfather a few weeks ago and was amazed to see all the fedoras being worn.

The Maltese Falcon, The Third Man, The Untouchables

karol