Leading man Dennis O'Keefe is a tall, handsome guy who favors double-breasted suits in the movie, wearing two, a grey chalkstripe and a dark (navy?) solid. The grey suit is ventless (as many suits in Forties films are). With the grey suit, O'Keefe wears dark brown or cordovan wingtips, argyle socks (very visible in one scene where he buffs his shoes), and -- interestingly -- a button-down shirt (which is supposed to be a no-no with a double-breasted suit, but I now feel I have an authority to justify the practice). With the solid suit, O'Keefe wears a point collar in some scenes, button-down in others, and black shoes; that suit appears in fewer scenes. There is also a trenchcoat in some scenes, and at one point O'Keefe carries a hat, although you never actually see the chapeau atop his noggin.
I looked in vain for a good photo of O'Keefe wearing one of these suits. The best I could come up with is this:
But I lucked out in another way. In one scene O'Keefe wears his grey suit trousers with an open-collar white shirt and a striking sportcoat that would pose a challenge to describe adequately. Fortunately, I found a great shot of it on a Spanish-language poster. The shot (from a lobby card?) is in color even though the movie is in black-and-white:
1 comment:
Of course there is one real predecessor for the button-down shirt with a DB jacket or coat and that is the great Fred Astaire. He seemed to carry it off the best.
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