Menswear Moment: Secret Agent X-9

I haven't done a Menswear Moment in a while, but I just finished watching Lloyd Bridges in the 13-part 1945 Universal serial Secret Agent X-9, and man, did he know how to wear a suit! Kudos also to whoever handled the wardrobe for the serial (no one is credited), because the fit on all of Bridges's garb is superb. I wish I could come up with a better shot than this promotional photo (that's Jan Wiley with Bridges):

 
Bridges wears that light-colored suit, French cuff shirts, spiffy patterned ties, and a Panama hat for most of the serial. It is set on the fictional "Shadow Island," a neutral Far Eastern territory where Japanese, Chinese, Australian, American, French, German, and British spies and operatives all mingle. Bridges get soaked, pummelled, nearly blown up, and always one scene later, the suit is immaculate. The quick-turn drycleaning on Shadow Island must have been awesome!

Secret Agent X-9 is based on a comic strip initially written by Dashiell Hammett and drawn by Alex Raymond (Flash Gordon); impressive team, there! It was adapted into an earlier serial by Universal in 1937, which I have not seen, but the 1945 version is pretty darn good, with high production values. Bridges had a genuine star presence, and this was one of the first chances he had to really show his stuff. This review at the blog Spy-Fi Channel sums up the merits of the serial very well:

http://spy-fichannel.blogspot.com/2009/06/spy-fi-flashback-secret-agent-x-9-1945.html