Bobby Wagner foreshadows the Natalie Wood incident in this 60s golf movie!

(He’s wearing some nice golf ivy, though)

Now there are great movies, and there are good movies and there are also bad movies. But for those of us who love a certain vintage look there’s another left of field type of movie that we watch only for the clothes, the cars and or the music.

Me, I’m a sucker for quasi soap movies with good production values. Douglas Sirk’s All That Heaven Allows is a classic with our pal Rock Hudson sporting some wonderful mid 50s LL Bean style winterwear. Heavy flat front chinos, buffalo plaid woolen shirts and some Russell Moccasin style boots. And then there’s the gorgeous Woody 1946 Ford Super Deluxe.

The Subterraneans (1960) is another one, George Peppard in chinos and A2 leather jacket. Even Roddy McDowell with his polo neck and pre hippy pendulam. In fact George starred in quite a few movies that fall into this category for me. We have Breakfast At Tiffany’s for the blazer and OCBD along with the neat haircut.

Even some 70s entries like Newman’s Law and Banacek, in Sam Wanamaker’s The Executioner George (1970) shows masterful choices of patch and flap jackets, slacks and of course OCBDs. Pendulam from 1969 shows George in mufti when sacked as a cop. In 1968’s House of Cards he’s being chased in a camel hair patch and flap or louchely unbuttoned OCBD.

With James Farentino as a jealous co worker

Nice little bucket hat scene here with RW working the Pro Shop

In 1967’s Cod noir ‘PJ’ Peppard is a kind of private eye who chooses to dress pretty well considering the times.

Well, there are more and it looks like I need to make a Peppard post in the future with shots from some of these movies.

But we are here for the also ran of A list actors, friend of A listers like Paul Newman & Joanne Woodward, Bob as we will call him, seemed to have luck on this side and was often cast as a side villain in movies like ‘Harper’ and ‘Towering Inferno’ and again with Paul & Joanne in the racing movie ‘Winning’ (1969) where he sported a very nice suede cafe racer jacket.

But there are two vehicles in which Bob starred and wore some pretty cool duds. One was To Catch a Thief a TV series in which our Bob was pretty spiffy and this one we are looking at today ‘Banning’ (1967).

IMDB shows the movie being about:

‘A hustling golf pro takes a golf instructor job at an exclusive country club where the owner and his son in law are fleecing the wealthy guests by using various schemes.’

They also give it a mere 5.7 but that should not deter you if you’re an ivy style spotter. This one is literally littered with great clothes and also features the gorgous Anjanette Comer (Miss Thanatogenous in Terry Southern’s take on Waugh’s The Loved One).

We have such a raft of screenshots and movie clips from Banning that I will sprinkle a few here but for anyone for whom that isn’t enough I will put the full set in the gallery below.

Quincy’s music here is uncharacteristically cheesy, but then rumor has it that Quince only came up with the melodies and that Hollywood backroom staff arrangers who orchestrated everything. Makes sense otherwise he would have been working 24 hours a day for the OSTs he signed in the late 60s.

Nerd note: The soundtrack has the great Dave Grusin on piano at the time he was Sergio Mendes’ arranger and later founder of fusion label GRP Records.

Some nice two tone chasse style golf shoes here…

With Mike Kellin as a loan shark

A famous face but a tiny role for Gene Hackman

Remember the dad from Midnight Express? I sat opposite this guy once in the 80s on a propeller plane flight to Rimini! Mike Kellin

Guy Stockwell, brother of Dean Stockwell (Quantum Leap) and stalwart actor Howard St John

Next, some very nice Footjoy golf shoes…

Pretty sure this is a Gant from the label stitching and longer collar points…

Close crop

Preview of what was to come?

Next we have an alarming scene where Robert is attacking Anjanette with a view to some serious nonsense. Readers may interprate the similarility with other real world events, but remember RW is still alive so the less said, the better!