If clothes make the man in real life, then it’s only more so in the movies, when the viewer is maximally focused and alert, receiving fast information about characters. I found myself repeatedly distracted, in an awesome way, by the stunning men’s wear in THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO (2024) recently viewed and absolutely loved. That when dressing leading man Pierre Niney, in the lead role as Edmond Dantès, costume designer Thierry Delettre added bulk and an intimidating silhouette, thereby gravitas, as the movie went on. Near the end Niney, who is a pretty skinny guy, hearkened a big dark storm cloud, a hulking mass of revenge-seeking. Pictured as well wearing one of the movie’s immaculate stovepipe hats is actor Laurent Lafitte, who plays second lead, Dante’s former best friend and his nemisis, Gérard de Villefort.
This brought to mind a recent conversation with Academy Award winning actor George Chakiris, who reminisced about how he was dressed in WEST SIDE STORY (1961) by the brilliant costume designer of stage (primarily) and screen, Irene Sharaff. Chakiris shared with me a memory that, leaving his dressing room decked in his black sharkskin suit, purple shirt, and skinny tie, that, in the course of his walk to the sound stage, he felt himself transformed into a powerful figure by that costume.
