War Hair

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The late '70s hair and moustaches worn by the American actors in Enzo G. Castellari's The Inglorious Bastards sent a clear signal to those moviegoers who were actually willing to pay money to see this World War II exploitation flick. The message was that Bastards would be very much set in in the era of Jimmy Carter, disco, cocaine and flexible sexual attitudes. The hell with period -- we're here to rock out and kick ass.

I don't think Castellari really thought this aspect through, of course. I think his actors (Bo Svenson, Fred Williamson, etc.) simply didn't want to get World War II haircuts for six or eight weeks' worth of work and whatever he was paying them. It wasn't worth the hassle so they said "sorry, Enzo -- at these prices, we're not getting haircuts that will make us look uncool when we go looking for our next gig, or when we go out to clubs."

"For long stretches Bastards seems less a war movie than a teen idyll," writes N.Y. Times DVD columnist Dave Kehr, "and its most fantastical sequence arrives when the gang stumbles across a group of female SS officers skinny-dipping in a stream. The interlude looks like a lost sequence from a Russ Meyer peeping Tom nudie of the '60s, and Mr. Castellari seizes the opportunity for some classic exploitation imagery: busty blond frauleins blasting away with automatic weapons."

Inglorious second-raters (one with 1969 Woodstock Music Festival hair and moustache) eyeballing skinny-dipping SS girls.

All screen grabs stolen from DVD Beaver's Inglorious Bastards page.

comment #1

AbeFroman says ...

Robert Downey Jr. was in Inglorious Bastards? Huh.

comment #2

sutter kane says ...

And is that Rick Rossovich on the right?

comment #3

frankbooth says ...

The hair problem was fairly common through the Seventies. When watching more "legitimate" films like The Front, you still have to ignore a lot of bushy hair and sideburns. In American Graffitti, the leads have period 'dos, but the budget obviously didn't allow for all of the background extras to get properly shorn.

You could extend this and say that MOST period films look more like when they were shot than the periods in which they're set. Did people in the old West have crewcuts, long flowing locks, or Brad Pitt-in-2007 choppy hair? Depends on which movie you watch.

Sometimes, I think they made Gladiator when they did because the hair was fashionable.

comment #4

BurmaShave says ...

God damnit AbeFroman beat me, but having this article appear right above a TROPIC THUNDER ad, it's uncanny. I'd never thought about that aspect of Downey's appearance. Just one more bit of icing on a hopefully brilliant cake. PS seeing PINEAPPLE EXPRESS tonight, we'll see if you boys were right.

comment #5

silver says ...

Anyone go to The Inglorious Bastards at the New Beverly Cinema in LA last week?
Castellari was scheduled to attend for a Q&A, and I wondered if anything interesting was said.

comment #6

cjKennedy says ...

Yes Silver, it was a lot of fun. The crowd was into it and we sang happy birthday to Enzo.

The Q&A was mostly unremarkable as those things usually are, but Enzo was pretty jazzed by how many "young people" showed up for his 30 year old movie.

Williamson was just his cool self and Svenson talked about how much he hated filming without sound and looping the dialogue.

Williamson talked a bit about a stunt he did where he jumped off a bridge onto the top of a moving train. He said since he was doing it himself he wanted to make sure the camera was in the right spot and that there were no edits so they'd know it was him. He also said he forgot about the smokestack of the train so when he jumped he couldn't see and he fell on his ass. He wanted everyone to know that it was the smoke and that normally Fred Williamson lands much cooler than that.

comment #7

Mgmax says ...

My favorite like this is an early Jackie Chan called Fantasy Mission Force, in which the German army is finally defeated by late 60s muscle cars.

comment #8

Cadavra says ...

It happens to the best of them. I was close to 20 minutes into THE CINCINNATI KID before I realized it was set in the '30s; McQueen, Weld and Ann-Margret were all dressed and coiffed like 1965.

comment #9

nemo says ...

Robert Redford never wore period hair, ever. This Property Is Condemned, The Way We Were, The Great Gatsby, The Sting, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Out of Africa, the list goes on and on. The same 70s hair, every time.

comment #10

D.Z. says ...

Mgmax: From what I heard, Jackie allegedly did that stinker, because his friend saved him from some nasty loan sharks.

comment #11

Terry McCarty says ...

silver wrote:
Anyone go to The Inglorious Bastards at the New Beverly Cinema in LA last week?

Yes. Larry Cohen was in the audience.

Cadavra wrote:
It happens to the best of them. I was close to 20 minutes into THE CINCINNATI KID before I realized it was set in the '30s; McQueen, Weld and Ann-Margret were all dressed and coiffed like 1965.

Remembering the comment producer Martin Ransohoff allegedly made (around the time of firing Sam Peckinpah) about wanting the film to either be or look like "a popsicle."

comment #12

Josh. says ...

I prefer the 80s/40s to the 70s/40s.

comment #13

Jean says ...

I always loved that skinny-dipping scene: not just because of the gratuitous nudity but the fact that the female SS soldiers opened fire on the guys (still naked) the second they realized they were Yanks

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