Tom Hanks in Asteroid City (2023)
Vitals
Tom Hanks as Stanley Zak, retired lawyer and grandfather but not a chauffeur
The Mojave Desert, Fall 1955
Film: Asteroid City
Release Date: June 16, 2023
Director: Wes Anderson
Costume Designer: Milena Canonero
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Happy 68th birthday to Tom Hanks, the two-time Academy Award-winning actor born July 9, 1956. Hanks’ most recent major screen credit was the retro-futuristic Asteroid City, Wes Anderson’s sun-bleached reflection on “grief, love, and the creative process,” according to Tegenn Jeffrey for Slick.
Located near a nuclear testing site, the titular town is a fictional desert hamlet with a population of 87—at least until a group of young stargazers arrive with their parents arrive for a convention… unable to leave after an extraterrestrial sighting places them in a weeklong government quarantine.
Among these youths is the precocious Woodrow Steenbeck (Jake Ryan), accompanied by his father Augie (Jason Schwartzman) and three younger sisters. A recent widow, Augie had anticipated stopping in Asteroid City just long enough to drop Woodrow off before continuing on to deposit the three girls with their grandfather, wealthy retiree Stanley Zak (Tom Hanks), at his “beautiful house with a swimming pool” next to a golf course in Rancho Palms.
After the Steenbeck family station wagon breaks down in Asteroid City, Stanley’s resentment for his son-in-law only grows when Augie calls, asking Stanley to come pick up the girls while also revealing that he hasn’t yet told them yet about their mother’s death. Following the awkward exchange (“I’m not their chauffeur, I’m their grandfather,” Stanley reminds Augie), Stanley begrudgingly agrees to join his family in Asteroid City and gives the word to his valet:
Gas up the Cadillac.
What’d He Wear?
With the exception of their pajamas, costume designer Milena Canonero generally keeps the characters clad in the same clothing throughout the duration of the film, reflecting its surreality as well as the fact that what we’re seeing is actually meant to be a televised play, where it may be simpler to keep the characters in a single costume.
The story begins on September 23, 1955, traditionally around the start of autumn though the climate is still more like summer across the southwestern United States where Stanley Zak was interrupted during a round of golf. “In the meantime: a tall, silver-haired seventy-year-old dressed in tartan trousers and clacking, spiked golf shoes enters the living room followed by the houseboy and approaches the telephone,” describes Wes Anderson’s screenplay. Without changing out of his idiosyncratic golf gear, Stanley drives to Asteroid City in the same embroidered yellow sports shirt and colorfully checked trousers he had been wearing on the links.
Stanley’s yellow shirt may be made from rayon, a synthetic cloth that grew increasingly popular during the rise of sportswear in the 1950s. The shirt is additionally detailed with sets of three red embroidered lines, framing the edges of the point collar and asymmetrically perpendicular over the breast pocket. A horizontal yoke extends across the upper back, with a pleat on each side that adds a comfortable degree of roominess for golf and other activities requiring arm movement. The short sleeves are reinforced at the ends with V-shaped vents. Yellow plastic 4-hole buttons fasten up the plain front, which Stanley wears buttoned to the neck sans tie.
Though Augie and Stanley initially oppose each other, the fact that both men wear an “air tie” by buttoning their shirts up to the neck suggest a commonality that could bring them closer together by the end of the story.
According to character concept artist Christian Cordella, “it took several studies of different patterns and color variations for his trousers before arriving to the final option.” The screen-worn trousers reflect a bright variation of the familiar argyle pattern, consisting here of a red-and-yellow diagonal check intersecting over pale-blue diamonds, all against an aqua-blue ground.
Self-suspended with a contemporary long rise to Tom Hanks’ natural waist, these full-fitting, flat-front trousers follow a relatively simple design with a beltless waistband, side pockets, and turn-ups (cuffs). Stanley adds a preppy dash of visual complexity by tying an aqua-blue sweater around his waist.
Stanley doesn’t even change out of his spiked golf cleats, styled in the red-and-white leather combination that was popular during the era. The uppers are predominantly white leather, overlaid with red leather brogued straight-toe caps, heel panels, and “saddles”—the lace panel quarters that fully extend down the each side of the uppers. Now often associated with girls’ school uniforms, saddle shoes were once a predominant—if often old-fashioned— style of men’s footwear for golf
Though the full break of his trouser bottoms generally cover his hosiery, Stanley’s bright aqua-blue cotton lisle socks cleanly continue the leg-line into his shoes.
“We’re not going to abandon my daughter at a motel in the middle of the desert buried next to the communal showers.”
Stanley’s unique wristwatch features a 14-karat yellow-gold 31mm case that includes a enclosed dome which almost entirely covers the dial, save for a triangular aperture that allowed wearers to directly read the time displayed on the two internal revolving hour and minute discs—hence why Lord Elgin marketed the ref. 7775 watch as the “Direct Read” model.
Also known as the “Jump Hour”, these hand-winding 21-jewel watches were produced by the American watch company Elgin through the 1950s with a retro-futuristic design ideal for the vibes of Asteroid City. The cases were typically round and featured a simple chevron in relief, though some novelty versions were detailed like a golf ball; a square-cased Lord Elgin is known to collectors as the “Elvis Presley” model due to the King of Rock ‘n Roll counting one of these among his many timepieces.
Stanley wears his chevron-detailed Lord Elgin watch on a smooth black leather strap.
The three generations of Zak/Steenbeck men in their respective air ties.
Once Stanley removes the white leather golf glove he wore for his introductory scene, we see that he wears a plain gold wedding band on the ring finger of his left hand.
The Gun
Asteroid City averts the “Chekhov’s gun” literary principle by arming Stanley Zak with a holstered revolver… and then never explaining or using it. Instead, the presence of the revolver adds to our knowledge of the character, providing a sense of Stanley’s self-imposed authority and perhaps the dramatic tension that—based on what Chekhov’s gun has led us to expect—it will somehow be brought into play. Yet, even after the government sequesters our characters within the borders of Asteroid City and while Stanley himself witnesses a brief standoff between a Tommy-gunning soldier vs. fellow family man J.J. Kellogg (Liev Schreiber) armed with a futuristic ray gun, the revolver remains tucked in Stanley’s waistband.
Stanley Zak keeps his nickel-plated revolver concealed in a russet IWB holster at the 11:00 position for a right-handed cross-draw.
Thus, all we have to go on to identify this short-barreled double-action revolver are its shining nickel finish and the wooden grip panels. I initially considered that this was a classic Smith & Wesson Model 36, though the non-centered placement of the grip screws—positioned more toward the back of each grip than the center—suggest that it may be a .38 Special revolver made by the Spanish manufacturer Astra-Unceta y Cia SA.
Smith & Wesson Chiefs Special (1950s-era pre-Model 36) vs. 1990s-era Astra Model 680 Inox (sourced from IMFDB)
The Car
Stanley Zak takes pride in his Cadillac, referring to his 1954 Cadillac Series 62 convertible by the marque name when he gets the opportunity. The exterior is likely the “Driftwood” beige paint that GM offered for the 1954 model year, appropriate for the desert setting, with a “Mandan red” leather interior.
Designed by GM icon Harley Earl, the series 62 dates back to 1940 when Cadillac introduced it to complement the entry-level Series 61. Like all other American manufacturers, Cadillac ceased producing passenger cars during World War II, resuming after the war for the 1946 model year.
The Series 62 had already undergone two substantial redesigns by 1954, when Earl gave the stylish model a facelift for what would be known as the car’s fourth generation. In response to contemporary automotive trends, the ’54 Series 62 was lower and sleeker than its predecessors, with a new cellular grille insert, redesigned bumpers, and an Eldorado-style wraparound windshield on all models, regardless of body style—though the Frigidaire air conditioning system was only an option for the two-door hardtop coupes and four-door sedans. Presumably, convertible owners like Stanley Zak would prefer simply lowering the roof to artificial air conditioning.
1954 Cadillac Series 62
Body Style: 2-door convertible
Layout: front-engine, rear-wheel-drive (RWD)
Engine: 331 cu. in. (5.4 L) Cadillac OHV V8 with 4-barrel carburetor
Power: 230 hp (171.5 kW; 233 PS) @ 4400 RPM
Torque: 332 lb·ft (450 N·m) @ 2800 RPM
Transmission: 4-speed automatic
Wheelbase: 129 inches (3277 mm)
Length: 223.4 inches (5674 mm)
Width: 79.8 inches (2027 mm)
Height: 61 inches (1550 mm)
All 1954 and 1955 Series 62 models were powered by the 331 cubic-inch Cadillac V8 that generated 230 horsepower, mated to GM’s four-speed Hydramatic automatic transmission.
For 1956, this power-plant was swapped out for the larger 365 V8 that could increase power to 285 horsepower—or 305 with the Power Pack option. The Series 62 would again be redesigned for a fifth generation in 1957 and 1958, followed by designer Bill Mitchell taking over for the sixth generation in 1959 and 1960. Mitchell also led the redesign for the seventh and final generation of the Series 62. After 1964, this entry-level Cadillac was renamed the Calais.
What to Imbibe
The classic martini emerges as the most popular cocktail among those trapped in Asteroid City. Gin had been the prevailing primary ingredient for most of the drink’s lifetime to this point, though vodka’s increased prominence in western drinking culture of the 1950s—exemplified by what would become the signature drink of Ian Fleming’s James Bond—means that it could be either gin or vodka used as the base spirit for the martinis enjoyed by Stanley Zak and his fellow tourists.
Each imbiber’s martini is garnished with a lemon twist, rather than an olive.
How to Get the Look
Tom Hanks in Asteroid City (2023)
Though Stanley Zak’s golf gear may appear chaotically colorful, it never diverges from shades of primary colors—red, yellow, and blue—a degree of coordination aligned with the retired lawyer’s sense of alignment.
- Yellow rayon short-sleeved sport shirt with red triple-stripe embroidered point collar and breast pocket, plain front, and reinforced sleeves
- Aqua-blue red-and-yellow diagonal-checked flat-front golf trousers with beltless waistband, side pockets, and turn-ups/cuffs
- Aqua-blue sweater, tied around waist
- Red-and-white leather cap-toe saddle-style golf shoes with spiked soles
- Aqua-blue socks
- Russet IWB holster
- Gold wedding ring
- Lord Elgin ref. 7775 “Jump Hour” 14-karat yellow-gold wristwatch with 31mm enclosed “chevron” case and triangular “Direct Read” display aperture on black leather strap
Do Yourself a Favor and…
Check out the movie. You can also read more about the men’s costumes in Asteroid City at A Little Bit of Rest.
The Quote
In my loneliness, or perhaps because of it, I’ve learned not to judge people—take people as I find them, not as others find them. And most of all, to give complete and unquestioning faith to the people I love.
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