Woody Strode in The Italian Connection (1972)
Vitals
Woody Strode as Frank Webster, taciturn Mafia hitman
Milan, Italy, Spring 1972
Film: The Italian Connection
(Italian title: La mala ordina)
Release Date: September 2, 1972
Director: Fernando Di Leo
Costume Designer: Francesco Cuppini
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Trailblazing actor and athlete Woody Strode was born 110 years ago today on July 25, 1914 in Los Angeles. Following his service in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II, Strode was one of four Black players to break the NFL’s postwar color barrier when he signed with the Rams in 1946. In the years to follow, Strode continued both wrestling and acting, though he became significantly better known for the latter and was also one of the first Black performers to be nominated for a Golden Globe, recognizing his performance in Spartacus (1960).
With a filmography that also includes The Ten Commandments (1956), Pork Chop Hill (1959), Sergeant Rutledge (1960), The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence (1962), Genghis Khan (1965), The Professionals (1966), and Once Upon a Time in the West (1968), it was difficult to find one of Strode’s prominent roles that wasn’t in a western, war film, or historical drama so that I could highlight the actor dressed in a contemporary wardrobe. (He did have a significant role in the 1960 disaster drama The Last Voyage, but his costume as the sinking ship’s crewman Hank Lawson consisted only of a neckerchief and dark jeans.)
Following his appearance Once Upon a Time in the West, Strode joined fellow other American actors—think the fictional Rick Dalton—by appearing in Italian films through the ’70s, including the 1972 “poliziottesco” The Italian Connection, starring alongside Henry Silva as New York mob hitmen Frank Webster and Dave Catania. The pair—whom Quentin Tarantino cited as the inspiration for the characters of Vincent Vega and Jules Winnfield in Pulp Fiction—are sent by their boss to Italy, where their local contact Eva Lalli (Luciana Paluzzi) is to help them track and ultimately murder a pimp accused of robbing a heroin shipment from the Mafia.
What’d He Wear?
Following their meeting with the gregarious Don Vito Tressoldi (Adolfo Celi), Frank and Dave join Eva for a night out in Milan. Whether it was Dave’s natural attitude or following the advice from his boss to “dress and act like gangsters—drink a lot, leave big tips, put your feet up on the tables—they can’t stand that in Italy,” Dave’s money-tossing attitude lands the group in a brawl with some locals that Frank quickly finishes.
Woody Strode’s brawny presence and taciturn demeanor provide an entertaining dissonance with Frank’s brash wardrobe, from the bright red T-shirt he wore for their arrival to the plaid and pastels he wears for this particular day’s adventure from conferences to cocktails.
Though he doesn’t seem overly concerned with fashion, Frank nicely calls out the blue check of his beige-dominant jacket with his solid blue shirt underneath it.
Frank’s single-breasted sports coat is patterned in a blue-and-tan houndstooth plaid against a beige ground. Though this two-button jacket appears generally well-tailored to fit Strode’s athletic 6’4″ physique, we see when he wears it buttoned that it pulls the single vent open to expose the seat.
The jacket’s fashionably long vent is consistent with the era’s trends, though the width of his notch lapels and slanted hip pocket flaps are proportional while tastefully restrained—especially for the ’70s… and especially when compared to the even flashier Dave in his checked suit with its exaggerated ulster collar. Frank’s jacket also features a welted breast pocket, roped sleeveheads, and three-button cuffs.
Frank exclusively wears round-necked short-sleeved T-shirts in The Italian Connection, though this light slate-blue shirt is the only one knitted like a lightweight sweater to the point where it shows some pilling. The shirt has a crew-neck and short set-in sleeves that show off Strode’s muscular physique when he peels off the jacket in preparation of their fight against the local bikers.
Frank’s fawn-colored flat-front trousers are faintly striped in beige and blue, further coordinating with the colors in his jacket without too brashly clashing the patterns. The curved “frogmouth” full-top front pockets were a fashionable western-inspired style through the late 1960s into the ’70s, and the close fit remains trim through the legs down to the short-break plain-hemmed bottoms.
Through the trousers’ wide loops, Frank wears a smooth black leather belt that closes through an oversized ovular silver-toned buckle with a single prong that closes through one of at least six silver grommets. The belt coordinates to his cowboy boots, detailed with decoratively black-on-black stitched shafts.
Frank wears two rings stacked on his left pinky: a diamond-studded silver ring behind a plain gold band. He also wears a stainless watch with a large round black dial, secured to his left wrist on a black nylon strap.
The Gun
Frank’s primary sidearm is a blued Colt New Service, supplemented by a second Colt he keeps in his suitcase and arms himself with for the final confrontation. Colt introduced this large-framed double-action revolver at the end of the 19th century as a larger and sturdier evolution of the “New Army and Navy” Model 1892 which had been the first revolvers with swing-out cylinders to be widely issued to the U.S. military.
The New Service was produced from 1898 through the start of World War II in a wide variety of configurations that varied based on metal finish, grip material, caliber, and barrel lengths that ranged from 4 inches to 7½. Early New Service revolvers were available in most popular larger calibers, including the .38-40 and .44-40 Winchester centerfire rifle rounds, .44 Russian and .44 Special, and the English .450 Boxer, .455 Webley, and .476 Enfield rounds. It was perhaps most significantly chambered in the venerated .45 Long Colt ammunition that dated back to its launch with the Colt Single Action Army revolver in 1873, and it was the 5½”-barreled New Service in .45 Colt which the U.S. Army, Navy, and Marine Corps standardized as the M1909 revolver.
“Holy Mary!” a Milanese biker exclaims as Frank produces his six-shooter. It’s almost impossible to tell the caliber of Frank’s New Service given the wide range that were available for the weapon, though the muzzle’s large bore is consistent with the powerful rounds it could fire.
In response to insufficient stocks of M1911 pistols during World War I, Colt modified the New Service design to fit the .45 ACP pistol cartridge, loaded into the cylinder with innovative half-moon clips. Smith & Wesson followed suit by similarly adapting the design of its .44 Hand Ejector revolver (though in a manner that didn’t require half-moon clips), and both the Colt and Smith & Wesson sidearms were designated the M1917. More than 151,000 New Services were the M1917 model, making it the most widely produced variant among the approximately 356,000 New Services manufactured over its half-century timeline, followed by the .455 Webley New Service revolvers fielded by British servicemen during the war.
Following the war, Colt responded to the New Service’s continued popularity among civilians and law enforcement by increasing the available calibers to include the .38 Special police cartridge and Smith & Wesson’s new .357 Magnum round while phasing out some of the more obsolete ammunition. Though some Allied personnel continued to carry New Service revolvers during World War II, Colt ended production in the early 1940s to focus on newer designs than the aging New Service.
How to Get the Look
Woody Strode in The Italian Connection (1972)
- Blue-and-tan-on-beige houndstooth plaid single-breasted 2-button sport jacket with notch lapels, welted breast pocket, slanted flapped hip pockets, 3-button cuffs, and long single vent
- Light-blue knitted crew-neck short-sleeve T-shirt
- Fawn faintly striped flat-front trousers with wide belt loops, curved “frogmouth”-style full-top front pockets, and short-break plain-hemmed bottoms
- Black smooth leather belt with large silver-toned oval single-prong buckle with silver grommets
- Black leather cowboy boots with black-on-black decoratively stitched shafts
- Gold banded pinky ring
- Diamond-studded silver pinky ring
- Stainless steel wristwatch with round black dial on black nylon strap
Do Yourself a Favor and…
Check out the movie, part of the Fernando Di Leo Crime Collection Blu-ray package.
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