Richard Burton as Dr. Edward Hewitt in The Sandpiper (1965)
Vitals
Richard Burton as Dr. Edward Hewitt, self-righteous Episcopal boarding school headmaster
Pebble Beach, California, Spring 1965
Film: The Sandpiper
Release Date: June 23, 1965
Director: Vincente Minnelli
Costume Designer: Irene Sharaff
Background
This Thursday, June 13, the USGA U.S. Open begins at Pebble Beach Golf Links, a renowned public golf course in Monterey County celebrating its centennial this year. 2019 marks the sixth time that Pebble Beach has hosted the U.S. Open, the first time being in 1972, seven years after Richard Burton teed off for a brief scene in The Sandpiper.
The Sandpiper recognizes the golf course’s significance in business transactions, even for school headmasters like Dr. Edward Hewitt (Burton) and his group of major donors. One fellow golfer offers to donate $300,000 to the school’s chapel fund if Dr. Hewitt hits the green… unfortunately, his ball flies into the water instead.
What’d He Wear?
Rarely seen without a dress shirt and tie, Edward dresses for golf in a casual cream knit polo shirt with a large collar and three dark brown buttons fastened to the neck.
Edward prepares his shot.
Edward opts to wear green for the green…though in this case, his green is an olive wool knit cardigan sweater with a straight-cut bottom, six-button front, and welted pockets. The set-in sleeves are elasticized at the cuffs, keeping the material of the sleeves away from his hands as he swings. The cardigan has a short two-button vent on each side of the waist hem.
Edward keeps his earthy tones intact with a pair of dark brown flat front trousers with straight side pockets and jetted back pockets. His shoes appear to be standard brown calf derbies rather than any sort of golf-informed footwear like kilties or cleats, though it’s difficult to tell given the fact that we only really see his feet in wide shots.
A picturesque spot for fundraising.
Edward wears a cream leather golf glove on his left hand. Though they had been commercially available for the better part of a century, golf gloves were not universally popular until the 1960s when golf-wearing champions Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus sported them on the green. Read more about the history of the golfing glove here.
Since Edward wears the glove on his non-dominant left hand, it runs up against his gold wristwatch, possibly the Patek Philippe that Elizabeth Taylor had gifted him during the production of Cleopatra a few years earlier. This automatic watch has a champagne gold dial and a woven gold bracelet. Admittedly, a Patek Philippe would be quite a showy piece for a school headmaster to wear… unless he’s one heck of a fundraiser, though his golf skills seem to prove otherwise.
How to Get the Look
Richard Burton as Dr. Edward Hewitt in The Sandpiper (1965)
Richard Burton taps into his innately timeless sense of style when teeing off at the famous Pebble Beach Golf Links in The Sandpiper, dressing for the cool coastal California climate in an earthy cardigan, polo, and slacks.
- Cream knit long-sleeve polo shirt with three dark brown buttons
- Olive wool knit 6-button cardigan sweater with welted pockets, straight-cut bottom, elasticized cuffs, and 2-button side vents
- Dark brown flat front trousers with straight/on-seam side pockets, jetted back pockets, turn-ups/cuffs
- Brown calf leather derby shoes
- Black socks
- Patek Philippe yellow gold automatic wristwatch with champagne-colored dial and woven bracelet
- Cream leather golf glove
Do Yourself a Favor and…
Check out the movie or see a variety of movies that Liz and Dick made together with the Taylor and Burton Film Collection.