Designer Double-Dip: Hot Undies

Watching season three of Police Story, one of the greatest shows about day-to-day law enforce- ment ever presented (and brimming over each episode with famous guest stars), I came to this 1976 one about David Groh, Glenn Corbett and Guy Stockwell on the hunt for some jewel robbers. The thieves were played by George Hamilton and James Daris and they work with a sexy accomplice played by Brooke Mills. 

In one brief sequence, Hamilton (in a ski mask, about to stage a heist) playfully wrangles with Mills on their hotel bed.

As he hops off the bed, we see that Mills is sporting a red underwear ensemble with white detailing.

All of this happens rather quickly, which is why these pics are not of the best quality.

Hamilton seems to have great difficulty in tearing himself away from his hot mama, who's all tarted up in her fiery lingerie...

Ultimately, Daris has to intervene so that they can move ahead with their larcenous plans.

So this is the last we see of the filmy ensemble. But goodness me, is it familiar...

It seems as if we've seen people love like this before...

Yep... Faye Dunaway and Paul Newman cavorted around in The Towering Inferno (1974) with Ms. D. appearing in this very same sheer, red negligee. Upon being reunited after a lengthy work-related separation, Newman had announced that he'd brought his gal "about $140 of vulgar underwear!"

The jacket and (most likely) the brassiere worn by Dunaway in Inferno are seen in Police Story on Mills, but the bottoms are different. Mills' are plain red with a bit of white applique while Dunaway's are cut fuller, to cover her up more, and have a more heavily-embroidered seat.

Reportedly, Dunaway was very tentative about appearing in the lingerie (even though she'd done on-screen nudity before and even though her primary gown in the film was beyond flimsy.)

The story goes that Newman, who was aware of Dunaway's nervousness about stripping down on the set, climbed into bed first before she was there and then upon her arrival threw back the covers to reveal a pair of cowboy boots on his feet! He then exclaimed, "Is this kinky enough for you, Faye?" which broke the ice and helped lead to the easy rapport they then achieved.

This scene, like quite a few in the film, was trimmed prior to the movie's release. The runtime even after the cuts was 2 hours and 44 minutes (!), so some things simply had to go. But when the disaster flick aired on television, it was shown over two nights. For this nearly four-hour enterprise, a lot of previously cut footage was put back in, including more of their post-coital conversation and a better glimpse of the underwear in question.

This view of her get-up is only visible in the television version of the movie. As she models it for her lover (sprawled in the foreground), she bemoans being so "long-waisted."

"You've got problems...," he jokes in response. Newman likes what he sees.

As you can discern, the bottoms of this set offer far more coverage than the bikini-briefs seen on Police Story. (Honestly, even at age 7 in 1974, I thought the whole thing was quite ugly! Ha ha!)

Sacrificed in the trimming of this scene is Newman's specific mention of Mendocino as the place he'll be working and where he wishes her to join him. This is why she later tells him, "If you asked me to go to the North Pole or the cliffs of Mendocino, I'd go..."

Also lost are what would have been HUGE close-ups of both of them as they examine their domestic crisis (her job versus his, location-wise.) Their faces fill the screen, but were not seen like this until one tuned in to the two-parter.

Anyway... while Brooke Mills didn't sport the entire set of lingerie first worn by Dunaway, there's no mistaking that jacket. I guess O.J. must have rescued it from burning the way he did Jennifer Jones' cat? Ha ha!  Till next time...