Wednesday, December 21, 2022

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...

11 comments:

  1. I don't know how you do it, but it has to be a gay superpower :) thanks P

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  2. You have a Univac where your brain should be! Doesn’t it seem odd, though, that with a big budget movie like Inferno, they would try to save a few bucks by recycling a $100. nightie? If I were Faye, I would have demanded the very best that Fredericks of Hollywood had to offer.

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  3. OMG! Poseidon, I love it when you spot these-- recycled props/costumes is an obsession for me, too-- but spotting one in the added footage of an extended TV showing is a rare gift! BRAVO!

    And it's nice to see that Faye Dunaway's panties and were *not* reused.

    I mean, could you imagine being Brooke Mills and catching that added scene in TOWERING INFERNO and realizing you were wearing Faye Dunaway's used knickers-- and wondering if they at least *washed them* first?

    And FWIW, that style of underwear on Faye was called "tap pants"-- patterned after the satiny shorts you'd see on dancers in '30s musicals-- and was fairly popular at the time, particularly as part of a lingerie set.

    Oddly, I think women liked them better than most men, so it's surprising he picked those out to surprise her, rather than the reverse.

    Anyway, love these finds-- and thanks again for all you do, Poseidon! Love to all and be safe and well, everyone! Happy Holidays!

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  4. I would have liked to see David Groh's undies but maybe they wouldn't have been this memorable. As stated we don't know how you do it but after I looked over the embroidery it is distinctive. I was beyond thrilled in the 70's when they would air a disaster movie and pad it out for two nights. I think Earthquake had added footage filmed, I remember it was one of the sweathogs, a girl with red hair, doing tarot cards on a plane. I digress!
    This was really fun, I think but not sure those bottoms are called tap pants in the lingerie world

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  5. Oops, just realized I got it backwards and Faye had first dibs. Wonder who got to wear Newman’s tightie whities the second time around? A boy can dream, can’t he?

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  6. @Gingerguy, the tarot card lady was Debralee Scott, from "Angie" and lots of game shows, as well as being the Girl Sweathog. She had a sad ending.

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  7. @Forever Debralee Scott! Omg this truly is my tribe on here

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  8. Shawny, you know how people never get what they actually want? Like people with straight hair wish it were curly and vice-versa? I think I got shafted when THIS turned out to be my "gay super power!" Ha ha ha ha!

    hsc, I'm glad you enjoyed this uncovered artifact. I have a choreographer friend who often referred to tap pants, but I refrained from using the term here because I wasn't sure anyone would understand, but I might have known better! I shouldn't underestimate my audience, right? For me, ANYTHING is better than those truly horrid "French Cut" things from the 80s & 90s. I hate French Cut anything except for fries.... LOL

    Gingerguy, I agree about the extended versions, but have to confess that I was VERY unhappy that the two-part "Earthquake" didn't seem to contain ANY more of Ava Gardner (and she'd been cut out a lot to start with.) And, yes, they added in some new stuff with Vickie Principal and, I think, Marjoe Gortner. Then when "Airport '77" was extended, there was but ONE brief extra moment with Lee Grant (she slides her rocks glass down the bar in disgust) and no more - I say no more, meaning ON the plane. She did have a flashback with Christopher Lee, but I wanted more of her fire-breathing routine on the plane.

    Dan, I recall there was a photo of Newman taken during the filming of "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" (when he was at the PEAK of attractiveness) and someone was helping him on with his blue bathrobe, which was over some tightie-whities, as you say... WOW.

    Forever1267, I used to watch "Angie" a lot. Me and about 11 others. I loved it. Debralee was also, as Gingerguy said, a member of the "Welcome Back Kotter" cast, too, though on a recurring basis. I utterly hated those "Earthquake" scenes she was in, so obviously inserted out of basically nowhere, though it was mainly due to my AVERSION to the husband, Sam Chew.

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  9. I was one of the Angie 11... (fist raised in air)

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  10. I would have liked to have seen Glenn Corbett in some tighty whities...or any other kind of underwear! a jock strap, maybe...?

    Also an Angie fan here! And don't forget Debralee's breakthrough role as Mary Hartman's sister...

    Happy Holidays, all!

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  11. jobj69, Glenn Corbett did "physique photography" for Bob Mizer/Athletic Model Guild (and possibly others) before he was famous.

    So just Google Image Search "Glenn Corbett actor physique photos" and you'll find a handful of shots where he's wearing a teeny bikini and a "posing strap"/G-string!

    Happy Holidays!

    Love to all and be safe and well, everyone!

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