Our 10 favorite Sean Connery looks at the movies – Reel

(Cover photo credit: Sean Connery and John Hallam in “The Offense,” 1972 - photo United Artists/Getty Images)

On Saturday October 31, 2020, we learned of the disappearance of Scottish actor Sean Connery. In the process, many clothing brands paid homage to him, thus revealing the style icon and his influence on those who make fashion today.

Unsurprisingly, it is his most famous role that still attracts the most attention today. But beyond the legendary character of 007, what can we remember from the sixty films shot by Sean Connery? While waiting for your testimonies, take a look back at our 10 favorite looks from the actor.

1. THE MEREN OF SHEARLING

“ HELL TRAIN ” (CY ENDFIELD, 1957)

In 1957, Sean Connery was not yet 30 years old. “Hell Train” is one of his very first films and it is of the social, realistic, frankly brutal genre. His subject ? The asphalt, the difficult conditions of truck drivers and to a lesser extent the shearling jackets.

The voice and stature are already there, even though Sean Connery only plays a very small role as a truck driver. Let's remember here, as Jordan said in our recent Podcast , that Sean Connery not only has a deep and virile voice but also a body, which immediately imposes itself with his 1.90 meter height and his athletic figure .

Here he shares the poster with Patrick McGoohan, future star of the TV series “The Prisoner”. If Cy Endfield's film is no longer talked about nowadays, it has the merit of showing the actor as a true driving enthusiast and in a very different style from the famous character to come.

Imagine instead: a leather jacket, a wide-necked sweater or a tired turtleneck, depending on the style, a good belt to mark the waist, pants that could well be moleskin, ease in the thighs, and boots workwear to conclude.

All this is a little worn, dirty, well patinated: it's a solid work outfit and if Sean Connery does not give in to the sirens of shearling like some of his fellow drivers, his style is certainly one of the most successful in the film .

By the way, two of my recent nuggets would not be out of place in this world of men in a hurry. Can you guess which ones?

2. THE ART OF TAILORING

“ THE STRAW WIFE ” (BASIL DEARDEN, 1964)

For Sean Connery, the 60s were a prosperous period: if he triumphed since "Dr. No" in the guise of British agent 007, he escaped here and there from his character in favor of more complex and less spectacular projects.

This is evidenced by “The Straw Woman” and “No Spring for Marnie”, two films without gadgets or explosions which nevertheless do not fail to shed light on his relationship with women and clothes.

If the first does not particularly shine with its staging, its characters and their wardrobe are still worth the detour today: Dior and sensuality for Gina Lollobrigida, Machiavelli and art tailoring for Sean Connery .

You have to see him don suits and tuxedos as if they were a second skin , go to sea with simple pleated pants and a striped sweater, try the orange raincoat or the navy turtleneck and the light jacket. And what can we say when he climbs the stairs of his luxurious home in a beautiful gray flannel suit?

“ NO SPRING FOR MARNIE ” (ALFRED HITCHCOCK, 1964)

Like “The Straw Woman”, the film “No Spring for Marnie”, released the same year, is a psychoanalytic dive, a sick masterpiece. The genius of Hitchcock's direction blossoms from the first images: the film advances on a body and a tweed garment then moves back, revealing a dark-haired woman, a station platform and the beginning of the history.

If there are a thousand things to review in Alfred Hitchcock's films, you can start here with Sean Connery's beige chevron suit, thin tie and white shirt , with shoes on his feet that will inevitably remind you of them . In any case, don't let yourself be fooled by either Basil Dearden or Alfred Hitchcock: clothes don't always make a man .

3. BERMUDA AND MILITARY STYLE

“ THE HILL OF LOST MEN ” (SIDNEY LUMET, 1965)

For once, the French title is both accurate and beautiful. If, as we have seen in the previous looks, Sean Connery excels in the choice of clothing and the wearing of the suit in particular, you will quickly discover that he has continued to diversify throughout his career.

Here, for example, no suits or beautiful shoes in this 1965 film, but a mustache and military attire reduced to its strictest : a kit, a beret, a shirt with pockets and braid, Bermuda shorts with a pretty belt that you might find here , knee-length socks and a pair of off-road shoes.

Add to that a white t-shirt and utility pants for the rest of the wardrobe and you will get another man, less concerned with his appearance than with his mind, here progressively broken by the hierarchical system and the military code.

It's a film that has lost none of its strength, and for those of you who have never heard of Sidney Lumet, know that we owe him, among other things, "Serpico" and the inimitable style of Al Pacino which goes with it, or even the implacable “Twelve Angry Men”, a film which also revolves around justice and which Loan has already spoken to us about here .

For Sean Connery, it is the start of a beautiful artistic collaboration with the filmmaker. We'll come back to that.

4. BRITISH ELEGANCE AND STYLE ICON

“ GOLDFINGER ” (GUY HAMILTON, 1964)

Regarding the adventures of James Bond in the cinema, everyone probably has their preferences. Benoit for example does not hide his love for Daniel Craig , Jordan his for Pierce Brosnan. A question of the times, perhaps. It is also one of the particularities of the saga to reflect the fashion of its time.

For Sean Connery, it will be the origin of the world: the first James Bond, the 60s and the first outfits, of crazy richness and variety . We could list them all, focus on each film, each detail.

So what can we do other than remember that Sean Connery wears a suit like no other , that he probably made many men want to dress up and that he alone symbolizes a certain British elegance?

Maybe just rewatch the films, starting with the most iconic of them: “Goldfinger”. This is the quintessence of James Bond style according to Sean Connery and this is certainly where we should start: remarkably worn suits, always right colors, strong character, shirts and much more.

When it comes to style, if you only had one source of inspiration, it could be James Bond played by Sean Connery. Elegance, versatility, timelessness : in his incarnation of the character there are multiple reasons to be interested in clothing.

5. AMERICA’S COUSINS

“ TRAITOR ON COMMAND ” (MARTIN RITT, 1970)

Firedamp and black faces, like Zola's. At just 40 years old, Sean Connery is preparing to return the 007 costume he has successfully worn since 1962.

While waiting for “Diamonds Are Forever”, here he portrays a modest character, both silent and angry, and inspired by the true story of the Molly Maguires.

His world: mining, coal and all shades of gray. Suffice to say that clothing is constantly tarnished and mistreated in this mining region of Pennsylvania, a thousand miles from the usual luxury of James Bond's adventures and wardrobe.

However, don't be fooled by the title: this underestimated film by Martin Ritt hides much more than its poor French translation. It's even what we could call a gem, and not just because it's full of outfits from brands like Thomas Farthing and Universal Works .

Between dressing with character and spirit workwear, Richard Harris and Sean Connery refuse to choose: you will therefore find tweed, blue and brown, newsboys, henleys everywhere and scarves around your neck, worn shirts and rustic blazers on top, all in a mixture of Irish and American culture at the end of the 19th century.

Another particularity: the strength of the images and the omnipresence of the sleeveless vest among most men, enough to recognize the beautiful patina of the film as the magic of fashion cycles .

6. THE BAD DAY MUSTACHE

“ THE OFFENCE ” (SIDNEY LUMET, 1972)

Another nugget, another style: The Offense is undoubtedly Sean Connery's best kept secret . If you have never seen it, you might as well be warned: you are likely to be shaken by the atmosphere, the acting and the staging. It's a disturbing film, one of those that likes to leave the screen to better haunt its spectators.

Long invisible, Sidney Lumet's hidden masterpiece features a police inspector prey to his darkest thoughts. Ambiguous, dark and deliberately violent, it is Sean Connery's most personal film, the one in which he was most invested to the point of participating in the writing of the screenplay and leaving his acting stamp on it.

“The Offence” sees Sean Connery swap his image as a seducer for that of a lost man who is clearly not attracted to fashion . “The more I drink, the more lucid I am,” he says in the film. Except that no one believes it: you only need to take a look at his appearance to understand that he is gradually losing his mind.

If his character has death on his heels, he still has a few points of reference to cling a little to the living and against all odds, these are clothes. In fact, he never separates from his tweed hat or his shearling coat . To complete the look without completely reassuring: a suit and tie of some sort, which sometimes brings back the splendors of James Bond past. Except that Sean Connery from “The Offense” has a mustache for bad days . This is, among other things, what makes the film and its style so fascinating. The thriller of his career.

7. THE SLIP, THE BRUTE AND NOTHINGNESS

“ ZARDOZ ” (JOHN BOORMAN, 1974)

Here's one that will arouse either mockery or admiration: it's the most WTF look ever attempted by Sean Connery in the cinema and "Zardoz" is undoubtedly the strangest and kamikaze film of his career.

Mustache, braids and sideburns: with this new face, Sean Connery could why not apply to join Motörhead. Through “Zardoz”, the all-British elegance of James Bond is gone.

Here's room for flower power style, Irish nature and the almost nude , which you might see differently after reading Jordan's Undress .

But let's take a closer look at Sean Connery: riding boots, red underpants and an ammunition belt under a hairy chest . That's about all you'll see of Sean Connery's style in this anticipation film from John Boorman. Unless curiosity pushes you to go beyond the kitsch of certain images.

Because John Boorman is not just any filmmaker: “Deliverance”, “Excalibur”, “The Emerald Forest”, so many films likely to make you want to understand the very existence of “Zardoz”.

Beneath its airs of cosmic nanar hide a more philosophical reflection and some visually stunning passages. Charlotte Rampling is both chilling and disturbing, and if you make it to the end of the story, there's a reward waiting for you. It is an indescribable green coat and it unknowingly announces the royal appearance that the actor will subsequently regularly wear in the cinema, from “The Man Who Would Be King” to “Lancelot”.

8. FOR THE LOVE OF THE CARDIGAN

“ THE INCORRUPTIBLES ” (BRIAN DE PALMA, 1987)

Relaunched by the success of “Name of the Rose” by Jean-Jacques Annaud, Sean Connery entered the following year in the highly referenced cinema of Brian de Palma. As always, Hitchcock is never far away and if it is not the most personal film of its author, let's admit that "The Incorruptibles" ages rather well.

Almost 60 years old, the Scottish star shares the bill with Kevin Costner and Robert de Niro in this free transcription of America banned by Al Capone . Unsurprisingly for the underworld and Chicago of the 1930s, it was the reign of formality: hat, three-piece suit, tie and overcoat.

If we have already stopped at the Scarface shirts, why not take a look at the costumes concocted by Giorgo Armani for The Incorruptibles. The only downside: everything is not wonderful, far from it, and in particular for the old-timer character played by Sean Connery.

What he perhaps lacks: a master of color to make him less outdated. If we don't really know what to think of his brown character jacket and its combination, we can however stop at his beautiful thick cardigans or his wool pants .

Here Sean Connery also wears the shirt buttoned up to the collar and the tweed cap . And for shoes, as you know from our recent Podcast , color is debated: for example, you will find here pants tucked into black boots. It's up to you to find it cool. This is my case, as is the wearing of the shawl collar cardigan which finds here one of its most illustrious wearers.

9. HOLY GRAIL, TWEED AND BOW TIES

“ INDIANA JONES AND THE LAST CRUSADE ” (STEVEN SPIELBERG, 1989)

We knew the leather, the hat and the Alden boots of Indiana Jones : an immediately identifiable style, copied many times , undoubtedly at the origin of some vocations for adventure and archeology.

We can add the three-piece suit and the bow tie , less adventurous but just as successful. As you will discover later, the character of Harrison Ford has a lot to hold on to when it comes to style. It's a family thing.

What about the father? Glasses, white beard, endless obsession with the Holy Grail and old grimoires: we discovered him in 1989 in the guise of an aging Sean Connery but at the height of style . However, we will have to be patient, following the clues one by one that will lead us to him.

In this sense, the first half of “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade” is particularly successful. Steven Spielberg knows his job, Sean Connery does too and the tandem he forms with Harrison Ford is quite tasty.

He appears here more dressed than ever: three brown tweed pieces like at Thomas Farthing, bow tie and beautiful pair of burgundy shoes . This is definitely the most remarkable outfit in the film. To complete the look, a small bucket hat, like you find at Lock & Co.

It's perfectly balanced, full of slightly old-fashioned character and elegance, even if perhaps more reserved for the more experienced. In the meantime, Sean Connery is stocking up on beautiful clothes and that's a good thing: the following decade will be more complicated for him.

10. THE STYLE FOUND

“ MEET FORRESTER ” (GUS VANT SANT, 2000)

It's the story of a pen removed from the world: William Forrester might as well have been called JD Salinger. If the scenario is not very original, the filmmaker Gus Van Sant has many other assets, mainly of an aesthetic order.

Sean Connery's last major film role was that of a reclusive writer, who watches the world go by from the window of his Bronx apartment building. Outside, young people play basketball, dress in streetwear and go to high school.

At 70 years old, Sean Connery is here the archetype of the grumpy old man. He's a distant cousin of Hemingway, a white beard who likes sports and caps. What you can remember is that he dresses like he would for a Sunday stroll and wears his socks inside out. “In some cultures, it brings good luck to wear your clothes inside out,” he told us.

Pajamas, turtlenecks or funnel-neck sweaters , most often with additional layers: shirts, long-sleeved polo shirts, cardigans, leather jackets. There is some untapped potential in her wardrobe, but most of the film takes place elsewhere, very close to the library, in transmission and writing.

As in “The Name of the Rose” by Jean-Jacques Annaud, Sean Connery plays the role of the white-haired wise man and mentor, here alongside student Rob Brown.

The staging takes its time, and of course the old man will return both to the world and to the taste for beautiful clothing. Here a camel duffle coat like you find at Gloverall, there a beautiful gray three-piece . It is also in this last image that Sean Connery leaves, in a suit and on a bicycle, towards his native Scotland: “In Search of Forrester” is the story of a rediscovered style.