Christopher Plummer in The Silent Partner (1978)
Vitals
Christopher Plummer as Harry Reikle, sadistic armed robber
Toronto, Christmas 1977 through Summer 1978
Film: The Silent Partner
Release Date: September 7, 1978
Director: Daryl Duke
Wardrobe Credit: Debi Weldon
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Today would have been the 95th birthday of Christopher Plummer, born December 13, 1929. To celebrate the Toronto-born actor’s birthday amidst the holiday season, today’s post centers around Daryl Duke’s Canadian Christmas-centric 1978 thriller, The Silent Partner.
Plummer appears as Harry Reikle, a ruthless criminal who begins terrorizing Miles Cullen (Elliott Gould), a mild-mannered teller who foiled Harry’s earlier attempt to rob a branch of the First Bank of Toronto within Eaton Centre, a then-new shopping mall filled with bustling holiday shoppers who may have expected long lines but certainly would not expect to see Santa Claus exchanging shots with a bank security guard.
The real Bad Santa.
What’d He Wear?
Sandwiched between his bank-robbing disguises as a mall Santa and a middle-aged woman, Reikle’s street attire is anchored by a fashion-forward evolution of the classic naval pea coat. The heavy dark-navy wool, double-breasted front, pocket arrangement, and hip-length cut are familiar elements, but the most dramatic difference is the high Prussian collar on Reikle’s jacket as opposed to the flat ulster collars conventionally found on pea coats.
Structured with a suppressed waist and front darts, Reikl’s coat has an 8×4-button double-breasted front that tapers toward the bottom, and he typically only wears the bottom two buttons fastened; the top row of buttons would close the revers over the chest while keeping the high structured collar in place. The shoulders are roped at the sleeveheads, with shoulder yokes that slant down from the neck toward each armhole. The set-in sleeves are finished with plain cuffs. Vertical-entry hand pockets are set-in above the large flapped patch pocket on each hip.
After Harry’s first aborted robbery at Eaton Centre, he takes off his red Santa suit and swaps out the jolly old elf’s jacket for his pea coat layered over a dark-gray pullover sweater with a plain-knitted shawl collar and textured-stitched body and sleeves. He wears the sweater over his black mesh sleeveless undershirt, one of several flamboyantly effete aspects of his appearance including his array of jewelry, eye makeup, and manicured fingernails.
Months later, a paroled Reikle storms back into Miles Cullen’s life—and his apartment—wearing a navy-blue velour quarter-zip pullover under his usual pea coat.
Harry always wears dark-navy trousers, possibly with a polyester construction that wouldn’t be out of place for the late ’70s. These flat-front trousers have a medium rise, side pockets, and plain-hemmed bottoms. He holds them up with a black leather Gucci belt with the brand’s flashy gold-toned buckle of two interlocking “G”s. The belt leather coordinates to his black leather shoes, worn with black socks.
Reikle spends much of The Silent Partner directing his anger toward women, whether he’s whipping off his belt in response to his former partner Elaine (Celine Lomez) refusing to help him take Cullen’s money or kicking the lockers at his gym when going “too far” with a teenager after his first robbery attempt.
Reikle decorates himself with a trio of silver-toned chain-link jewelry, including a round necklace and a heavy round-linked bracelet on his right wrist.
In what might be a BAMF Style first, Harry also wears a small silver-toned chain-link ankle bracelet around the bottom of his right leg.
The Gun
Reikle carries a Walther P38, perhaps chosen to reinforce his villainous coding as the P38 had been designed prior to World War II specifically to replace the legendary Luger as the German service pistol. Though operationally different from the Luger, the double-action P38 retains some cosmetic aspects of its predecessor, specifically the exposed barrel.
After years of development, Walther began manufacturing the P38 in 1940. Like the Luger, it also fed from eight-round magazines of 9x19mm Parabellum ammunition, though the locked-breech P38 was much faster and less expensive to produce than its toggle-locked predecessor. Despite the P38 being easier to produce than the complex Luger, logistics issues delayed Nazi leadership’s ability to fully move production lines until later in the war.
Nearly 1.3 million P38 pistols were produced during World War II, with half manufactured by Walther while the remaining were split between the Mauser Werke and Spreewerk companies. After the Axis powers were defeated at the end of World War II, German weapons manufacturing was paused for more than a decade until West Germany founded the Bundeswehr to defend itself.
Walther was quick to resume production on the P38, which would serve as the Bundeswehr’s initial service pistol for six years from 1957 to 1963, when it was re-designated as the P1. Only their aluminum frames distinguished postwar Walther P38 and P1 pistols from those fielded during the war.
Though the P38 was primarily a German weapon, Reikle’s pistol may have made its way back to Canada as an Allied serviceman’s war souvenir.
Reikle blows any chance of keeping his less-than-convincing disguise working when Miles pulls a lateral and prompts him to draw his Walther during his final robbery attempt.
How to Get the Look
Christopher Plummer in The Silent Partner (1978)
Amidst his silver chain-link jewelry that even includes an ankle bracelet, Harry Reikle maintains a villainous sartorial template of dark clothing anchored by his fashionable spin on the classic navy pea coat.
- Dark-navy wool pea coat with Prussian collar, 8×4-button front, vertical-entry hand pockets, flapped patch hip pockets, set-in sleeves with plain cuffs, and ventless back
- Dark-gray shawl-collar pullover sweater or navy velour quarter-zip pullover
- Black mesh sleeveless undershirt
- Dark-navy polyester flat-front trousers with belt loops, side pockets, and plain-hemmed bottoms
- Black leather Gucci belt with gold interlocking-G buckle
- Black leather shoes
- Silver chain-link necklace
- Silver heavy round chain-link bracelet
- Silver chain-link anklet
Do Yourself a Favor and…
Check out the movie.
The Quote
I’m just going to give you a little time… to try to be reasonable. If you decide you’re not going to be reasonable, then one night when you come home, you’ll find me inside, waiting for you. And that will be the night you’ll wish you’d never been born.
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