Cagney - Angels With Dirty Faces hat?

[Denny Colt]

Below, I've posted a few grabs from the DVD of Angels With Dirty Faces. I'm about the same size as Cagney with an identical face shape, and this hat is one of my all-time faves.

Is any company now making anything equivalent? I'm trying to match it as closely as possible. And can anyone identify the color from these stills?

Thanks.

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[Stoney]

Henry the Hatter sells an import called the Cagney, but it's not quite like this one. If you really want one like this you have two choices..

1) Have one custom made

2) Find a vintage hat that is close and rebash and ribbon it to match.

e-Bay is an excellent source of such hats. Adding the ribbion and reshaping is fairly straight forward.

 

[duggap]

That's definitely an interesting hat. Does the brim look a little bit stingy, maybe 2 and 1/4? Don't guess anyone could guess the color. When was that movie made.

 

[Razzman]

That movie was made in 1938. Originally in Black and White, but I believe a colorized version was produced.

 

[Viper Man]

That movie was made in 1938. Originally in Black and White, but I believe a colorized version was produced.

DAMN Ted Turner! Damn him straight to hell. lol

 

[Denny Colt]

This is going to be tougher then I thought. Thought it'd be easier to match, thought there'd be more responses.

Thanks to those who replied.

 

[metropd]

I am almost positive the brim is 2 1/4 and the color is almost certainly brown. I would say very roughly the crown looks to be about 4 1/2 maybe even a bit taller but it is tough to tell. Hope this helps.

 

[carldelo]

Photogrammetry

To find the size of your dream hat, you can try your hand at a little DIY photogrammetry, i.e. photo measuring. I've done it with some success getting dimensions of a boat from a photo. The tools are simple - a pair of dividers (with two sharp points or you can also use a regular compass with a sharp pencil point) and a ruler or scale.

Basically you measure the size of the hat in the picture (brim width, crown height, ribbon width) and compare that to a reference dimension in the pictures. As there is no ruler in the pictures to make your life easy, you have to be creative in what you use as a reference. Then you use simple ratios to scale the hat to your own face. You have to measure things that are photographed square-on to the camera if possible. Objects at an angle will be foreshortened. Also, it tends to be easiest to work in mm.

In the first photo you posted, on my screen, Cagney's pupils measure 18mm apart, the crown is 27mm high and the ribbon is 12mm wide. Using the eye distance as the reference, I measured my own pupil separation in the mirror with a ruler and got a value of 72mm (but I have a big head).

So for the hat to look the same on me, the crown of my hat should be 27/18 times my pupil separation. (27/18)x(72mm) = 108mm = 4-1/4" crown. The ribbon (12/18 X 72 = 48mm) turns out to be close to 1-7/8". If you have a smaller face with say, a 65mm pupil separation, the proportional hat would have a 3-7/8" crown and maybe a 1-3/4" ribbon. You should be able to estimate within about 10% with this method.

The second photo should give you the brim width at the front. For a reference you can use the distance from the bridge of the nose to the tip of the chin, measure your face the same way, etc. For the second photo I find a crown height of 4-1/2" and a brim width of 2-1/4". You'll get different answers which you can average or modify. For instance, in the first photo the hat is tipped back a little, so the 4-1/4" value might be low, therefore I would go with the larger value from the second photo.

So for my Cagney hat, I would say 4-1/2" crown, 2-1/4" brim, 1-7/8" ribbon. For your head size, the dimensions will be a little different. Once you have a set of dimensions, you can shop around or have a custom hat made to your specification. Good luck.

BTW, based on these calculations, Metropd you have a very accurate eye. :eusa_clap

Oh, as far as the color goes, I remember an article by Calvin, Hobbes, et. al. that explains the difficulties in establishing the color of any object before a certain cut-off date, I'll try to find the reference for that one...

Cheers, Carl