There is a scene in American Gigolo in which Julian (Richard Gere) takes a little taste of cocaine from his nightstand and turns to his closet and dresser drawers to pick out his clothes. With “The Love I Saw in You Is Just a Mirage” by Smokey Robinson and The Miracles playing on his stereo, he lays out jackets, shirts and ties in various combinations as he carefully considers the evening’s ensemble. It’s immediately obvious that he performs this ritual every time he gets ready to go out. It’s glorious.

American Gigolo is the first movie I can remember that depicted a masculine and reasonably sophisticated male character actively taking care and pride in choosing and wearing his clothes. Maybe the only movie. Written and directed by Paul Schrader and also starring Lauren Hutton, this 1980 noir-ish crime drama is about a successful Los Angeles male escort to older women (Gere) who gets pinned as the prime suspect in the murder of a wealthy client in Palm Springs. His liaisons have entangled him at the crossroads of the dark underworld and those who wield political and financial power, and he gets in over his head. In a role originally offered to (and turned down by) John Travolta, Gere turned his performance as Julian into a defining career move.