Thursday, June 9, 2011

Adonis in Distress #2

If a Greek god said "Supersize me," he'd come out looking like Burt Lancaster. Burt is more of everything masculine. More handsome, more tall, more powerfully built, more athletic (he started out as an acrobat), more brooding, more intellectual, more long-lasting (he appeared stark naked in "The Swimmer" in his fifties and still looked awesome).

All that's masculine and then some: Burt Lancaster

So there is something perversely titillating about watching this big slab of manhood being forced into total physical submission by evil Paul Henreid in "Rope of Sand."

Burt knows where a diamond mine is, Paul wants to find out, so what better way than to strip Burt, hang him upside down, and whip him? Henreid's character seems not only to want information, but relishes breaking and humiliating Burt in a way that seethes with frustrated sexuality.


"Rope of Sand": Paul has fun with Burt. This eyeful of Burt's pit-hair alone is worth the price of admission.

Best known for playing romantic second leads (such as in "Casablanca"), Paul Henreid makes a surprisingly hot villain. When he's evil, his blandly pleasant face takes on a sexily menacing sneer, and he's more likely to flash some flesh (for example, in "Night Train to Munich"). Directors of his romantic roles, in which he's always suave and erudite, probably felt that the animal lurking under Paul Henreid's clothes didn't fit the image. But when he plays bad, we're treated to glipses of his well-muscled and hairy torso.

Paul Henreid flashes some hairy flesh in "Night Train to Munich"

A look at the career of the director of "Rope of Sand," William Dieterle, shows he has a long-standing interest in exploring male-male sexual tension. All the way back in the silent era, he directed and starred in "Sex in Chains," which was part love story, part erotica, part melodrama - all about male-male sexuality in prison.

"Rope of Sand" director's 1928 film about male-male passions in prison.

13 comments:

  1. Buet Lancaster will always be one of my favorite men...always showing us his muscularity to the max.I think he was the best actor at that time showing off that he was a man's man,esspecially the role he played in Brute Force.He made many movies and always within these real masculine roles he played, he always showed us his romantic side as well..great post Mark.

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  2. love Burt Lancaster a lot. The other men are ok but he was one hot man. Until now man, you hit the spot often with great looking men, don't stop sexy.

    Yves

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  3. Ah! I thought I had commented already, but I guess not...That or I must have closed the window before it sent (my bad).

    I'm a Burt Lancaster fan, it's true. But I haven't seen much of his earlier stuff. I saw him in The Swimmer during a time where I was watching every movie that had swimming in it. I also remember him in Gunfight at the O.K. Corral and The Birdman of Alcatraz. Now, however, I'm interested in some of his other stuff.

    And I'm very interested in that one director's film. I bet it is hot!

    -Ace

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  4. Wally, Yes I agree, Burt Lancaster conveyed a brooding sensitivity in his roles. Brute Force is a great film of his.

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  5. Thanks, Yves, there are lots more guys I plan to highlight, so stick around.

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  6. Ace, Definitely check out Burt Lancaster's early films. His first two are knockouts, "The Killers" (1946) and "Brute Force" (1947), the latter being the film Wally recommended. Start with those and keep going...

    Sorry if you had trouble leaving a comment the first time... Actually I have heard from a couple of readers that they've had difficulty, and I'm not sure why. Thanks for checking back and sending your comments again, I always love to hear what you have to say.

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  7. You've pointed me to another film I don't know--excellent! (and free on Netflix!) I like Mr. Lancaster--mostly in the early stuff. He stayed hot--but some of the later films are just not to my taste. I think you suggested two perfect ones for Ace.

    Any one who is intrigued by early cinema should look at "Sex in Chains"...though not quite as kinky as it sounds...it's amazing that it was made when it was...

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  8. Oh good, FelchingPisser, let me know what you think of Rope of Sand. Yes free on Netflix and also recently out on DVD.

    Burt got more cerebral in his later films - some very excellent ones (Seven Days in May is a personal favorite) - but like you I have a special love of his early work.

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  9. It could also have just been Blogger messing up (as it likes to do) that lost me my post. And I definitely have to look into his older stuff now that you've pointed it out to me. I think it was my dad that originally showed me his movies, so I should check with him and see if he has anything.

    Thanks for the recommendations. And FelchingPisser, is it possible that Sex in Chains was one of those "pre-code" films that got away with some stuff? I'd still like to see it, even if it isn't kinky.

    -Ace

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  10. Ace, Sex in Chains was made in 1928 - if it had been an American film it would indeed have been "pre-code." However, it was made in Germany, thus definitely beyond any US jurisdiction regarding content.

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  11. Ace--Funny you should post referencing "The Blue Angel" before I got back to this--though Mark just said it. The two films are from the same period---both reflecting that wide open time in Berlin that led to Hitler's rise to power. "Sex in Chains" used to be available on Netflixs--that's how I saw it--but it's not now. It is mostly about how the hero's charge of manslaughter and subsequent imprisonment tears his family apart. But there is a moment that a fellow inmate "comforts" him. You can read into that moment everything...or nothing...

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  12. And Mark...I have to say I went and looked at a list of later Lancaster...and there are some VERY good films there. "Seven Days in May," "Sweet Smell of Success," even "Birdman..." certainly balance "Gun Fight at the OK Corral," "Trapeze" and "The Rainmaker" and a few others that came to mind as I was typing the earlier comment.

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  13. FelchingPisser, Thanks for elaborating on "Sex in Chains."

    And re: Lancaster - Yes I too love "Seven Days" and "Sweet Smell." Actually, I think there is some interesting homoerotic subtext in Trapeze and Sweet Smell of Success that might warrant some examining here in a future post. Burt Lancaster and Tony Curtis make a handsome couple...

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