Manhood lessons

Any movie that includes a lengthy steam-room scene with Gilbert Roland and Robert Stack in towels, naked torsos glistening, deserves a loving post in this blog (not to mention a permanent place in the blog header).

But “The Bullfighter and the Lady” (1951) is so much more than mere beefcake. A meditation on what it means to be a man, the story is driven by the relationship between Robert Stack, a cocky American tourist, and Gilbert Roland, Mexico’s leading torero (bullfighter).

This role comes early in Robert Stack’s career. Usually he plays the Alpha male in every movie, and so it’s unusual to see him play a character who is so green. But if there’s one man who can out-macho Robert Stack, it’s Gilbert Roland.

If there's any man who can out-macho Robert Stack (left), it's Gilbert Roland.

In the opening sequence, when Robert first sees Gilbert’s prowess in the ring, he is mesmerized, as captivated as an adolescent idolizing a hero. Essentially he wants to be Gilbert – without, of course, understanding all the risks, work, and weight that entails.

Robert Stack sets eyes upon Gilbert Roland and is mesmerized.

Gilbert Roland, the torero par excellence, as gazed upon by Robert Stack.

Nevertheless, he manipulates an introduction to Gilbert, persuading Gilbert to teach him how to bullfight. Robert is strutting, over-confident, immature, while Gilbert has true adult masculine gravitas. He is the torero par excellence, revered – essentially fetishized – by both sexes. Gilbert understands, while Robert does not, the full burden of shouldering such responsibility.

I won’t spoil the film by revealing plot, except to say that Robert must learn (the hard way) what it takes to grow up and fill a man’s shoes.

The lessons are underway. Gilbert Roland close behind Robert Stack, arms encircling him to hold the cape.
He is both instructor and protector.

In a scene with interesting phallic imagery, Gilbert Roland teaches shirtless Robert Stack how to aim his sword.

The great torero.

In addition, the film is perhaps the only one I’ve ever seen (of its period at least) that doesn't take a patronizing approach toward Mexican culture, instead evoking and exploring it in all its centuries-old dignity.

[This film isn't on DVD (yet), so how can you see it? There are some VHS copies floating around (remember those?), and you can also stream it on NetFlix if you're a member.]

"Be a good boy and open your mouth"

So says macho Gilbert Roland, straddling the chest of blond punk Peter Graves, just before force-feeding a cigar all the way down the young man's throat. The film is "Beneath the 12-Mile Reef" (1953) and the scene is jaw-dropping in its overtones of male-on-male sexual domination. So much so that the cigar-shoving segment was cut when the film was restored for widescreen DVD release. To see it, you have to find an unrestored full-frame public domain version such as the one embedded below or available here.







Mexican-born Gilbert Roland is one of my favorite classic movie hunks. Originally a silent-film matinee idol, he just got more rugged and sexier as he matured into middle age, still steamy hot into his 50's. Not just a handsome face with a killer hairy body, he was also a very good actor, imbuing his characters with warmth and emotional depth. [Best role I've seen him in: as a Cuban revolutionary in John Huston's "We Were Strangers" (1949).]



The star of "Beneath the 12-Mile Reef" is a very young Robert Wagner, who spends much of the movie wriggling underwater in his swimming trunks. An early CinemaScope film, the widescreen process was supposed to mesmerize moviegoers with the beauty of the ocean deep.... but it's Robert Wagner's beauty that steals every shot.







Gilbert and Robert play father and son sponge fishermen in Florida, and the story is a reworking of Romeo and Juliet, as Robert falls for the daughter of a rival fishing family. It's not bad as melodrama, but the real draw for me is the chance to watch Gilbert and Robert, making the film a total homoerotic treat.

You should try to see both versions: The restored widescreen version, because the picture quality is excellent, and the unrestored full-frame version, so you can watch Gilbert shoving his big thing into Peter Graves's mouth. The unrestored version is embedded here (cigar segment begins at about minute 36:00).