Every conceivable roadblock or let-down has gotten in the way of my posting as much as I would prefer, but in the meantime I give you a brief foray into summer fun. Just a few photos and two photo collections. Not much, I concede, but you may enjoy what there is. In this pic at right is Mr. Rock Hudson, showing costar Gina Lollobrigida some water-skiing moves during downtime on
Come September (1963), which was filmed in part on the Italian Riviera. It's, um, what's between Hudson's legs that is the most eye-popping part of the photo, and I don't mean his clingy trunks...! Perhaps a patient pal of his, awaiting his turn with the star once Lollo was finished?
This pic (taken during his physical peak around the time of
Staying Alive, 1983) features John Travolta in a minuscule white swimming brief.
Sometimes a still photo or lobby card will contain a visual that leads me to seek out the movie in question. This blog is littered with examples of this. Recently, I saw a card for a rather obscure movie called Five Finger Exercise (1962) and realized I just HAD to watch the movie. This is the photo that caught my eye (for obvious reasons...) --
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The promise of Austrian hunk Maximilian Schell in a pale, snug swimsuit on the beach was altogether too much to resist.
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You can imagine my abject horror when I located the movie and settled in to watch it only to find out the hard way that the photo I saw much have been one taken during a run-through... The finished scene in the film had Schell dressed like this! --
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False Advertising! I want my money back...
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It doesn't usually take a lot of convincing for me to watch any vintage movie that takes place around a pool or at the beach. There just always seems to be the potential for some charming beefcake or some eye-catching swimwear. Thus, I tuned in to
A Swingin' Summer (1965) to see what its star James Stacy was up to. (And also to catch Raquel Welch in a
very early role.) However, when it came to revealing trunks, it was lower-billed Michael Blodgett (the blond seen in the pic here on the right) who offered up more of it.
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As one of several beach buddies of Stacy's (he's far right), Blodgett sports some very adherent green swim-trunks.
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You might recall Blodgett from a variety of cult-ish projects from the mid-'60s to the early-'70s including The Trip (1967), The Velvet Vampire (1971) and The Carey Treatment (1972), but undoubtedly his most notable credit was Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (1970.)
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The reason he and his buddies are laughing here is that Stacy has crept up behind a long-haired lovely on the shore and attempted to make his move, only to find out that it's a guy with long hair! Blodgett ultimately turned to writing for a living and was married for five years to Meredith Baxter prior to her coming out. He passed away of a heart attack in 2007 of a heart attack at age 68.
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Lastly, we have another movie that I was drawn to due to a still photo taken on set.
Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation (1962.) I enjoy
Maureen O'Hara enough to have checked it out sooner or later anyway, but with
John Saxon (seen here with on-screen wife Lili Gentle) and
Fabian around it seemed promising.
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In the course of the story, Saxon (sporting a cute li'l beach cover up) joins star James Stewart out in the sand and become acquainted with curvaceous Valerie Varda.
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In a flash, he's shucking his cover up to reveal a skimpy black swimsuit.
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At first, Varda doesn't take particular notice...
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...but she comes around soon enough.
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Before you know it, they are frolicking during private play-dates at the beach!
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And who can blame her?!
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Eventually, he has to be guilted into resuming his duties as a husband and father.
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Thankfully this time there was no "bait & switch" in the movie's advertising. We were promised John Saxon in an abbreviated swimsuit and that it what we got!
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Well, looks like Rock is attending Lola’s Water Skiing and Proctology Center. “Knees bent and cheeks akimbo!” ( Not a bad drag name, Cheeks Akimbo). Judging by that guy’s bulge, the doctor really enjoys his job.
ReplyDeleteSaxon is just ridiculously delicious in that almost Speedo.
Any little tidbits you post are very much appreciated.
This post just my day, Poseidon!
ReplyDeleteKeep up the good work!
A.
Hi Poseidon!
ReplyDeleteThis may not be as lengthy as most of your posts but it does have some treasures within and is most appreciated.
That is quite the perspective in that pic of Rock, Gina and the young fellow squatting behind. I wonder if it was one of Bobby Darin's gang that shows up at the villa in the film, it's not Bobby as far as I can make out. Haven't seen Come September in a while but it was a fun romp with both Rock and Gina at their respective peaks of beauty and they sparked off each other wonderfully. Now I feel like a revisit is called for!
Travolta during this period certainly was fit but there is just something about him that keeps me at bay. I can't say I've never enjoyed any of his films, though his track record is surely hit and a lot of big misses...Moment by Moment (EGODS!), and at the time this picture was taken he could be quite charming but often he seems unbearably smug or wincingly puerile. I'm glad he's abandoned the toupees that were fooling no one. He was starting to project a Count Chocula vibe.
I have seen "Five Finger Exercise" and I was going to say I had no memory of the youthful and dishy Maximilian Schell beach scene from that odd little film. Even if it had been a while I would think I'd recall that (especially since shirtless Max was such a rarity) but now I see why I didn't! My main memory of the picture as with most of her films is Rosalind Russell, though if I remember rightly she wasn't as ideally cast as usual.
Looking at those snaps from "A Swinging Summer" I'm struck by how much more revealing men's swimwear and men's trousers for that matter could be in those days of heavy censorship versus today when practically anything goes and yet most of the beach scenes we see are guys in shapeless board shorts or trunks with zero bulge.
OHHHH John Saxon!!! Sigh! Always had a soft spot for him. He remained attractive as he aged but he is in his prime here (the waist band on his trunks seems so high but I think that's just the cut). Mr. Hobbs is another cute film from about the same period as Come September, even if the part that Jimmy Stewart has is something he could have played in his sleep. As you say it has the add value of not just John Saxon but the adorable Fabian as well.
John Saxon was such a sexy hunk, even in his later years. I always appreciated his beefy bod and handsome face. It’s so hard to imagine John Travolta ever looking that lovely now. Joel nailed it with the Count Chocula hilarity! Will John ever fall out of l’closet?
ReplyDeleteDan, Ha ha!! I think the guy behind Rock does like the view, from the looks of things... John Saxon wore such suits up into the 1970s, at least, God love him. (See the TV-Movie "Linda" with Miss Stella Stevens and him!) Thanks!!
ReplyDeleteA, glad to be of some use...! Thanks!
joel65913, how awesome that you enjoyed this little post so much! I was not happy to find out that Rock never wears a swimsuit in "Come September!" He has a shirtless scene in one of the hotel rooms, but that's about it... And I've never been more than a moderate (at most!) fan of Travolta. I do have a whole tribute here to "Moment by Moment," because it was so hilariously wretched! As someone else has mentioned, the Count Chocula thing was HYSTERICAL. In "FFE," I thought Max was at or near perfection. So charming and handsome. He needed to be stripped down at some point!!! He has an underlying homoerotic situation brewing in the film with Richard Beymer. It was really intriguing to watch. Roz was miscast in many ways, but she tends to be so watchable no matter what. I don't think she ever phoned anything in...! Needless to say, I agree about swimwear! Thank you!
WizzyWig, it seems like JT has been in and outed and back in and outed and then back in! LOL Revolving door on that walk-in closet....!
I love John Saxon, especially here. My mind is blown, blown, blown that Meredith Baxter was married to Michael Blodgett from Beyond The Valley of the Dolls. I knew him as soon as I saw that tiny nose. John Travolta looks great!
ReplyDeleteWhy am I not able to see the bulge you are referring to on Rock? My eyes are not giving me what I want haha
ReplyDeleteRock isn't sporting a bulge. It's the other man behind him, seen between his legs, who is! 😘
DeleteOh my gawd, I'm so blind. Okay I get it. Haha!
ReplyDelete