Monday, April 30, 2012

Gritty Men with Integrity

Ok I am still perplexed and pretty fixated at all things that were de rigueur when I was a young child - like that saying.

At the moment I cant get past the 1970's! The decade just gives weirdness and authenticity in spades.

What about those tough guys? I mean dusty dirty gritty tooth pick chewing, tobbacco munching tough guys. 3 or 4 channels on the entire network in Melbourne meant your whole world knew and sat and experienced the same limited amount of TV you did.

I have two male idols burnt into my consciousness  by today's comparison these characters are positively cliche.' Ahh but then, back in the simple simple simple days Clint and Charles ruled the day. Before committing to writing this blog dedicated to these two male idols I did consider revisiting their classic films, I gave it some serious consideration before chosing not to. I like those raw first edition thoughts, the childhood images and impressions.

As an eight year old girl I knew there was no cooler man than Charles Bronson; stout, mean, stern and unbeatable. His face had a darkened patina a leathery quality - the man was rock. Often the man wore tight t shirts, a mustachio, munched on cigar and threw a great punch. Swarthy greatness.



Charles Bronson was married to Jill Ireland and its as if I always knew that fact. I remember hearing of her passing and that their marriage withstood the Hollywood pressures and lifestyle - that's no mean feat. Looking at this image of her taken around the time they became a couple I am impressed on many levels. Don't we all adore the idea of a true love. God bless them.

Then there's Clint...
Clint Eastwood his name is synonymous with the soundtrack of 'The Good the Bad and the Ugly' by Ennio Morricone thank god for his talent too, for him our world is much richer musically, he has turned many a film into a cinematic master piece with his astonishing scores but back to the men at hand.




 Now I am sure I don't need to quote either men or state their most remarkable performances what i want to make clear here was their legendary status. No one could do cool like these guys could. Eastwood was the lean, mean, contemplative, justice delivering machine that rocked a mighty fine poncho. Sure these men diversified and played other roles but the definitive ones are branded on my cerebellum like the proverbial. Am I right in recalling the heated iron brand been used as a tool / torture device, I am sure wounds were quarterised using liquor or gunpowder set alight. I mean these guys were super tough they survived it all and I remember them very fondly - every child wanted to be them, pretended to be them, idolized or at least marveled at them. I know I did.



 As a young girl I never quite thought of either of them as handsome I think it was the rugged machismo that got at me on some undeveloped instinctual level.

This domestic image of Clint is remarkable in so many ways not just his obvious beauty and I do mean beauty - a beautiful man or woman he could make. The god given stature, the beauty spot, the budgerigar, the kitchen, the woman in the image was his wife at the time she is clearly besotted by him. Its a head shakingly amazing wow this snapshot!

This image was taken for his portfolio at the very beggining of Clint Eastwoods career and again is truly remarkable I love it and had never seen it till I stumbled across it last week.

Now a greatly respected and successful director it proves that Eastwood was and is much more than just a pretty face.


Just dig those flamboyant shorts - I couldn't resist, its the clothing designer in me. Nice seam.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.