New Grand Old Movies post now up: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of Movie Mustaches
Our newest post is now up at our Grand Old Movies Wordpress Blog, where we take a brief look at the Mustache in Movies and ask the question: Does the Mustache make the Man, or the Man the Mustache? Our survey takes in such sterling mustachioed exemplars as Clark Gable, Errol Flynn, and Ronald Colman; as well as some less salubrious cases, including W.C. Fields, John Wayne, and Humphrey Bogart. We also note how the mustache can become a form of artistic expression in the example of Charles Laughton, an actor who could use the mustache as a means of illuminating character psychology.
One issue that did strike us about movie mustaches was whether there are movie faces that simply don’t look good adorned with such. We make the argument, for instance, that James Cagney’s face was not a mustache-friendly domain; whereas Claude Rains had the right facial proportions to sport such an article of facial ornament. And there were some actors, such as William Powell, who had faces that were distinctly improved by a lip-hair addition. There’s also the matter of what we might call the ambidextrous actor, such as Colman or Flynn or Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., who, while known to be mustached, did occasionally go bare-faced onscreen. Should he or shouldn’t he? Perhaps that’s a question that only the fans can answer.
Salvador Dali, who knew a thing or two about facial hair, claimed to have carried spare mustaches with him in a cigarette case, which he would then offer to friends. We can’t offer you quite the same thing, but we can give you a link to our article. Please click on the photo of mustachioed Jack Norton above, or else click here, to read our post. And happy twirling.
