Mythic Physique The_Muscle

Bring on the Muscle Men Part I

By Oscar Williams-Smith

Although not the first Tarzan, in the 1932 Johnny Weissmuller made 'Tarzan the Ape Man'. Johnny Weissmuller was selected for the part not because he could act but because of his build. As an Olympic swimmer, Weissmuller was thought to be one of the most well developed men of his day. Weissmuller was considered the Arnold Schwarzenegger (they were both born in the same part of Europe).

Women loved him. Men admired him and church groups demanded he wear more than just a loin cloth. (Earlier silent versions of Tarzan had forced the ape man to cover his upper torso.) By today’s standards Weissmuller may have been fit but he lacked the muscle bulk of modern actors like Sylvester Stallone and Dwayne Johnson, that audience expect to see on action heroes today.

Endurance Training vs Bulking Up

It should be noted the difference between endurance fit and muscle bound. These two extremes involve different types of training. An athlete that trains for endurance will often stay thin a lean, with slight muscle definition. Endurance weight training involves ‘higher reps and lower weights.’ Body builders train with ‘heavy weights and lower reps,’ to grow muscle mass. Endurance trainers train to play sports, tennis, swimming, soccer, boxing, wrestling etc. Sports where an athlete needs to keep working hard for long periods of time. Body builders train to target individual muscle groups for aesthetic purposes. These groups include chest (pectorals) and biceps etc. These large bulky muscles can get in the way of some of the more delicate sports, like tennis or ping pong, but the muscle mass can come in handed in hard hitting sports like American football or Rugby. There is a middle ground between endurance and body building training, each athlete-body builder has to find the right work out for the body type they are aiming for.

Fighting Fit

Over the next two decades after 'Tarzan the Ape Man' two things affected how male muscles were depicted in films. In 1934 movie producers began fallowing the Hays Code. Movies had gotten too sexy and too violent, etc and the Hays Code was created in 1930 to try and bring the higher standards demanded by church and community groups to movies. However, it wasn't really until July 1934 that these new rules started to be followed.

Earlier in 1934 In 'Tarzan and His Mate' starring Johnny Weissmuller and Maureen O'Sullivan, featured a scene where Tarzan and Jane go skinny dipping. Three versions of this scene were filmed each version featured Jane with slightly less clothing (the best version is on YouTube.) With the enforcement of the Hays Code the raw sexuality of Johnny Weissmuller and his co-star Maureen O'Sullivan the early Tarzan pictures was pared back. The second major effect was World War II. American men from all walks of life suddenly found themselves in the army undergoing basic training. Accountants and soda-jerks who may have once lived out their whole existence with only the minimal amount of exercise were suddenly fighting fit.

This new athleticism as reflected in the men’s styles of the 1940's and 50's. Men suits became big and bulky made from thick woven cloth with big padded shoulders. In the war years men were suppose to be tough and in charge.

This was the generation of Steve Reeves, the first and one of the best actors to play Hercules. Born in Glasgow, Montana in 1926 Reeves served in the Philippines in World War II. After leaving the army Reeves became a body builder winning the 1947 AAU Mr. America title. Reeves after winning Mr America began to study acting. But main stream world wasn't yet ready for body builders. Cecil B. DeMille offered Reeves the part the title part in "Samson and Delilah" (1949) on the condition that Reeves lose 15 pounds. DeMille said that the camera put on weight and Reeves was too big for the par. Reeves who was still competing as a body builder was unable to lose the weight so the part went to - non-body builder Victor Mature.

Mature may have gotten the part because he looked more than a little like Johnny Weissmuller, however he didn’t have Weissmuller’s athletic build. Mature as Samson has the flat shapeless build of Ken doll. 'Samson and Delilah' was a hit despite Mature's lack of muscle mass. Strangely Mature's build was still found to be shocking by some audiences of the day.

Groucho Marx famously quipping, "I don't like any movie where the leading man's chest is bigger than the leading lady's." (What chest?) Muscle men were still only really seen at the time in body building contests and in Circus sideshows and not as star actors in feature films.

It was eight years after missing out on the Cecil B. DeMille epic 'Samson and Delilah' before Steve Reeves got a second chance. In 1957 Reeves was cast in the lead role in the Italian epic "Hercules". Originally titled "Le Fatiche di Ercole" (Italian - The Labors of Hercules), "Hercules" was a huge hit. The movie single handedly credited new kind of film and a new kind of film star. The Sword and Sandal genre born. Steve Reeves was big and strong and like nothing anyone had ever seen before in a leading man.

Note: If you enjoyed this article, please check out Oscar's tome on Amazon: