Burt Lancaster looks great in this film with his looks and his build. Especially since he was in his fifties at the time. His range of emotions from cheerful and carefree to confused and battered are reflected in his face and demeanor. He actually seems to age as the film progresses. That's true acting.
shareWOW He was buff. THe way he climbed up that hill at the swim pool, jumped the hurdles,etc.
shareYeah, I'm watching it on TCM now, the first time I've watched it in 20 years. Nowadays we're inundated with steroid-monsters in sports. Burt Lancaster is all hard work and boy, does it show. Considering he was in his 50's, he had an incredible physique. Very impressive!
shareYeah, I just finished watching it also and I saw this film for the first time over 15 years ago. Burt has an incredible body. I'm trying to think of an actor today who compares, and I can't think of anyone. Actors today get in shape for a role whereas Burt looks like his was a natural buildt. Nice for fifty.
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I've never seen it and I was wondering how old he is here. I was stunned to learn here he was 55. He looked great!
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Yeh he looked great but it was his face and eyes that were spell binding.
Ebert did a great review of this film comparing Lancaster to a Ulysses type tragic hero on his last journey.
Isn't it amazing how Burt's face and posture show his age in this movie? That's essential, because the body we see at the beginning of the film is the same one playing the broken-down wretch he becomes at the end. Just an amazing performance that bears watching at least once a year -- a real cautionary tale about how time is slipping by for all of us.
shareHe's not muscular compared to some actors of today.
Absurdity: A Statement or belief inconsistent with my opinion.
Times have changed, and with it, people's perceptions have changed, and not always for the better. It's not about what people today consider "muscular". The pervasiveness of gym culture has slowly warped the mind and perceptions of today's average viewer. Men especially seem subject to this.
I would say his look is timeless; in any decade he is unmistakeably male and classically beautiful.
To be pushing 60 and to look that good, and to do so nearly two decades before the 1980's, when nonstop workouts forced their way into American culture, long before it became mandatory for every box office name to be a hard body, that is what this thread is about.
It's about being fit, tight, lean, hard, well-muscled (there is a difference), vibrant & virile at age 55....and having a great ass - who has an ass that great at 55? - and being obviously, shamelessly well-hung in a tiny black swimsuit doesn't hurt, either. That revealing, sexually objectifying suit would terrify most guys today, whose insecurity would force them to flee it in favor of ridiculous, cartoonish, "junk hiding" board shorts. Times have changed, indeed.
It's not just today's perceptions....
Even at that time, there were movie stars more muscular than him, such as Steve Reeves and Reg Park. Though they were usually relegated to freakish roles such as Hercules and Goliath. Much like Arnold and The Rock in later years.
Well, both were professional bodybuilders. Not really comparable to someone like Lancaster.
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Burt was a hunk, and what a smile!
He was a gymnast and could still do backflips when he was in his 70's.
When he was in the movie 'Come back, Little Sheba', he was something like 39 years old and he played the middle-aged, recovering alcoholic character 'Doc'. Burt was so fit, though, that they had to put a weighted girdle on him to give the impression of a middle-aged paunch.
Quite a real man and a genuine star.
I can't think of anyone today that is another 'Burt', in natural physique, personality, and with that smile.
"I can't stand a naked light bulb, any more than..a rude remark or a vulgar action" Blanche DuBois
In his younger years, Burt performed in circuses on the trapeze and performed gymnastic routines. He must have kept up those workouts. Burt moved very well, too. The director of his first film, The Killers, allegedly made a remark about how he had to find more trapeze artists to star in his films.
"Two more swords and I'll be Queen of the Monkey People." Roseanne
hate to be nitpicky (don't hate it too much though, i guess, seeing as how i am gonna do it anyway), but burt was actually 53 when this was filmed, so he was not quite yet "pushing 60"... just fyi. having said that - 53 years old??! wow. the man knew how to keep it together!
shareCouldn't agree more.
People today are accustomed to the results of discreet and not so discreet plastic surgery. And, photoshopping. Plus, people drank and smoked constantly or breathed in second hand smoke. If we must look at Burt's appearance, I think this film shows how good Burt looked!
"Two more swords and I'll be Queen of the Monkey People." Roseanne
Burt Lancaster was born in 1913...so he was likely closer to 55 when this was filmed. It was made..or released '68. Either way it's semantics..
Even with plastic surgery and steroids only a few men in their 50's look this good today. And fewer naturally ...
It was filmed in 1966 so he was 52 or 53. Still, he was looking good, any way you slice it.
shareThat's alright, I got a helluva laugh out of it. The trivia page said he was 52. Then I read a post that said he was 55. And then I read the post you replied to that said he wss "pushing 60." I started laughing and hoped that by the time I get to the end of this thread he'd be at least 70.
It reminds of how George Washington seemed to grow in height with each article I read about him. But I was disappointed as he seemed to plateau out about 6'6". (I think the most reliable guess is around 6'2", but maybe as tall as 6'3" or even 6'4".
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His body looks exactly the same as it did in From Here to Eternity, filmed 13 years earlier. Guy was really buff!
I want the doctor to take your picture so I can look at you from inside as well.
From what I've read, he was a lifelong athlete. I don't think he stopped until toward the end of his life. He also did most of his own stunts in films. His 'rugged' good looks and the way he carried his body were very sexy. I can't think of any male star today that can hold a candle to him. Definitely ONE of a kind. Delish!
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Super hot. I have trouble focusing on any of his films. I end up having to watch them twice.
shareWatch "The Killers" and "Trapeze".
Burt was an aerialist before he got into the movies. Always a gifted athlete.
Go to Burt Lancaster bio on Imdb - it's compelling information about this natural talent of a great actor. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000044/bio?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm
I just read (among many facts and trivia) that Lancaster was...
Known for his liberal political sympathies, he was one of the Hollywood movie stars, along with Marlon Brando, Sammy Davis Jr., Charlton Heston, Judy Garland, Eartha Kitt, Sammy Davis Jr., Harry Belafonte, Sidney Poitier and Paul Newman, who participated in Martin Luther King's March on Washington in August 1963. He flew home from Europe, where he was making a film, to participate. He was a financial supporter of King and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.
I'm watching this right now. You know who he reminds me of? An 80s or 90s Harrison Ford. Both of their bodies are just natural with exercise. I wouldn't mind watching Harrison Ford in a speedo for two hours, and Burt Lancaster looks fantastic. Burt's skin is a little overbaked, but you can't deny his body. I recently saw a video of him doing impossibly athletic things, and I grew up in gymnastics. He was an extremely talented athlete. I was a bit intrepid thinking "Do I really want to see a middle aged Burt Lancaster walking around in a speedo for two hours?!?!" He was fine, he didn't go old man skinny with a bony ass and near bulimia. He was just an exceptional athlete. No complaints. I can only imagine if they put William Holden in a speedo by that point.... Good for Burt.