‘So You Want To Be a Muscle Man’

From: stephano

Categories: Muscle-Videos

Tags: arms, back, Biceps, bodybuilder, chest, clancy ross, classic, comedy, envy, film, film short, flexing, hollywood, lats, lawn work, legs, lifting, muscle, Muscleman, neighbor, nipples, pecs, posing, retro, shorts, Strength

Added: 3 months ago

This comedy short from 1949 was a lot more fun (and hotter) than I had expected. The Joe McDoakes series, which lasted about 10 years, featured a hapless ‘regular guy’ who would be faced with a problem that supplied the episode’s theme as well as title, as in ‘So You Want to Quit Smoking’. Many years ago, I saw a mix of clips from the series, and the rather arch, sarcastic wit held up quite well. Much of the series’ appeal is due to the performance of the star, George O’Hanlon, best known later as the voice of George Jetson.

I’d seen this particular title listed among the 63(!) shorts in the series, so needless to say, it piqued my interest, but I never held much hope of seeing it. Of course, the internet has made many things we once assumed lost forever come up found. I don’t know the full extent, but many of the McDoakes shorts can now be found online and one can easily enjoy them for their comedy and craft, their sly wit and uproarious slapstick.

We’re here though because THIS short provides pleasure on another level. Thanks to diligent study of muscle mags in my teens and later, I gained an early appreciation for the physique men of the past, so Clancy Ross was no stranger to me, with his smoldering good looks and his sexy, muscular body. Our plotline here is a timeless and relatable predicament – the proximity of physically superior manhood beside which we measure ourselves. Whether out of envy or desire, it makes for quite the head trip, or, as seen here, amusing comedy.

Ross is incandescent here, his divine musculature, especially his broad, dreamy chest, radiant in the classic black & white. He’s deliciously developed, but, as this predates mass-monster formulas by a half-century, in relatable human dimensions, on par with the biggest guy at your local gym. When he starts flexing those bulging muscles in earnest midway through, the decades melt away, and his masculine perfection is overwhelming. One can easily imagine him as just as he’s cast here – the incredibly built next-door neighbor whom you lustily observe through the drapes as he works shirtless in his yard.