SMF

Here's a thread for posting pics of shaving scenes from your favorite films.

I'll start off with one of the most memorable, IMHO. John Huston's Key Largo (1948) starring Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, and the great Edward G. Robinson as gangster Johnny Rocco. While fleeing authorities en route to Cuba, Rocco hides himself and his gang in an old hotel on the island, keeping a group of innocent bystanders hostage while he terrorizes them. As Rocco's being shaved, he vigorously talks down to the local cop who tried to nail him, and the whole time you're just waiting for him to be accidentally slashed by the razor. Adds a great tension to the whole scene. Funny, the only instruction he gives to the barber is "not too close!".

Here's the brushless cream being applied. Looks rather thin:

Combining two great pastimes: Shaving and Cigars!

Here's with the grain:


And against:

At the end of the scene he cuts the barber off before he has a chance to finish the shave. "That's enough!" he yells. Priceless stuff...

I'm always really curios as to how they shoot a scene like this over and over again... I mean, in those days there were always at least 3-4 set ups (Master Shot, 2 Shot, Medium, CU) and even with a great actor like Robinson, you've got to expect at least 2-3 takes to nail it. That's about 12 straight razor shaves right there... Ouch!

I'll be posting some more shaving pics from great flix in the coming weeks. Please feel free to contribute.

RVG

RVG, I just saw this movie about three weeks ago. Great movie and great scene.

Ren, Yes!!! The Big Shave is awesome! I think Scorcese made it during film school. Funny that you should mention that, it was one of the movies I was planning on posting pics from. Definitely not a film for the squeemish. In fact its kind of the Deliverance of shaving enthustiasts (my new term to replace shavegeek). I will put up some pics of that one soon, thanks.

I throw up two. First, one of the opening scenes in the Untouchables, where Capone gets cut during a shave, and the barber is clearly worried about the ramifications.

A favorite is Spenser Tracy in "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner". He gets so upset he pops his soap-laden brush into his cocktail. I like it, because he's enjoying a cocktail during his shave.

Scott

any chance to post a link to the scorcese movie so we can see it?

sam

ScottS wrote:I throw up two. First, one of the opening scenes in the Untouchables, where Capone gets cut during a shave, and the barber is clearly worried about the ramifications.

A favorite is Spenser Tracy in "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner". He gets so upset he pops his soap-laden brush into his cocktail. I like it, because he's enjoying a cocktail during his shave.

Scott

Hey ScottS, Agreed, and just saw that movie yesterday although i wouldn't say he was enjoying the cocktail so much as trying to soften his anger at the situation.
Cheers,

Sam wrote:any chance to post a link to the scorcese movie so we can see it?

sam

Hi Sam. If you mean a link that will play The Big Shave, I'm not sure that the film is available to see on the web, although if I find a good video host site I may just give it a crack (it's only 6 minutes long, if I remember correctly). It might be available at your local independent video store that carries "art house" type films. Or you can just buy it at amazon.com. Nonetheless, I will be posting some pics of this film.

This is the famous shaving scene from Bernardo Bertolucci's Last Tango in Paris (1972), starring Marlon Brando. A young Parisian woman begins a sordid affair with a middle-aged American expatriate, who lays out ground rules that their clandestine relationship will be based only on sex. Definitely not everyone's cup of tea, but features a great performance by Brando. This scene takes place in the bathroom of the old apartment that Brando and his young mistress rent, as he prepares a straight shave in a huge old double sink:

Brando's character claims that these old double sinks were the reason that marriages used to last.


Here's Brando's set up. Looks like a shave stick.


And here he is lathering. Takes his time applying the soap. Good technique!


Stropping.


And, of course, the shave itself.

Now, I don't use a straight, but it looks almost like he is shaving with a blade angle that is perpendicular to the face.



What also makes this bit interesting is that we already know the Brando character, who has mental issues of his own, had just lost his wife to suicide with a straight razor...gives it another layer of meaning.

I think the famous "butter" scene comes right after this. If you don't know what I'm talking about, you'll have to go rent it!

Big Ren wrote:Raffi,

Anyone who hasn't seen this film ought to go out and rent it right now. Not only was it a masterpiece by the brilliant Bertolucci, but it marked a comeback for Brando after much of his lackluster work in the sixties. To paraphrase Norman Mailer's words about Maria Schneider in a famous essay, "rare actresses, just a few... have visual appeal. She has nose appeal. You can smell her."

Two thumbs way up! (insert your 'get the butter' joke here)


Ren

p.s. Note how Brando doesn't have his pinkie finger on the tang of the straight razor.

If I used straight like that I would have red stuff everywhere!

Randy

Big Ren wrote: Anyone who hasn't seen this film ought to go out and rent it right now...

I have to agree with you Ren. I thought it was a great movie, primarily for Brando's performance. But I do know a lot of people for whom this movie just doesn't do it, and that's fine.

Big Ren wrote: Two thumbs way up! (insert your 'get the butter' joke here)

Hah! For those who don't know about the butter scene, lets just say he ain't shaving with it...

Big Ren wrote: p.s. Note how Brando doesn't have his pinkie finger on the tang of the straight razor.

Wow, good eye, I didn't even notice that. When I eventually get around to giving str8s a try, that definitely won't be the technique I start with!

I hear that's up for a remake. Updated for the health conscious, butter will be replaced by; "I Can't Beleive it's Not Butter" spray.

Cliff

I would like to point out that I have looked at those pictures probably four times in the past few days and that I just now noticed the breast in picture four.

That, my friends, is sad.

Hahaha.

Big Ren wrote:

Cliff wrote:I hear that's up for a remake. Updated for the health conscious, butter will be replaced by; "I Can't Beleive it's Not Butter" spray.

Cliff

Cliff, I'm glad they're using 'I Can't Believe It's Not Butter' in the remake as opposed to Proraso Pre/Post.

Ren

Especially Eucalyptus......WOW ! Imagine what that'd feel like .........

A classic of wetshaving cinema, Martin Scorcese's The Big Shave (1967) was made, I believe, while he was a student at NYU. Its a simple story: guy walks into an immaculate white bathroom, pulls out a safety razor and shaves himself bloody. Also known as "Viet '67", apparently Scorcese made this film as a protest against the war in Vietnam: the man's process of self-mutilation being some sort of a metaphor for the "self-destructive involvement of the United States in the Vietnam War". Politics aside, I think its a brilliant little short, an effective use of the medium. The filmmakers' talent is quite evident, however simple it is. Whatever it's supposed to mean, don't ever show it to anyone who is "intimidated" about using a DE...



***If you aren't (gulp) squeamish about blood, YOU CAN WATCH IT ONLINE HERE:The Big Shave***

Enjoy.

Sam wrote:any chance to post a link to the scorcese movie so we can see it?

Ask, and ye shall receive.

The Big Shave

Cigar Dan wrote:

Sam wrote:any chance to post a link to the scorcese movie so we can see it?

Ask, and ye shall receive.

The Big Shave

I hereby resolve never to shave with a TV razor that has no blade in it.
I was waiting for the styptic scene...

I wonder if he used an alcohol based aftershave?

That is one painful video. Those against the grain strokes get you every time.

Can someone tell me the name of the song that's playing ?