Were film actresses and actors from the past better looking than the ones now?

[Stout chap]

Rita Hayworth, Jane Russel, Bridgette Bardot, et al, were they sexier than today's actresses? Personally, I find Rita a thousand times sexier than bloody Cameron Diaz and Carmen Electra. And Bridgette can cause male ejaculation by visual stimuli alone.

 

[kotori]

no, they were just black and white back then.

 

[Stout chap]

There isn't call for racism, you follow?

 

[Guest]

 

[peachykeen]

I think the actresses pre-80's were generally sexier than most of today's crop. Classier as well. More glamourous. Today, it's all about who is wearing the smallest, skimpiest dress to the Oscars or some shit. I mean, I have no problem with a talented woman who looks dead sexy. But now that absolutely eveyrone can be surgically 'enhanced' and 'perfected', the whole aura of what made a star a STAR is eroded.

 

[superlittlegirl]

The past is romanticised by virtue of being. 70 years from now, people will be asking the same question about the actresses of today. Nostalgia is sexualized because it represents something that was, that can never be had again.

That said, I find the highly groomed and manicured aesthetic of 1940s film stars to be far superior to anything we have these days. Implied sensuality is a much stronger catalyst for my appreciation than blatant and exposed sexuality. With the former, there is more left to the imagination. With the latter, there is very little to explore.

 

[kotori]

i agree with superlittlegirl (no surprise there). these will be the "good old days" eventually. audrey hepburn still gives me a chill, but so does renée zellwinger. what's sad is that i find gwyneth paltrow and blythe danner equally attractive.

 

[Michael Peters]

Rita Hayworth, Jane Russel, Bridgette Bardot, et al, were they sexier than today's actresses? Personally, I find Rita a thousand times sexier than bloody Cameron Diaz and Carmen Electra. And Bridgette can cause male ejaculation by visual stimuli alone.

You come with an interesting angle here Stout chap, and you are most definitely onto something here.
There are many of the former stars of the silver screen that has much more about them than actresses like Diaz and Electra.
Myself I find Marlene Dietrich very sexy, and also Ava Gardner. Especially Ava Gardner, if I may say so
Well, now Marilyn Monroe should also be mentioned, but she is sort of in a different class

http://www.geocities.com/avalavinia2000/AGPic11.html

Isn't that a wonderful image?

One reason some of us find them so sexy is perhaps that we do not know them that well, and we never will. We are not being flooded with images, news, gossip and shit about them all the time. So there is and always will be a bit of mystery about them. Just my thoughts, and I am not sure anyone agrees with me on this one, but what the hell
It could also be that they seem much classier than todays actors and actresses. Where Carmen Electra is not far from showing herself completely naked in a movie, that was not something that happened in the old days. Which also leaves so much for ones own imagination

Enough of my babble

Michael P

 

[horny_giraffe]

Rita Hayworth is totally hot, but I could never figure out the physical attraction to a certain type of man that prevailed on the screens, back then--Gene Kelly, Fred Astaire, Frank Sinatra--skinny and small, like little dancing mice. Undeniably graceful, though.

Come to think of it, part of the appeal of Rita Hayworth and others of her type was the carriage and grace, as well.

 

[peachykeen]

oh no. do not be badmouthing Mr Sinatra.

 

[Stout chap]

Come to think of it, part of the appeal of Rita Hayworth and others of her type was the carriage and grace, as well.

Not to mention a pair of tits that could knock your eyes out, b'god!

 

[427cobra]

Cary Grant is still cool in any age. He was to have been the first James Bond, but turned it down because he didn't want to do a recurring film role.

 

[Agent99]

Old Hollywood knew how to present glamorous women.

Sophia Loren, Grace Kelly, Vivian Leigh, Maureen O'Hara and Elizabeth Taylor always looked stunning. Even in rags. Whether subtle or overt, these women projected an image that was both strong and sexy.

Today's films seem more bent on showing everything and thinking that is sexy. I think they are missing an important point.

Style and grace and elegance go a long way to enhancing sex appeal, b'god!

 

[ronde]

As MP stated, much of the aura of sexuality was of the fan's own making. There were no nude sex scenes in movies. There was the embrace, then the kiss, and then the fade to waves crashing on a rocky shoreline. It was up to the viewers to fill in all the body parts and action, so the viewers could make them exactly what they wanted.

In some ways, the actors and actresses had to be better at their craft because it's much more difficult to leave the mental impression of sexuality than to display naked flesh. That's why their movies are still pretty good.

Studio's were very careful to hide the personal lives of their actors and actresses, and to correograph their public appearances. Sex sold movie tickets, and everything public about actors and actresses was geared to this end.