Beefcake (1999)
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57% of critics liked it
(7 reviews) -
61% of users liked it
(1,223 ratings)
This portrait of the man who brought nude male flesh into the American mainstream combines present-day interviews, archival footage, and semi-fictionalized dramatization into a cinematic hybrid. Photographer and filmmaker Bob Mizer (Daniel MacIvor) founded the Athletic Model Guild, or AMG, in Los… More This portrait of the man who brought nude male flesh into the American mainstream combines present-day interviews, archival footage, and semi-fictionalized dramatization into a cinematic hybrid. Photographer and filmmaker Bob Mizer (Daniel MacIvor) founded the Athletic Model Guild, or AMG, in Los Angeles in 1945, hoping to turn his fascination with the male physique into a successful business that used nude and semi-nude photographs to sell the services of models to painters and the like. When the photos themselves proved more lucrative than the non-existent modeling contracts, Mizer launched Physique Pictorial. The magazine ostensibly offered bodybuilding tips and moral guidance to young men the world over, but in reality its clientèle included legions of gay men eager for eye candy. With the help of his mother and business partner, Delilah (Carroll Godsman), Mizer parlayed his magazine, short films, and other work into a palatial residence/studio where young men fresh off the bus from Nowheresville could frolic, crash, and earn a little cash in front of the camera (or on the casting couch). Occasional run-ins with the law and stints in prison couldn't deter Mizer from continuing his photography until his death in the early '90s. His models, contemporaries, and associates included bodybuilding proponent Jack LaLane and future Warhol superstar Joe Dallesandro, who are among the many men interviewed by filmmaker Thom Fitzgerald. The writer/director/producer intersperses his dramatic and documentary sequences with plenty of actual AMG and Physique Pictorial images. The film's narrative arc, however, focuses on the fictionalized character of novice model Neil E. O'Hara (Joshua Peace), who serves as a stand-in for the audience as he acclimates himself to Mizer's campy, flesh-filled compound and witnesses the photographer's betrayal by another model, Red (Jack Griffin Mazeika). Beefcake was inspired by F. Valentine Hooven III's book Beefcake: The Muscle Magazines of America, 1950-1970. The scenes of Mizer's trial for pandering were based on transcripts of the real-life Red's courtroom testimony. The character name Neil E. O'Hara, of course, is a joking reference to Neely O'Hara, the ingénue character from Valley of the Dolls. ~ Brian J. Dillard, Rovi
- Directed By
- Thom Fitzgerald
- Written By
- Thom Fitzgerald
- Genres
- Documentary, Drama, Musical & Performing Arts, Art House & International
Unrated,
- In Theaters
- Oct 13, 1999 Wide
- Studio
- Strand Releasing
Critic Reviews
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David Noh, Film Journal International
Sorry debacle.
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Jake Euker, F5 (Wichita, KS)
Beefcake makes a good effort; ultimately, though, it's a little too wooden even for camp.
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Rich Cline, Shadows on the Wall
A goofy amateurish style ... gives the film a terrifically entertaining flair but kind of kills any emotional connection.
See more critic ratings and reviews on Rotten Tomatoes
Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)
Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)
No Featured Audience Ratings Found…
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Cast
- Thomas Cawood
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Daniel MacIvor
as Bob Mizer
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Joshua Peace
as Neil O'Hara
- Jaime Robertson
- Orest E. Ulan
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Carroll Godsman
as Delilah Mizer
- Glen Deveau
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Jonathan Torrens
as David
- Andrew Hiller
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Jack Griffin Mazeika
as Red
- Marla McLean
- Joe Dallesandro
- Joe Leitel
- Daniel McLaren
- Bernard Robichaud
- Jim Lassiter
- Russ Warner
- Marc St. Onge
- Jack La Lanne
- Steven MacLaughlin
- Andy Skith
- Dave Martin
- Wayne Stanley
- James MacSwain
- Valentine Hooven
- Michael Weir
- Marc Le Blanc
- Lucy Decoutere
- Joe Dacey
- Mark Burt
- Brian Breau
- Jane Kansas
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Dick Sircon
as Judge
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Thom Fitzgerald
as Attorney
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Timothy Phillips
as Young Bob Mizer
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Jonathan Langlois-Sadubin
as Neil's Brother
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Renee Penney
as Stenographer
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Hegan Richards
as Guy in Diner
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Liz Anderson
as Girl in Diner
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Sarah Dunsworth
as Girl in Diner
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Katy Pedersen
as Girl in Diner
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Mitchell Landzaat
as Police Officer
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Stephen Arnold
as News Agent
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Wayne Bedwell
as Model
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Reuben Lee Aulds
as Model
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Larry Dunn
as Model
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Bobby Lawrence
as Model
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Dick Schidler
as Model
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Brad Allen
as Model
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Gary Herman
as Model
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Ed James
as Model
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Johnnie Dylan
as Model
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Ed McMakan
as Model
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Dave Gable
as Model
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Paul Jackson
as Model
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Lester Cole & Frank Melford
as Model
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Eddie Stevens
as Model
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Dave Stubbs
as Model
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Buddy Love
as Model
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Larry Ahrendt
as Model
-
Bob Lawrence
as Model
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Dave Connly
as Model
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Johnny Stacy
as Model
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Boris Demitroff
as Model
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Kenny Aloha
as Model
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Lucky Rand
as Model
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Robert Akron
as Model
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Gerald James
as Model
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Bob Kennedy
as Model
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Terry Caldwell
as Model
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David Jones
as Model
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Jerry Silvey
as Model
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Lenny Schwartz
as Model
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John Manning
as Model
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Ron Thompson
as Model
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Skeeter Block
as Model
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Mitch Hardin
as Model
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Bob Glennon
as Model
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Bob Akers
as Model
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Jim Walsh
as Model
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Bob Shaefer
as Model
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Bob Jackson
as Model
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Dino Ferzanno
as Model
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Eddie O'Malley
as Model
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Blackie Preston
as Model
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Casey Parker
as Model
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Jim Johnson
as Model
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David Mineric
as Model
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Guy Michaels
as Model
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Bobby Kennedy Jr.
as Model
