BEEFCAKE (1998)

Queer filmmaker Thom Fitzgerald’s 1998 docudrama BEEFCAKE looks at the life and work of pioneering photographer Bob Mizer.

BEEFCAKE

1998. Canada/UK/France/Italy.

 Director: Thom Fitzgerald

Writer: Thom Fitzgerald

Inspired by: “Beefcake” (1995) by F. Valentine Hooven III

Featuring: Daniel MacIvor, Carroll Godsman, J. Griffin Mazeika, Jonathan Torrens, Josh Peace, Valentine Hooven, Jack LaLanne, and Joe Dallesandro

BEEFCAKE focuses on the male athletic magazines made popular by gay photographer Bob Mizer (played by Daniel MacIvor in the film) in the 1950s and features dramatizations, interviews with models/photographers, as well as footage/photographs from Mizer’s archives.

Mizer founded the “Athletic Model Guild” (AMG) in 1945, despite state censorship laws that did not allow photography featuring male nudes at the time; Images of women were allowed, however, and were viewed as ‘art photographs.’

The Athletic Model Guild enabled Mizer to take photos of thousands of models over the years from the comfort of his own home in downtown Los Angeles. Mizer published his first “Physique Pictorial” magazine in 1951. The magazine featured homoerotic imagery of athletic men, a guide to bodybuilding, and even included information about its model’s exercise/workout regimens. As you can probably guess, it was very popular with gay men.

As censorship laws changed over time, both the imagery and sexuality featured in Mizer’s films and magazines evolved with it.

Mizer’s Athletic Model Guild still operates today as the Bob Mizer Foundation.

You can find BEEFCAKE streaming on Hoopla (USA) and also available on DVD.