Wednesday, December 28, 2011

The Incredible Shrinking Steve Reeves

It's almost the end of the month (and the year) and I'm about to change the banner of the blog so here's a quick observation on Steve's physique in the December banner.

The photo on the left is from HERCULES UNCHAINED, same as the December banner, when Steve was probably at his biggest in any of his films. His arms here were thicker than his waist. But by time he made THIEF OF BAGHDAD, on the right, Steve lost most of that mass, certainly his shoulders and legs. His hand in the photo on the right looks abnormally big against his hip while the same hand looks tiny compared in the photo on the left to the mass he had then. Also the veins on his arms are popping out like crazy during UNCHAINED while they're non-existent during THIEF.

8 comments:

jim said...

While filming "The Last Days of Pompeii", Steve injured his shoulder when his chariot crashed into a tree. The shoulder got progressively worse in each succeeding film & severely limited his ability to train. Eventually, this is what (sadly) caused him to retire from films & bodybuilding. Of course, he still managed to stay in excellent shape for the rest of his life.

It probably explains why he is significantly "smaller" in
"The Thief of Baghdad".

However, big or "small", Steve was one of the most handsome actors EVER in Hollywood. Do you hear that, Brad Pitt???
lol lol

purpletc said...

Well stated Jim!

jimf said...

This is another Jim ... Don't you think part of it is also what was appropriate to the role? It wouldn't have made sense for him to be too bulky for his role in The Thief of Baghdad, so he probably deliberately tried to be thinner for it.

jimf said...

I think he looks good both ways too by the way. If forced to choose, would prefer how he looks in the Thief of Baghdad.

Joe Jusko said...

Since acting was now his main profession I'm sure he dropped size so he would be suitable for more varied roles.

Hose A said...

He may have been less bulky than he had been but if you watch the movie, he certainly wasn't scrawny.

Finnegan said...

I've always heard that he lost weight to try to be suitable for something other than muscle man roles.

Unknown said...

Legendary Hollywood director Cecil B. DeMille hired young Reeves to star in the lead of his 1949 epic Samson and Delilah. DeMille wanted Reeves to lose weight for the screen, Reeves, @ the top of his bodybuilding career, refused. So Reeves was let go & the much inferior Victor Mature hired, it would take Reeves another decade & a trip to Europe to become a star. Don't know if DeMille lived long enough to see what he missed. Thought I read that when Reeves was filming, he trained annually. Yes, once a yr! Reeves was smart, he demanded double his salary for each new film, he missed becoming James Bond because producers wouldn't meet his demands. By the time his on-set injuries recurred, he & Sophia Loren were the 2 highest paid stars in Europe, he retired to a ranch & never worked again.