Happy Bastille Day!

Jean Sorel

Louis Jourdan

Jean Paul Belmondo

Alain Delon

Give someone a French kiss today, darlings.

Sex On The Beach

We're off on a cruise, darlings! 

We hope there are lots and lots of shipboard activities.

Paris When it Sizzles

Rapelle (marche dans le sablé)

If everyone automatically looks better on a French beach, we're booking our flight tout d'abord.

The Eyes Have It

Romy Adventure

There was no shortage of sultry, international starlets during the 1960's, all with varying degrees of cool detachment (Capucine) and erotic allure (Senta Berger). Austrian Romy Schneider managed to convey both; while she radiated undeniable sex appeal, her fierce, feline intelligence prevented her from being just another Continental sexpot. It also meant that she more than held her own against some of the most beautiful, charismatic men on the screen, including Horst Buchholz and real-life lover Alain Delon.


WITH ALAIN DELON, EARLY 1960'S


WITH HORST BUCHHOLZ, 1957

Unlike many of her contemporaries, Schneider was a respected actress who worked with some of the most acclaimed directors of all time (Welles, Visconti, Preminger, Chabrol, etc.); more predictably, her brief stint in Hollywood yielded her least memorable work, the tedious sex comedies Good Neighbor Sam (1964) and What's New, Pussycat (1965). In contrast, her European films netted Schneider two César Awards, the French equivalent of the Oscar.

Romy Schneider's short, stormy life came to an end in 1982 at the age of 43; she was despondent over the accidental death of her 14 year old son, and while the official cause of her death was cardiac arrest, many believed she committed suicide by overdosing on pills and alcohol. Her legacy lives on in the powerful body of work she leaves behind. "I am nothing in life," Romy Schneider once said, "but everything on screen." Nothing could be further from the truth, or more accurate.

Un Very Stylish Homme

ALAIN DELON
8 Novembre, 1935

Bravi

In searching for images of birthday boy George Chakiris (September 16, 1934), we stumbled across a fabulous site which featured, among others, a gallery of a German fan magazine called Bravo. Their aesthetic began and ended with tawdry, Confidential-style montages of unflattering papparazzi snaps, but for a golden epoch from the early-to-mid 1960's, they produced such lovely images as these:

Alain Delon

Besides being exceptionally, nearly ridiculously beautiful, Alain Delon is one of the most stylish men to ever stride across this mortal coil. One of the most influential films on our young gay life was Purple Noon (1960), the original film version of The Talented Mr. Ripley.

It probably says something about our warped priorities that, despite Delon's eye-popping handsomeness, we were simply ga-ga over the clothes.

The man simply could not look bad if he tried, but he wore clothes with a panache that few men could touch, with a uniquely Gallic flair which made him stand apart from the crowd, even in traditional black tie.

Of course, he also looked just splendid in trunks...

...and could even make a Tom of Finland-esque, proto-Querelle costume appear chic.

Time is often unkind to great beauties, but Alain Delon has aged more gracefully than his youthful pornographic perfection would suggest. He celebrates 73 years of stylishness this November, and we wish him many, many more.