beefcake

SYNOPSIS - BEEFCAKE

Thom Fitzgerald's sexy, funny and
illuminating follow-up to The Hanging
Garden.

REVIEW

Daring, visually exciting and wildly
enjoyable, Beefcake is Thom
Fitzgerald’s provocative follow-up to
last year’s The Hanging Garden. With
a seamless blending of fiction and
documentary, he tells the story of Bob
Mizer, the pioneering founder of the
Athletic Model Guild (AMG), a
company which produced still
photographs (for muscle mags like
“Adonis” and “Tomorrow’s Man”) and
short films, all of which extolled the
beauty and chiseled physiques of men.
Chaste by today’s standards, AMG's
photos and films were homoerotic
images of “the boy next door” filmed
against the now campy backdrop of
Roman gladiators, prisoners, bikers
and bodybuilders. The fiction story
follows photographer and enterprising
businessman Mizer (Daniel MacIvor),
who teamed up with his mother to film
his beefy star-wannabes around his
sun-drenched pool. It is here that Neil,
a naïve, right-off-the-bus teen is lured
into using his handsome looks to
become a model. The wide-eyed Neil
soon learns about the world of sex,
prostitution, love and sex. But a police
raid and ensuing criminal trial soon
threaten both of the men’s worlds.
Interspersed with the story are rare
archival footage and interviews with
former co-workers (including Joe
Dallesandro), customers and models
who joyfully recount this early era of
gay erotica. Humorous, sexy and
poetic – an unforgettable homage of
the 1950s world of gay erotica and the
repressive world which surrounded it.

"FASCINATING! A heady,
impressionistic mixture of biography,
fantasy and social history. A campy
strawberry milkshake of a film!"
Stephen Holden, The New York
Times