How does Kendra like ’em? Tall, dark, and handsome. So it’s saying something that I make an exception to my thing for dark-haired men and include Christian Bale among the list of men-I-stare-lustfully-at. It helps that he was SO DAMN CUTE in one of my favorite historical movies, Little Women (1994), and that I still keel over when I watch him dance in Swing Kids (1993). He’s also got that slightly gawky thing that makes me want to comb his hair and check that his socks match. And, honestly, he’s so damned talented that it makes up for his blond/dirty blond hair color (yes, I have very specific tastes!).
Let’s take a wander through Mr. Bale’s quite extensive oeuvre of period films and fan ourselves a bit, shall we?
Anastasia: The Mystery of Anna (1986)
This shmaltzy biopic of Anna Anderson, the woman who claimed to be Grand Duchess Anastasia of Russia in the 1920s-30s, was PIVOTAL in my young life, and I WILL be doing a detailed review on it soon. In the meantime, please to enjoy a very young Bale as Grand Duke Alexei, heir to the throne of Russia just before/during the Russian Revolution:
Empire of the Sun (1987)
Bale’s first real chance to show his acting chops, and man did he have them, even when he was this young, as an English boy in World War II Japan.
Henry VÂ (1989)
Yes, apparently Bale has a bit part in Branagh‘s film as “Robin the Luggage-Boy”:
Treasure Island (1990)
A TV movie version of the famous Robert Louis Stevenson novel:
Newsies (1992)
The film that launched many a crush, or so I’m told — I still haven’t seen it! It’s a musical based on the New York City newsboy strike of 1899.
Swing Kids (1993)
Where I fell in love with Mr. Bale — he’s a German teenager during the Nazi years who rebels through swing dance, and he’s ALL SWAGGER.
If you haven’t seen the film, or just haven’t seen it in a while, please to enjoy Bale and Robert Sean Leonard dancing their ASSES off:
Royal Deceit (1994)
A Viking-y version of Shakespeare’s Hamlet.
Little Women (1994)
1000% confirming my crush as Laurie, THE BEST (faux) BROTHER AND BOYFRIEND EVER in this classic adaptation of the Louisa May Alcott novel.
The Portrait of a Lady (1996)
Another chance for Bale to yearn and glower, as the English suitor of Nicole Kidman’s repressed step-daughter in this Henry James adaptation.
The Secret Agent (1996)
Apparently this film exists? Spying in late 19th-century London. I have no idea.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1999)
Bale plays Demetrius in this Shakespeare adaptation. I admit to not having seen it!
Mary, Mother of Jesus (1999)
Bale plays Jesus in a TV movie, which gives me the heebie jeebies, but at least he looks good!
Captain Corelli’s Mandolin (2001)
I REFUSE to see this shmaltzy take on a love story set in WWII Greece because the idea of Nicolas Cage and shmaltz makes me throw up in my mouth. But I will appreciate a shirtless Bale:
The New World (2005)
A stunningly great movie about the first colony at Jamestown. Bale plays John Rolfe, husband of Pocahontas.
The Prestige (2006)
Dueling magicians in the late 19th century.
3:10 to Yuma (2007)
Remake of a classic Western. Pass!
Public Enemies (2009)
Gangsters in 1930s Chicago, I think Bale plays a federal agent?
The Flowers of War (2011)
Getting beardy in this story set during the 1937 Japanese invasion of Nanking, China.
Exodus: Gods and Kings (2014)
Questionable casting, ethnicity-wise, with Bale playing Moses in the biblical story.
What’s Next?
The Promise (2016)
According to IMDB: “Set during the last days of the Ottoman Empire, The Promise follows a love triangle between Michael, a brilliant medical student; the beautiful and sophisticated Ana; and Chris, a renowned American journalist based in Paris.” Bale plays the journalist, Chris.
Hostiles (2017)
IMDB says, “In 1892, a legendary Army captain reluctantly agrees to escort a Cheyenne chief and his family through dangerous territory.”
What’s your favorite historical costume film featuring Christan Bale?
No Velvet Goldmine or American Psycho??
Both are post-1960s, so past the Official Frock Flicks Cut-Off Date!
Leaves me cold I’m afraid- he’s got one of those squinty faces with mumbly voice that makes me think he’s constipated. Meh. You can have him…
I love Swing Kids! But I’ll admit I watched it for Robert Sean Leonard, that man had cheekbones that could cut glass.
Gosh. Maybe Empire of the Sun and Little Women. Laurie and Amy have chemistry. Jo and Laurie didn’t. Maybe it was the fact that Laurie wasn’t Jo’s intellectual equal. Amy was.
Meaning, both Laurie & Amy were dim but cute!
You said it. But I would have said they were intellectually challenged. They had other interests. Amy Art and Fashion. Laurie…
I read all the books in the series, and I never got the impression that Laurie was ever truly happy with Amy. I honestly believe that Laurie married Amy, because she was the closest he believed he could get to marrying Jo.
I also don’t know why Jo and Laurie had to be intellectual equals to have a happy marriage. They were best friends in the first place, so obviously they had things in common.If anything, the foundation of friendship would have made their marriage all the better. Nor do I think that Laurie was that dim either, unlike Amy, who was vain, superficial, and spoiled, even as an adult.
Does Velvet Goldmine count?
Nope, we cut off after the 1960s!
Yeah, but I’d give that one a hall pass bec. it’s a Bowie riff :)
Plus the costumes are too good to pass up!
I have to admit to not having seen the majority of these flicks. I love Midsummer Night’s Dream though. He’s good in it.
I do really like The Prestige though.
I think I once caught the Yuma movie halfway through on tv and felt pretty meh about it.
I like Bale well enough, he’s hot and all, but his rumored a-holishness is kind of a turnoff.
My favourite Laurie ever and I still think he could have made a better Antonio Corelli than Cage (but then so could the puppets from the Dolmio ads!).
HOW HAVE I NOT SEEN NEWSIES OR SWING KIDS???!??!??!?!
My life is incomplete.
All Christian Bale all the TIME. He is my number 1, “I’m such a fan girl I can’t even talk” guy. I fell in love with him when I saw Little Women!
The Flowers of War is hands down my favourite movie. Zhang Yimou knows how to made a visually stunning film that doesn’t lose sight of the actors in it.
Swing Kids, Little Women, The New World, The Prestige…all great (and Midsummer Night’s Dream mostly is, I just can’t stand Callista Flockhart), but I’m a Newsies girl first and always.
The Prestige, hands down. Victorian magicians with Hugh Jackman, Christian Bale, AND a cameo by David Bowie? YES PLEASE. One of my favorites!
Yes, yes, YES.
You have to watch Newsies! It really is fabulous, as is his singing in it! You can’t be a Christian Bale fan, and not have heard him singing Santa Fe!
Not to mention, you’ll have another crush once it’s over. “Never fear, Brooklyn’s here!” (the Brooklyn boys all have CANES…I never knew seeing a newsboy with a cane could be so hot.)
Oh, Brooklyn! More than half a lifetime after I first fell in love with him, I still go to goo over Spot Conlon. Those eyes! That smirk! That swagger!
I like Christian Bale but for some reason I just feel meh towards most of these movies – I did love him in Little Women and I always, always had problems with the Jo/Laurie relationship because I thought that Jo was very short sighted when it came to him. I too believe he only married Amy because he was desperate to be a part of the March family and he wanted to remain close to Jo.
I have seen The Secret Agent, due to my obsession with Eddie Izzard. I also adore Bob Hoskins, but…
DO NOT WATCH THE SECRET AGENT. It may be the most depressing film I’ve ever watched. Bale plays Bob Hoskins’ developmentally disabled brother-in-law. It does not end well.
I first saw Christian Bale in “EMPIRE OF THE SUN”. I was sooo impressed by his talent. Who ever heard of a 13-14 year-old carrying a Spielberg epic on his own? And he did it.
“PUBLIC ENEMIES” and “LITTLE WOMEN” are two of my favorite choices featured in this post. Although I was really impressed by his performance in “AMERICAN HUSTLE”, his physical appearance would not have appealed to anyone and the movie was set in the late 1970s.
I see that “Exodus: Gods and Kings” (which is reputed to be even worse than the usual movie set in ancient Egypt) has gone in for the nemes headdress on soldiers. Clunky examples of the nemes, but still–it’s a royal headdress! Only one (or two, in the case of a coregency) person gets to wear it.
And why is Mr. Bale wearing a pseudo-medieval outfit (or is it pseudo-Roman?) in ca. 1250 BCE? Are those leather boots I see? And golden greaves on the priest on our left? Inquiring minds want to know.
One of my girl friends went through a Bale phase a few years ago. I never really got into him — I don’t mind him, and think he makes a great Batman, but I don’t seek him out, either.
That being said — my first reaction to the first two films listed:
OH MY GOSH LOOK HOW TINY HE WAS.
Ahem.
Newsies was a “thing” at a sleepover I went to once; the house was divided between Jack (Bale) fans and Spot (dark-haired Brooklyn kid) fans. I didn’t go for Jack (nor many blondes, point of fact). ;)
I also preferred Professor Bhaer to Laurie. My bad. (Is it because I like Gabriel Byrnes or because the professor engaged Jo in the sorts of ‘deeper conversations’ I like to have, or is it just my older man complex kicking in again? It’s probably the latter.)
Ugh, his Jesus movie was HORRIBLE. I think I watched 20 minutes of it. :P
Gotta say it, though it may get me hanged: I died of boredom watching “The New World.” I saw it in a theater with two other people and walking out, the woman ahead of me said, “I thought that would NEVER END.” I felt the same. It’s the only movie I was ever tempted to walk out of midway through. And yet, it’s had what, three Blu Ray releases while I’m still pining for “Emma” (1996)?
The world. It isn’t fair.
I loved “3:10 to Yuma,” though. Great movie about honor. Plus, Russell Crowe was a scoundrel with a heart and I like that sort of thing…
Didn’t he also play Jesus in “Passion of the Christ?” Of course, I can understand why you wouldn’t include that one. None of you likes Mel Gibson, and frankly, the film was way too bloody even for me. I kinda passed on it when it was released in theaters all those years ago.
I think he was also in an interesting “talk-across-time” story called “Frequency,” where somehow, through talking through his dad’s old ham radio in the 90s or early 2000s, he talks to his actual father, still alive in the 60s, at the same time!
He also played Batman in the new movies, though I’m not a big fan of dark, depressing versions of Batman.
I had no idea he was in “Little Women!” I saw that in theaters ages ago, though back then, he wasn’t well-known as an actor.
Many of these movies, I’ve never even heard of, or I did hear about them, but I didn’t watch (with good reason).
Jim Cavezel (or however it’s spelled) played Jesus in Passion of the Christ.
Thank you for clearing that up. The two actors look similar to each other, and I guess that confused me.
As a child, Christian Bale as Laurie in Little Women was one of my first period film boyfriends in my head.
I guess I need to see New World. Family lore has us descended from Pocahontas.
Loved him in Empire of the Sun and Little Women. He was good as the luggage boy in Henry V – small part in a big cast. Kenneth Branagh carried him in a severe minute long-shot across the battlefield after he was killed. No dialogue, just music and the horror of war. Haven’t enjoyed or haven’t seen any of the other movies.
“several minute”, not “severe minute” – haha.
This has made my Monday. I’ve been a fan of his since Little Women (*swoon*) and he’s always good even if the movie isn’t.
Well it would have, if it were still Monday.
I loved that Midsummer Night’s Dream movie (was it not filmed almost entirely in Tuscany?). Mind you, I haven’t seen it for years, and I’m not entirely sure how it holds up now. I was always involved in Dream productions, so I was a bit biased back then.
I get the love for Jo/Laurie, but I’ve also never felt the need to demonise Amy, and am happy with how that turns out. But the Jo and the German romance gives me the same vibes as the Winslet/Rickman Sense and Sensibility – a tad creepy…
Lord, he was a beautiful child. The New World was all Colin for me. Guess I’ll have to watch again.
When my mum asked if I wanted to see the Newsies play, I asked her if she wanted a one-woman rendition of it. I still have the cassette tape of the soundtrack! It remains one of my fave movies to this day :D I saw the play last summer and told one of the staffers how much I had LOVED the movie, and she said that she had heard that a lot (but hadn’t seen it). Oh the bad fanfic I wrote as a young teen. I saw Little Women just because of Bale and was always so mad that Jo turned him down (now that I’m a lot older, I can appreciate the old doctor but a part of me will always be wailing for Laurie!)
I’ve watched more than one movie just for Christian Bale that I just didn’t care for otherwise… He’s on the Future Husband list ;)
I have ALSO watched more than one movie just for CB–Exodus and The New World being two that I never would’ve watched otherwise. Sigh. Love him.
Please see Newsies!! It’s so much fun, and the costumes aren’t too bad either
3:10 to Yuma is a very good movie. It’s got great performances by Christian Bale, Russell Crowe and Ben Foster. Bale as Dan Evans will break your heart.