This Man Candy Monday was inspired by a comment Kendra made in her review of Scaramouche (1952) that “Stewart Granger is not hot in any era.” Snarky fun, sure, but a bit unfair! He was a consummate frock flick fella of the ’40s through ’60s, doing his own stunts and taking fencing lessons from a retired Olympic fencing champion so he could become a legit swashbuckler. Granger was born James Stewart but took his Scottish grandmother’s maiden name of “Granger” so he wouldn’t be confused with the American actor Jimmy Stewart. On set he could be demanding, but he looked back on his career ruefully, saying “I was a good costume actor, but I shortened my career because I made the wrong choices.” Take a look at these pix, and see if you find Stewart Granger hot in any era or not!
Swinton Rokeby in The Man in Grey (1943)
Harry Somerford in Man of Evil aka Fanny by Gaslight (1944)
Apollodorus in Caesar and Cleopatra (1945)
Richard Darrell in Caravan (1946)
Nicolò Paganini in The Magic Bow (1946)
Hugh Davin in Captain Boycott (1947)
Philip Thorn in Blanche Fury (1948)
Philip Konigsmark in Saraband for Dead Lovers (1948)
Allan Quatermain in King Solomon’s Mines (1950)
Pvt. Archibald Ackroyd in Soldiers Three (1951)
Jules Vincent in The Wild North (1952)
Andre Moreau in Scaramouche (1952)
Rudolf Rassendyl / King Rudolf V in The Prisoner of Zenda (1952)
Commander Claudius in Salome (1953)
Thomas Seymour in Young Bess (1953)
Beau Brummell in Beau Brummell (1954)
Jeremy Fox in Moonfleet (1955)
Stephen Lowry in Footsteps in the Fog (1955)
Sandy McKenzie in The Last Hunt (1956)
George Pratt in North to Alaska (1960)
Lot in Sodom and Gomorrah (1962)
Thomas Stanswood in Swordsman of Siena (1962)
Col. Alan MacKenzie in The Virginian (1970-71)
Sherlock Holmes in The Hound of the Baskervilles (1972)
Old Lord Vulcan in A Hazard of Hearts (1987)
OK, have at it — do you find Stewart Granger hot in any era or not?
He was that era’s Richard E. Grant.
Ooo yeah, I can see that.
A Hazard of Hearts was written (or at least dictated to a typist from a cloud of pink chiffon) by the one and only Burbling Crapland so you know the story is going to be cheesetastic and Helena BC is going to be asthmatic.
Burbling Crapland I AM D Y I N G XDDDD
Reminds me of Chris Sarandon (Prince Humperdinck)
I love Hazard of Hearts! To be clear, it is ABSOLUTELY cheezoid. Like, completely and totally so, but you also have Diana Rig at her bitchiest best, and that alone makes it worth watching.
BFI Film Player Classics which is available on Amazon and Roku have a decent copy of Saraband for Dead Lovers
Hmmm, might be worth adding that channel for a month or two.
Prisoner of Zenda! How can you not love Stewart Granger in Prisoner of Zenda!
I loved that movie too! And Granger, tall , distinguished and a little grey at the temples……
Agree!
Hazard of Hearts is on YouTube…and the storyline is nuts. But has some good cast members, including Anna Massey, Edward Fox, and Christopher Plummer…
S.G. is one of those actors who start out as vapid pretty boys, but improve with age (kind of like Richard Gere). Pauline Kael calls King S’s Mines “a smashing kitsch entertainment.” But, yes, what is with that “TINY KITTEN ON THE BAR!!!!”? Did mountain men carry tiny kittens as mascots?
IDK but everything is redeemed by a tiny kitten!!!
On the wild frontier a man takes his protein as he finds it!
He’s absolutely one of my all time favorites.
He’s never appealed to me – too pretty, But the Man in Grey looks interesting. I love movies with that kind of theme. They seem to have been popular in the 40’s – the back and forth in time/descendents thing.
Speaking of “The Man in Grey,” has Frock Flicks ever paid tribute to James Mason? Starting with the Gainsborough pictures, he made a fair number of costume dramas, including my favorite, “The Shooting Party.” (“Pandora and the Flying Dutchman” isn’t exactly costume, but it has that mythic, not-of-this-century feel, plus you get both Mason and Ava Gardner, the most beautiful film couple ever.)
Good grief, it’s a wonder the camera didn’t melt and the film catch fire: clearly they must have had fairly modest chemistry as an onscreen couple.
Those have to be sideburn wigs in some of those photos – just look at him in Caravan! Or Hound of the Baskervilles.
these are films to wallow in. His real name was James Stewart, which Hollywood made him change. Wonder why?
I’m a HUGE classic film fan, but I just can’t get into Stewart Granger. He’s as exciting as milk toast.
He’s one of my fave hotties of the day! Beau Brummell, Prisoner of Zenda, various swashbucklers and my favorite, Apollodorus in Caesar and Cleopatra. “Not hot in any era?” Come now.
You know, it occurs to me that if they had been making James Bond films in the 1950s, rather than the 1960s, Mr Granger would have been a strong contender for the role of 007 – he had the dapper ruthlessness and cold hearted charm down to a T.
Agreed!
That second outfit in Scaramouche looks like something David Bowie would have worn. ROWR. :)
Hah, I guess that’s why I like it.
Weh-ullll. He’s not precisely hot, but one does get the sense he might look really good ….out of costume.
I’d forgotten how handsome he was. But those teeny-tiny shorts in Young Bess !!!
I’ve always found him quite handsome. Some else in the comments said he was that era’s Richard E Grant, and I love that comparison