Alan Parker, Joe Leitel and Bruce Reed Ben-Hurry (1959) dir. Richard Fontaine
You’re telling me this was made during the Hays Code
This is what’s known as a physique film, and it is vintage gay porn. Actual gay pornography was illegal in the 50s, so people created short films like these that existed in a legal gray area - the (paper thin) excuse is that they are about bodybuilding and fitness. No sex happens in physique films, nor any full-frontal nudity, just a lot of the kind of thing you can see in these gifs. The film reels would be ordered by people through the mail (via physique magazines - which were magazines of homoerotic photography along the same lines as these films) and would not have been screened in theatres, so they would not be subject to the Hays Code. These were extremely legally dubious nonetheless. Physique films and magazines were dangerous to make, distribute, and consume because of obscenity laws, and most of the important figures in the industry were arrested at least once.
Unfortunately my brain is too foggy right now to contribute much to this discussion, even though physique magazines & films are arguably the most significant inspiration for the artwork I do, but I can at least give newbies a very basic rabbit hole to start with.
Bob Mizer promoted his magazine (just one of many physique mags, but one of the most culturally important) as reference material for artists - basically a catalog of models they could hire, for art purposes. Strictly for art! And if one wanted to see more of these fine examples of male beauty, one could order short films through the magazine as well. As time progressed & laws loosened, the mags became a little bit more honest about their purpose. By 1969 they had switched to fully nude photographs (prior to this, models were photographed wearing a "posing strap" to hide the genitals - these were sewn & sold by Mizer's mother). Physique Pictorial was published from 1951 through all the way to 1990, with a few gaps, most notably 1968 when Mizer went to prison on charges of running a prostitution ring.
