Muscles in the Movies: Perfecting the Art of Illusion by John D. Fair and David L. Chapman (review)

John D. Fair and David L. Chapman offer readers a fascinating and hefty (466 pages) volume showcasing the history of muscles in the motion picture industry. The authors are interested in the human body and the intersections of physical culture, athleticism, and filmmaking. Each author has spent many years researching and documenting the history of physical culture and athletic bodies, and this volume complements their earlier research while laying the groundwork for future studies in these areas.

A central focus of the volume concerns the shifting ideals of illusion and reality in the spectacle of filmmaking. The authors note that "all art involves illusion and our willingness to surrender to it," and they help readers better appreciate the notion that "reality is for the outside world; the cinema is the palace of make-believe" (4–5). The book then demonstrates how early photography and forms of popular entertainment such as magic lantern shows, theater, and competitive sports set the stage for the introduction of muscularity on film. Bodies onscreen—static, in motion, and sometimes erotic—captivated audiences around the world. These bodies were not the bodies of ordinary actors. Rather, they became "godlike so long as the projector is running and the illusion is artificially maintained. Films of this sort exhibit a romantic view of life—not life as it is, but as it could be" (4–5).

Fair and Chapman anchor the book's actors and entertainers within their historical and cultural contexts. Several examples include how motion pictures during World War I projected uniquely strong and athletically gifted individuals onscreen and how showcasing those bodies were important for viewers experiencing physical disabilities during a body-altering Great War. They also bring attention to gay physique films and the popular "sword and sandal" movies of the 1950s and 1960s. These motion pictures drew interest from the LGBTQ community and from viewers interested in the growing bodybuilding and weight training industries. The films also coincided with the international interest in bodybuilder Charles Atlas and the growth of muscle magazines (347).

The book examines a variety of actors from the silent film industry, such as Eugen Sandow and Charmion (Laverie Vallee), whose bodies and movements were captured on film by the studios of Thomas Edison. The volume also spotlights legendary characters from Italian cinema, including Maciste, played by Bartolomeo Pagano, and Ursus, played by Bruto Castellani. Actors Douglas Fairbanks, Pearl White from The Perils of Pauline, and acrobat Emilie Sannom also appear in the volume. The book highlights how muscles, athleticism, and competitive sport played roles in the post–Civil War emergence of motion pictures. Athletes as actors included boxer Jack Johnson, swimmer Annette Kellerman, bodybuilder Arnold Schwarzenegger, and American football player and professional wrestler Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. The inclusion of talented athletes who became popular and even heroic actors document how sport has been essential to the understanding of the history of muscles in motion pictures.

The authors also recognize the unsung heroes of filmmaking—the stuntwomen and stuntmen who perform daring and dangerous action sequences onscreen. The work of actors who stood in for other actors to help make the illusion seem real touches on the premise of the book and demonstrates how illusion and artificially constructed reality make these motion pictures successful.

The authors briefly discuss cinema in China and Hong Kong by including martial arts specialists Wu Lizhu, "the modern Chinese sportswoman," and Bruce Lee. These snapshots give readers examples of muscularity in filmmaking based in Asia and provide scholars with opportunities to further explore physical culture, muscles, and filmmaking in the international contexts of Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Religious-themed films such as Noah's Ark and Samson and Delilah make appearances in the book. These examples could serve as springboards for future scholarship in the area of muscular Christianity and film through religious documentaries such as John Jacobs and the Power...