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James D. Barnes in THE GREAT TRAIN ROBBERY (1903)
Throughout the month of June you’re going to be seeing a lot of mustaches on TCM. Every Friday night you can tune in and enjoy some carefully coiffed facial hair in a series of Pirate Pictures hosted by funny man Greg Proops. And on June 9th mustache lovers won’t want to miss Mustache Monday. This special one day event will feature a series of films with famously mustachioed actors including Charlie Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks, Clark Gable, Errol Flynn, Groucho Marx, William Powell, Peter Sellers and Sean Connery, which segues into a tribute to British born actor Richard Harris who often sported a mustache as well as a full beard.
Mustaches of all shapes, sizes, widths and weights have long been part our movie history so it’s easy to take them for granted. But a good mustache can have power and presence in the movies and many actors have made great use of their facial hair to seduce costars, entice laughter and menace their enemies. One of the cinema’s most famous mustaches undoubtedly belonged to James D. Barnes (pictured above) who appeared in one of the first narrative silent films, THE GREAT TRAIN ROBBERY (1903). Barnes played an outlaw who famously points a gun directly at the camera and fires. His bushy mustache makes him look rough, tough and threatening and it undoubtedly left a lasting impression on audiences. Since then many beloved movie stars have modeled mustaches on and off screen but overtime their significance has changed. During the1930s and 1940s mustaches were often sported by actors portraying elegant, worldly and sophisticated men with an air of authority. But after WW2 mustaches grew more robust and became somewhat of an anti-authority symbol frequently representing artistic freedom and rebellion. And in the 1970s and 80s they suggested a kind of carefree virility and aggressive masculinity. Today mustaches and beards are extremely popular among men of all ages and even though their cultural significance has diminished the mustache can still turn heads and ignite discussion.
In honor of TCM’s upcoming Mustache Monday event I decided to compile a gallery of performers who often gave us ‘good mustache’ followed by a handful of suggested films. And if I neglected to mention one of your favorite mustachioed actors please feel free to mention them in the comment section below.
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Charlie Chaplin
Where He Gives Good Mustache: THE GOLD RUSH (1925), MODERN TIMES (1936) and THE GREAT DICTATOR (1940).
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Douglas Fairbanks
Where He Gives Good Mustache: THE THREE MUSKETEERS (1921), THE THIEF OF BAGDAD (1924) and THE BLACK PIRATE (1926).
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John Barrymore
Where He Gives Good Mustache: THE TEMPEST (1928), ARSENE LUPIN (1932) and DINNER AT EIGHT (1933).
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Oliver Hardy
Where He Gives Good Mustache: SONS OF THE DESERT (1933), BABES IN TOYLAND aka MARCH OF THE WOODEN SOLDIERS (1934) and WAY OUT WEST (1937).
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Ronald Colman
Where He Gives Good Mustache: BULLDOG DRUMMAND (1929), LOST HORIZON (1937) and A DOUBLE LIFE (1947).
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Douglas Fairbanks Jr.
Where He Gives Good Mustache: SCARLET DAWN (1932), PRISONER OF ZENDA (1937) and GUNGA DIN (1939).
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Clark Gable
Where He Gives Good Mustache: IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT (1934), GONE WITH THE WIND (1939) and STRANGE CARGO (1940).
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Groucho Marx
Where He Gives Good Mustache: ANIMAL CRACKERS (1930), DUCK SOUP (1933) and A NIGHT AT THE OPERA (1935).
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Warren William
Where He Gives Good Mustache: THREE ON A MATCH (1932), EMPLOYEE’S ENTRANCE (1933) and IMITATION OF LIFE (1934).
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William Powell
Where He Gives Good Mustache: THE THIN MAN (1934), MY MAN GODFREY (1936) and LIBELED LADY (1936).
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Melvyn Douglas
Where He Gives Good Mustache: THE OLD DARK HOUSE (1932), THE VAMPIRE BAT (1933) and NINOTCHKA (1939)
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Conrad Veidt
Where He Gives Good Mustache: THE THIEF OF BAGDAD (1940), A WOMAN’S FACE (1941), and CASABLANCA (1942).
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Robert Donat
Where He Gives Good Mustache: THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO (1934), THE 39 STEPS (1935) and THE MAGIC BOX (1951).
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Errol Flynn
Where He Gives Good Mustache: THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD (1938), THE PRIVATE LIVES OF ELIZABETH AND ESSEX (1939) and THE SEA HAWK (1940).
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Basil Rathbone
Where He Gives Good Mustache: CAPTAIN BLOOD (1935), ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD (1938) and SON OF FRANKENSTEIN (1939)
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Nigel Bruce
Where He Gives Good Mustache: SHERLOCK HOLMES (Film Series 1939-1946), REBECCA (1940) and SUSPICION (1941).
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Laurence Olivier
Where He Gives Good Mustache: REBECCA (1940), 49TH PARALLEL (1941) and SLEUTH (1972)
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Boris Karloff
Where He Gives Good Mustache: THE MASK OF FU MANCHU (1932), THE INVISIBLE RAY (1935) and TARGETS (1967)
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John Carradine
Where He Gives Good Mustache: HURRICANE (1937), STAGECOACH (1939) and HOUSE OF DRACULA (1945).
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Cesar Romero
Where He Gives Good Mustache: DIAMOND JIM (1935), 15 MAIDEN LANE (1936), and WEEK-END IN HAVANNA (1941).
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Lon Chaney Jr.
Where He Gives Good Mustache: SON OF DRACULA (1943), CALLING DR. DEATH (1943) and WEIRD WOMAN (1944).
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Vincent Price
Where He Gives Good Mustache: HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL (1958), PIT AND THE PENDULUM (1961) and THEATRE OF BLOOD (1973)
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Clifton Webb
Where He Gives Good Mustache: LAURA (1944), SITTING PRETTY (1948) and CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN (1950).
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Zachary Scott
Where He Gives Good Mustache: THE MASK OF DIMITRIOS (1944), MILDRED PIERCE (1945) and RUTHLESS (1948).
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David Niven
Where He Gives Good Mustache: A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH (1946), BONJOUR TRISTESSE (1958) and THE PINK PANTHER (1963)
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Peter Sellers
Where He Gives Good Mustache: THE PINK PANTHER (1963), THE WORLD OF HENRY ORIENT (1964) and DR. STRANGELOVE (1964)
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Toshiro Mifune
Where He Gives Good Mustache: HIGH AND LOW (1963), GRAND PRIX (1966) and JAPAN”S LONGEST DAY (1967).
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Terry Thomas
Where He Gives Good Mustache: THE NAKED TRUTH (1957), TOM THUMB (1958) and THE MOUSE ON THE MOON (1963)
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Lee Van Cleef
Where He Gives Good Mustache: IT CONQUERED THE WORLD (1956), FOR A FEW DOLLARS MORE (1965) and DEATH RIDES A HORSE (1967).
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Oliver Reed
Where He Gives Good Mustache: WOMEN IN LOVE (1969), THE DEVILS (1971) and ROYAL FLASH (1975)
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Alain Delon
Where He Gives Good Mustache: THE LEOPARD (1963), LE CERCLE ROUGE aka THE RED CIRCLE (1970) and LE GITAN aka THE GYPSY (1975).
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Charles Bronson
Where He Gives Good Mustache: FAREWELL FRIEND aka ADIEU L’AMI (1968), THE MECHANIC (1972) and DEATH WISH (1974).
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Donald Sutherland
Where He Gives Good Mustache: DON’T LOOK NOW (1973), INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS (1978) and THE GREAT TRAIN ROBBERY (1979).
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Sean Connery
Where He Gives Good Mustache: THE MOLLY MAGUIRES (1970), THE OFFENCE (1973) and ZARDOZ (1974).
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Richard Harris
Where He Gives Good Mustache: MAJOR DUNDEE (1965), THE MOLLY MAGUIRES (1970) and MAN IN THE WILDERNESS (1971).
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Franco Nero
Where He Gives Good Mustache: THE FIFTH CHORD (1971), FORCE 10 FROM NAVARONE (1978) and QUERELLE (1982).
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Richard Roundtree
Where He Gives Good Mustache: SHAFT (1971), SHAFT IN AFRICA (1973) and A GAME FOR VULTURES (1979).
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Robert Redford
Where He Gives Good Mustache: BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID (1969), JEREMIAH JOHNSON (1972) and THE ELECTRIC HORSEMAN (1979)
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Burt Reynolds
Where He Gives Good Mustache: FUZZ (1972), SEMI-TOUGH (1977) and SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT (1977).
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Billy Dee Williams
Where He Gives Good Mustache: LADY SINGS THE BLUES (1972), MAHOGANY (1975) and STAR WARS: THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK (1980).
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Nick Nolte
Where He Gives Good Mustache: THE DEEP (1977), NORTH DALLAS FORTY (1979) and EXTREME PREJUDICE (1986).
And last but not least… TCM’s Star of the Month!
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Rock Hudson
Where He Gives Good Mustache: HORNET’S NEST (1970), PRETTY MAIDS ALL IN A ROW (1971) and SHOWDOWN (1973).