Thread: Straight razor shaving and T.V.-movies

I don't know if everyone who has the straight razor shaving passion I have, has become as critical when you see actors using a straight razor and strop in a movie or t.v.. What set me off was watching NCIS last night when Mark Harmon was getting ready to shave with a straight and started stropping. The strop looked like a "U". All I could think of is, boy is this going to be one lousy shave. I can name numerous t.v. and movies, some have actors who you can see know what they are doing. To name a few, John Wayne, Lee Marvin, Kirk Douglas and Burt Lancaster. Are there more out there who forget the plot and focus on the shave?

I know what you mean. Whenever there is a shaving scene my wife looks at me knowingly. I will either say wow they know what they're doing or that is poor technique.

What I don't understand is why they almost always have the razor at far too steep an angle.

The thing is they rarely even get it right when they are using a DE! What's that all about?

Typically a shave scene is only in there so that the person shaving/being shaved can get a nick.

Having said that I would let Naomie Harris shave my face any day...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_EfCYrgR9o

There is a scene in Sweeny Todd where if he were using an actual straight razor he would have destroyed the strop and his edge in about 3 seconds. It made me very upset.

The killing didn't bother you, but the stropping did!

I believe it's the only scene in the movie that made me wince.

In the series Broad Walk Empire there are several scenes of straight razor shaves that are all messed up. Great series but the shave scenes need work

The worst I've seen was in a series on TV called Tour of Duty. I was watching Lt Goldman shave with a straight, very little soap and a severe vertical angle and 4 day growth. He would definitely qualify for a Purple Heart.

Aloha!

I've always noticed straight shaving in movies and TV shows, and I can't help myself from focusing on form and function of the actor with the razor. Just this evening I watched Henry Blake on MASH shave with a straight. Not too bad, but I thought to myself "If that were a real shave, he'd better have the styptic pencil handy." And sure enough, in the show, he cut himself and dabbed on toilet paper.

There is a fair amount of straight razor shaving in old TV Westerns (I've recently become hooked on them). I see it frequently in shows like "Rawhide", "Wagon Train", "Have Gun Will Travel" and "Wanted Dead or Alive". It's usually an old Western Barber applying the razor, but you also see the actors shaving in hotel at camp. Most of the barber shaves are horrific. It's obvious that the actor playing the barber either never held a straight razor before, or just did anything - no matter how awkward - to get through the scene. Richard Boone in "Have Gun Will Travel" looked like he shaved daily with a straight, and given his rough and touble true-life image, he probably did.

The movie scene that recently had me watching closely was Sean Penn straight razor shaving in "Casualties of War". There is a rather long scene with him, face full of lather, slowly straight razor shaving in base camp during the Vietnam War. It appeared he had shaved with a straight before, or had some decent coaching. His form was not horrible. Some issues over the course of him shaving his entire face on camera, but it is Hollywood. You have to cut him some slack for the fact that this particular scene probably took 3 hours to shoot and he probably had to lather and mock shave his face 20 times over the course of shooting that scene.

But it's like this with everything you are passionate about. I was into Amateur Radio for a long time and knew Morse Code as well as I know English. It used to drive me crazy when I'd hear fake Morse Code in movies and TV shows that was nothing more than gibberish. No sense whatsoever. Just some guy making noise with a morse key. Same with straight shaving. It's only us select few that notice the issues with movie/TV straight razor shaves. Your typical viewier wouldn't notice a thing wrong with them.

-Zip

Originally Posted by ZipZop

But it's like this with everything you are passionate about. I was into Amateur Radio for a long time and knew Morse Code as well as I know English. It used to drive me crazy when I'd hear fake Morse Code in movies and TV shows that was nothing more than gibberish. No sense whatsoever. Just some guy making noise with a morse key. Same with straight shaving. It's only us select few that notice the issues with movie/TV straight razor shaves. Your typical viewier wouldn't notice a thing wrong with them.

You're absolutely right. For me it's actors portraying musicians in TV and movies - it's very rare to see them making gestures that are even close to what real musicians do. The ones who actually know what they're doing really jump out at you. Card-playing scenes are the other thing I notice, although the research in card/gambling movies seems to be much better than in music movies.

Aloha!

Happened to watch "Cold Mountain" on Amazon Prime last night. I'm surprised I never saw this movie before. I enjoyed it.

In one scene, Jude Law (a Civil War Confederate deserter) shaved off his beard with a knife and water after about a year walking back home after desertion. Just plain water and a knife, not even any soap. Yikes. Can't imagine. I know that in the 1800s and during the Civil War that this was done, but it looked painful. Blood and nicks and everything. Can't imagine. And not even any aftershave/balm to soothe the skin.

It's no wonder men died of lockjaw and sepsis and similar deseases from shaving back then.

-Zip