For Issue 5, I wanted to make sure I captured the correct “look” of an old movie, especially where the fashions of the day are involved. I knew from the start that I wanted to include that bizarre slicked-back hair that was so popular at the time. The obvious way to accomplish this was to go to the ideal source: an old Marx Brothers movie. I remembered that the hero of The Big Store had the look I wanted, so I collected a number of reference images from that and used them to design the appearance of Walter Casey.
Last night, when preparing to write this post, I realized that I couldn’t remember the name of this actor, so (wanting to have a thorough post) I looked him up. His name is Tony Martin, and, to my utmost astonishment, he is still alive and still performing. He is, at age 96, the last of the Hollywood singer-actors who is still alive. This is the hazard of doing visual research but not factual research. If I’d looked into his identity ahead of time, I would not have based the appearance of this obnoxious character (Walter Casey) on the one guy who’s still alive. Somehow that just seems wrong. Mr. Martin, you have my utmost apologies. I’m sure you are a very nice person, unlike Mr. Casey, and you can be assured that the main element I’m borrowing from you is the hair.
I also collected some images of other characters in the movie (the female lead and the Mustachioed Villain) but I don’t know if I’ll get the opportunity to show them. I hope I do, as I really want to draw the Mustachioed Villain.
The image depicts Mr. Martin as he appears in The Big Store, on the sheet music for the featured song, “If It’s You.” His character, Tommy Rogers, is a singer who, in addition to singing “If It’s You,” sings the “Tenement Symphony,” considered by some to be the worst musical number of any Marx Brothers film. This is not, however, the fault of Mr. Martin.
This making a film on the ship is such a fun idea! Yes! I want to see the female heroine and the Mustachioed Bad Guy! And the hero with the hair and sparkling smile is exactly right!
(Yes to the above)! Plus, mustachioed kind of sounds like pistachio(ed). At 96 I can't imagine what they would use him for though. I'm sure his voice can't be better than a broken tail-pipe with a piece of plastic bag fluttering around on the end, for good measure. I guess he could just play an old man in a corner table somewhere. Also I'm sure he wouldn't be too offended, I mean you stripped him of whatever specific features he really had and just got down to the basic stuck-up actor look that you were looking for anyway. It's kind of funny to imagine him seeing this though! I wonder if he even uses a computer.
I understand that he still sings concerts, so his voice must still be pretty good.