Did Edmond OBrien have sex appeal?

Depends on the movie. Definitely had sex appeal in White Heat. Also The Killers and DOA. Whatever sex appeal O'Brien had, it wasn't based on his looks -- no, much more on the way he carried himself, with confidence and steely nerve.

Then again, in Seven Days in May, he plays an over-the-hill, alcoholic senator and doesn't even try to be a compelling man force. And yet the dance hall girl in the cafe outside the ECONCOM base still asks him to dance. His answer: "No thank you, honey, I just had a hernia operation."

Which makes her laugh. O'Brien scores again!

I agree with everyone on this thread who said he definitely has that special something. I just watched "The Bigamist" for the first time and he was very lovable. Good looking in an every-man sort of way. I had no trouble believing those two very beautiful women would be in love with him.

DOA is one of my husband's favorite films and we watched it together a long time ago. I'll have to re-visit that film. But I loved him in "The Bigamist". He was a very sympathetic figure. I loved that he really loved both the women and wanted to do right by both of them.

For me, and I think for a lot of women, there are many facets of a man that contribute to his being attractive and desirable. Sex appeal would be lower down on the list behind things like kindness, gentleness, thoughtfulness, sense of humor, intelligence, etc. In this film at least, Edmond O'Brien had all these traits.

I just watched Bigamist for the second time and I think I see what you are getting at.

The movie would have perhaps been more believable if the would would have cast a handsomer leading man. A guy a woman like Ida Lapino's charector would be swept off her feet.

My question would be how many of those afternoon idols would;

A; Play a soft hearted charector, bad for that tuff guy image

B; Bigomy and cheating on a spouse might be a little too close to home.

C; Be willing to work for a woman director. Maybe not because of their own prejudices but because of the industry's. Directors guarded their positions as a club for men.

Your post is over 5 1/2 years old so I hope ypu are still alive. If not, please dissregard my post.

Not much, sorry Ed.

He kind of reminds me of Henry Fonda- not overly good looking, not a lot of sex appeal, but a good actor and leading man. They both have great voices and nice thick hair too (things women find attractive), I might not be the best judge however, as I like a leading man with a really gorgeous face- like Warren Beatty.

"Getting old is not for sissies."
Bette Davis

I've always thought there was something very attractive about him, it's kind of hard to explain why. I guess he was fairly average looking, and his weight certainly fluctuated from movie to movie, but he just had "something," if that makes sense. So, yes, I do think he had sex appeal. But I also think it came from something other than his looks -- it came from how he carried himself in a lot of his
films. Attraction is a funny thing! I also really like him as an actor!

On a side note, I always thought he looked his best in "The Killers,"
"White Heat," "711 Ocean Drive," "The Hitch Hiker" and "DOA." I'm sure there are more, but those are the movies that first come to mind.