How old was Gable's character supposed to be in this film? Sixty? Anyhow he was far too old to play this part and looked much older than his actual age of fifty nine.
shareI don't think so at all. I think his age was testament to several of the films messages. Gay was a faded cowboy, really too old to be doing the things he was and too old and accustomed to his life to start again "for wages".
shareI think all the actors were older than their characters (except Ritter). I see Gay in his late forties, Guido 40 tops (he has to be old enough to have flown in WWII), Perce about 35 and Roslyn about 25. Can't blame those responsible for casting for cheating a little tho, not when they had the chance to work with this kind of talent.
Is that the latest fashion?
No, Mom, that's the oldest profession.
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Remember that, decades ago, people tended to age drastically and more rapidly, especially if they had a rough life and/or health problems and were outdoors a lot (before sunblocks/sunscreens). Nowadays, we're used to people 80-100 looking like people far younger. In "olden times", an 80-year-old person likely would be barely functional if even still alive. Lifespans have increased, and quality of life has improved greatly. We're used to action stars in their 60s and 70s who do their own stunts! In the past, they would be lucky to do active roles in their 40s, if even that old.
It can be shocking to look at the ages of actors in older films. I sometimes think, "He couldn't possibly be that age! He must be much older, and they're trying to pass him off as young!" Then, I go to IMDb and see that that old-looking man actually was only in his 40s or even his 30s. Yet, I would have guessed 50s or older. So, you have to take that into account. A 60-year-old man in the early Sixties probably looks far older than the average 60-year-old man in the 21st century. Nutrition, medical advances, and more help us look younger far longer than they could up until at least the Seventies, when nutrition centers and supplement sources became widely available.
By the way: Take a look at James Dean. He looks far older than his early 20s in nearly every picture or piece of film. Compare that to the youthful leading men today, including the amazing, age-defying Johnny Depp!
~~MystMoonstruck~~
Gable was a heavy smoker and drinker who apparently crash-dieted before the film. But he still looked magnificent compared to a guy like Spencer Tracy, who was only a coupla years older than Gable, but at this time looked like Gable's father! As the previous poster said, revolutionary changes in health and nutrition have something to do with how people look. Errol Flynn was only about 50 when he died, but looked maybe 20 years older. Hell, I have a plethora of health problems, but I look much younger than my father did at my age. He smoked, I don't.
shareRobert Osbourne of TCM recently said on one of his TCM pieces that Flynn "looked 80" when he died. I'm not sure how he knows this as I've never seen a photo where he looked that old (maybe RO got to see an autopsy photo).
Most of that early aging in film actors of the 40s and 50s was due to smoking and drinking. James Dean smoked, and it had already added about 10 years to his face at the time of his death.
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