Aug 2024:- Article undergoing review and enlargement at the Royale Studio blog
Royale - The Football Team Gather Round
This set continues the football theme, but it's essentially a group of men wearing nothing but tight white shorts - and socks of various patterns which I find are invaluable in tracking the different characters through the 'action'. As far as I can see it's a different group to the last set although they are obviously sharing socks (and possibly shorts too, a nice thought!).
In the first picture the team are watching the referee holding up a pair of ripped shorts which they have just torn off him. This chap's shirt is a real period piece but it's the tight shorts everyone is wearing that are most eye catching.
The referee is Ian Oliver. On the far right is Fred Collins and standing next to him is John Skilling, they also appeared together in Soldier-Sailor. The model on the far left is Tom Manlick, infamous for his appearance wearing a chain pouch in the Horse Guard's series. Next to him is a less well documented model, Alan Hythe
Erotically speaking this is an unremarkable picture but what is striking is the number of actors/models in it - 5. When did you last see 5 men in a modern erotic photo? The only examples I can call to mind are from Bound Gods, maybe a few other major film studios and fashion shoots like underwear range launches.
This is a straightforward cheesecake shot 50's style but with my interest in shorts and men's bottoms it's irresistible. In Royale's pictures the themes of discipline and submission are never far away so that even a simple line-up like this has darker possibilities. These men have well shaped bodies and natural muscle definition, but Tom Manlick (far left) and John Skilling (far right stand out). With a haircut and new footwear they would grace any modern photographers output.
Royale - Double Caning for The Football Team
The series continues with a series of shots in which the models take turns in caning each other (for their misdeeds. This picture sums it up pretty well. There's quite a contrast between these wooden, static pictures and the energy and atmosphere of the last set suggesting they are earlier, or perhaps the models were less experienced.
(L to R: Hythe, Manlick, Skilling, Collins)
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