Vintage Bath Nite imagery

The final image in Etienne's 'Bath Nite' was probably inspired by AMG's images of Wally Shillicut bathing himself in a tiny bathtub.

Wally Schillicut in the Tub 1 (AMG)

This image tantalises, screening what might be happening under the water. In reality, he's probably wearing a pouch.

 

Wally Schillicut in the Tub 2 (AMG)

Now the pouch is visible, full and beautifully shaped for aficionados. The clingy, near-transparency indicates that it's wet. Wally's nether regions suspended over the water are erotic in their own right. But, spare a moment to appreciate the tension in the model's torso.

 

Wally Schillicut in the Tub 3 (AMG)

Sitting on a box to wash his feet, Wally's pouch exhibits more tension, topped off with a descending dribble that challenges the restrictions of the era. 

 

Wally Schillicut in the Tub 4 (AMG)

AMG roped in animals on more than one occasion to supplement their model's charms. In this image, the cuteness of the ducks seems to rub off on Wally. The strategic positioning is more amusing than erotic, since Wally's pouch strings are clearly visible.

 

Wally Schillicut in the Tub 5 (AMG)

 A single duck offers more possibilities for visual punning when placed between the legs, but Wally seems to have a bit of a handful with this one. Just as well he's got his pouch on here, but it's not entirely hiding his 'embarrassment'. Better watch out for that pecker! At least he didn't have to contend with a goat or a donkey or a monkey like some other AMG models did.

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 Wally's AMG shoot didn't only inspire Etienne....

 

William MacLane - Bath House

 

William MacLane transplanted the imagery to a Japanese bath house, which in the post-WW2 era of the 50s might well have been patronised by USN sailors, as suggested here. Such intercultural encounters were a popular theme at the time in films and books, usually with depressing plots. MacLane is making a conscious attempt to be artistic and literary here. Relevant, we might say, today. 

 

However, the pose, which is about a man washing himself in primitive conditions, doesn't really work in this context.  Even with another (sexy) sailor watching him closely and touching his leg with his back, the washer women drain the eroticism out of the picture far more effectively than any number of ducks. However, that hint about gay relationships, possibly one-way in this case, is an interesting feature, also found in William MacLane's other work.

 

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This surge of interest in bath-tub washing, at a time when most households were consigning the practice to history and turning to showers, may in its turn have been inspired by James MacArthur's erotic splash in the 1958 movie, 'The Light In The Forest' (below).

 

MacArthur plays a white boy who has been brought up by Native Americans. Captured by settlers, he is introduced to the pleasures of civilisation. The images are tantalisingly homoerotic, but I don't think the conversation here is about back scrubbing! 

 

 

Or chest shaving either, here!

 

MacArthur's character suffers the customary range of humiliations meted out to captives...

 

He's tied up and abducted...

 

 

 Forced to wade across rivers in his best buckskins, under the watchful (and I like to think, lecherous) eye of his captor. 

Who could blame him for it?

 

James' preparation for playing the role seems to have been equally closely policed by minders. Poor James! Surprisingly, an obvious career as a sex bomb did not materialise for him.

 

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I can't leave the subject of bath tubs without reference to one of the best known examples of the genre in the gay canon. Once again it's AMG who are responsible.

 

 

The GI standing in the bath tub seems to saying, 'do I have to?' As if this is a punishment. We might take his companion to be another soldier, but he's actually armed with a civilian shotgun rather than a military weapon, so he might really be an enraged father making sure his daughter isn't going to be left in the lurch by the trigger-happy GI she's been messing around with. Either way, it's a great example of a man being put in his place.