These posts review the photographs of the British, 'Royale Studio' of the 1950's/60's which specialised in depicting men wearing tight, sexy clothing, especially military uniforms, designed to show off the male figure, often with a disciplinary or fight storyline attached.
This post covers 'Navy Romeo', a storyette (as Royale described them) of some 36 pictures. This is the best picture I have from the series (courtesy of 'Sailor Al' as you can see). It shows two Sailors spying on a comrade as he dresses up to go to 'The Dance'. If you are a bottom fancier then it's probably fair to say that this image hasn't lost much of it's power to attract the eye in the 60 years since it was taken. In fact Royale used it themselves to illustrate this series in their catalogue (below).
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Royale Catalogue image for Navy Romeo (NARO)
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The legend 'NARO' is the ordering code for customers wanting to buy the 'Navy Romeo' pictures by post (no internet in those days!). The story was published in 2 distinct parts which I will cover in separate posts. This is Image 7 of Part 1. I have 12 of the Part 1 pictures and 19 of Part 2, that's 31 out of the advertised total of 36. Sadly most of them are only thumbnails which a previous enthusiast must have extracted from a Royale Catologue sheet, so they are not of the same quality as the top image above, but you still get a good sense of how they looked and the added compensation that many of them are numbered which assists sequencing the storyline (although these numbers are a mixed blessing for that, as we will see).
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In my original mitchmen reviews of Royale Studio, I included the image above in a post entitled 'The Itch' with a storyline which suggested that the piggy-backing pair had played a prank on their colleague by putting itching powder into his underpants. I got this story from the website of 'Sailor Al' (now defunct) but I now know that the images I presented there actually came from two different Royale series - 'Navy Romeo' and 'Navy Gash'. Neither of them were called 'The Itch', nor is any itching referenced in the plot summaries provided in the the Royal Catalogue, which simply says of Romeo Part 1:-
"R.N. matelots Tom and Spike watch Ted, a ladies man, strip and change into whites for The Dance. Behind a screen they take the mickey out of him as he preens himself as he dresses".
However there is a plausible support for the itching powder idea in the imagery itself which I will point out as we go.
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Royale Studio - Navy Romeo 01? or 02?
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Tom and Spike peer over a screen to spy on Ted in his underwear which is of the white, high-waisted variety (possibly Y-fronts) which were the norm around 1960. This image gives a reasonably good impression of the erotic appeal of that garment on the right man. The image reflected in the slightly tilted mirror cleverly exaggerates his thigh size, if only we could see the rest a bit better! Ted is clearly admiring himself, but we can only speculate about where Tom and Spike's interest lies.
I don't have a numbered version of this image but Ted's underwear and the upright pose of the spectators seems to place it in front of No 3, shown below. I don't know if it is 1 or 2, the other is missing.
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Royale Studio - Navy Romeo 03
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Ted holds up his white bell bottoms to inspect them. They cast an odd shadow on his crotch - or is that a stain? It gives us a teasing clue to his contours. Tom and Spike crane closer to watch and their own bottom-hugging trousers make a sexy sight (remember they have been dampened to promote clinging!).Their interest certainly reflects the 'official' storyline of them mocking the vanity of the unit's 'Romeo'. It also fits the 'itch' scenario with Ted here having noticed an itch and checking if it's his trousers causing the problem. Perhaps the missing image 2 showed him scratching!
Both scenarios are erotic in their own right but the underlying theme of them watching Ted dressing and undressing was powerful stuff in itself back then. Even to admire another man's naked body was considered a disgusting perversion in polite society (except in the non-sexual context of a body building competion and even that was dubious). Royale uses the boisterous cameradery of men in the forces to disguise this 'hidden eroticism' in the images.
I have a smaller, thumbnail version of this image, explicitly numbered '3'. Where I am not certain of the numbering I have put a question mark next to my guess in the picture captions. I have also attempted to enhance some of these images by reducing the gamma but the lighter originals can be found in the mitchmen archive file for this series along with the thumbnail versions.
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| Royale Studio - Navy Romeo 04 |
The story wanders into deeper waters here as Ted lowers his underpants and exposes his bare bottom. It's not clear what exactly he's doing, but it obviously involves his groin area. In those days 'the itch' was a euphemism for a sexually-transmitted disease and to me it looks as if Ted might be getting something to 'sooth' or treat the area in question. You might prefer an explanation that he's fragrancing it in anticipation of success at The Dance but either way his credentials as a (straight) sexual adventurer are enhanced.
Tom grabs the top of the screen in his eagerness to see more (but of what?). Spike puts his hands on his hips in a manly stance which creates a great view of his backside and broad shoulders. This could be seen as him standing back, hands well away from anything naughty, laughing to himself at Ted's predicament. However, his pelvis is thrust forward, a typical expression of sexual male bravado and it's directed towards Ted's ass, suggesting an imaginary coupling.
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| Royale Studio - Navy Romeo 05? |
Here, Tom gets up on Spike's back. This piggy-back pose links the next three images together although only one of them is numbered - No 7. The other two fit neatly into the gap between 4 and 7 although it's not obvious which way round they go. I have used the increasing curiousity of the two Peeping Toms to sequence them here.
Ted has now put his trousers on and is changing into his best boots which can be seen on the floor below the chair in the previous picture. I have a suspicion that Spike may have provided them for him as he seems to be wearing only dark socks in some of these pictures. Anyway, we get a glimpse of Ted's hairy pecs but lower places that might be considered to be of unseemly interest are discreetly obscured.
Instead, the main erotic feature is the continuing 'bottom fest' provided by Tom and Spike. Their bent over, receptive poses, intimately entwined, make a very sexy image indeed, emphasising their close, boyish friendship but also suggesting a mutual interest in Ted that goes beyond playing 'tricks' on him*. Their double-decker display of eagerness, vying for 'pole' position, is a tribute to Ted's desirability (and the boy's desperation!) Spike's butch pose in the previous picture adds to the intensity of this swirl of masculinity.
*Even in the 1960's, trick was common parlance for a casual sexual partner.
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| Royale Studio - Navy Romeo 06? |
Ted kneels here with his trousers lowered as though making an adjustment and displays a bottom cleft that goes way beyond the merely erotic. Suddenly we realise that he seems to wearing no underwear on at all. You can attribute the decision to 'go commando' to his preferred seduction technique with the ladies or the itching powder, whatever you wish.
You can strongly sense Spike and Tom's heightened excitement at this development and that's thanks to the photographer's visual crafting:- he has got Spike to hook Tom's legs round his hips in the traditional piggy-back style and that has pulled them into a wide open and very sexy position. Spike's own legs have also shifted into a wider, slightly couching stance and the result is that both men's trousers are stretched so tightly across their bottoms that they look like tights. It's like purified porn.
Now look at the reflection in the mirror. It seems to show all three men stacked astride each other. This might pass as playground-style fun to the innocent but by this point in the story, the implication of sexual involvement is unmistakeable. It is so sad that the creative talent behind this remarkable image has been largely forgotten.
I haven't been able to think up a convincing narrative for what Ted is doing here. He seems to be trying to manouveur his trousers over his shoes (a challenge most of us have attempted with jeans!). However this doesn't seem to fit very well with the previous image. There seems to be a case for reversing them but although I don't have a numbered thumbnail of image 06?, but Ted's bare bottom and his position in front of the mirror provide very good continuity into image 07 below. If anything, image 05? above seems to fit better between 07 and 08, which we are just coming to. It's possible Royale may have decided to leave it out of the numbered set as not being interesting enough. That would leave room for an image 5 that shows Ted discarding his underwear. Yum! Shame I don't have it.
Of course, we can't assume that Royale's numbering is strictly correct, nor that these sets were photographed in a strict chronological sequence. Doubling back to produce 'in-fills' or insert extra pictures is always likely to result in continuity errors. There's another anomaly like this in Part 2 of this series.
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| Royale Studio - Navy Romeo 07 |
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The full-size version of this image appears at the top of this post so I've used the numbered thumbnail here
Ted pulls up his trousers and is caught in a peek-a-boo position that is classic 1950's naughtiness (but only as a pose for women of course). It seems to confirm Ted's no-underwear dress decision. Spike and Ted are nearly falling over themselves to get at this peachy sight, feast on those yummy buttocks!
This time the reflection in the mirror shows them creeping up, unseen, behind the unsuspecting Ted. There's a touch of menace in this which parodies and exploits the widespread, then view homosexuals preying on innocent men and seducing them into their vile, unnatural ways (and make no mistake, those were exactly the sort of words that were openly used about men like us).
Royale Studio - Navy Romeo 08
Ted is not tying up his
boot laces here, but strapping gaiters
round his ankles. These are stiff ankle protectors and intended also to
capture the billowing bell bottoms and close off the open top of the
boots for protection and safety in a combat situation. They are seen
lying on the floor in picture 05? of this series and more clearly when worn by Ted in the
pictures that follow this one. His leg-up position here creates yet
another provocative pose out of a mundane everyday activity. One
which the on-lookers find an almost irresistible target.
I probably don't need to
point out the (barely) hidden eroticism of Spike's toe aimed at the
cleft in Ted's backside but there's also a more subtle, secondary
titillation with it's close proximity to Ted's own foot, suggestive
of lovers playing 'footsie'. Spikes open, leaning-back pose is
itself suggestive of intimate spooning with Ted (for a sex-starved
imagination at any rate)! I suspect there was an interesting
reflection in the mirror too, just off to the right. There's a
similar 'closeness' going on between Tom and Spike. The subtle, erotic
choreography of some of these images is amazingly complex. This picture
also brings out a rather nice impression of the tight fit of Tom and
Spike's trousers round the lower body and thighs, with a pleasing
profile of Tom's bottom (extreme left).
Strong lighting from the
left of Ted casts an odd shadow of his arm which has the
extraordinary effect of making his trouser pants look completely open at the
back. I haven't seen a full size version of this image so I can't say
if this is deliberate artistry or a fortuitous quirk of the smaller
scale picture. However, it is a graphic reminder of his discarded
underwear, which I suspect is the little white pile on the floor just
beyond his foot (see below also). There's another tantalising shadow
in picture 03.
Royale Studio - Navy Romeo 09
With preparations
complete, Ted imagines introducing himself to the film star pin-up on
the wall and you can almost imagine him saying “don't I look
great?” (not without reason from where I'm sitting!). The two
mischievous voyeurs pause from their lusting to parody his action
with Spike making a courtly bow and Tom simulating feminine surprise
and delight. Cynics might see the less-than-modest forward thrust of
his lower body here as an invitation for Spike to dip his head a
little lower.
The dressy effect of
Ted's gaiters and the discarded underwear on the floor are clearly
visible here
Royale Studio - Navy Romeo 10
This image probably gives us
the best view of Ted's attractive figure with the enhancing effect of
his hip-hugging trousers complemented by the tightness of the RN
shirt around his torso. It's low cut, square, head opening
accentuates the sweep of his neck. He seems to be holding a cushion
in his arms here as a substitute for the real thing he desires.
Behind the screen Spike
and Tom pose as though kissing each other but their bodies and lips
are not actually touching. It's interesting to consider how the
censors would have viewed this. The female film star is a reminder
that kisses like this between men and women were commonplace in
movies and yet men passionately kissing each other was absolutely
taboo. By distancing of the pair and providing the
clearly-announced, humorous context of 'taking the mickey' out of
their straight colleague the scene might have escaped the red pen in a
live, theatrical context. Unfortunately the unashamed eroticism of
the pictures that frame this scene nullifies that possibility.
Royale would have known
that would be the case – the minds behind these complex images are not without
intelligence, nor naïve. So it's more likely that this is another
deliberate parody, not only of heterosexual vanity, but of the whole
concept of censorship as it was applied to relationships between men.
But imagine how comforting this portrayal would have been for lonely,
gay men who saw the image, using the masculine aura of military
servicemen to present men kissing as something that was perfectly OK. Notice
though, that it still takes place in secret, out of the sight of the
heterosexual.
The numbered thumbnail for this image (in the archive) is less closely cropped than this variant.
Royale Studio - Navy Romeo 11
In this image Ted appears
to be holding something up as though to kiss it. It doesn't seem to
be the same cushion-like object as in the preceding picture - that is
now placed on the chair. The boys behind the screen eagerly return
to their surveillance and Spike makes the 'OK' sign as though Ted's
action means that their plan is now going well.
I
confess I'm not certain
what this means, but if you look closely, you might notice that Ted's
attention in these pictures actually seems focussed, not on the
glamorous film
star, but on the other hard-to-make-out photo just above, which looks a
bit like a showgirl in black stockings. In fact I believe this is one
of Royale's infamous*, high-booted, Horse Guards images, rather like the
one below, but with the subject in the process of undressing.
*Royale famously
published pictures of real members of the Royal Horse Guards regiment
posing in a mixture of their proper uniform and racy underwear. It
was a very public scandal that made the tabloid front pages and may have helped the cause of
homosexual law reform. Royale's successor 'Guys in Uniform' repeated the feat in 1976.
Charles Kassapian as a Horse Guard, by Royale
That conjecture leads me to believe that what Ted is holding up may actually be bank
notes, as though reminding us that the Queen's men can be bought for
money. Simultaneously it's suggesting that Ted, the supposedly straight
hunk, is not averse to buying such favours himself, thereby implying
that the terrible 'queer' malady is also rife in the realm of The Royal Navy.
What a superb mockery of the heterosexual establishment! No wonder
Spike is so pleased with himself!
Back at picture 11, and on a more basic, erotic
level, the reflection in the mirror at this point introduces the
startling impression of Spike reaching up between Ted's legs to grope
him, but the casual observer would never spot it. This dull little
story positively sparkles with hidden homoerotic gems!
Notice that in this
image Spike's trousers seem to have a 'bare' back window similar to
Ted's in picture 08. It must be that this is the effect of the
stretched, wet pants becoming slightly transparent and showing skin
colour beneath. The dark shadow and whiter area to the right is the
front flap of his uniform which is a double layer of fabric and not
tight and thus shows as white. A different visual effect, caused by
lighting from opposite sides seems to show Ted's bare legs showing
though his trousers.
Royale Studio - Navy Romeo 12?
The true object of Ted's
interest is even more obvious in this picture and the boys are so
excited that they squat down piggy-back fashion to peek through a
crack (yes a crack!) in a pose that seems to abjectly beg for Ted's (or our,
or anyone's) attention. It's not far short of simulating intercourse
between them and at this point there's no real attempt to hide the
eroticism. Despite the revelation about Ted's true inclinations he
cuts a figure just as attractive and manly as he did to them before
(well of course he does!). His reflection in the mirror seems to introduce
an element of ambiguity as to the direction of those inclinations, but they are happy, nay eager, to
go down for him.
If Royale ever applied 'The Itch' to this series, it takes on a very different meaning here.
Royale Studio - Navy Romeo 14?
This looks as if it might
be the end of Part 1 with Ted appearing to be departing (looking
great) and the boys exchanging kisses (disguised as a high-five) and apparently
very satisfied with the outcome.
I don't know exactly how
many pictures there are in Part 1. The earliest image number I can positively identify in Part 2 is No 21 and I think it has 5
images in front of it, so that would mean Part 1 numbers 15. However, I've given this picture the number
14 (or it could even be 13) because the opening of Part 2 suggests
that at the end of Part 1, Ted discovers that he's being spied on
with some sort of confrontation happening. You'll see what I mean in Part 2 (link below).
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Royale Props and Accessories
Royale's specially
prepared uniforms are responsible for much of the erotic flavour of
these images but the props and accessories also play a part and some become familiar friends in different photo sets.
In these concluding
pictures of Navy Romeo, Part 1 we get a good view of the Chinese
bamboo screen that has concealed the voyeurs from their quarry
throughout. It's not naval issue obviously! However, it's plausible
that these men (regular sailors or forced conscripts) might be allowed
personal items such as this in a barracks setting. The antique,
oriental style tells you about the artistic taste of the producers of these
photos, since they would have provided this prop.
The mirror plays an
equally important role in the story, as it's used to emphasise Romeo Ted's vanity,
but it's also a device for slipping in tantalising glimpses of anatomy
(e.g. Nos 3, 12) and in telescoping the participants together to
construct suggestive positions (e.g. Nos 6, 7, 11). The mirror also
features in a number of other Royale series where it provides a
'virtual' partner for solo posers and simulates more forbidden physical contact between men and reflections.
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To be continued in Navy Romeo - Part 2
The mitchmen Royale Open Archive link to this set will be provided at the end of this group of posts.
