"it"

[Senator Jack]

I hadn't heard that, Marc, but now that you mention it, it does make sense. You see how Gleason moves around the table in The Hustler? (And doesn't Fast Eddie say something about him moving like a cat?) I'm trying to think of some other non-standard 'it' guys. Victor Buono? Can't find a good picture. Danny De...Nah, naaaah. How about this guy....

Regards,

Senator Jack

 

[Senator Jack]

Call me nutty, but I vote 'It'

We need better pics.

Regards,

Senator Jack

 

[shamus]

What gives? Why was my post deleted?

 

[Vladimir Berkov]

Call me nutty, but I vote 'It'

We need better pics.

Regards,

Senator Jack

I agree! I think his role in "M" perhaps best illustrates it.

 

[Matt Deckard]

What gives? Why was my post deleted?

We're trying to keep the thread on topic, and several other guys have posted exactly the same thing today. Just trying to treat everybody the same.

You posted again before I could get the PM off to you.

No hard feelings, and we're not upset with you or anything.


Now back to men and the "it" quotient

 

[Robert Conway]

I still have no idea what "it" is, but apparently "it" is something only actors are allowed to have.

Nope.

Anyone can have it and they don't even have to be one of the good guys or even good looking. Unfortunately people like Mussolini, Hitler and Athila the Hun also had 'it' in spades.

I think self-confidence and the impression that one is very comfortable in their own skin and in control has a lot to do with it. Most people want to follow, not lead. There is a very strong subconscious pack mentality in people.

 

[Matt Deckard]

Click here for "it"
\/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Orson_Welles_1937.jpg

 

[Atterbury Dodd]

What about Leslie Howard? He is one of the top its that ever lived.

 

[silhouette53]

Man In a Suitcase

Not from the 'Golden Era' I'll admit, but Mr Bradford certainly had something. Was it 'it' ? I think it was, and no-one could smoke a cigarette like he did !

 

[221b]

IT

 

[Marc Chevalier]

I always did like all those Mr. "X"s.

 

[Julius Xavier]

I hope the big wigs in Hollywood land thing this guy has "it"...

If not I'm in trouble.



-DocIndyJones

 

[Matt Deckard]

For you it's all in the eyes my friend! Talking and walking is good, though when the eyes don't draw them in... well then it's all over!

 

[Senator Jack]

Big time It

SJ

 

[jake_fink]

I'm not sure I'm getting the drift, but here goes....

It:

(Nick Cave, Miles Davis, Amadeo Modigliani)

 

[Marc Chevalier]

Irving Thalberg. (Even his initials were "I.T.")

 

[Sefton]

Sometimes "It" is funny rather than handsome:

 

[Senator Jack]

Well we've gone through the photo album here and perhaps it's time to really get down to 'it'. The intangible. The 'damn, I wish I had it, whatever 'it' is.'

As Matt wrote, Cary Grant had "it" whether he was in a suit, in jeans and a check shirt, or even in boxer shorts, t-shirt and driving cap as he appeared in his last film 'Walk Don't Run" at the age of 62. And lest we think that "it" has anything to do with looks and physique, I believe those photos of Gleason prove that he had "it" too. Now it's been mentioned that charisma is "it" and therefore if one has charisma one will look good in anything that is thrown about his body, but I'm of the belief that "it" and charisma are too separate entities. Hitler, for some odd reason, might have been charismatic to an entire nation of people, but I can't say that he really had "it". Thus, Hitler was sure to never appear in public in the rigout of boxer shorts, t-shirt, and driving cap. (Though one can only wish he had, for then his followers would have seen that he really didn't have "it".)

The question has also been asked if one has to be famous to have "it", and, as stated, the answer is 'no'. It's just that it becomes a little more difficult to see "it" on the average bloke. You may think Harry down at the bank is a sharp dresser but you never think of him as having "it" because...well, he's just Harry down at the bank. Take, for example, someone I used to work with some years ago. I was in my mid-twenties, playing in bands, and there was a black kid a few years younger than I that was hired to our office. He was about nineteen, not very tall, rather large about the waist, and had a round face with a friendly smile. He didn't dress exceptionally well, or well at all for that matter, but despite his appearance, I could tell he had "it". In fact, I kept telling him he should get into music because he really had "it" and I had even begun to come up with his public image. (I dubbed him Lord Peanut and pictured him in a black topcoat, bowler, and ascot) To this day, I really believe that kid was meant for a career in entertainment. He just had "it".

I've met very few guys who have had "it" in the last twenty years, but I have met dozens who really believe they have "it" but really don't. I once worked for a man who wore top-shelf Italian suits, was always neat and presentable, and yet he chewed with his mouth open and went about the office making that snorting, catarrhic sound as though he were pulling phlegm up from his boots. On top of that he was arrogant and manipulative, and therefore definitely not "it". And this may lead us to believe that one has to be a gentleman to have "it", but all we would have to do is open a biography on any of the men we believe to have had "it" to find some rather ungetlemanly behavior. Errol Flynn certainly comes to mind.

So back to the question of what is "it". Is "it" subjective or objective? Can "it" ever be defined? Well perhaps "it" is simply a combination of all that we mentioned. That is, style, demeanor, comportment, gait, posture, and confidence, all coming together to diminish or even completely obfuscate the bad traits each of us has. It makes one approachable, even though he may not be. It makes us say 'You know, I want to go over and talk to that guy,' even though we know nothing about him. No, none of us has ever had the opportunity to hang about with Cary Grant, and for all we know, he could have gone about the house scratching his backside and pulling up phlegm from his boots. But even if he did, we probably wouldn't have minded at all. After all, he had "it".

Regards,

Senator Jack

 

[Irena]

Very well said, Senator Jack!

'It' can mean different things to each of us. 'It' is what we are drawn to in a person, and since we each have our own personalities, we are drawn to different people. To me, one of my friends has 'it', though others cannot see it, and even despise her.

Many actors have been named because many of them are able to put 'it' on for their adoring public. Sometimes their fans cannot see past the wonderful person on the screen to the person in real life. The 'it' in this scenario is all in the minds of the adoring public.

edit: above I'm not saying that all or even most of the actors named in this thread did not have 'it'. I'm just saying that it could be.

 

[Robert Conway]

Click here for "it"
\/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Orson_Welles_1937.jpg

Oh, yeah. Talk about someone with 'it' in spades.