IronMan, Vol 10, No 4, Page 6, August 1950
IT IS GENERALLY recognized that Bert Goodrich's "Mr. USA" show staged in Los Angeles every year is the big show of the year and this year was no exception, as he presented not one big night but three big star studded nights of Strength, Physique and Variety acts. Your Editor and family made the trip to sunny California by auto to attend this show and the mid-year convention of the AMERICAN PHYSICAL IMPROVEMENT ASSOCIATION.
It was unfortunate that the show fell on a holiday weekend, the 1st, 2nd and 3rd of July. Many people, having the entire week end free, left town. Many of these would otherwise have attended the show. For this reason the attendance was not as great as the quality of the show merited. However, there was still a large audience in attendance with the last night of course, being the largest.
The physique contestants were in better shape than ever, the special acts were the finest and records in lifting were made. Being an admirer of great strength, we felt that the great lifting of John Davis each night was the most impressive part of the show. However, we are getting ahead of the story and will give you the details just as they occurred. Murray Parker served as MC and did one of the finest jobs we have seen. He is very witty and carried the program along without a dull moment. He is also a capable, juggler, balancer, and athlete as well as magician and he offered many special acts of these items during the show.
The first night, after some preliminary music, singing etc. by the fine orchestra of Wally Webb, a repetition bench press contest was held between Dan Villanueva at 175 lbs. bodyweight, Marty Orloff, Len Platt and Sam Griffis. Ponndage used was 250 and Villanueva won with 18 presses and Orloff made 13 with Platt and Griffis making 12 each.
The Johnson brothers put on a superb comedy juggling act this first evening. It is amazing what these fellows can do.
The preliminaries of the Miss USA contest were run off this evening. We did not get an exact count of all the entries but there must have been at least 50. This first night they were cut down to 35 of the best. Many of these girls used weights regularly to develop themselves and the girl who eventually won third place in a close three way contest is a hard worker with the weights at Vince Gironda's gym. We have a story about this beautiful young lady for our readers in the near future.
John Davis now came on and performed some sensational lifting without competition or any special stimulus. He is tremendously popular with the public and received a great ovation for his efforts. He certainly is one of the most impressive physical specimen we have ever seen. He does not have the super definition of some of the physique contestants, but he has huge measurements and excellent shape and you can sense the great power and vitality that exudes from him as he strides about the stage with a panther like grace. He conducts himself as a gentleman at all times and is a highly intelligent and interesting conversationalist; a real credit and honor to his race.
On Saturday evening, John worked up in the press finally asking for 340 which he pressed easily and in better form than his 335 world record which he also performed in Los Angeles. It was later discovered that this weight had been mistakenly loaded to 350. Had this been officially performed it would have been a world record that would have stood for many years unless broken by John himself. We watched his form very closely and we are sure it would have passed. John remarked that it might be two or three years before he would hit a good night on the press. Most men are very constant in their pressing poundages, but Davis has his good nights and his off nights on this lift. After this he went on to make exhibition snatches up to 280 and clean and jerks up to 355, all of which were ridiculously easy and performed with very little dip. The following night he made still more impressive lifts, but more of that later.
The Titans came on to present one of the world's finest hand balancing acts. They are considered among the best in the game and did some really sensational work.
The last event of the evening was the "Mr. Western America" (amateur) contest. There were something over 15 entries in this event and all of them with superb physiques. The first one to pose was Ralph Becars (we hope we have the spelling correct as we took them from the announcer and wrote most of our notes in the dark). This boy has a marvelous physique and we expect to see him winning top honors in the best events soon. He has fine definition. Dwain Sands also has a fine physique.
Frank Jack as a fine physique with a very good back. Bud Counts displayed his terrific 18 inch arms. Monty Wolford has clean lines and a fine physique and is working for more bulk. Alex Aronis with his 18 1/2 inch arm has terrific biceps height that comes up to a sharp point. He is going to Colorado to attend school and play football. Bill Cantrell of San Diego looked good, tho not quite as good as we have seen him. Malcolm Brenner has suffered from double pneumonia and had lost 40 pounds. He is on the come back trail and looked good. Victor Nicoletti, who has won many trophies, was in superb shape and had a very dark tan. Remember this fellows, other things being equal, the man with the heavy tan usually wins a contest. Hilligen, that genial, happy young superman from South Africa, looked very good and is very popular back stage with his big smile. Joe Gold has a very good physique and will improve much. Pepper Gomez looked very good but lacked the tan some others had. Elias Rodriquez had added some weight and looked better than ever. This boy will be hard to beat when he puts on about 20 pounds more bodyweight. Every man in the contest was surprisingly outstanding. Much more so than their photos often indicate.
After all the boys had posed and some of them been eliminated, and others posed again, the judges' decision was Victor Nicoletti first, Monty Wolford second, and Pepper Gomez third. Beautiful trophies were presented to the winners. After the show as usual, a large group settled down at a steak house and, over some huge steaks, discussed the show and the game in general and had a wonderful time. This social life connected with these shows and contests is often as happy an event as the meets themselves.
The main event this evening was the further elimination of the "Miss USA" contest. Tonight it was brought down to the best 13 entries and beautiful ladies they were, although they appeared slender and fragile beside the huge muscle men back stage as they posed together for publicity photographers. Goodrich had obtained some of the best publicity for his show ever seen and a tremendous number of photographs were taken during the show for writeups in magazines and newspapers.
The first main act this evening was one of the best bicycle riding acts we have ever seen by Paul Gordon. What he didn't do with that bike is beyond the imagination.
John Davis again came on to first, one arm press 125 in military position then 135 and 145 with some side bend. His next feat was most sensational in that it should bring a halt to these statements that a 200 pound curl in correct form is impossible. Though John is not a curl specialist, and seldom ever does a curl, yet he succeeded in making a 205 curl in very good style. Is there any feat of strength in existence that this man can not eclipse? Davis, who has been world champion for 13 years, is, we believe, the strongest man who has lived in modem times (since any record of strength feats has been kept). He then went on to make a very easy clean and jerk of 370 using very little dip in either clean or jerk.
The Glenns, a wonderful balancing trio then came on with their outstanding act.
Another bench press contest was held, this time for poundage. Don Arnold of San Diego, who is now wrestling professionally and unable to train regularly, made 395 at a bodyweight of about 225 and Dan Villanueva weighing 175 made a light heavy world record of 385 and just failed with 395. This young man is without doubt, the greatest bench presser in the world for his weight and is terrifically strong in every way. George Eiferman was working under a handicap as he was forced to change his hand spacing from very wide to medium, but succeeded in doing 350 and just failed with 385.
After this came the elimination in the ""Miss USA" leaving the following for the finals on Monday night. Hazel Shaw, Lynn Roebuck, Beverly Cottrell, Anita Desmond, Donn Jessee, Evelyn Lovequist and Alice Westover.
This was the final big night -- the night of finals and the big ""Mr. USA" contest. A large audience was in attendance and they were not disappointed as Clarence Ross who had posed the first night, again came on and displayed his wonderful physique. He is bigger and heavier than ever.
Joe Russell then did a comedy juggling act. Again Davis came on and this time, after warming up with some clean and jerks, he made a 380 Continental and Jerk and then jerked 400 pounds quite easy after it had been lifted to his shoulders. He followed this with several squats with various poundages working up to 530 pounds with which he made a good parallel squat with his heels on a 2 by 4 piece. When we say parallel squat, we mean just that and we watched his thighs very carefully. This does not mean he didn't go low either, as a parallel squat is about a full squat for many fellows depending on how they are built and how they perform the squat. His body was doubled up on his thighs at bottom about like that of the picture of Slanec in last issue of Iron Man. We presume that John could do considerable more than this if he were pushed.
Another Bench Press contest was held with George Eiferman winning with 19 presses and Villanueva doing 18 again with the 250 weight.
Jack LaLanne (who had also been acting as MC part time) came on and gave his great act of herculean hand balancing. Jack has a wonderful physique with most amazing endurance and a magnetic personality. He is making a great success with his gym in San Francisco.
The "Miss USA" finals presented the best of the contestants in a beautiful setting. The judges had a very difficult decision to make. as all the girls were outstandingly beautiful and well built. The final winner was a beautiful blonde, Evelyn Lovequist, and second place went to Hazel Shaw, third to blonde Lynn Roebuck, a pupil of Vince Gironda.
The "Mr. USA" contest had fewer contestants this year than at any other time but competition was very close for top places. The judges found it very difficult to make a choice for first place. Seven men fought it out this year for the coveted title and the $1,000 prize money.
Norman Marks from San Francisco first appeared on the posing platform under very fine lighting that had been arranged for this event. All the professionals were allowed to use oil which greatly enhanced their appearance. Norman has a beautifully proportioned physique and is very well developed, but has such wide shoulders that he appears more slender than he really is.
Vince Gironda, better than ever, probably has the smoothest and most graceful posing routine of anyone seen at the show. He is getting better built and more muscular each year and one of these days will take the title. Vince will shortly prepare a series of articles for Iron Man.
George Eiferman was next man up and to say that he is sensational would be putting it mildly. I would say that he has probably become the Most Muscular man in America if you mean by that term, the man who possesses the most muscle while retaining his definition. His arms and shoulders are unbelievable and his chest is very deep and high with the thickest pectorals in the country. He has one of the finest backs in the country -- his abdominal development is outstanding and his legs are huge. In competition for body parts he won first for best chest and first for best back. He also won the most muscular after the judges had tied him with Floyd Page.
Armand Tanny, who had already won the "Mr. 1949" and the Professional "Mr. America" contests, was as good as ever though very busy wrestling and giving exhibition shows. He still has his deep tan which has been one of his greatest assets in winning contests. You can not pick out any single outstanding body part on his physique unless it would be his broad shoulders but he has a harmonious overall development that is very effective.
Walt Baptiste, the oldest of the competitors but the youngest acting, has a marvelous physique and works hard at these contests, but his height is the thing that prevents him from winning in the eyes of the judges. Walt has done a wonderful job with his physique though and would be hard to beat in his height class.
Bud Mucci of San Francisco has a finely proportioned physique of the smooth type. He is one of the few outstanding contestants and bodybuilders who claims to be a strict vegetarian.
Floyd Page was the last contestant and contrary to reports, was in top condition and bigger and better than ever. He has great size with very good definition and a nice posing routine. He is one of the handsomest men in the game, with a pleasing and magnetic personality. He won the best arms event.
The judges were out a long time and had considerable difficulty making a choice as is usual in these contests with the top men of the country. The men returned to the posing platform several times as the elimination gradually progressed. Eventually the decision was announced with Armand Tanny first, George Eiferman second, and Floyd Page third.
During the intermission, several other special acts kept the audience well entertained. Terry Robinson aided with the MC work and provided the crowd with many laughs.
The audience then left the building while the news reel and movie and magazine cameramen went to work and the died in the wool enthusiasts gathered into groups to discuss the big three day show and enjoy the evening at some favorite steak house until the wee small hours and then off to bed for a few winks of sleep for the morrow was the 4th of July when everyone was off to Muscle Beach for the big "Mr Muscle Beach" contest and show.
If you have never been to Muscle Beach on the 4th of July and a "Mr. Muscle Beach" contest you have never seen real "muscle mass." Boy! What a mass of muscle was sprawled out on the sands! All the men we saw at the shows the three nights before plus a lot of others.
All the big names in the game were stripped down to their "sun tan" and had their girl friends along with them. There was big Bob McCune who is now busy nearly every night at professional wrestling. Armand Tanny, who had won the title the night before. Tony Terlazzo who acted as MC part of the time and did a very capable job too. John Davis who lifted and also acted as a judge, along with Tony. "Mr. America" John Farbotnik and his wife. John was also a judge. Earle Leiderman who is always in evidence at these events. Eiferman and well -- all the rest. You should have been there. There was a haze in the air but this did not keep the sun from burning and your editor is still peeling from a nice sun burn. That Bob Hoffman sun tan lotion (that we forgot to put on) didn't help.
The crowd of two or three thousand gathered around all sides of the platform at 2 P.M. and the show started. There was superb balancing by the Starkeys -- top tumbling acts -- juvenile balancing, weight lifting, (with Davis again pressing and snatching and again jerking 400 though it was difficult for him -- did you ever try lifting out doors under the sky?) George Eiferman pressed 135 with one hand while playing the trumpet. Then came the big contest. About 30 men were entered including some who had been in the "Mr. Western America" contest. Most of the leading physiques however, remained in the audience and left the contest for the new men some of whom had physiques equal to the best.
When the judges had made their decisions it was found that Pepper Gomez had won the "Mr. Muscle Beach" title for this year.
- Left to right we have GEORGE EIFERMAN who took a close second place In the "Mr. USA" contest. He was more muscular than ever. George is one fellow who always looks good. He is always most popular with his sparkling wit and personality. ARMAND TANNY, who always has an advantage over the other fellows with his deep reddish tan, was the winner of this year's "Mr. USA" title and the $1,000 check to say nothing of the huge trophy. Armand is quite busy with his wrestling activities now. VIC NICOLETTI was the winner of the "Mr. Western America" title. He has won many physique titles since going to the west coast and although he is almost 37 years old, he continues to Improve. Photo by Bruce
- EVELYN LOVEQUIST, the new "Miss USA" for 1950-51. Many of the contestants used weights in their training, some of them being quite proficient. It was noticable that those who used weight training had a much firmer muscular tissue and that they were more rounded, better built and their skin bad a smooth, vital sheen. Photo by Bruce.
- Here are the young ladies who vied for first place In the "Miss USA" contest on the last night of the show. Left to right they are Hazel Shaw (2nd place), Lynn Roebuck (3rd place and a barbell user at Vince Gironda's gym), Alice Westover, Anita Diamond, and Evelyn Lovequist who won the coveted title. Photo by Cecil Charles.
- JOHN DAVIS is shown jerking 400 pounds after it was placed at his shoulders. As you can see, he did not go very low in his split and the lift seemed to be very easy for him. This photo is certainly a study in massive power. His was probably the most popular act of the show. You can not help but feel the vital, surging power of this superman as you watch him in action. Photo by Bruce
- The above photos are scenes from the "Mr. Muscle Beach" contest. At the top Is PEPPER GOMEZ, the new "Mr. Muscle Beach" and JOE SANCERI who won second place. Second photo shows the popular George Eiferman clowning as usual. He Is shown playing the trumpet while pressing 135 pounds with his left arm. He takes the weight from the floor to arm's length unassisted. The bottom photo shows one of many fine acts on the program. This balancing pyramid consists of Les Stockton on the bottom (poor guy), Harold Zinkin, Pudgy Stockton and Bruce Conners. Notice a part of the huge 4th of July crowd who watched this great beach show.
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