SEXBOMBS Vol 1, The Golden Boys. The sexiest men ever. In this edition (the first of four) we revisit the compelling mystery of the male sex symbol in a lavish fashion. The lives and legends of Marlon Brando, Cary Grant, Elvis Presley, Harrison Ford, Clark, Gable Errol Flynn, Gary Cooper, James Dean, Rock Hudson, Rudolph Valentino, Paul Newman, Steve McQueen, Jim Morrison, Robert Redford, Clint Eastwood, Sidney Poitier, Muhammad Ali, Sean Connery, Jack Nicholson, Tom Jones, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, Richard Gere, Mel Gibson, George Clooney, Mick Jagger. A significant % of sales goes to the Fashion Targets Breast Cancer Foundation help fund cancer research. This edition (the first of 4) looks at the men we want even if we don't like them (Robbie Williams); we look at them even if we want to look away (Antonio Banderas): and we especially want them if they seem a tiny bit seedy (Colin Farrell) or smug (George Clooney) or just plain...dark, moody difficult and hostile (Clive Owens, Sean Penn, Marlon Brando). And many qualities appeal equally to men as they do to women. A gay icon and a gay sex symbol can share a mainstream hetero following (James Dean) because men and women are drawn to the same spark. It would be convenient to compare the greatest sex symbols to Greek Gods and some actually looked like them, especially Paul Newman, but a keener truth seems to be that we fancy our love gods deeply flawed. What is it that makes a man so sexy he is known not just as an actor or a rock star but as a global sex symbol? One is tempted to say: a square jaw, but Jack Nicholson's face is anything but symmetrical. Another assumption might be that sex comes by the pound...of beefcake. But how does that explain the snake hips and bare chests of Johnny Depp, Michael Hutchence and Jonathan Rhys-Myers? The term hunk, seems a bit dated once we have seen the likes of 80s action heroes such as Travolta and Willis go to serous seed. But that has not stopped Hollywood from attempting to inflate certain actors, bulking up the biceps and torsos of Hugh Jackman and Orlando Bloom. Sadly muscles are not a definite sell: because when aquiline or baby faced features are grafted onto hard bodies the fit doesn't sizzle. It fizzles, or worse goes flaccid. Toby Maguire as Spiderman pushed the limits of our cinematic trust but didn't inspire lust. Somehow a slight guy like Mickey Rourke in 'Angel Heart" seemed more able, or a raging wired Al Pacino had more passion. Male heat is so often not the sum of the parts but the look of the moment and the shifting reflection of the (predominantly) female gaze. In the twenties repressed Victorian values got swept away by Rudolph Valentino in vampy costumes and eyeliner. In the fifties gender lines were sharply drawn and men had to be hulking and dominant with names like Rock or Van. The sixties allowed for androgyny and wit, shaggy Alan Bates and groovy slightly camp Terence Stamp and Warren Beatty shifted the goal posts towards thinking woman's catnip. But the seventies, even at the height of feminism was all about the hippie caveman and sex was back to the size of the belt buckle (all hail Robert Plant) and the depth of the chest hair (welcome Burt Reynolds ape master). We love to laugh at eighties hunks with their big hair, pale denim and horrible dance moves, and yet, some of these guys (even Bon Jovi) are still pulling rank. Some things, turbans and blue eyeliner not withstanding, endure.