Why was everyone so...greasy back then?

[Coops]

To be fair, unlike his greasy co-workers, my man Spock was always dry as a bone

 

[Methuselah Flint]

I was watching This Side of Paradise yesterday and noticed Shatner's hair in the scene where he and McCoy were in Sandoval's house and he was on the communicator! It was pretty weird. His normal hair had been combed into a thicker mop which left it all spiky at the side with a tinge of grey! The thicker hair was no doubt the toupee. It's weird how you notice these things on DVD instead of normal television and all the missing scenes that the BBC used to cut for time!
JB

Just seen this on Trekcore. You're right - it does look a mess at the back! There are other instances where his hair is gelled at the sides to keep it tucked in (I think The Apple springs to mind), but the combover is never usually so obvious as to not blend in.

 

[johnnybear]

To be fair, unlike his greasy co-workers, my man Spock was always dry as a bone

Damn those Vulcans for looking so cool!
JB

 

[tesral]

Damn those Vulcans for looking so cool!
JB

The ears are radiators.

 

[Doug Otte]

I was watching This Side of Paradise yesterday and noticed Shatner's hair in the scene where he and McCoy were in Sandoval's house and he was on the communicator! It was pretty weird. His normal hair had been combed into a thicker mop which left it all spiky at the side with a tinge of grey! The thicker hair was no doubt the toupee. It's weird how you notice these things on DVD instead of normal television and all the missing scenes that the BBC used to cut for time!
JB

Thanks for prompting me to watch this episode, which I haven't seen for several years. I popped in the blu-ray. In addition to the wonderful story, witty lines, and beautiful score, I love the cinematography, lighting, and location shots. I did notice that the makeup was overdone, especially in the outdoor scenes.

However, the shot you mentioned didn't look bad to me. Yes, the top of his hair was a drier and fluffier than the sides, which were bryl-creemed severely. But, the hairpieces and severe makeup on all the characters was of a piece.

 

[johnnybear]

Normally you can only differentiate the hairpiece on Shatner's head from the browner colour and his own slightly grey thatch but here it was SO peculiar an image that you could see how his own hair had been combed into the wig and greased over too!!!
JB

 

[Methuselah Flint]

My own hair is actually similar in thickness and colour to how Shatner's was. With lockdown here in the UK it's grown quite a bit, and I have had to do a bit of combover. That particular shot from TSOP gives the impression - to me - that the back of the combover was not properly combed down or blended neatly into the back of the hair. It's not indicative of a hair piece per se, but it's not necessarily the usual neatness we witness, and HD probably emphasises this.

 

[johnnybear]

Well I only have DVD and I found it so obvious compared to watching on my old VHS recordings!
JB