I have a thing for basses, that's for sure. Well, for any fantastic voice. And Howard Keel had a classicly handsome face and charisma to spare. Also, while he was tall, he was not particularly burly. He had broad shoulders and a nice chest, but was otherwise very lean (I'm thinking of him in his tights in "Kiss Me, Kate").

He just had "dashing" and "charming" and "manly" in spades.