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Film Description
A cineaste's dream voyage through a century of cinema, taking a witty and incisive look at the ways homosexuality has been represented on the silver screen. A vivid montage of clips from over 100 classics and revealing interviews with filmmakers.
Film Information
Director - Rob Epstein, Jeffrey Friedman, Jeffrey Friedman
The Celluloid Closet is a fascinating film that reveals how homosexuality has been portrayed on the silver screen over the decades. Starting with silent films, this do... more >
The Celluloid Closet is a fascinating film that reveals how homosexuality has been portrayed on the silver screen over the decades. Starting with silent films, this documentary shows how the Hayes code forced filmmakers to seek subtle ways of depicting homosexuality on screen (such as the famous scene in Rebecca in which Mrs. Danvers goes through Rebecca’s underwear drawer). In the 1940s and 1950s, being gay was seen as being a sickness (it is implied that Sal Mineo’s tortured character in Rebel Without A Cause is gay), a feeling that continued into the 1960s (such as in The Children’s Hour, in which Shirley MacLaine plays a lesbian who is ashamed of her desires). By the 1970s, however, a new tolerance entered the movies, with well-meaning (if dated) films such as The Boys In The Band getting a release. In the 1980s, William Friedkin’s Cruising caused fury in the gay community for its alleged homophobia, and by the 1990s Hollywood finally became tolerant enough to award an Os car to Tom Hanks for his gay role in Philadelphia.
This documentary features many of the directors, writers and stars of these pictures, and it is fascinating to see how Shirley MacLaine now looks back in shame at the extremely negative picture of lesbianism that emerged from her role in The Children’s Hour. There are rich anecdotes from the likes of Gore Vidal (who told Stephen Boyd to imply a homosexual history with Charlton Heston’s Ben-Hur for added impact in the film, whilst warning Boyd not to tell the madly conservative Heston of his directions). It is also startling to realize how, through the use of heavy symbolism, some films were so blatant about implied homosexuality; Joan Crawford panting threats at a leathered-up Mercedes McCambridge in Johnny Guitar, for example, or Montgomery Cliff comparing shooters with another cowboy in Red River.
With a huge array for famous talking heads and a riveting examination of how attitudes and tolerance towards homosexuals have altered over the years, The Celluloid Closet is one of the most interesting and revealing documentaries about cinema to come out of America, and it remains invaluable to anyone interested in queer theory. < less
