Plot

Based on Vito Russo's groundbreaking 1981 work of film history, The Celluloid Closet gathers clips from dozens of mainstream Hollywood films to illustrate how the movies have dealt explicitly -- and more importantly, implicitly -- with gay and lesbian themes. Layered between the clips are interviews with filmmakers whose works have touched on that subject. The popular films of the Golden Age could only hint at homosexuality and often portrayed gays as simpering characters, objects of scorn or merriment, or insidious villains. With the strictures of the old Production Code loosening, bolder presentations were possible, but often over the objections of studio executives who feared a public backlash against a film that dealt with a long taboo subject. Among the films discussed are Philadelphia, The Children's Hour, Making Love, Rope, and Spartacus. Gore Vidal, Tom Hanks, Susan Sarandon, and director John Schlesinger are among the film's strongest interview subjects. ~ Tom Wiener, Rovi

Review

In transferring the important work of the late Vito Russo to the screen, the question was whether filmmakers Rob Epstein (The Times of Harvey Milk) and Jeffrey Friedman would be able to obtain the proper clips to illustrate Russo's points about the portrayal of homosexuality in Hollywood films. The Celluloid Closet, happy to say, delivers the key illustrative material and adds commentary and reminiscences from a number of film personnel (actors, writers, directors, producers) to give even more perspective to a long-neglected subject. This is not an exposé of who's out of and who's still in the closet in Hollywood, but a more serious discussion of the clever ways that filmmakers of the so-called Golden Age were able to suggest the sexual orientation of certain characters, and how the transition to a more explicit and honest portrayal was made. The film is free of cant and preaching; it recognizes the difficult circumstances under which artists were laboring for many years. And there are moments of playfulness, too, as when Gore Vidal remembers his little conspiracy with actor Stephen Boyd and director William Wyler to suggest an extra dimension to the relationship between the male leads in Ben-Hur. ~ Tom Wiener, Rovi

Cast

Antonio Banderas; Quentin Crisp - Interviewee; Antonio Fargas - Interviewee; Whoopi Goldberg - Interviewee; Farley Granger - Interviewee; Harry Hamlin - Interviewee; Shirley MacLaine - Interviewee; Susan Sarandon - Interviewee; Sharon Stone; Jay Presson Allen - Interviewee; Mart Crowley - Interviewee; Tony Curtis - Interviewee; Harvey Fierstein - Interviewee; Tom Hanks - Interviewee; Arthur Laurents - Interviewee; Daniel Melnick - Interviewee; Ron Nyswaner; Jan Oxenberg - Interviewee; Barry Sandler - Interviewee; John Schlesinger - Interviewee; Lily Tomlin - Narrator; Gore Vidal - Interviewee; Paul Rudnick - Interviewee; Joseph Breen - Interviewee; Susie Bright - Interviewee; Richard Dyer - Interviewee; Stewart Stern; Armistead Maupin

Credit

Tom Bonauro - Art Director, Jan Oxenberg - Consultant/advisor, Lily Tomlin - Co-producer, Robert Epstein - Director, Jeffrey Friedman - Director, Jeffrey Friedman - Editor, Arnold Glassman - Editor, Zvi Howard Rosenman - Executive Producer, Bernie Brillstein - Executive Producer, Brad Grey - Executive Producer, k.d. lang - Composer (Music Score), Carter Burwell - Composer (Music Score), Pat Jackson - Musical Direction/Supervision, Carter Burwell - Songwriter, Natasha - Makeup, Bruce Miller - Camera Operator, Scott A. Chambliss - Production Designer, Nancy Schreiber - Cinematographer, Robert Epstein - Producer, Jeffrey Friedman - Producer, Sheila Nevins - Producer, Lauretta Molitor - Sound/Sound Designer, Robert Epstein - Screenwriter, Jeffrey Friedman - Screenwriter, Sharon Wood - Screenwriter, Armistead Maupin - Screenwriter, Armistead Maupin - Book Author, Vito Russo - Book Author

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