Main Cast: Anne Bancroft, Matthew Broderick, Harvey Fierstein, Brian Kerwin, Karen Young
Release Year: 1988
Country: US
Run Time: 126 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
Harvey Fierstein's Pulitzer Prize-winning Broadway hit was adapted for the screen by Fierstein himself. The playwright also repeats his stage role of female impersonator Arnold Beckoff, aka nightclub entertainer "Virginia Hamm." The three-part plotline, whittled down to accommodate the film's 117-minute running time, concerns Arnold's seriocomic efforts to find a lasting relationship. We first meet Arnold in 1971, when his heart is broken by his bisexual lover (Brian Kerwin). Next we find Arnold in 1973, enjoying short-lived happiness with his true love (Matthew Broderick). The final act takes place in 1980: Arnold, still grieving over Broderick's sudden death and struggling to raise the young boy that the couple had adopted, has a long-anticipated showdown with his uncompromising mother, superbly played by Anne Bancroft. A witty film that is by turns touching and outrageous, Torch Song Trilogy works well despite its somewhat soft-pedaled approach to the material. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Eddie Castrodad - David; Chuck Pierce - Bertha Venation; Ken Page - Murray; Axel Vera - Marina Del Rey; Tracy Bogart - Secretary at School; Michael Bond - Bar Patron; Alva Chinn - Photographer; Lorry Goldman - Phil Beckoff; Paul Joynt - Heckler in Club; Peter MacKenzie - Young Man; Robert Neary - Chorus boy; Peter Nevargic - Young Man; John Norman - Basher; John Beckman - 1st Cab Driver; John Branagan - Teacher; Bob Minor - Gregory; Michael Warga - Bartender; Catherine Blue - Teacher; Mitch David Carter - Heckler in Club; Kim Clark - Female Bar Patron; Byron Deen - Roz; Naill Gartlan - Boy in Fight; Gregory Gilbert - Hustler; Geoffrey Harding - Man with Lighter; Ted Hook - Old Man; Harriet C. Leider - Maitre d'; Nick Montgomery - Chorus Boy; Stephanie Penn - Female Bar Patron; Benji Schulman - Young Arnold; Phil Sky - Man in Back Room; Edgar Small - Arnold's father; Rabbi Elliott T. Spar - Rabbi; Mark Zeisler - Basher; Frits de Knegt - 2nd Cab Driver
Credit
Marcie Dale - Art Director, Michael Okowita - Art Director, Marie Cantin - Associate Producer, Tom Hartig - Boom Operator, Lauren Lloyd - Casting, Gail Levin - Casting, Scott Salmon - Choreography, Colleen Atwood - Costume Designer, Peter Bogart - First Assistant Director, Dennis Maguire - First Assistant Director, Paul Bogart - Director, Nicholas C. Smith - Editor, Harvey Fierstein - Executive Producer, Carlos David Amador - Hair Styles, Barry Gremillion - Location Manager, Peter Matz - Composer (Music Score), Peter Matz - Musical Arrangement, Harold Arien - Songwriter, Alexis Dubin - Songwriter, Frank Eyton - Songwriter, Bob Haggart - Songwriter, Edward Heyman - Songwriter, Paul James - Songwriter, Joseph Renard - Songwriter, Robert Sour - Songwriter, Kay Swift - Songwriter, Charlie Haden - Songwriter, Christa Reusch - Makeup, Todd Liebler - Camera Operator, Richard Hoover - Production Designer, Mikael Salomon - Cinematographer, Marie Cantin - Production Manager, Howard Gottfried - Producer, Ronald K. Fierstein - Producer, Marlene Marta - Set Designer, Michael Warga - Set Designer, Ray Massara - Special Effects, Steve Nelson - Sound/Sound Designer, Harvey Fierstein - Screenwriter, R. Russell Smith - Sound Effects Editor, Mira Tweti - Unit Publicist, Eric Swanek - First Assistant Camera, Chris Lombardi - First Assistant Camera, Dwight Campbell - Gaffer, Kevin Wadowski - Key Grip, Joe Fineman - Post Production Supervisor, Karen Altman Morgenstern - Production Coordinator, Elizabeth J. Nevin - Production Coordinator, Deborah Moore - Production Supervisor, David Touster - Properties Master, Ken S. Polk - Re-Recording Mixer, Ken Teaney - Re-Recording Mixer, Judith Saunders - Script Supervisor, J. Tom Archuleta - Second Assistant Director, Michael Paris - Still Photographer, James M. McEwen - Best Boy Electric, Paul D. Fischer - Best Boy Grip, Chuck Parker - Construction Coordinator, Dave "Foots" Footman - Dolly Grip, Jimmy Leavens - Dolly Grip, Nancy Parker - Foley Artist, Gregg Barbanell - Foley Artist, Jason Belsky - Transportation Captain, Griff Ruggles - Transportation Coordinator, Johnny Burke - Featured Music, Hoagy Carmichael - Featured Music, George Gershwin - Featured Music, Ira Gershwin - Featured Music, Johnny Green - Featured Music, DuBose Heyward - Featured Music, Johnny Mercer - Featured Music, Cole Porter - Featured Music, Harry Warren - Featured Music, Harvey Fierstein - Play Author, Terry Kempf - Construction Foreman, Jeff Vaughn - Foley Recordist, Terry O'Bright - Foley Recordist
Torch Song Trilogy is a 1988comedy/drama/romance adapted by Harvey Fierstein from his play of the same title. The film was directed by Paul Bogart, starring Fierstein as Arnold, Anne Bancroft as Ma Beckoff, Matthew Broderick as Alan, Brian Kerwin as Ed, and Eddie Castrodad as David. Wanting to highlight the work of female impersonatorCharles Pierce, Fierstein created the role of Bertha Venation specifically for him. Broderick originally refused the role of Alan because he was recuperating from an automobile accident in Ireland. Tate Donovan was cast, but two days into the rehearsal period Broderick had a change of heart and contacted Fierstein, who fired Donovan.
Although the play was over four hours, the film was restricted to a running time of two hours at the insistence New Line Cinema, necessitating much editing and excisions. The time frame was regressed to begin several years earlier than when the play was set.
1971: Arnold (Harvey Fierstein), a New York female impersonator, meets Ed (Brian Kerwin), a bisexual schoolteacher, and they fall in love. Ed, however, is uncomfortable with his sexuality and he leaves Arnold for a girlfriend, Laurel.
1973-79: During Christmas, Arnold meets the love of his life, a male model named Alan (Matthew Broderick). They settle down together, later spending a weekend with Ed and Laurel in the country, where their relationship is tested but endures. Eventually, they apply to foster a child together with a view to adoption, and their application is eventually successful and so they move to a bigger apartment. However, on their first night at their new home, Alan is killed in a homophobic attack.
1980: Months later, in the spring of 1980, Arnold's mother (Anne Bancroft) comes to visit from Florida but her visit leads to a long-overdue confrontation. Arnold's mother disapproves of Arnold's homosexuality and of his planned adoption of a gay teenage son, David (Eddie Castrodad), as well as Arnold's use of their family burial plot for Alan. They have a series of arguments where Arnold demands that she accept him for who he is, insisting that if she can't then she has no place in his life. The following morning, before she returns to Florida, they have a conversation where, for the first time, they seem to understand each other. With both David and Ed (who is now more mature and settled) in his life, and a successful new career creating his own stage revue, Arnold's life is finally complete.
At the 1989 Deauville Film Festival, Bogart was nominated for the Critics Award and won the Audience Award. The film was nominated for Best Feature and Fierstein was nominated for Best Male Lead at the Independent Spirit Awards that same year.
