ROY COHN / JACK SMITH (TV)
Summary
This one-man theatre production, filmed in New York City on Oct. 31 and Nov. 1, 1993, features actor Ron Vawter's semi-fictionalized interpretations of infamous right-wing lawyer Roy Cohn and flamboyant filmmaker/performance artist Jack Smith. Vawter explains that the two men, both white homosexual American men living with HIV/AIDS in the same years, were extremely dissimilar in their views on sexuality, particularly their own.
In the Cohn section, Vawter imagines the contents of Cohn's speech at an American Society for the Protection of the Family banquet, ranting about the dangers of gay rights and the "unspeakable" acts committed between same-sex lovers, describing himself as a "lifelong bachelor" with a number of beloved godchildren. Cohn discusses his childhood and his parents – including some Jewish jokes that fall flat with the conservative audience – and rails against the frequent association of Judaism and Communism, defending his part in Julius and Ethel Rosenberg's "scrupulously fair trial." He goes on to denounce "Hanoi Jane" Fonda and the apparently anti-patriotic sentiments fueling protests of the Vietnam War and "the Watergate brouhaha," then moving on to his infamous involvement with G. David Schine and Sen. Joseph McCarthy in the Army-McCarthy Hearings, his disdain for the Stonewall Riots and the rising demand for HIV/AIDS research and treatment, adding that gays "can be made normal" if they simply learn to control their behavior and embrace "American values and beliefs."
In the Jack Smith part, Vawter recreates part of Smith's 1981 "What's Underground About Marshmallows?" performance, delivering a rambling monologue while dressed in Cleopatra-esque drag. Smith views an episode of "Zane Grey Theater" – "One Must Die," featuring Joan Crawford – and presents an unusual slideshow as he prepares onion soup and expresses his devotion to Hollywood starlets Yvonne De Carlo and Maria Montez, eventually closing the performance with a dance. Footage is also shown of Vawter's backstage preparation; it is explained that the performance shown was his second-to-last show before his death on April 16, 1994. The piece is dedicated to Alf Bold, a German actor and film programmer who also died of AIDS.
Details
- NETWORK: N/A
- DATE: November 30, 1994 NaN:NaN
- RUNNING TIME: 1:29:22
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: 114079
- GENRE: Drama
- SUBJECT HEADING: LGBTQ+ Collection - Drama; Drama; Theater; Biography
- SERIES RUN: N/A
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Ted Hope … Producer
- James Schamus … Producer
- Marianne Weems … Producer
- Anthony Bregman … Associate Producer
- Mary Jane Skalski … Associate Producer
- David Avidor … Music Producer
- Jill Godmilow … Director
- Gary Indiana … Writer
- Jack Smith … Writer
- Michael Sahl … Music by
- Ron Vawter … Cast, Roy Cohn / Jack Smith
- Coco McPherson … Cast, Chica
- Alf Bold
- Joan Crawford
- Yvonne De Carlo
- Jane Fonda
- Joseph McCarthy
- Maria Montez
- Ethel Rosenberg
- Julius Rosenberg
- G. David Schine