CELLULOID CLOSET, THE {TAPE 2 OF 2} (TV)
Summary
Continued from T:50857. Tape two of two. Narrated by Lily Tomlin, this documentary chronicles the overt and hidden history of gay and lesbian characters in cinema. Highlights include the following comments and film clips: screenwriter Mart Crowley on pessimism in "Boys in the Band" (1970); footage of raids on gay bars and liberation marches; Jay Presson Allen, screenwriter of "Cabaret" (1972), on the film's casual inclusion of bisexuality; actor Antonio Fargas on early roles for black gays, with clips from his roles in "Car Wash" and "Next Stop, Greenwich Village" (1976); Tom Hanks on unrealistic stereotypes in "Vanishing Point" (1971); screenwriter Ron Nyswaner on films that villainize homosexuals, with clips of "Freebie and the Bean" (1974); screenwriter Barry Sandler on derogatory words for gays, with a montage of insults from twenty movies; Nyswaner on gay-bashers who were motivated by "Cruising" (1980); gay characters' change from victims to victimizers; footage of gays protesting "Cruising"; producer David Melnick on the difficulty of casting "Making Love" (1982); actor Harry Hamlin on how playing a homosexual role leads people to believe a performer is gay; Melnick and Sandler on homophobic studio executives and audiences; writer Quentin Crisp's comment that heterosexuals cannot help but imagine homosexuals in bed; a tender kiss between men in "Wings" (1927), contrasted with 1960s clips of hostile same-sex kisses; director John Schlesinger on the kiss in "Sunday, Bloody Sunday" (1971); comments by writer Susie Bright on "Personal Best" (1982); actresses Whoopi Goldberg and Susan Sarandon about the public's discomfort with men making love and the relative ease with women making love; kisses from "The Color Purple" (1985) and "Thelma and Louise" (1991); Sarandon's comparison of the latter to "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" (1969), and positive changes she made to her love scene with Catherine Denuve in "The Hunger" (1985); a clip from "Midnight Express" (1978); Bright on the lesbian love story excised from "Fried Green Tomatoes" (1991); Hanks on his own amiable persona in "Philadelphia" (1993); Oxenberg on whether the public can embrace a gay hero who survives; Nyswaner on broadening his audience; Hanks and Fierstein on the universal nature of love; and Oxenberg and Maupin on the struggle for positive gay roles. The program concludes with clips from "The Living End" (1992), "Longtime Companion" (1990), "Parting Glances" (1986), "Desert Hearts" (1985); brief clips from twelve 1990s films about gays; and the 1895 Edison film of two men dancing.
Details
- NETWORK: HBO
- DATE: January 30, 1996 11:03 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:38:05
- COLOR/B&W: Color/B&W
- CATALOG ID: T:50999
- GENRE: Public affairs/Documentaries
- SUBJECT HEADING: Films - Production and direction; Gays; She Made It Collection (Sheila Nevins); She Made It Collection (Lily Tomlin); LGBT Collection
- SERIES RUN: HBO - TV, 1996
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Bernie Brillstein … Executive Producer
- Brad Grey … Executive Producer
- Howard Rosenman … Executive Producer
- Sheila Nevins … Executive Producer
- Caroline Spry … Executive Producer
- Anne Even … Executive Producer
- Lily Tomlin … Co-Executive Producer
- Rob Epstein … Producer, Director
- Jeffrey Friedman … Producer, Director
- Michael Lumpkin … Co-Producer
- Wendy Braitman … Associate Producer
- Michael Ehrenzweig … Associate Producer
- Caryn Mendez … Associate Producer
- Vito Russo … Based on the book by
- Rob Epstein … Writer
- Jeffrey Friedman … Writer
- Sharon Wood … Writer
- Carter Burwell … Music by
- Lily Tomlin … Narrator
- Jay Presson Allen
- Susie Bright
- Quentin Crisp
- Mart Crowley
- Catherine Denueve
- Antonio Fargas
- Harvey Fierstein
- Whoopi Goldberg
- Harry Hamlin
- Tom Hanks
- Arthur Laurent
- Shirley MacLaine
- Armistead Maupin
- David Melnick
- Ron Nyswaner
- Jan Oxenberg
- Barry Sandler
- Susan Sarandon
- John Schlesinger