The Gay Essentials

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moira finnie
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Re: The Gay Essentials

Post by moira finnie »

What an interesting list. I do think that Laird Cregar deserves a spot among any Essentials list for his floridly ambiguous but disturbingly sympathetic characters in such films as The Lodger, Hangover Square, and This Gun For HIre. He always made his troubled "villains" eminently human as well as very likely inclined toward gayness.

I'm no expert, but my one quibble with your choices might be with number 11.
"11. THE RAZOR'S EDGE (1946, dir. Edmund Goulding). Clifton Webb as the gay snob/aesthete in full flower. Maybe his Elliott Templeton doesn't have a sex life, but if he does, it certainly doesn't involve women. A recognizable type for the era."
I think that Clifton Webb made his character a "recognizable type for the era" in a way that no one else really did in the '40s. I do suspect that given the deep roots of Victorian repression and the character's devout (if rather baroque) Catholicism, many individuals in the period, including Elliott Templeton, might have sublimated his sex drive into a whale of a case of snobbism, centering on living well (the best revenge, according to the Spanish proverb). Interestingly, Laura, this role, and Sitting Pretty seemed to solidify Clifton Webb's position at 20th Century Fox as America's favorite educated aesthete--and he didn't even have to die at the end of every movie! This was progress...of a sort.

Another character in Maugham's The Razor's Edge, MIss Keith, the gnomish secretary to the briefly glimpsed, socially prominent dragon, Princess Novemali in the story, might easily have been assumed to be a sexless (possible code for lesbian) drone. As played by Elsa Lanchester in one deft scene, she is revealed to have the fluttering heart of a romantic, accepting of a certain young man climbing through a window to speak with her. Given the fact that the youthful interloper is Tyrone Power, her understanding of his mission of mercy to give a dying Elliott a moment of peace allows her to look the other way as he purloins a copy of an invitation to a gala for the poor man. BTW, Maugham's source novel that inspired the movie allows several characters to have sex, enjoy it, and not die afterwards.
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ChiO
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Re: The Gay Essentials

Post by ChiO »

A few others that quickly come to mind:

THE MALTESE FALCON (John Huston 1941) - The great noir menage a trois. Peter Lorre with his gloves, scented handkerchief and umbrella handle that is persistently at his lips. Elisha "Will You Stop Playing With Your Gun For A Moment" Cook, Jr. And the lovable bear, Sydney Greenstreet. Mary Astor was definitely the odd man out.

JOHNNY GUITAR (Nicholas Ray 1954) - The difficulty here is deciphering who really wants whom, and what gender each is portraying.

SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS (Alexander Mackendrick 1957) - The incest subtext gets the press, but is there really any doubt about Sidney and J.J.? And that they are portrayed by two macho matinee idols makes it all the better.

THE 49th PARALLEL (Michael Powell 1941) - Leslie Howard gets tied up. By Nazis on the lam. 'Nuff said.

Honorable Mention: CROSSFIRE (Edward Dmytryk 1947) - It coulda been. The homosexual victim got changed to a Jewish victim for fear of being too ahead of the curve. If it hadn't been changed, would Dmytryk and Adrian Scott still have been blacklisted?
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Re: The Gay Essentials

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I'm very glad you posted here, so I don't have to venture out into the no man's land at TCM message boards! I saw your thread and turned around and ran away, I just didn't want to get into it over there.

Rex o'Malley from Camille also plays Mary Astor's wonderfully bitchy friend in Midnight. He's one of my favorite actors.

Marie Antoinette also features some ambiguous characters, like Robert Morley's Louis XVI, and Joseph Schildkraut's Duc d'Orleans.

There are quite a few silent films, mainly from Europe, that deal with the subject, kingrat. Here are a few to start with:


A Florida Enchantment - http://moviemorlocks.com/2010/11/20/luck-of-the-drew/

Diary of a Lost Girl

Pandora's Box

Anders als die Andern (Different from the Others) (1919)- starring Conrad Veidt
This film only survives in bits and pieces, the restoration has filled in missing scenes wth stills and descriptions

Michael (1924) - directed by Dreyer

Sex in Chains (1928) directed by William Dieterle

The last three are available from Kino.
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Re: The Gay Essentials

Post by JackFavell »

Ooh yes. O'Malley's human, fully shaped character within the stereotype is one of the major reasons I like him. He jumps off the screen in Camille and Midnight, he's so modern.
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Re: The Gay Essentials

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Image

Yes.
"You build my gallows high, baby."

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Re: The Gay Essentials

Post by Midge »

Good list and very interesting comments on each of the films. May I also suggest Rebecca (1940)? The Mrs. Danvers character is clearly besotted with Rebecca, who may also have been lesbian. It is hinted at in the script that Rebecca's marriage to Mr. De Winter was "in name only," as they used to say.
Last edited by Midge on January 28th, 2012, 7:39 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: The Gay Essentials

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so I don't have to venture out into the no man's land at TCM message boards!

I was going to go there. I chose to walk barefoot on hot coals instead!

To my adopted brother, Chio:

The funny thing about MALTESE FALCON is, I don't remember a gay sub-text in the book. I may be wrong. It's been a long time since I read it. The movie? For sure! SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS? I'm not really sold on that one. I see more hero worship than desire. It's what Seinfeld called The Non-Sexual Crush!
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Re: The Gay Essentials

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I see more hero worship than desire.
And I'm not sure I see either. I do see a male psychologically dominant-submissive, sado-masochistic relationship between an older unmarried man and a young handsome unmarried man who'd dump a swell gal to be in with the older man. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

I'm looking at subtext and possible code, so I don't think there is any overt "desire", and I don't see "hero worship". Sidney wants to be at the top or, at least, have access to the top and will do anything to get that. J.J. just happens to be the guy that is there. If it were Addison DeWitt, Sidney would adjust accordingly.
Everyday people...that's what's wrong with the world. -- Morgan Morgan
I love movies. But don't get me wrong. I hate Hollywood. -- Orson Welles
Movies can only go forward in spite of the motion picture industry. -- Orson Welles
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Re: The Gay Essentials

Post by JackFavell »

While I completely agree with you about SSOS, Sidney and JJ still remind me of an old married couple who can't stand one another, but are stuck because they are the only ones who can bear to be around each other.
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Re: The Gay Essentials

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Aaaaah-haaaa! Love it.
"You build my gallows high, baby."

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Re: The Gay Essentials

Post by RedRiver »

If it were Addison Dewitt, Sidney would adjust accordingly.

What if it was John Wayne?
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Re: The Gay Essentials

Post by ChiO »

Ee-yup, big fella.
Everyday people...that's what's wrong with the world. -- Morgan Morgan
I love movies. But don't get me wrong. I hate Hollywood. -- Orson Welles
Movies can only go forward in spite of the motion picture industry. -- Orson Welles
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