Must-See Films that Have a Place in LGBT History
by archersean | created - 12 Jul 2017 | updated - 14 Nov 2017 | PublicIt's part of our herstory!
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1. Before Stonewall (1984)
Unrated | 87 min | Documentary, History
The history of the Gay and Lesbian community before the Stonewall riots began the major gay rights movement.
Directors: Greta Schiller, Robert Rosenberg | Stars: Rita Mae Brown, Bruce Nugent, Henry Otis, Donna Smith
Votes: 1,190 | Gross: $0.02M
2. Paris Is Burning (1990)
R | 78 min | Documentary
A chronicle of New York's drag scene in the 1980s, focusing on balls, voguing and the ambitions and dreams of those who gave the era its warmth and vitality.
Director: Jennie Livingston | Stars: Brooke Xtravaganza, André Christian, Dorian Corey, Paris Duprée
Votes: 17,606 | Gross: $3.78M
3. Pink Flamingos (1972)
NC-17 | 93 min | Comedy, Crime
Notorious Baltimore criminal and underground figure Divine goes up against a sleazy married couple who make a passionate attempt to humiliate her and seize her tabloid-given title as "The Filthiest Person Alive".
Director: John Waters | Stars: Divine, David Lochary, Mary Vivian Pearce, Mink Stole
Votes: 27,904 | Gross: $0.18M
4. All About Eve (1950)
Passed | 138 min | Drama
A seemingly timid but secretly ruthless ingénue insinuates herself into the lives of an aging Broadway star and her circle of theater friends.
Director: Joseph L. Mankiewicz | Stars: Bette Davis, Anne Baxter, George Sanders, Celeste Holm
Votes: 138,752 | Gross: $0.01M
5. Sunset Blvd. (1950)
Passed | 110 min | Drama, Film-Noir
A screenwriter develops a dangerous relationship with a faded film star determined to make a triumphant return.
Director: Billy Wilder | Stars: William Holden, Gloria Swanson, Erich von Stroheim, Nancy Olson
Votes: 236,437
6. The Birdcage (1996)
R | 117 min | Comedy
A gay cabaret owner and his drag queen companion agree to put up a false straight front so that their son can introduce them to his fiancée's right-wing moralistic parents.
Director: Mike Nichols | Stars: Robin Williams, Nathan Lane, Gene Hackman, Dianne Wiest
Votes: 100,606 | Gross: $124.06M
7. The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994)
R | 104 min | Comedy, Music
Two drag performers and a transgender woman travel across the desert to perform their unique style of cabaret.
Director: Stephan Elliott | Stars: Hugo Weaving, Guy Pearce, Terence Stamp, Rebel Penfold-Russell
Votes: 55,068 | Gross: $11.22M
8. I, You, He, She (1974)
86 min | Drama
'Je' is a girl voluntarily lock up in a room. 'Tu' is the script. 'Il' is a lorry driver. 'Elle' is the girlfriend.
Director: Chantal Akerman | Stars: Chantal Akerman, Niels Arestrup, Claire Wauthion
Votes: 2,964
9. To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar (1995)
PG-13 | 109 min | Comedy, Drama
Three drag queens travel cross-country until their car breaks down, leaving them stranded in a small town.
Director: Beeban Kidron | Stars: Wesley Snipes, Patrick Swayze, John Leguizamo, Stockard Channing
Votes: 36,550 | Gross: $36.47M
10. The Cockettes (2002)
R | 102 min | Documentary
Documentary about the gender-bending San Francisco performance group who became a pop culture phenomenon in the early 1970s.
Directors: Bill Weber, David Weissman | Stars: Larry Brinkin, Peggy Cass, The Cockettes, Pristine Condition
Votes: 625 | Gross: $0.22M
11. Thelma & Louise (1991)
R | 130 min | Adventure, Crime, Drama
Two best friends set out on an adventure, but it soon turns around to a terrifying escape from being hunted by the police, as these two women escape for the crimes they committed.
Director: Ridley Scott | Stars: Susan Sarandon, Geena Davis, Harvey Keitel, Michael Madsen
Votes: 173,136 | Gross: $45.36M
12. What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962)
Passed | 134 min | Drama, Horror, Thriller
A former child star torments her paraplegic sister in their decaying Hollywood mansion.
Director: Robert Aldrich | Stars: Bette Davis, Joan Crawford, Victor Buono, Wesley Addy
Votes: 61,886 | Gross: $4.05M
13. The Queen (1968)
Not Rated | 68 min | Documentary
The behind the scenes of a national drag queen contest in New York City, including the rehearsals leading up to the contest, the conversations in the dressing room and the jealousies that emerge before and after the competition.
Director: Frank Simon | Stars: Bernard Giquel, Jack Doroshow, Jim Dine, Rachel Harlow
Votes: 1,327 | Gross: $0.05M
14. The Wizard of Oz (1939)
PG | 102 min | Adventure, Family, Fantasy
Young Dorothy Gale and her dog Toto are swept away by a tornado from their Kansas farm to the magical Land of Oz, and embark on a quest with three new friends to see the Wizard, who can return her to her home and fulfill the others' wishes.
Directors: Victor Fleming, King Vidor | Stars: Judy Garland, Frank Morgan, Ray Bolger, Bert Lahr
Votes: 428,631 | Gross: $2.08M
15. The Celluloid Closet (1995)
R | 102 min | Documentary, History
A documentary surveying the various Hollywood screen depictions of homosexuals and the attitudes behind them throughout the history of North American film.
Directors: Rob Epstein, Jeffrey Friedman | Stars: Lily Tomlin, Tony Curtis, Susie Bright, Arthur Laurents
Votes: 7,511 | Gross: $1.51M
16. Brokeback Mountain (2005)
R | 134 min | Drama, Romance
Ennis and Jack are two shepherds who develop a sexual and emotional relationship. Their relationship becomes complicated when both of them get married to their respective girlfriends.
Director: Ang Lee | Stars: Jake Gyllenhaal, Heath Ledger, Michelle Williams, Randy Quaid
Votes: 382,197 | Gross: $83.04M
17. Boys Don't Cry (1999)
R | 118 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
A young man named Brandon Teena navigates love, life, and being transgender in rural Nebraska.
Director: Kimberly Peirce | Stars: Hilary Swank, Chloë Sevigny, Peter Sarsgaard, Brendan Sexton III
Votes: 103,289 | Gross: $11.53M
18. My Own Private Idaho (1991)
R | 104 min | Drama
Two best friends living on the streets of Portland as hustlers embark on a journey of self discovery and find their relationship stumbling along the way.
Director: Gus Van Sant | Stars: River Phoenix, Keanu Reeves, James Russo, William Richert
Votes: 61,744 | Gross: $6.40M
19. Stranger by the Lake (2013)
Not Rated | 100 min | Drama, Romance, Thriller
Summertime. A cruising spot for men, tucked away on the shores of a lake. Franck falls in love with Michel, an attractive, potent and lethally dangerous man. Franck knows this but wants to live out his passion anyway.
Director: Alain Guiraudie | Stars: Pierre Deladonchamps, Christophe Paou, Patrick d'Assumçao, Jérôme Chappatte
Votes: 15,912 | Gross: $0.32M
20. Cabaret (1972)
PG | 124 min | Drama, Music, Musical
A female girlie club entertainer in Weimar Republic era Berlin romances two men while the Nazi Party rises to power around them.
Director: Bob Fosse | Stars: Liza Minnelli, Michael York, Helmut Griem, Joel Grey
Votes: 59,391 | Gross: $42.77M
21. Hairspray (1988)
PG | 92 min | Comedy, Drama, Family
A 'pleasantly plump' teenager teaches 1962 Baltimore a thing or two about integration after landing a spot on a local TV dance show.
Director: John Waters | Stars: Sonny Bono, Ruth Brown, Divine, Debbie Harry
Votes: 23,443 | Gross: $6.67M
22. Milk (I) (2008)
R | 128 min | Biography, Drama, History
The story of American gay activist Harvey Milk, who fought for gay rights and was elected as California's first openly gay official.
Director: Gus Van Sant | Stars: Sean Penn, Josh Brolin, Emile Hirsch, Diego Luna
Votes: 179,858 | Gross: $31.84M
23. Pageant (2008)
Not Rated | 95 min | Documentary
A portrait of five men competing in the Miss Gay America pageant.
Directors: Ron Davis, Stewart Halpern-Fingerhut | Stars: Carl Glorioso, Victoria Parker, Robert Martin, David Lowman
Votes: 599
24. Blue Is the Warmest Colour (2013)
NC-17 | 180 min | Drama, Romance
Adèle's life is changed when she meets Emma, a young woman with blue hair, who will allow her to discover desire and to assert herself as a woman and as an adult. In front of others, Adèle grows, seeks herself, loses herself, and ultimately finds herself through love and loss.
Director: Abdellatif Kechiche | Stars: Léa Seydoux, Adèle Exarchopoulos, Salim Kechiouche, Aurélien Recoing
Votes: 163,063 | Gross: $2.20M
25. Death Becomes Her (1992)
PG-13 | 104 min | Comedy, Fantasy, Horror
When a fading actress learns of an immortality treatment, she sees it as a way to outdo her long-time rival.
Director: Robert Zemeckis | Stars: Meryl Streep, Bruce Willis, Goldie Hawn, Isabella Rossellini
Votes: 131,313 | Gross: $58.42M
26. Hairspray (2007)
PG | 117 min | Comedy, Drama, Musical
Pleasantly plump teenager Tracy Turnblad teaches 1962 Baltimore a thing or two about integration after landing a spot on a local TV dance show.
Director: Adam Shankman | Stars: John Travolta, Queen Latifah, Nikki Blonsky, Michelle Pfeiffer
Votes: 138,713 | Gross: $118.87M
27. Mrs. Doubtfire (1993)
PG-13 | 125 min | Comedy, Drama
After a bitter divorce, an actor disguises himself as a female housekeeper to spend time with his children held in custody by his former wife.
Director: Chris Columbus | Stars: Robin Williams, Sally Field, Pierce Brosnan, Harvey Fierstein
Votes: 290,945 | Gross: $219.20M
28. Mommie Dearest (1981)
R | 129 min | Biography, Drama
The abusive and traumatic adoptive upbringing of Christina Crawford at the hands of her mother, screen queen Joan Crawford, is depicted.
Director: Frank Perry | Stars: Faye Dunaway, Diana Scarwid, Steve Forrest, Howard Da Silva
Votes: 18,342 | Gross: $19.03M
29. Party Monster (1998)
57 min | Documentary, Biography
Documentary film exploring the rise of Club Kid legend Michael Alig and his fall in 1996 when he murdered his drug dealer/roommate Angel Melendez.
Directors: Fenton Bailey, Randy Barbato | Stars: Michael Alig, Gitsie, James St. James, Keoki
Votes: 1,772
30. Mahogany (1975)
PG | 109 min | Drama, Romance
Tracy, an aspiring designer from the slums of Chicago puts herself through fashion school in the hopes of becoming one of the world's top designers. Her ambition leads her to Rome spurring ... See full summary »
Directors: Berry Gordy, Tony Richardson, Jack Wormser | Stars: Diana Ross, Billy Dee Williams, Anthony Perkins, Jean-Pierre Aumont
Votes: 2,225 | Gross: $5.00M
31. Bike Boy (1967)
Unrated | 96 min | Drama
Joe Spencer, a member of a motorcycle gang, is taking a shower. After his bout with personal hygiene, Joe encounters Andy Warhol's "superstars," who engage him in conversation. The ... See full summary »
Director: Andy Warhol | Stars: Joseph Spencer, Ed Wiener, Vera Cruz, George Ann
Votes: 121
32. Yossi & Jagger (2002)
R | 65 min | Drama, History, Romance
Romance blooms between two soldiers (Knoller, Levi) stationed in an Israeli outpost on the Lebanese border.
Director: Eytan Fox | Stars: Ohad Knoller, Yehuda Levi, Assi Cohen, Aya Steinovitz
Votes: 7,615
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