Queer Cinema History
by Gentlethey | created - 8 months ago | updated - 5 months ago | Public- Instant Watch Options
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1. Queen Christina (1933)
Approved | 99 min | Biography, Drama, Romance
Queen Christina of Sweden is a popular monarch who is loyal to her country. However, when she falls in love with a Spanish envoy, she must choose between the throne and the man she loves.
Director: Rouben Mamoulian | Stars: Greta Garbo, John Gilbert, Ian Keith, Lewis Stone
Votes: 8,617 | Gross: $0.77M
2. Looking for Langston (1989)
R | 45 min | Biography, Drama
A black and white, fantasy-like recreation of high-society gay men during the Harlem Renaissance, with archival footage and photographs intercut with a story. A wake is going on, with ... See full summary »
Director: Isaac Julien | Stars: Ben Ellison, Matthew Baidoo, Akim Mogaji, John Wilson
Votes: 613
3. Tongues Untied (1989)
Not Rated | 55 min | Documentary
A documentary about the experiences of black homosexual men living in the United States of America.
Director: Marlon Riggs | Stars: Marlon Riggs, Michael Bell, Kerrigan Black, Blackberri
Votes: 1,851
4. Vito (2011)
Not Rated | 93 min | Documentary, Biography, History
The story of Vito Russo, founding father of the gay liberation movement, author of "The Celluloid Closet," and vociferous AIDS activist in the 1980s.
Director: Jeffrey Schwarz | Stars: Phyllis Antonellis, George Bancroft, Richard Barrios, Edmund Bergler
Votes: 773
5. Desert Hearts (1985)
R | 91 min | Drama, Romance
While waiting for her divorce papers, a repressed professor of literature is unexpectedly seduced by a carefree, spirited young lesbian.
Director: Donna Deitch | Stars: Helen Shaver, Patricia Charbonneau, Audra Lindley, Andra Akers
Votes: 7,295 | Gross: $2.49M
6. Queer Genius (2019)
115 min | Documentary
"Queer Genius" is a cinematic exploration of four visionary queer artists breaking down barriers in their creative fields as they confront fame, failure, censorship, family, gender, and ... See full summary »
Director: Catherine Pancake | Stars: Camae Ayewa, Jibz Cameron, Barbara Hammer, Eileen Myles
Votes: 16
7. The Children's Hour (1961)
Not Rated | 108 min | Drama, Romance
A rebellious student at a girls' school accuses two teachers of lesbianism.
Director: William Wyler | Stars: Audrey Hepburn, Shirley MacLaine, James Garner, Miriam Hopkins
Votes: 18,401
8. Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood (2017)
Unrated | 98 min | Documentary, Biography, History
A portrait of unsung Hollywood legend Scotty Bowers, whose bestselling memoir chronicled his decades spent as sexual procurer to the stars.
Director: Matt Tyrnauer | Stars: Scotty Bowers, William Mann, David Kuhn, Stephen Fry
Votes: 1,803 | Gross: $0.46M
9. A Florida Enchantment (1914)
Unrated | 63 min | Comedy
A young woman discovers a seed that can make women act like men and men act like women. She decides to take one, then slips one to her maid and another to her fiancé. The fun begins.
Director: Sidney Drew | Stars: Sidney Drew, Edith Storey, Charles Kent, Mrs. Sidney Drew
Votes: 300
10. Different from the Others (1919)
Not Rated | 50 min | Crime, Drama, History
Two male musicians fall in love, but blackmail and scandal makes the affair take a tragic turn.
Director: Richard Oswald | Stars: Conrad Veidt, Leo Connard, Ilse von Tasso-Lind, Alexandra Willegh
Votes: 1,489
11. 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: 7,517 | Gross: $1.51M
12. The Maltese Falcon (1941)
Passed | 100 min | Crime, Film-Noir, Mystery
San Francisco private detective Sam Spade takes on a case that involves him with three eccentric criminals, a gorgeous liar and their quest for a priceless statuette, with the stakes rising after his partner is murdered.
Director: John Huston | Stars: Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor, Gladys George, Peter Lorre
Votes: 166,603 | Gross: $2.11M
13. Queer for Fear: The History of Queer Horror (2022)
Not Rated | 225 min | Documentary, Horror
A documentary telling the story of LGBTQIA+ horror and the relationship between queer audiences and horror, and the queer horror community as a whole.
Stars: Carmen Maria Machado, Kimberly Peirce, Briana Venskus, Emily St. James
Votes: 469
14. Some Like It Hot (1959)
Passed | 121 min | Comedy, Music, Romance
After two male musicians witness a mob hit, they flee the state in an all-female band disguised as women, but further complications set in.
Director: Billy Wilder | Stars: Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon, George Raft
Votes: 283,597 | Gross: $25.00M
15. Boys Beware (1962)
10 min | Short, Crime, Drama
This anti-homosexual social "scare" short film focuses on the dangers of young boys talking to strangers.
Star: Sid Davis
Votes: 637
16. Visible: Out on Television (2020)
TV-MA | 307 min | Documentary, History
Investigates the importance of TV as an intimate medium that has shaped the American conscience, and how the LGBTQ movement has shaped television.
Stars: Wilson Cruz, Wanda Sykes, Michaela Jaé (MJ) Rodriguez, Abbi Jacobson
Votes: 1,262
17. Fireworks (1947)
20 min | Short, Drama, Horror
A dissatisfied dreamer awakes, goes out in the night seeking a 'light' and is drawn through the needle's eye. A dream of a dream, he returns to bed less empty than before.
Director: Kenneth Anger | Stars: Kenneth Anger, Gordon Gray, Bill Seltzer
Votes: 2,905
18. Blow Job (1963)
35 min | Documentary, Short
Andy Warhol directs a single 35-minute shot of a man's face to capture his facial expressions as he receives the sexual act depicted in the title.
Director: Andy Warhol | Stars: DeVeren Bookwalter, Willard Maas
Votes: 1,163
19. Female Trouble (1974)
NC-17 | 89 min | Comedy, Crime
A spoiled schoolgirl runs away from home, gets pregnant while hitch-hiking, and ends up as a fashion model for a pair of beauticians who like to photograph women committing crimes.
Director: John Waters | Stars: Divine, David Lochary, Mary Vivian Pearce, Mink Stole
Votes: 10,467
20. 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: 17,615 | Gross: $3.78M
21. Madonna: Vogue (1990 Music Video)
5 min | Music
Madonna pays homage to Hollywood's Golden Age via Harlem's "House Ball" Vogueing.
Director: David Fincher | Stars: Madonna, Luis Camacho, Oliver Crumes Jr., Donna DeLory
Votes: 1,309
22. Madonna: Justify My Love (1990 Music Video)
Unrated | 5 min | Music
A distressed, tired woman becomes seduced into a sexual encounter with a mysterious man and woman.
Director: Jean-Baptiste Mondino | Stars: Madonna, Amanda Cazalet, Wallis Franken, Jose Guitierez
Votes: 806
23. The Watermelon Woman (1996)
Unrated | 85 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A young black lesbian filmmaker probes into the life of The Watermelon Woman, a 1930s black actress who played 'mammy' archetypes.
Director: Cheryl Dunye | Stars: Cheryl Dunye, Guinevere Turner, Valarie Walker, Lisa Marie Bronson
Votes: 3,665
24. Fabulous! The Story of Queer Cinema (2006)
81 min | Documentary
A chronological look at films by, for, or about (or 'by, for, and about') gays and lesbians in the United States, from 1947 to 2005, from Kenneth Anger's "Fireworks" to Ang Lee's "Brokeback... See full summary »
Directors: Lisa Ades, Lesli Klainberg | Stars: Randy Barbato, Dan Bucatinsky, Jonathan Caouette, Ash Christian
Votes: 840
25. Bound (1996)
R | 109 min | Crime, Thriller
Tough ex-con Corky and her lover Violet concoct a scheme to steal millions of stashed mob money and pin the blame on Violet's crooked boyfriend Caesar.
Directors: Lana Wachowski, Lilly Wachowski | Stars: Jennifer Tilly, Gina Gershon, Joe Pantoliano, John P. Ryan
Votes: 60,782 | Gross: $3.80M
26. The Matrix (1999)
R | 136 min | Action, Sci-Fi
When a beautiful stranger leads computer hacker Neo to a forbidding underworld, he discovers the shocking truth--the life he knows is the elaborate deception of an evil cyber-intelligence.
Directors: Lana Wachowski, Lilly Wachowski | Stars: Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Hugo Weaving
Votes: 2,053,836 | Gross: $171.48M
27. The Brandon Teena Story (1998)
Not Rated | 89 min | Documentary, Biography
Documentary about a multiple murder in rural Nebraska in 1993.
Directors: Susan Muska, Gréta Olafsdóttir | Stars: Daphne, Reanna, Gina, Shaun
Votes: 1,338 | Gross: $0.04M
28. 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: 103,300 | Gross: $11.53M
29. This Film Is Not Yet Rated (2006)
Unrated | 98 min | Documentary
Kirby Dick's exposé about the American movie ratings board.
Director: Kirby Dick | Stars: Kirby Dick, Kimberly Peirce, Darren Aronofsky, Atom Egoyan
Votes: 28,626 | Gross: $0.30M
30. Disclosure (2020)
TV-MA | 108 min | Documentary
An in-depth look at Hollywood's depiction of transgender people and the impact of those stories on transgender lives and American culture.
Director: Sam Feder | Stars: Laverne Cox, Bianca Leigh, Jen Richards, Alexandra Billings
Votes: 6,085
31. Song of Love (1950)
Not Rated | 26 min | Short, Drama, Fantasy
Two prisoners in complete isolation, separated by the thick brick walls, and desperately in need of human contact, devise a most unusual kind of communication.
Director: Jean Genet | Stars: Bravo, Jean Genet, Java, Coco Le Martiniquais
Votes: 3,709
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