| Complete credited cast: | |||
|
|
Rita Mae Brown | ... |
Narrator
|
| Rest of cast listed alphabetically: | |||
|
|
Red Jordan Arobateau | ... |
Himself - writer
|
| Ann Bannon | ... |
Herself - university professor
|
|
|
|
Lisa Ben | ... |
Herself - former secretary
|
|
|
Gladys Bentley | ... |
Herself
(voice)
|
|
|
George Buse | ... |
Himself - newspaper reporter, former Army Chaplain
|
|
|
Carroll Davis | ... |
Himself - performer
|
|
|
Martin Duberman | ... |
Himself - historian and playwright
|
| Allen Ginsberg | ... |
Himself
|
|
|
|
Barbara Gittings | ... |
Herself - gay activist
|
|
|
Barbara Grier | ... |
Herself - publisher
|
|
|
Mabel Hampton | ... |
Herself - dancer, former domestic worker
|
|
|
Harry Hay | ... |
Himself - political activist
|
|
|
Dorothy Hillaire | ... |
Herself - Native American activist
(as Dorothy 'Smilie' Hillaire)
|
|
|
Evelyn Hooker | ... |
Herself
(as Dr. Evelyn Hooker)
|
New York City's Stonewall Inn is regarded by many as the site of gay and lesbian liberation since it was at this bar that drag queens fought back against police June 27-28, 1969. This documentary uses extensive archival film, movie clips and personal recollections to construct an audiovisual history of the gay community before the Stonewall riots. Written by Ed Stephan <stephan@cc.wwu.edu>
I have lost count of the number of times I have seen this wonderful documentary. The archival material alone -- film clips and still photographs of gay life in America between 1900 and the '60s -- is enough to make this film a treasure; but it is the interviews with survivors of the pre-Stonewall era that make Before Stonewall a priceless heirloom of gay studies and a must in the personal education of any socially conscious person interested in gay culture.