The Celluloid Closet (1995)

Directors:

Rob Epstein
Jeffrey Friedman

Writers:

Vito Russo (book)
Rob Epstein (story) ...

Release Date:

15 March 1996 (USA)

Genre:

Documentary | History

Plot:

A documentary surveying the various Hollywood screen depictions of homosexuals and the attitudes behind them throughout the history of North American film.

Plot Keywords:

Gay | Lesbian | Lesbianism | Voice Over Narration | Gay Interest

Awards:

Nominated for 4 Primetime Emmys. Another 5 wins & 3 nominations

Cast

Lily Tomlin	...	Narrator
Tony Curtis	...	Himself
Susie Bright	...	Herself
Arthur Laurents	...	Himself
Armistead Maupin	...	Himself
Whoopi Goldberg	...	Herself
Jan Oxenberg	...	Herself
Harvey Fierstein	...	Himself
Quentin Crisp	...	Himself
Richard Dyer	...	Himself
Jay Presson Allen	...	Herself
Mrs. Gustav Ketterer	...	Herself
Gore Vidal	...	Himself
Will H. Hays	...	Himself (archive footage)
Farley Granger	...	Himself

Also Known As:

Celluloid Closet (France)
Gefangen in der Traumfabrik (Germany)

MPAA:

Rated R for some graphic footage of sexuality and violence, and for language.

Runtime:

102 min

Country:

France | UK | Germany | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White | Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Australia:M | Finland:K-14 | France:U | Spain:13 | USA:R

Company:

Arte

Trivia:

The filmmakers originally planned a sequence discussing how gay historical figures were portrayed as heterosexual in films. They aborted the sequence when Richard Burton's estate denied the rights to Alexander the Great (1956), MGM denied use of Hans Christian Andersen (1952) (fearing that the filmmakers were trying to "out" Danny Kaye) and Charlton Heston declined use of The Agony and the Ecstasy (1965) (claiming that Michaelangelo was heterosexual).

Quotes:

Quentin Crisp: Mainstream people dislike homosexuality because they can't help concentrating on what homosexual men do to one another. And when you contemplate what people do, you think of yourself doing it. And they don't like that. That's the famous joke: I don't like peas, and I'm glad I don't like them, because if I liked them I would eat them and I hate them.

Movie Connections:

Features Vu du pont (1962)

A closet full of dreams

"The Celluloid Closet" is a history of the treatment of homosexuals and gay themes in the cinema from the silent days to 1995, but it is a very partial account, focusing almost exclusively on Hollywood. The strength of the film is a huge number of clips from a vast range of films which show that, after a fairly liberal early period, homophobia reigned supreme until the late 1960s, and still can be seen in mainstream movies today. One of the great gay clichés is the homosexual movie buff in love with the likes of Judy Garland, so it is ironic that so many gay people should turn to the Hollywood product for distraction, given how anti-gay that product was. Some of the industry people interviewed for the film boast of how the censors were outsmarted on occasion, for example Gore Vidal's account of how Charlton Heston was fooled into acting gay in "Ben Hur", but it was not until "Boys in the Band", the film of a successful stage play in 1970, that homosexuality broke through as a topic for candid treatment.

With "Brokeback Mountain" in line for an Academy Award or two this year gay themes can clearly now be mainstream. This film reminds us that cinema reflects the society from which it springs, and the United States has not historically been tolerant to what we might call sexual minorities. Somehow things loosened up in the 1960s and film-makers followed the trend (though not the lawmakers in most states). The genie is now out of the box, gay rights are reasonably well established and there is no going back. It will be interesting to see how American gay cinema retains its edge, now that homosexuality has become domesticated.