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The Celluloid Closet More at IMDbPro »
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| Index | 29 reviews in total |
20 out of 20 people found the following review useful:
Out of the closet and into the picture, 17 September 2005
Author:
jotix100 from New York
"The Celluloid Closet" is a documentary that dares to go where others
haven't gone before. Hollywood, that dream factory, has always been a
magnet for the artistic gays and lesbians that have had a lot to endure
and have never been recognized to the valuable contributions they have
made to the medium.
Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman have compiled a comprehensible account
of how homosexuals have been discriminated by the industry where they
have been present since the early days of silent films. In fact, movies
have always attracted homosexuals who, for the sake of being in the
pictures, have gone to extremes in order to work in this form of
entertainment.
We are given excellent background by a lot of people that explain the
many intricacies these closeted individuals have endured while trying
to have a career in the movies. Interviews with Arthur Laurents, Tony
Curtis, Armistead Maupin, Susie Bright, Whoopie Goldberg, Jan Oxenburg,
Jay Presson Allen, Gore Vidal and others, expand on the material we are
watching. Lily Tomlin's narration is an asset.
Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman deserve credit for their frank attempt
to illustrate Hollywood's hypocritical treatment to the people who, in
a way, have added to the prestige and to the artistic quality of the
movies.
19 out of 20 people found the following review useful:
Excellent documentary, 14 February 2000
Author:
Wayne Malin (wwaayynnee51@hotmail.com) from United States
Entertaining, thought-provoking and (at times) very funny documentary chronicling gay subject matter in motion pictures from the silents up to 1995. The narration (by Lily Tomlin) is insightful and the cameos and comments by various stars who have played gay (Tom Hanks, Whoopi Goldberg, Harry Hamlin) or are gay (Harvey Feinstein, the late Quentin Crisp, Paul Rudnick) are very entertaining and in two cases (with Susan Sarandon and Gore Vidal) utterly uproarious. Special attention should be paid to the "Ben-Hur" segment when you realize Stephen Boyd was playing it gay and Charlton Heston was totally oblivious! This is a very important film and should be seen by everybody gay OR straight. A must for film buffs. Don't miss this one! My only complaint--it's too short! The DVD version has extra interviews that are just great.
18 out of 19 people found the following review useful:
The Power of Cinematic Image, 23 April 2005
Author:
gftbiloxi (gftbiloxi@yahoo.com) from Biloxi, Mississippi
Based on the book by Vito Russo, written by Armistead Maupin, and
narrated by Lily Tomlin, THE CELLULOID CLOSET uses interviews and
hundreds of film clips to examine the way in which Hollywood has
presented gay and lesbian characters on film from the age of silent
cinema to such recent films as PHILADELPHIA and DESERT HEARTS.
Throughout the documentary, the focus is on both stereotypes and the
various ways that more creative directors and writers worked around the
censorship of various decades to create implicitly homosexual
characters, with considerable attention given to the way in which
stereotypes shaped public concepts of the gay community in general.
Overtly homosexual characters were not particularly unusual in silent
and pre-code Hollywood films, and CLOSET offers an interesting sampling
of both swishy stereotypes and unexpectedly sophisticated
characters--both of which were doomed by the Hayes Code, a series of
censorship rules adopted by Hollywood in the early 1930s.
The effect of the Code was to soften some of the more grotesque
stereotypes--but more interesting was the impetus the Code gave to film
makers to create homosexual characters and plot lines that would go
over the heads of industry censors but which could still be interpreted
by astute audiences, with films such as THE MALTESE FALCON, REBECCA,
BEN-HUR, and REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE cases in point. Once the Code
collapsed, however, Hollywood again returned to stereotypes in an
effort to cash in on controversy--with the result that throughout most
of the sixties and seventies homosexual characters were usually
presented as unhappy, maladjusted creatures at best, suicidal and
psychopathic entities at worst.
The film clips are fascinating stuff and are often highlighted by
interviews of individuals who made the films: Tony Curtis re SOME LIKE
IT HOT and SPARTACUS, Shirley MacLaine re THE CHILDREN'S HOUR, Stephen
Boyd re BEN-HUR, Farley Granger re ROPE, and Whoopie Goldberg re THE
COLOR PURPLE, to name but a few. All are interesting and intriguing,
but two deserve special mention: Harvey Fierstein, who talks about the
hunger he had as a youth to see accurate reflections of himself on the
screen, and Susan Sarandon, who makes an eloquent statement on the
power of film as "the keeper of the dreams."
Although the material will have special appeal to gays and lesbians, it
should be of interest to any serious film buff with its mix of trivia
and significant fact. The DVD also includes notable packages of
out-takes from interviews that are often as interesting as the material
that made the final cut. If the documentary has a fault, however, it is
that it offers no "summing up," preferring instead to show only how far
the portrayal of homosexuals has come and indicating how far it has yet
to go. Recommended to any one interested in film history and
interpretation.
Gary F. Taylor, aka GFT, Amazon Reviewer
18 out of 19 people found the following review useful:
Everyone should see this film.....every film lover especially so; every gay person definitely!, 28 November 1998
Author:
Nicola Osborne (nosb125299@aol.com) from Cardiff, Wales
This is not a "film" in the traditional sense...perhaps
This is not a "documentary" in the traditional sense...probably
What is it??
The Celluloid Closet is a comprehensive history of film - gay film, straight
film, "is she/isn't she?..." film. Everything. It is the result of 10 years
hard work - no-one (especially big film/tv studios) is keen to fund a 2 hour
film on gay movie visibility, they're all too busy closetted away (often
literally) making sure viewers won't be offended by their
output...
However the time, effort and sheer love that has gone into this is utterly
evident and it may be a blessing in disguise that it took so very long. The
film is based heavily on the late Vitto Russo's book of the same name. Russo
was a film buff who catalogued in detail the visibility of gay and lesbian
characters in cinema. He included film from across the globe and updated the
book for the last time in the mid eighties (Parting Glances and My Beautiful
Launderette having just been completed) before the explosion of new gay film
of the last decade. The film takes the historical content of the book and
uses the best editing *I* have ever seen to produce enlightening sequences
on the treatment of gay people and issues. Although it only concentrates on
Hollywood films, it has the advantage over the book in that it was right up
to date at its time of completion.
Not only does The Celluloid Closet use self-appointed gay films, it also
takes enormous pleasure in covering those films we love and know as gay
classics even though the tension is a subtle sub-plot often totally lost on
a straight audience! Absolute treats are the celebrity comments (they will
set a thousand conspiracy theories going in your head too!), better still
is the input of relatively unknown behind-the-camera people, writers etc, who
are at liberty to be far more honest about their views.
There are also clips from classics like Rebecca, Calamity Jane (the dykiest
show on earth if you ask me!), Ben Hur, My Beautiful Launderette, Parting
Glances.......etc etc..
Any film you can think of is probably there - if not then maybe you should
write a sequel!
Did you ever think that Laurel and Hardy were very cosy with each other? Did
you think Mrs Danvers was a little forward going through Rebecca's undies?
Did you explode at *that* kiss in Morroco? Have you always secretly thought
The Hunger was a good movie? .............Well so did someone else. Quite a
lot of someone elses - and some of them were the writers!
This is such a good film for too many reasons. I'd go as far as saying it's
perfect film.
It has no characters/plot, etc but it shows the progress of gay visibility
as one of the best stories there is. The people who made those movies are
the cast. It is a film
It is informtive, funny, clever and revealing. It tells EVERYONE about their
history and heritage. The general observations about film-watching apply to
anyone. It's impressively detached and lets you draw your own
interpretation. It's a documentary.
You will sit there thinking "wow" when it finishs. You will wonder how you
view films - and how everyone else views them. It may even make you
nostalgic for the days when closetted was the only option (and endless
sex-scenes were impossible and forbidden so plot and dialogoue had to make
do). You will think of omissions and ponder those included but it will get
you thinking. That's the important part.
If this film doesn't make you want to go out and watch all your favourite
movies plus all those featured in it then I'll be amazed!
It may sound like it, but it's no chore to watch. It's a pleasure.
It's inspiring. wonderful. Ultimately uplifting. And you'll need to see it
again.....and again....and again!
....oh yes! And kd lang sings "Secret Love" at the end!
Wow!...
16 out of 17 people found the following review useful:
Fascinating and important documentary, 31 October 2000
Author:
Michael Dyckman from Forest Hills, New York, USA
The Celluloid Closet is a documentary that examines Hollywood and
homosexuality, and how gays and lesbians have been portrayed in films.. It
actually all began in 1895, with Thomas Edison's film of two men dancing
together!
Beginning in the 1930's, filmmakers, because of the strict production code
in place at the time, constantly inserted gay and lesbian themes and
storylines, and the earliest gay male character was always the `sissy', and
lesbians could only be used if they were presented as dangerous predators.
In viewing the film clips, some scenes from certain films are more overt
than others, especially in non-gay or lesbian themed films. For example,
Jane Russell, in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, sings in a room of half-naked
man, none of whom pay any attention to her. A less overt example features a
scene from Red River in which Montgomery Clift and another actor discuss
their pistols after removing them from their holsters. Numerous writers,
directors, and actors, including Gore Vidal, Susie Bright, John
Schlesinger,
Tom Hanks, and Susan Sarandon, all comment on their roles in this aspect of
film history. This is an important and always interesting documentary that
should be seen by everyone, no matter their sexual orientation.
Vote: 10
13 out of 13 people found the following review useful:
8/10, 16 February 2004
Author:
desperateliving from Canada
A documentary that follows the appearance of gays in the history of the
movies, the film takes a talking heads approach with interviews,
splicing in some terrific film pieces. We get to see Marlene Dietrich,
in "Morocco," kiss another woman while dressed in tails -- and looking
better than any man ever could. There's a brilliant in-joke clip from
"Red River" where Montgomery Clift is told about the beauty of a Swiss
watch and a woman -- and then asked if he's ever had a Swiss watch. The
film looks at gay stereotypes such as the pansy or the sissy, the
characters that Franklin Pangborn used to play. Some of the
interviewees are exceptional, namely Harvey Fierstein, Gore Vidal, and
the incredible Quentin Crisp. Vidal gives a hilarious recount of
including a gay backstory in "Ben Hur" which Charlton Heston of course
denies.
The film is also touching and kind of heartbreaking. You realize that
in the century we've had movies how enormously they've shaped our
culture and our perception of people, and how if the filmmakers and
studio heads hadn't been pressured by the horrible Hayes code,
society's collective view of gays might not be so troublesome. There's
a great moment where Quentin Crisp talks about census takers in
England, asking about homosexuality. They were asked whether they knew
any homosexuals. If the answer was yes, they were asked what they were
like, to which they replied, "just like everybody else." If they
answered no, they were asked what they would expect to meet, to which
they replied, someone with grand gestures and flamboyance and bright
colors. So that there are two images we have in our minds -- one of
what homosexuals are like, and one of what homosexuals should be like.
And movies played a huge role in that. 8/10
12 out of 12 people found the following review useful:
Eye Opener!, 12 June 2003
Author:
Gordon-11 from Hong Kong
I think this documentary is a total eye-opener. It gave me an insight into the American film history with respect to the particular topic of homosexuality. There are many original film clips as examples, and also have actors who performed the respective roles to comment on their views of this topic. This makes the documentary so convincing and credible.
8 out of 8 people found the following review useful:
One of the Most Important Documentaries I've Ever Seen, 21 October 2007
Author:
jzappa from Cincinnati, OH, United States
The Celluloid Closet is a fascinating, well-informed, vastly
entertaining, heavily emotional, and infuriating documentary. It
reminds us how aware we already were before watching it and makes us
even more aware upon watching it that America has always been full of
blind hate for things it hardly knows of, when those things may be
innate parts of someone, both hoping and scared to be noticed and
nonetheless only wanting acceptance. The Celluloid Closet, one of the
most important documentaries I have ever seen, makes it clear that in
over 100 years of movies, homosexuality has only been depicted on the
screen every here and there and almost always as something to laugh at,
or pity, or fear, thus hate. These images have always been momentary or
subtle and passing, but they have left a deep imprint on America, and
so the world. Lily Tomlin narrates, "Hollywood taught straight people
what to think about gay people, and gay people what to think about
themselves. No one escaped its influence."
Also, when you watch this film, you may hopefully slowly slip out of
that defensive shell we as a culture have, a denial that movies affect
us, or that any of that depends on age. This film proves beyond the
shadow of a doubt how the subtlest alterations to a film and the
slightest shades of attitudes can leave lasting conscious or
subconscious imprints on us.
The film takes us through the thrillingly interesting period of the
1950s, when screenwriters and directors acted almost as undercover
operatives when slipping in the slightest ambiguous homosexual or
bisexual undertones, the most shocking of which was Ben-Hur, and the
staggeringly angering 1960s, but maybe the focal point of the movie's
conclusion is that at the very beginning, starting with Thomas Edison's
experimental film of two men dancing together and continuing sparingly
through the silent era and shortly after, was a time when men were free
to express tenderness with each other on the screen, but as the world
grew more aware of homosexuality, affection between males would be seen
as a completely unacceptable, shun-worthy act. Two guy friends can
rarely even hold each other in a movie! However, there has always been
a difference in how audiences look at two men being affectionate or
sexual and two women being sexual. There's a comfort with female nudity
and affectionate bonding that can be not only acceptable but considered
sexy by the general public. Women somehow don't find it threatening the
way it is with men, and men find it either completely nonthreatening or
arousing, or both. Movies like The Color Purple, Personal Best and
Thelma & Louise showcase things between two women that are still highly
taboo between two men. Even hit movies like Philadelphia and Brokeback
Mountain, which actually is not mentioned in this film only because
this was released about a decade before it, are no true steps forward
for homosexuality in cinema, because they are about the sadness and
alienation of being gay, and, on a very obscure note in case someone
hasn't seen one or either, they end with death.
It remains to be seen whether or not Hollywood and American audiences
will embrace a movie with a gay hero who lives, and can be integrated
with other people. They are the only minority who has yet to be given
solid recognition and voice in the most universal and popular form of
entertainment and communication in our culture.
8 out of 8 people found the following review useful:
A closet full of dreams, 26 February 2006
Author:
Philby-3 from Sydney, Australia
"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.
8 out of 8 people found the following review useful:
fantastic, 11 July 2000
Author:
FilmBoy999
I agree that this film is perfect and here's why. It details its subject in a thorough and sweeping manner. It explores films and details the homosexual portrayals in an intelligent and non-catty manner. It's clever, well presented, no it's not a typical documentary but it's a very moving piece nonetheless, and it tells a story throughout. I was really thrilled by this film and all the research and effort that went into it. In interviews the filmmakers said that the only section they wish they could have kept was one about gay historical figures whose biographical lives were depicted on film as heterosexual. Certainly this would have been wonderful, but as is, the Celluloid Closet is an incredible film.
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