Stonewall (1995)

A group of homosexual people try to live with dignity and self-respect while events build to the opening battle in the major gay rights movement.

Director:

Nigel Finch

Writers:

Rikki Beadle Blair, Martin Duberman (novel)

Stars:

Guillermo Díaz, Frederick Weller, Brendan Corbalis

4 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Guillermo Díaz	...	La Miranda
Frederick Weller	...	Matty Dean
Brendan Corbalis	...	Ethan
Duane Boutte	...	Bostonia (as Duane Boutté)
Bruce MacVittie	...	Vinnie
Peter Ratray	...	Burt
Dwight Ewell	...	Helen Wheels
Matthew Faber	...	Mizz Moxie
Michael McElroy	...	Princess Ernestine
Luis Guzmán	...	Vito (as Luiz Guzman)
Joey Dedio	...	Angelo
Tim Artz	...	Plainclothes Cop
Isaiah Washington	...	Uniformed Cop
Candis Cayne	...	Diva
David Drumgold	...	Diva

Storyline

Who could have guessed that a bunch of men in dresses would breath life into the movement to win equal rights for gay men and lesbians? Certainly not the police who raided the Stonewall Inn, a popular "drag" bar in Greenwich Village. After a long history of police raids, extortion, and brutality, a gaggle of drag queens at the Stonewall decide they have had enough and begin to riot when the police try to load them into a paddy wagon. Told by "La Miranda" (Hector), a regular customer at the Stonewall Inn, the film is a recounting of events that led up to that fateful day in 1969. "Matty Dean" is the handsome angry young man that La Miranda meets at the Stonewall one day and with whom she/he quickly falls in love. "Bostonia" is the self-styled Queen Mother of the drag queens and guides each initiate gently "into the life." Her lover, Vinnie, is the closeted proprietor of the Stonewall. His tragic response to the suffocation he feels bearing down on him from a homophobic world -- perhaps...

---

Plot Keywords:

gay | police | drag | riot | police raid | 

---

Taglines:

Between maleness and femaleness, there's . . . FABULOUSNESS ! [Australia theatrical]

---

Genres:

Comedy | Drama | History | Romance

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence, sexuality and language

Details

Country:

UK USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

3 September 1996 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Greenwich Village, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$74,052 (USA) (26 July 1996)

Gross:

$616,248 (USA) (27 September 1996)

Company Credits

Production Co:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), BBC Arena, Killer Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

99 min 94 min (DVD)

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Early in the film, there is a shot of a sign being posted that said "We homosexuals plead with our people to please help maintain peaceful and quiet conduct on the streets of the Village." This was an actual sign which was prominently and publicly posted outside the original Stonewall Inn in early summer 1969, about one month prior to the Stonewall Riots began.

---

Goofs

The sip-in depicted took place in 1966, not 1969. It was not the Stonewall Inn that refused service, but a bar called Julius (which is shown as the sip-in's first stop in the film).

---

Quotes

Bostonia: Don't push me, Mary. I am not in the mood.
Uniformed Cop: Awww, she ain't in the mood. Ain't we in the mood? Are we on the rag, dearie? And what if my little buddy here is in the mood?
[pushes Bostonia]
Uniformed Cop: Poor little faggot don't know whether to kill me or kiss me.
Bostonia: [Hits the cop] Guess I made up my mind.

---

Connections

References The Wizard of Oz (1939)

---

Soundtracks

"Keep It Up"
Written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller
Performed by The Soul Brothers
Courtesy of Sun Entertainment Corp.
By arrangement with Celebrity Licensing Inc.

User Reviews

Events leading up to the Gay Uprising of 1969--told in connect-the-dots fashion

A young gay man from the sticks comes to New York City in 1969 hoping for a better life, but finds the homosexual lifestyle just as stifled in the big city under police pressure, corruption and harassment. The legendary gay riots near the Stonewall Inn take up just five minutes of the film's running-time, the final five minutes. This low-budget, brightly-colored film is more interested in the lives that would soon be affected by the riots than in the aftermath of the violence--and so we get stock characters like the naive blond cowboy, the underworld group controlling the club, the straight-seeming activists for a Homosexual Alliance, and lots and lots of drag queens. Director Nigel Finch seems to make a concerted effort to equate homosexuality with drag behavior, and drag behavior with (ultimately) prostitution. Perhaps this was true of the times, but Finch's presentation (though not campy) has cartoonish leanings and nostalgic overtures that don't express anything more than what most people already realize: the cops were corrupt, the gays were not saints, and they clashed. There's a good movie to be made about Stonewall, but this one just scratches the surface. There are some sweet moments (a sing-along on a bus, a dance between a drag queen and a gay conservative), but just as many scenes where the tone intended hasn't a hope in hell of coming through. ** from ****