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Before Stonewall

  • 1984
  • Unrated
  • 1h 27m
IMDb RATING
7.5/10
1.2K
YOUR RATING
Before Stonewall (1984)
Official Trailer
Play trailer2:21
1 Video
7 Photos
DocumentaryHistory

The history of the Gay and Lesbian community before the Stonewall riots began the major gay rights movement.The history of the Gay and Lesbian community before the Stonewall riots began the major gay rights movement.The history of the Gay and Lesbian community before the Stonewall riots began the major gay rights movement.

  • Directors
    • Greta Schiller
    • Robert Rosenberg
  • Stars
    • Rita Mae Brown
    • Bruce Nugent
    • Harry Otis
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    7.5/10
    1.2K
    YOUR RATING
    • Directors
      • Greta Schiller
      • Robert Rosenberg
    • Stars
      • Rita Mae Brown
      • Bruce Nugent
      • Harry Otis
    • 10User reviews
    • 13Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 4 wins & 1 nomination total

    Videos1

    Before Stonewall
    Trailer 2:21
    Before Stonewall

    Photos6

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    Top cast47

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    Rita Mae Brown
    • Narrator
    Bruce Nugent
    • Self - Artist and Writer
    • (as Richard Bruce Nugent)
    Harry Otis
    • Self - Artist, Former Dancer
    • (as Henry Otis)
    Donna Smith
    • Self - Retired Bookkeeper
    Harry Hay
    • Self - Political Activist
    Ted Rolfs
    • Self - Retired Merchant Marine
    Mabel Hampton
    • Self - Former Domestic Worker…
    Allen Ginsberg
    Allen Ginsberg
    • Self - Poet
    Barbara Grier
    • Self - Publisher
    Chuck Rowland
    • Self - Stage Producer
    George Buse
    • Self - Newspaper Reporter, Former Army Chaplain
    Hank Vilas
    • Self - Therapist
    Johnnie Phelps
    • Self - Printer
    Rikki Streicher
    • Self - Bar Owner
    • (as Ricky Streiker)
    Jim Kepner
    • Self - Gay Archivist
    Carroll Davis
    • Self - Performer
    Evelyn Hooker
    • Self
    • (as Dr. Evelyn Hooker)
    Barbara Gittings
    • Self - Gay Activist
    • Directors
      • Greta Schiller
      • Robert Rosenberg
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews10

    7.51.2K
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    Featured reviews

    8mashington_riley

    Warmly presented and informative

    A humanising and edifying account of the emerging gay rights movement across the early to mid twentieth century. Before Stonewall documents the struggles gay people faced leading to the protests of the 1960s. Containing archive footage of early depictions of gays on film, original interviews with gay rights activists, frequenters of early gay scenes of New York and San Francisco and authors including Allen Ginsberg. This film made me realise what a force for the creative voice the gay scene was in how it championed the subversive and the ironic. It is testament to the boundless positivity and optimism of the prominent individuals of the gay rights movement featured in this film that despite the often painful experiences they had to endure, their stories are retold in a witty and engaging way. Highly recommended for both educational and entertainment purposes!
    8lastliberal

    Getting caught often led to ruined lives, imprisonment, commitment to a mental institution or suicide.

    An absolutely fascinating account of gay life in the United States before 1969, especially how WWII changed everything.

    This collection of interviews, archival material, and history gives a clear picture of how gays and lesbians lived and interacted in this country before people "came out" publicly.

    I was impressed with those who came out openly in the 50s and started the first gay and lesbian organizations and magazines. These were people of extreme courage.

    The incorporation of gays and lesbians in the civil rights movement and the women's movement was thoroughly examined.

    This film should be seen by all to have a better understanding of oppression in America, and how far we have come.
    8jellopuke

    Important and worth seeing

    Very interesting look at how gay and lesbian people lived pre 1969 and the difficulties the lifestyle entailed. Well worth seeing, especially for anyone who thinks they're oppressed now. Educational and important.
    8gbill-74877

    Landmark documentary

    A truly landmark documentary about the experience of being gay in America over the course of the 20th century, at least up until the 1969 Stonewall riot. Through the use of a wide variety of archival footage and lots of interviews with people who lived through the times and helped bring about change, it gives the context for bigger historical moments (like the Kinsey report, the McCarthy driven purges in government, and the trial over Ginsberg's Howl), as well as profoundly personal moments (like being a gay soldier in WW2, the WAC bravely standing up to Eisenhower, and the influence of Ann Bannon's books, or countless others). It was heartbreaking to hear the stories of the repercussions of being gay in some of these years, e.g. being committed to an asylum, losing one's job, or being publically outed and branded a pervert.

    As one of the people interviewed points out, it's hard to imagine all of this happening - and that was in 1984, so it's even harder to fathom these things 36 years later. (Or is really hard to fathom with homophobic incidents still regularly popping up in the news? I don't know.) The film feels a bit frayed and it isn't perfect - but considering the enormous step forward even making it represented, I really enjoyed it nonetheless. It's a snapshot in time and since then there has been further progress, including a greater appreciation for the full LGBTQ community and MUCH greater acceptance in mainstream culture - as well as backlash and serious struggles along the way (I would love to see an updated version of this film!).

    Ironically, the documentary was made right as the AIDS crisis was taking off, to which the Reagan administration's depraved indifference would certainly count as a struggle (and we see Reagan lamely commenting that he believes being gay is a psychological disorder). If anything, I wish the film had pointed out more of the problems which still remained to the community; it has the air of finality, as if Stonewall happened and then "we made it." Then again, its focus is history, as its title suggests. Anyway, this is a good documentary, and it would be good as an educational film.
    10TheLurkingFox

    THE documentary to watch

    Before Stonewall is a unique piece because it was made in 1984, 15 years after Stonewall: It was still fresh in people's memory, it wasn't so long before.

    Above all, it means that the people interviewed in the program were old enough to remember what the 20-30s were like, remember an experience in the army during the Second World War, remember life as a young gay person in the fifties. Most of those people wouldn't be able to be interviewed today: Most probably died of old age and many probably died of the greatest tragedy to ever affect the gay community a bit after the documentary was made: the aids epidemic.

    Thus this documentary is invaluable to anyone interested in gay history, and one can really feel grateful that it was made back then, that someone decided to collect all those memories and amazing life experiences, or they would have been lost for ever.

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress, who deemed it "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" in 2019.
    • Crazy credits
      Unless otherwise stated, the people who appear in this film should not be presumed to be homosexual... or heterosexual.
    • Connections
      Edited from Different from the Others (1919)
    • Soundtracks
      The Girl That I Marry
      (uncredited)

      Written and Performed by Lisa Ben

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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • June 27, 1985 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Official sites
      • FirstRunFeatures.com distributor's official page for the film. (United States)
      • PeccaPics.com distributor's page for the film. (United Kingdom)
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • 石牆之前
    • Filming locations
      • Greenwich Village, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA(Many exterior shots, including of the outside of gay bars and the Stonewall Inn.)
    • Production companies
      • Before Stonewall Inc.
      • Center for the Study of Filmed History
      • Alternative Media Information Center
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $18,724
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $4,588
      • Jun 23, 2019
    • Gross worldwide
      • $18,724
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 27 minutes
    • Color
      • Black and White
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Mono
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.37 : 1

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