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20th Century Film Classics
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By Jack Nichols
Before the 20th Century slides into our collective past, it seems only
fitting to recall those films to which gay audiences thrilled most, especially now that
some have become readily available through video and DVD. TLA Video's Winter
Catalog (see link below) provides peepsters a relatively inexpensive opportunity to own
a slew of cultural gems.
The 90s, no doubt, has witnessed a dramatic upsurge in good gay movies, many made with a sensitivity at which earlier decades could only hint. What was feasible fare in the Fifties may seem merely funny now that a new century is at hand. But funny is nothing to sneeze at if we hark back, say, to 1958, when Auntie Mame opened up hilarious new worlds in entertainment. Rosalind Russell, the star of this classic, provided a sleepy Middle America with a unprecedented peep into her zany Greenwich Village milieu. It wasn't a gay-oriented film, no. In fact, there were no openly gay characters in Auntie Mame. But gay audiences thrilled—in that long ago and hideously dark period—to a festive party scene in which two outlandishly dressed lesbians were simply shown in passing.
Her orphaned nephew, Patrick, watches her closely after he's sent to live with her in the Village. It's through his child's eyes that we see Mame's individualistic approach to life unfold. "Life is a banquet," she informs us all, "and most poor fools are starving to death." She sends Patrick to a Greenwich Village school where the kids play leap frog in the nude. Peggy Cass as Mame's dowdy, near-sighted secretary, Agnes Gooch, got turned by her role into one of filmdom's favorite camp actresses. "They told me to 'live'," she squeaks, staggering up the stairs after a late-night party, "so I LIVED." Pregnancy is the end result. Agnes Gooch follows Mame about her house, trying desperately to record each of Mame's autobiographical memories. The first line in this autobiography captures our entries into 20th century adolescence with a wacky poignancy: "How bleak was my puberty." TLA's new catalog is chock full of 20th century goodies—all the way up through 1999. Those who missed Cher's recent HBO concert-- Believe—in which she graciously acknowledged her gay fans in the audience and demonstrated those qualities sustaining her as a star for nearly 40 years, can order this stunning concert from TLA for a mere $17.99 (video) or $19.99 (DVD).
Films often inspired pre-gay-lib and pre-feminist bar-fly retorts, memorable remarks utilized by gay males but generally ascribed to 'bitchy' women like those in All About Eve a 1950 flick that gave us: "Fasten your seat belts, its going to be a bumpy night". Or, they helped open new worlds of black humor, as did 1962's Whatever Happened to Baby Jane: "By the way Blanche, there are rats in the cellar." TLA Video catalogues them all.
Are there still any Judy Garland fans? The catalog offers A Star is Born for a mere $20.99. Or are there more likely South Park addicts? 1999s South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut, features Big Gay Al as well as the Devil who's engaged in a troubled sexual relationship with his horny topman, Saddam Hussein. My personal favorite among the trashier classics is John Waters' Pink Flamingos. This 1972 cult film played weekends for several years at midnight for its hosts of fans. Subtitled "An Exercise in Poor Taste," Pink Flamingos fully lives up to its promo, unrivaled for pure shock if you've got boring bourgeois company you'd like to freak. The final scene, in which Divine gobbles dog doo, is much overrated, in my opinion and is not nearly as arresting as the scene wherein a stunt man wiggles his athletic anus with an unprecedented elasticity. All of Waters' films are included in the TLA Video catalog.
Romantics will thrill to the 1987 classic, Maurice, which, at $14.99, is worth every penny
because of its extraordinary musical soundtrack alone. Based on the posthumously published novel by British autrhor, E.M. Forster, it is a colorful coming-out story that captures early 20th century reticence. Starring a youthful Hugh Grant, who, for years, was England's handsomest male, it is also a love story that was one of the first to show nude males enjoying a roll in the hay.
Jump time-lines from staid mid-century to the anything-goes present. Own copies of movies you may have missed or that you loved best. They include today's hottest hits, gay comedies, the output of independent film studios, camp, teen life, hustlers, drama, international art, British contributions and gay or lesbian documentaries. The latter part of the TLA catalog offers a wide selection of erotic classics as well. Check them out, sooner than immediately. |
© 1997-99 BEI