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Post by teleadm on Jan 20, 2018 16:30:09 GMT
These two fellows in Diamonds Are Forever 1971 The assassins Thumper and Bambi too have always struck me as gay and probably in a relationship. Thumper and Bambi, Hmmmm never thought of that...  |
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Eλευθερί
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Post by Eλευθερί on Jan 20, 2018 16:30:43 GMT
One of the horrible things about this topic is that just about every such overt relationship during the period of classic films was obligatorily negative: predators and their victims, masters and slaves, forlorn souls and the objects of their unrequited love. Usually somebody had to die--or if not die, go to jail.
One of the rare exceptions, mentioned above, is one of my top 10 favorite films: Torch Song Trilogy.
I don't think any of these have been mentioned:
Different from the Others (1919) — I have only read about this film; two male musicians fall in love but fall victim to blackmail
Un chant d'amour (1950) 26 min film by Jean Genet; I haven't seen this but by all accounts it would fit; two prisoners in adjacent cells develop a relationship
The Trials of Oscar Wilde (1960) -- the extramarital relationship between Wilde and the reckless son of the Marquess of Queensbury leads to Wilde's dishonor and imprisonment
Plein soleil (Purple Noon) (1960) - Alain Delon as the original silver screen Talented Mr. Ripley, Maurice Ronet as Philippe (Dickie) Greenleaf
Victim (1961) - Dirk Bogarde as a very prominent (married) barrister who is being blackmailed by someone who has photos of him with a young gay man who later commits suicide; the film was nominated for a BAFTA for Bogarde as best actor and for best screenplay
Lawrence of Arabia (1962) ?
Reflections in a Golden Eye (1967) - dir. John Huston; US army major (Marlon Brando), despite being married to a voluptuous Elizabeth Taylor, has the hots for a private (Robert Forster) who has a penchant for riding around on a horse stark naked and sniffing the major's wife's panties (this story is one of those cases of unrequited lust)
That Certain Summer (1972) - (I have a copy of this one but haven't watched it yet); a teenager has to deal with his divorced father's homosexuality (father is played by Hal Holbrook, his partner by Martin Sheen)
Dog Day Afternoon (1975) - classic Sidney Lumet melodrama in which Al Pacino's Sonny Wortzik holds up a bank to get money to pay for his partner Leon's (Chris Sarandon) sex reassignment surgery.
Sebastiane (1976) - Derek Jarman's treatment of the St. Sebastian legend, in Latin!; I've tried watching this two or three times but just can't get into it
(The Ritz (1976) - no real relationships per se, but a lot of homoerotic comedic tension)
The Sentinel (1977) - screen adaptation of the horror novel about a young woman who moves into a haunted apartment building; two of her neighbors are lesbians (and sisters)
La cage aux folles (1978) - one of the handful of pre-1980 films with a sympathetic portrayal of an openly-gay couple
Nighthawks (1978) - a little-known documentary-style film that follows the day-to-day life of a gay British teacher as he tries to deal with homophobia at work (the students actually ask him if he is queer, and he calmly tells them he is!) and the difficulty of finding a lasting relationship in his private life
Making Love (1982) - a married young doctor (Michael Ontkean) falls in love with another guy, a rather flaky IMO writer (Harry Hamlin); I thought the performances were all very good, especially Kate Jackson's, who plays the wife (Ontkean and Jackson had previously teamed up on the tv show The Rookies); the two male leads' careers took nosedives after their appearance in this film—that's how strong the homophobia was in Hollywood in the early '80s
Laberinto de pasiones (1982) Almodóvar's 2nd major film; a Middle Eastern prince, who is gay/bi, is living incognito in Madrid, where Islamic terrorists are searching for him and trying to kill him (a very young Antonio Banderas is one of the terrorists—he's gay and hooks up with the prince, not realizing who the prince actually is); he incidentally falls in love with a (female) pop star/nymphomaniac. The plot is actually even more complicated than all of that!
Tenebre (1982) - Dario Argento slasher; there is a lesbian couple among the victims
Doña Herlinda y su hijo (1985) - a gay doctor who lives with his mother falls in love with a younger student; the doctor's mother keeps urging her son to get married—her solution is for the son's male lover to move in with them, along with the son's new wife
Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985) - screen adapation of the Manuel Puig novel & stage play; a transgender prisoner (physically male but identifies as female) (Raul Julia) develops a relationship with a heterosexual cellmate who is a leftist revolutionary (William Hurt). Hurt won numerous awards for the role, including a best actor Oscar.
My Beautiful Laundrette (1985) - a young gay Pakistani British man tries to turn a laundrette into a profitable business with his white, skinhead lover; this was Daniel Day-Lewis' first breakout performance; Hanif Kureishi was nominated for an Oscar for the screenplay
The Color Purple (1985) screen adapation of Alice Walker novel; 11 Oscar nominations; Spielberg has admitted he sharply toned down the homoerotic content to get a PG-13 rating, but there's still a lesbian kiss between two lead characters
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Eλευθερί
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@eleutheri
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Post by Eλευθερί on Jan 20, 2018 16:39:53 GMT
I never gave Dracula and Renfield a second thought. But now that you mention it ... Fright Night (1985) - the vampire who moves in next door with his live-in "carpenter"   not to mention Evil Ed, to whom the vampire says, "I know what it's like being different." |
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Post by Nalkarj on Jan 20, 2018 16:47:47 GMT
As for other choices in this category (first ones that come to mind are the monster flicks, as there is just so much material here)… Countess Zaleska and Lili in Dracula’s Daughter, one of my favorite Universal horrors  There've been several vampire films over the years with lesbian overtones, eg Vampyres (1974). Another one with—well, not subtext but overt text is Et mourir de plaisir (1960, dir. Roger Vadim). Impressive use of color that far exceeds anything Hammer was doing at the time. Carmilla, the novella on which that movie is based and possibly my favorite vampire tale of them all, is probably the—er—grandmother of all of these horror works with gay or lesbian overtones. Great story, which I highly recommend. I’m mostly referring to how Pretorius comes to Frankenstein’s bed on the latter’s wedding night and steals him away so that they can make life together—how Henry fights against going with Pretorius but is eventually persuaded as Pretorius more and more discusses how wonderful the creation would be. (Note that it’s not Pretorius’s blackmail that persuades Henry to go with him; it’s Pretorius’s success at creating life.) I should also note that it’s subtext—it’s not sexual in the context of the story any more than Countess Zaleska’s scene with Lili is sexual. (Re: that scene, I’ve talked to horror fans who have said, “Of course there’s no subtext! Zaleska’s an undead vampire longing for Lili’s blood, that’s all. Duh.” I’m afraid they’re missing the point of subtext.) Henry here has two sides to him, and he’s pulled from his his wedding-bed, his marriage with Elizabeth, to go and join Pretorius and create life with him. |
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Post by Doghouse6 on Jan 20, 2018 18:29:26 GMT
Nalkarj Am I misremembering? That's not my recollection. Henry's fascinated by Pretorius's experiments, but later refuses to participate when he's again visited at his home, prompting the latter's "I expected this," and the signal to the monster to abduct Elizabeth. "I'll admit I'm beaten," Henry later moans to Pretorius. The way Thesiger plays Pretorius is something I put down to the sensibilities of both the actor and director Whale. It adds an intriguing and colorful element to the character, but I see it as a matter of little more than "camp," and him more as a Mephistophelean figure embodying corruption. As he says to Henry about his "devil" creation, "Bears a certain resemblance to myself, don't you think? Or do I flatter myself?" If his sexuality is an issue at all, it's in the way it allows him to exploit Henry's own heterosexuality: to perceive it as a weakness and, therefore, leverage it to advantage; first, by appealing to it - "Follow the lead of nature, or of God, if you like your Bible stories: male and female created He them; be fruitful and multiply" - and then to use it as a weapon by arranging the abduction of the woman he loves. How much subtext of that nature may or may not have been intended, I could only guess. It's just another among plentiful examples of things in classic films that work out conveniently, even if only accidentally.
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Post by Nalkarj on Jan 20, 2018 18:52:55 GMT
You’re not misremembering, Doghouse6 , but I might have been unclear: I’m not referring to Henry’s help in creating the Bride, merely Henry’s going with Pretorius when the latter first shows up at the Frankenstein doorstep. This part (dialogue thanks to AMC Filmsite): |
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Post by Doghouse6 on Jan 20, 2018 19:05:31 GMT
Not unclear at all, Nalkarj; merely my too-hasty reading. I plead guilty to DUI: Distracted User Interpretation. |
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Post by Nalkarj on Jan 20, 2018 19:22:46 GMT
Not unclear at all, Nalkarj ; merely my too-hasty reading. I plead guilty to DUI: Distracted User Interpretation. Ah, as your lawyer, I highly advise you take the DA’s plea deal, as this kind of DUI carries with it… Oh, no worries, I heard Bat was the judge and the rest of our group here make up the jury, so no worries.  By the way, I recently watched the ’36 Walking Dead with Karloff, which I promptly put on my “best Curtiz films” list for spiderwort ’s thread—and, dear God, that has got to have one of the wackiest travesties of justice I’ve ever seen in the movies. Ricardo Cortez is a member of the gang that bumped off a judge and framed Karloff—and he ends up being Karloff’s attorney! Tons of fun, though, and as telegonus said elsewhere about The Kennel Murder Case, it moves like lightning. |
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Post by neurosturgeon on Jan 20, 2018 21:17:24 GMT
There is the relationship between Arthur Gwynn Geiger, the murdered "bookstore" owner and Carol Lundgen who shoots and kills Joe Brody thinking he killed Geiger . Marlowe refers to Lundgren as Geiger's boyfriend. |
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Post by bravomailer on Jan 20, 2018 22:57:12 GMT
From Russia with Love Five Easy Pieces   |
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Post by Chalice_Of_Evil on Jan 21, 2018 0:36:00 GMT
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