Celluloid Closet

UPC: 043396821071

Studio: Columbia TriStar

MPAA Rating: R   Contains:[Adult Situations, Not For Children, Adult Language]

Summary: Based on Vito Russo's groundbreaking 1981 work of film history, The Celluloid Closet gathers clips from dozens of mainstream Hollywood films to illustrate how the movies have dealt explicitly -- and more importantly, implicitly -- with gay and lesbian themes. Layered between the clips are interviews with filmmakers whose works have touched on that subject. The popular films of the Golden Age could only hint at homosexuality and often portrayed gays as simpering characters, objects of scorn or merriment, or insidious villains. With the strictures of the old Production Code loosening, bolder presentations were possible, but often over the objections of studio executives who feared a public backlash against a film that dealt with a long taboo subject. Among the films discussed are Philadelphia, The Children's Hour, Making Love, Rope, and Spartacus. Gore Vidal, Tom Hanks, Susan Sarandon, and director John Schlesinger are among the film's strongest interview subjects. ~ Tom Wiener, Rovi

Category: History [nf]

Awards: Teddy Award - Best Documentary – Berlin International Film Festival Freedom of Expression Award – Sundance Film Festival Truer Than Fiction Award – Independent Spirit Awards Truer Than Fiction Award – Independent Spirit Awards

Features: Digitally mastered audio and video
Full-screen presentation
Audio: English 2-channel [Dolby Surround]
Subtitles: English
Commentary with filmmakers Robert Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman, Lily Tomlin, producer Howard Rosenman, and editor Arnold Glassman
Additional commentary with author Vito Russo
Bonus trailers
Collection of outtakes
Talent files
Interactive menus
Production notes including letters from Gore Vidal and Charlton Heston
Scene selections
Director weblink

Celluloid Closet

Format: Digital Video Disc (DVD)

Release Date: 05/29/2001

Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 Pre-1954 Standard

Audio: DDS2.0 Dolby Digital w/ 4 channels

Runtime: 101 Minutes

Sides: 1

Number of Discs: 1

Language(s) English

Subtitles: English

Region: USA & territories, Canada

Chapters: Side #1 --
0. Scene Selections
1. Start [2:19]
2. Gay images [2:39]
3. From the very beginning [2:41]
4. Enter the sissy [3:21]
5. Morocco [1:40]
6. Queen Christina [3:48]
7. Cold-hearted villians [3:03]
8. The Maltese Falcon [1:02]
9. Rope [1:07]
10. Behind bars [1:16]
11. Young Man With A Horn [1:46]
12. Tea And Sympathy [1:25]
13. Rebel Without A Cause [2:07]
14. Ben-hur [2:54]
15. Blurring the lines [3:29]
16. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes [4:02]
17. Tony Curtis [7:47]
18. Victim [1:23]
19. The Children's Hour [3:37]
20. Advise & Consent [2:43]
21. Unhappy gay people [2:26]
22. The Boys In The Band [3:08]
23. Cabaret [4:31]
24. Cruising [7:47]
25. Making Love [2:29]
26. Sunday, Bloody Sunday [5:27]
27. Women who love each other [:44]
28. Philadelphia [7:21]
0. Chapter Listings
1. Gay and Lesbian History [4:45]
2. Growing Up [2:31]
3. Sterotypes [3:32]
4. Subtext [:48]
5. Drag [1:27]
6. Sissies [1:34]
7. Hitchcock [3:16]
8. "Some Like it Hot" [2:24]
9. "The Children's Hour" [1:53]
10. Movie Stars [5:24]
11. The Cutting Room Floor [2:40]
12. Positive Images [1:52]
13. Homophobia [3:30]
14. Playing Gay [2:24]
15. On Screen Affection [3:28]
16. Making "Making Love" [2:18]
17. "Personal Best" [1:20]
18. "Philadelphia" [1:42]
19. Gay Voices [3:32]
20. "My Own Private Idaho" [2:33]
21. The Future [2:54]

Tom Wiener

In transferring the important work of the late Vito Russo to the screen, the question was whether filmmakers Rob Epstein (The Times of Harvey Milk) and Jeffrey Friedman would be able to obtain the proper clips to illustrate Russo's points about the portrayal of homosexuality in Hollywood films. The Celluloid Closet, happy to say, delivers the key illustrative material and adds commentary and reminiscences from a number of film personnel (actors, writers, directors, producers) to give even more perspective to a long-neglected subject. This is not an expos? of who's out of and who's still in the closet in Hollywood, but a more serious discussion of the clever ways that filmmakers of the so-called Golden Age were able to suggest the sexual orientation of certain characters, and how the transition to a more explicit and honest portrayal was made. The film is free of cant and preaching; it recognizes the difficult circumstances under which artists were laboring for many years. And there are moments of playfulness, too, as when Gore Vidal remembers his little conspiracy with actor Stephen Boyd and director William Wyler to suggest an extra dimension to the relationship between the male leads in Ben-Hur. ~ Tom Wiener, Rovi

Cast and Crew: Lily Tomlin  Actor 
Quentin Crisp  Actor 
Jay Presson Allen  Actor 
Jan Oxenberg  Actor 
Richard Dyer  Actor 
Susan Sarandon  Actor 
Daniel Melnick  Actor 
Joseph Breen  Actor 
Whoopi Goldberg  Actor 
Tony Curtis  Actor 
John Schlesinger  Actor 
Armistead Maupin  Actor 
Harry Hamlin  Actor 
Tom Hanks  Actor 
Gore Vidal  Actor 
Farley Granger  Actor 
Harvey Fierstein  Actor 
Shirley MacLaine  Actor 
Arthur Laurents  Actor 
Paul Rudnick  Actor 
Antonio Banderas  Actor 
Sharon Stone  Actor 
Ron Nyswaner  Actor 
Susie Bright  Actor 
Antonio Fargas  Actor 
Mart Crowley  Actor 
Barry Sandler  Actor 
Stewart Stern  Actor 
k.d. lang  Composer (Music Score) 
Carter Burwell  Composer (Music Score) 
Robert Epstein  Director 
Robert Epstein  Producer 
Robert Epstein  Screenwriter 
Jeffrey Friedman  Director 
Jeffrey Friedman  Producer 
Jeffrey Friedman  Screenwriter 
Zvi Howard Rosenman  Executive Producer 
Sharon Wood  Screenwriter 
Bernie Brillstein  Executive Producer 
Sheila Nevins  Producer 
Brad Grey  Executive Producer 
Armistead Maupin  Screenwriter 

Country: USA