THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, June 30, 1996 TAG: 9607030728
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E11 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Movie Review
SOURCE: BY MAL VINCENT, MOVIE CRITIC
LENGTH: 65 lines
ANYONE INTERESTED in movies, the social history of the United States, or life in general can easily be enthralled by ``The Celluloid Closet,'' an entertaining and surprisingly disturbing history of how the homosexual has been portrayed in film.
It's a ``That's Entertainment''-style collection of film clips, but it is much more.
Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman have done more than merely compile movie scenes. They have exposed a century-long conspiracy that most of us never noticed - or chose not to notice. Based on the best-selling book by Vito Russo, the movie makes a convincing case that Hollywood has relentlessly portrayed homosexuals in a demeaning, flippant and derogatory way while, at the same time, being nonchalant about it in a way that was meant to cajole and soothe the mass audience.
It is a premise that is so obviously true that the film serves as a wake-up call to ask us why we never thought of it before.
Lily Tomlin, the narrator of the film, states: ``In a hundred years of movies, homosexuality has only rarely been depicted on the screen. When it did appear, it was there as something to laugh at, or something to pity, or even something to fear.''
The obvious film clips are there: ``Making Love,'' one of the first studio films to depict an open romance between males (starring Harry Hamlin and Michael Ontkean); ``Boys in the Band,'' one of the first comedy-dramas and one that is still controversial because of its downbeat portrayal; ``Tea and Sympathy,'' the film in which Deborah Kerr taught an insecure young man that he actually preferred women; ``The Children's Hour'' in which Audrey Hepburn and Shirley MacLaine are guilt-ridden about their love.
More interesting, though, are the films that we never suspected of making statements about this subject at all.
Most shocking is a realization that the films have shaped a fear and pity for homosexuals rather than any degree of respect. Take, for example, a shocking statement from Barry Sandler who, in the film, points out what he calls ``the astonishing number of movies in which the word `faggot' is casually used. The word `nigger,' or any other slur, would never be used that indiscriminately.''
Among those interviewed are Farley Granger, Shirley MacLaine, Paul Rudnick, Tom Hanks, Susan Sarandon, Gore Vidal and dozens of others.
Don't expect a sermon, though. The film is occasionally hilarious without ever quite becoming cute or campy. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
SONY PICTURES CLASSICS
Jeffrey Friedman, left, and Rob Epstein produced ``The Celluloid
Closet.'' Lily Tomlin narrates.
Graphic
MOVIE REVIEW
``The Celluloid Closet''
Cast: Narrated by Lily Tomlin, featuring Shirley MacLaine, Tony
Curtis, Whoopi Goldberg, Quentin Crisp, Gore Vidal, Farley Granger,
Harry Hamlin, John Schlesinger, Susan Sarandon
Director: Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Freidman
MPAA rating: R (sexual situations)
Mal's rating: Three stars
Location: Naro in Norfolk by CNB