THE CELLULOID CLOSET
A film review by Ben Hoffman
Copyright 1996 Ben Hoffman
The dictionaries define "unique" as "one of a kind." No more apt description fits The Celluloid Closet. Narrated by Lily Tomlin, using over one hundred film clips from the Thomas Edison experimental film to the Oscar-winning Philadelphia, the movie is frequently hilarious, thoroughly entertaining and always informative. The film is based on the book by Vito Russo, the story of how Hollywood has over the years shown gays and Lesbians.
Having seen most of the films from the Chaplin days through the present, I was surprised to find how little I knew about them. I never thought of the comic Edward Everett Horton as supposed to be portraying a gay character. He was just funny and made us laugh. The truth is I did not even know what a "gay" was.
We knew about the Hays Office that had the power to censor films. We knew that the Catholic Legion of Decency made a list of films which good Catholics were forbidden to see. That was then and this is now but we still have those who would censor what can be seen, The rating system is still with us.
How we learned to view gays and Lesbians and how they learned to view themselves came in large part from the Silver Screen. Any reference to homosexuality was sure to bring a laugh just as comedians used Brooklyn and Cucamonga as laugh=getters. Gayness on the screen could be funny but it could also make you pity the poor unfortunates A male costume designer was good for a laugh. . . . or a flouncy waiter . . . . or any of a dozen stereotypes. No one thought of them as being homosexual; they were just sissies. On the one hand there were the John Waynes and on the other were the sissies. Quentin Crisp remarks that when a man dresses as a woman, we find it funny (SOME LIKE IT HOT) but a woman dressed as a man (Dietrich, Garbo) was not only accepted but even was a source of titillation.
Again, the film is unique. My own favorite scene is at the end, a clip of Tom Hanks and Anthony Banderas in their Navy uniforms, and the voice over commentary that sums up this wonderful film.
Directed by Bob Epstein and Jeffrey.
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Ben Hoffman
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