A documentary that looks at Hollywood's depiction of LGBT characters on film from the earliest days of experimental silent cinema through early 1990s cinema. Based on the non fiction book by Vito Russo and directed by Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman (LINDA RONSTADT: THE SOUND OF MY VOICE). Laced with film clips and interviews with writers, actors and critics, the film is an often fascinating look back at how homosexuals were perceived in an era when it was a taboo subject matter. While the word homosexual is never mentioned, their presence is there whether it is the sissies of Edward Everett Horton and Franklin Pangborn to the predatory lesbian vampire of DRACULA'S DAUGHTER. As the Hays code is relaxed (before disappearing forever in 1968), the 1960s ushered in films, often problematic, that were not afraid to discuss the subject. While I personally disagree with some of the movie's attitude (I think THE CHILDREN'S HOUR is still relevant and THE BOYS IN THE BAND is a sorry excuse for a "groundbreaking" gay movie), it remains a superb archival record of the history of gay cinema and LGBT characters in film. With Tom Hanks, Shirley MacLaine, Tony Curtis, Susan Sarandon, Whoopi Goldberg, Farley Granger, Harry Hamlin, Harvey Fierstein and narrated by Lily Tomlin.
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