''Making Love'' is a 1982 American
drama film
In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...
directed by
Arthur Hiller
Arthur Hiller, (November 22, 1923 – August 17, 2016) was a Canadian television and film director with over 33 films to his credit during a 50-year career. He began his career directing television in Canada and later in the U.S. By the late ...
and starring
Kate Jackson
Lucy Kate Jackson (born October 29, 1948), known professionally as Kate Jackson, is an American actress and television producer, known for her television roles as Sabrina Duncan in the series ''Charlie's Angels'' (1976–1979) and Amanda King i ...
,
Harry Hamlin and
Michael Ontkean. The film tells the story of a married man coming to terms with his
homosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or Human sexual activity, sexual behavior between people of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexu ...
and the
love triangle
A love triangle is a scenario or circumstance, usually depicted as a rivalry, in which two people are pursuing or involved in a romantic relationship with one person, or in which one person in a romantic relationship with someone is simultaneo ...
that develops between him, his wife and another man.
Plot
Zack Elliot is a successful young
oncologist
Oncology is a branch of medicine that deals with the study, treatment, diagnosis, and prevention of cancer. A medical professional who practices oncology is an ''oncologist''. The name's etymological origin is the Greek word ὄγκος (''� ...
in the
Los Angeles
Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
area married to Claire, an equally successful
television network
A television broadcaster or television network is a telecommunications network for the distribution of television show, television content, where a central operation provides programming to many television stations, pay television providers or ...
executive during the early 1980s. They first met in
college
A college (Latin: ''collegium'') may be a tertiary educational institution (sometimes awarding degrees), part of a collegiate university, an institution offering vocational education, a further education institution, or a secondary sc ...
, have been married for eight years, and are generally happy in their relationship, sharing a love for
Gilbert and Sullivan
Gilbert and Sullivan refers to the Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the dramatist W. S. Gilbert (1836–1911) and the composer Arthur Sullivan (1842–1900) and to the works they jointly created. The two men collaborated on fourteen com ...
and the poetry of
Rupert Brooke, to whom they were introduced by their elderly former neighbor, Winnie Bates. Intending to start a family, the couple buys a big house.
Unknown to Claire, Zack has been struggling with feelings of attraction to other men. He picks up men in his car and starts frequenting
gay bar
A gay bar is a Bar (establishment), drinking establishment that caters to an exclusively or predominantly lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer (LGBTQ+) clientele; the term ''gay'' is used as a broadly inclusive concept for LGBTQ+ communi ...
s in
West Hollywood on his lunch hour, although he does not follow through sexually. This changes when he meets Bart McGuire, an openly gay novelist who comes to see him for a medical check-up. Bart leads a fairly
hedonistic
Hedonism is a family of philosophical views that prioritize pleasure. Psychological hedonism is the theory that all human behavior is motivated by the desire to maximize pleasure and minimize pain. As a form of egoism, it suggests that peopl ...
single lifestyle, picking up multiple sexual partners, frequenting gay bars and clubs, and occasionally taking recreational drugs. Zack and Bart are mutually but unspokenly attracted to each other and go out for lunch.
A few days later, Zack asks him on a dinner date. He lies to Claire, saying he has to work late. At Bart's house, it becomes clear Zack is not yet able to identify as gay, instead labeling himself "curious." Zack and Bart go to bed, which is the first time Zack has had sex with another man. Zack wants to stay the night, but Bart, following his usual pattern, brushes him off. Angered, Zack leaves, but later challenges Bart's fear of intimacy, which stems from his own troubled childhood with his domineering and
emotionally abusive father growing up. Bart makes plans for them to get together during the weekend.
Claire, concerned about the growing distance in her marriage, goes to her boss seeking a year-long leave of absence. Instead, he promotes her and sends her to
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
on a weekend business trip. Zack takes advantage of the opportunity to spend more time with Bart, but they end up arguing. Zack calls the outline for Bart's new novel less than honest, and Bart confronts Zack about his own lack of honesty about his sexuality. That night in bed, Zack tells Bart that he loves him. The next morning, fearful of his own growing feelings for Zack, Bart pushes him away again.
Eventually, Bart realizes he has feelings for Zack but isn't ready for the commitment Zack needs. He is last seen in the film at the bars,
cruising.
When Claire returns from her trip, Zack confesses his feelings for other men. Although she said she could handle anything, she reacts badly, and Zack leaves. A few days later, Claire, emotional, trashes some of Zack's clothes and finds a matchbook with a man's name and number. She locates someone Zack had met and they talk. She learns he lives a relatively normal and happy life. Claire tries to convince Zack to stay in the marriage, even accepting him having affairs with other men. However, Zack tells her she must let go, as he can no longer live a lie and needs to be true to himself. He then informs Claire of a job prospect in New York City, working with cancer patients. Ultimately, they agree to a divorce.
The film ends a few years in the future, with the death of Winnie Bates, Zack and Claire's former neighbor. Zack is living in New York and in a committed relationship with another man, an
investment banker
Investment banking is an advisory-based financial service for institutional investors, corporations, governments, and similar clients. Traditionally associated with corporate finance, such a bank might assist in raising financial capital by unde ...
, named Ken. He returns to Los Angeles for Winnie's funeral. Claire has since gotten remarried to an
architect
An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...
, and has a young son named Rupert. It is loosely implied that she is now a
stay-at-home mom
A stay-at-home mother (alternatively, stay-at-home mom or SAHM) is a mother who is the primary caregiver of the children. The male equivalent is the stay-at-home dad. The gender-neutral term is stay-at-home parent. Stay-at-home mom is distinct ...
. After the funeral, Zack and Claire discuss their lives and express their own happiness and their gratitude that the other is happy.
Throughout the film, Bart and Claire deliver several mini-monologues, speaking directly to the camera about aspects of their lives and their feelings about the scenes that had just played out on-screen.
Cast
*
Michael Ontkean as Zack Elliot
*
Harry Hamlin as Bart McGuire
*
Kate Jackson
Lucy Kate Jackson (born October 29, 1948), known professionally as Kate Jackson, is an American actress and television producer, known for her television roles as Sabrina Duncan in the series ''Charlie's Angels'' (1976–1979) and Amanda King i ...
as Claire Elliot
*
Wendy Hiller as Winnie Bates
*
Arthur Hill as Henry
*
Nancy Olson
Nancy Ann Olson (born July 14, 1928) is an American retired actress. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in ''Sunset Boulevard (film), Sunset Boulevard'' (1950). She co-starred with William Holden in ...
as Christine
Background
The core concept for ''Making Love'' purportedly occurred to writer
Scott Berg while he was touring to promote his 1978 biography '' Max Perkins: Editor of Genius'': the tour occasioned Berg's touching base with several male friends from his college days who confided that they were opting out of marriages for same-sex relationships. Berg said, "I thought this is the next big social movement of our country. What the black
ightsmovement was, translated into film in the '60s, what the feminist movement was in the '70s, the gay movement will be in the '80s."
[''Los Angeles Times'' 31 May 1981 "Gay Love Edges Into Mainstream" by Patricia Goldstone pp.29-30.(Calendar)] Berg pitched a story based on his college friends' disclosures to his friend screenwriter
Barry Sandler who like Berg was openly gay. Sandler said, "I resisted
cripting Berg's storyat first" - six months passed before Sandler agreed to collaborate with Berg - "I
adalways written very glossy, Hollywood type of films"
..."
erg's story wasvery delicate and potentially explosive
...To do this film meant a great deal of self-exploration into portions of my psyche I hadn't been into before."
Despite Berg's avowed purpose in "translating" the "gay movement of the '80s" into film, the planned focus of the screenplay for ''Making Love'' was as a "husband-and-wife love story." Berg said, "It was very important to have a love story
o interesta major studio".
Sherry Lansing
Sherry Lansing (born Sherry Lee Duhl; July 31, 1944) is an American former film studio executive serving as chairwoman of Universal Music Group's board of directors since 2023. She previously served as chairwoman and CEO of Paramount Pictures, ...
, newly appointed president of
20th Century-Fox
20th Century Studios, Inc., formerly 20th Century Fox, is an American film production and distribution company owned by the Walt Disney Studios, the film studios division of the Disney Entertainment business segment of the Walt Disney Com ...
, greenlit the project based on an outline of Sandler's projected screenplay, of which a 125-page rough draft was completed in the autumn of 1980 when directing duties were assigned to Arthur Hiller, whose helming of the iconic 1970 film ''
Love Story'' would be heavily referenced in the promotion for ''Making Love'', the latter film being posited as the "'Love Story' of the '80s".
Daniel Melnick, the co-producer of ''Making Love'', would allege that the film's two male leads, Michael Ontkean and Harry Hamlin, as well as female lead Kate Jackson, were the "original choices" for their roles, while admitting, "We did send the script to a few actors who
espondedthat they were either not interested or were 'too busy'". Reportedly the film-makers hoped to cast
Michael Douglas
Michael Kirk Douglas (born September 25, 1944) is an American actor and film producer. He has received numerous accolades, including two Academy Awards, five Golden Globe Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, the Cecil B. DeMille Award, and the ...
as Zack to the point that after he passed on the film's original script he was sent a revision which he also passed on. Another actor courted to play Zack:
Tom Berenger
Tom Berenger (born Thomas Michael Moore; May 31, 1949) is an American actor. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of the Staff Sergeant Bob Barnes in ''Platoon'' (1986). He is also known for playing ...
, purportedly passed on the part due to a scheduling conflict (Berenger did tour Japan in ''
A Streetcar Named Desire
''A Streetcar Named Desire'' is a play written by Tennessee Williams and first performed on Broadway on December 3, 1947. The play dramatizes the experiences of Blanche DuBois, a former Southern belle who, after encountering a series of pe ...
'' in the spring of 1981).
Harrison Ford
Harrison Ford (born July 13, 1942) is an American actor. Regarded as a cinematic cultural icon, he has starred in Harrison Ford filmography, many notable films over seven decades, and is one of List of highest-grossing actors, the highest-gr ...
,
William Hurt and
Peter Strauss have also been cited as being unsuccessfully approached to play Zack. According to Arthur Hiller, most actors he approached re starring in ''Making Love'' advised him not to even consider them. Kate Jackson - who had previously costarred with Ontkean in the 1972-76
ABC-TV series ''
The Rookies
''The Rookies'' is an American police procedural series created by Rita Lakin that originally aired on ABC from September 11, 1972, to March 30, 1976. It follows the exploits of three rookie police officers working in an unidentified city for ...
'' - was cast by Hiller as the female lead in ''Making Love'' on the strength of her performance in the TV movie ''Thin Ice'' which was previewed for Hiller prior to its 17 February 1981 broadcast.
Themes
''Making Love'' was one of several mainstream
Hollywood film
The cinema of the United States, primarily associated with major film studios collectively referred to as Hollywood, has significantly influenced the global film industry since the early 20th century.
Classical Hollywood cinema, a filmmakin ...
s to be released in 1982 that attempted to deal with themes of homosexuality in a more tolerant and sympathetic light. Others included ''
Personal Best'', ''
Victor/Victoria'', and ''
Partners''. ''Making Love'' has been referred to as being the first mainstream Hollywood film drama to address the subject of
coming out
Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBTQ people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity.
This is often framed and debated as a privacy issue, ...
and the effect that being
closeted
''Closeted'' and ''in the closet'' are metaphors for LGBTQ people who have not disclosed their sexual orientation or gender identity and aspects thereof, including sexual identity and sexual behavior. This metaphor is associated and sometime ...
and coming out has on a marriage.
The film contrasts two visions of the so-called "gay lifestyle". Zack wants to settle into a long-term monogamous relationship, while Bart is shown as promiscuous and uninterested in forming commitments.
Issues of the tension many women felt over pursuing careers are also touched on in Claire's fears that she is being forced to choose between her career and having a baby. By the film's end, she does have a child, but it is unstated whether she is still working, so that issue ultimately remains unresolved (although it is implied she's now a
housewife
A housewife (also known as a homemaker or a stay-at-home mother/mom/mum) is a woman whose role is running or managing her family's home—housekeeping, which may include Parenting, caring for her children; cleaning and maintaining the home; Sew ...
).
Release and public reception
Principal photography for ''Making Love'' commenced in February 1981 being completed that May auguring the film would be a high-profile summer release: however ''Making Love'' would not be released for almost a year, a key factor in this delay reportedly being the negative reaction of
Marvin Davis
Marvin H. Davis (August 31, 1925 – September 25, 2004) was an American industrialist. He made his fortunes as the chair of Davis Petroleum and at one time owned 20th Century Fox, the Pebble Beach Corporation, the Beverly Hills Hotel, and the ...
, the Denver oil tycoon who purchased 20th Century-Fox in April 1981 ("At a private screening of the gay love story ''Making Love'', he reportedly stands up and bellows, “You made a goddamn faggot movie!,” and storms out of the room"). ''Making Love'' would open during the "
dump months" of 1982, but 20th Century-Fox hoped to boost the film to hit status, having devised a "three-pronged" advertising campaign costing $5 million - more than half the $8 million cost of making the film: besides being promoted as a "sympathetic view of
...'coming out'" to draw gay audiences, ''Making Love'' was pitched to the "mainstream audience" as a "'women's film' - Hollywood marketese for '
soap opera
A soap opera (also called a daytime drama or soap) is a genre of a long-running radio or television Serial (radio and television), serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term ''soap opera'' originat ...
'" - and also as a purported cinematic milestone, the latter a tactic to draw "educated young adult males".
Opening 12 February 1982, ''Making Love'' was originally hailed as a hit, earning an inaugural four-day box office tally of $3 million and swiftly expanding its theatre count from 300 venues to 700. However the strong opening of ''Making Love'' evidently exhausted any potential public interest in the film which would soon prove a costly flop: with a total cost between $13–14 million - including distribution costs and the $5 million advertising campaigns - ''Making Loves total domestic box office tally would be reported as $6.1 million. Reports of Sherry Lansing's 20 December 1982 resigning as 20th Century-Fox president noted: "The company has produced bomb after bomb under Lansing, including ''
Author! Author!'', ''
Monsignor
Monsignor (; ) is a form of address or title for certain members of the clergy in the Catholic Church. Monsignor is the apocopic form of the Italian ''monsignore'', meaning "my lord". "Monsignor" can be abbreviated as Mons.... or Msgr. In some ...
'' and ''Making Love''" and that 20th Century-Fox would end 1982 with a loss of $16.9 million. The studio wouldn't recoup their losses until the release of ''
Return of the Jedi
''Return of the Jedi'' (also known as ''Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi'' is a 1983 American epic space opera film directed by Richard Marquand from a screenplay by Lawrence Kasdan and George Lucas. The sequel to '' The Empire ...
'' in the summer of 1983.
Critical reaction
Upon its release, ''Making Love'' was typically dismissed by critics as a glossy soap opera which dodged its sensitive ostensibly core issue.
Gay film historian
Vito Russo
Vito Russo (; July 11, 1946 – November 7, 1990) was an American LGBT activist, film historian, and author. He is best remembered as the author of the book '' The Celluloid Closet'' (1981, revised edition 1987), described in ''The New York Ti ...
wrote in ''
The Celluloid Closet'' that
straight
Straight may refer to:
Slang
* Straight, slang for heterosexual
** Straight-acting, normal person
* Straight, a member of the straight edge subculture
Sport and games
* Straight, an alternative name for the cross, a type of punch in boxing
* Str ...
critics found the film boring while gay critics, glad for any attention paid to the subject, praised it. ''Making Love'' opened strong at the box office its first week, but poor word of mouth led to a large drop-off in box office receipts the following week.
The gay rights activist
Dennis Altman argued in ''
The Homosexualization of America'' (1982) that, of several films released in the United States in 1982 that dealt with homosexual themes, ''Making Love'' was the only one that "suggested a willingness to portray homosexual relations as equally valid as heterosexual ones" and that "the wariness with which the film was promoted suggests real change will be slow."
Social critic
Social criticism is a form of academic or journalistic criticism focusing on social issues in contemporary society, in respect to perceived injustices and power relations in general.
Social criticism of the Enlightenment
The origin of modern ...
Camille Paglia
Camille Anna Paglia ( ; born April 2, 1947) is an American academic, social critic and Feminism, feminist. Paglia was a professor at the University of the Arts (Philadelphia), University of the Arts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania from 1984 until ...
in 2006 cited ''Making Love'', which she considers "intelligent", as her "favorite film to date about gay men."
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...
gives the film a rating of 56% from 25 reviews.
Home media
''Making Love'' was released by
20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
20th Century Home Entertainment (previously known as Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, LLC. and also known as 20th Century Studios Home Entertainment) was a home video distribution arm that distributes films produced by 20th Century Stud ...
on Region 1
DVD
The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...
on February 7, 2006.
Awards and nominations
The film's theme song, "
Making Love
''Making Love'' is a 1982 American drama (film and television), drama film directed by Arthur Hiller and starring Kate Jackson, Harry Hamlin and Michael Ontkean. The film tells the story of a married man coming to terms with his homosexuality an ...
" performed by
Roberta Flack
Roberta Cleopatra Flack (February 10, 1937 – February 24, 2025) was an American singer and pianist known for her emotive, genre-blending ballads that spanned R&B, jazz, Folk music, folk, and pop and contributed to the birth of the quiet storm ...
, garnered composers –
Burt Bacharach
Burt Freeman Bacharach ( ; May 12, 1928 – February 8, 2023) was an American composer, songwriter, record producer, and pianist who is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential figures of 20th-century popular music. Start ...
(lyrics),
Bruce Roberts (lyrics/music), and
Carole Bayer Sager
Carole Bayer Sager (born Carol Bayer on March 8, 1944) is an American lyricist, singer, songwriter, and painter.
Early life and career
Carole Bayer was born in New York City, to Anita Nathan Bayer and Eli Bayer. Her family was Jewish. She gradu ...
(lyrics) – a nomination for a
Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song
The Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song is a Golden Globe Award that was awarded for the first time in 1962 and has been awarded annually since 1965 by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. The award is presented to the songwriters of a ...
.
Notes
References
* Rutledge, Leigh (1987). ''The Gay Book of Lists''. Boston, Alyson Publications. .
External links
*
*
*
*
{{Arthur Hiller
1982 films
American LGBTQ-related films
1982 drama films
1982 LGBTQ-related films
American drama films
Films set in the 1980s
Films set in Los Angeles
20th Century Fox films
Films scored by Leonard Rosenman
Films directed by Arthur Hiller
Films about adultery in the United States
Gay-related films
1980s English-language films
1980s American films
Films with screenplays by Barry Sandler
Films produced by Daniel Melnick
LGBTQ-related controversies in film