''The Celluloid Closet'' is a 1995 American documentary film directed and written by

Rob Epstein Robert P. Epstein (born April 6, 1955), is an American director, producer, writer, and editor. He has won two Academy Awards for Best Documentary Feature, for the films '' The Times of Harvey Milk'' and '' Common Threads: Stories from the Quil ...

and Jeffrey Friedman. The film is based on

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 Tim ...

's 1981 book ''The Celluloid Closet: Homosexuality in the Movies'', and on lecture and film clip presentations he gave in 1972–1982. Russo had researched the history of how motion pictures, especially

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywoo ...

films, had portrayed gay,

lesbian A lesbian is a Homosexuality, homosexual woman.Zimmerman, p. 453. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate n ...

bisexual Bisexuality is a romantic or sexual attraction or behavior toward both males and females, or to more than one gender. It may also be defined to include romantic or sexual attraction to people regardless of their sex or gender identity, whic ...

and

transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through ...

characters. The film was given a limited release in select theatres, including the

Castro Theatre The Castro Theatre is a historic movie palace in San Francisco that became San Francisco Historic Landmark #100 in September 1976. Located at 429 Castro Street in the Castro District, it was built in 1922 with a California Churrigueresque fa� ...

in San Francisco in April 1996, and then shown on cable channel HBO as part of its series '' America Undercover''.

Overview

The documentary interviews various men and women connected to the Hollywood industry to comment on various film clips and their own personal experiences with the treatment of LGBT characters in film. From the

sissy ''Sissy'' (derived from '' sister''), also ''sissy baby'', ''sissy boy'', ''sissy man'', ''sissy pants'', etc., is a pejorative term for a boy or man who does not demonstrate masculine, and shows possible signs of fragility. Generally, ''sissy'' ...

characters to the censorship of the Hollywood

Production Code The Motion Picture Production Code was a set of industry guidelines for the self-censorship of content that was applied to most motion pictures released by major studios in the United States from 1934 to 1968. It is also popularly known as the ...

, the coded gay characters and cruel stereotypes to the changes made in the early 1990s. Vito Russo wanted his book to be transformed into a documentary film and helped out on the project until he died in 1990. Some critics of the documentary noted that it was less political than the book and ended on a more positive note. However, Russo had wanted the documentary to be entertaining and to reflect the positive changes that had occurred up to 1990.

Production

Russo approached Epstein about making a film version of ''The Celluloid Closet'' and wrote a proposal for the film version in 1986. However, it was not until Russo died in 1990 that Epstein and Friedman gained any traction on the project. After his death,

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

in England approached the filmmakers about the film, and offered development funding in order to write a treatment “and most importantly to determine if it would even be possible to obtain the film clips from studios.” After developing the project for years, fundraising remained the biggest obstacle.

Lily Tomlin Mary Jean "Lily" Tomlin (born September 1, 1939) is an American actress, comedian, writer, singer, and producer. She started her career as a stand-up comedian as well as performing off-Broadway during the 1960s. Her breakout role was on the varie ...

, the actress and comedian who narrated the film, launched a direct mail fundraising campaign in Vito Russo's honor. She also headlined a benefit at the Castro Theatre, which featured

Robin Williams Robin McLaurin Williams (July 21, 1951August 11, 2014) was an American actor and comedian. Known for his improvisational skills and the wide variety of characters he created on the spur of the moment and portrayed on film, in dramas and come ...

Harvey Fierstein Harvey Forbes Fierstein ( ; born June 6, 1952) is an American actor, playwright and screenwriter. He is best known for his theater work in '' Torch Song Trilogy'' and '' Hairspray'' and movie roles in '' Mrs. Doubtfire'', ''Independence Day'', an ...

, and drag star Lypsinka.

Steve Tisch Steven Elliot Tisch (born February 14, 1949) is an American film producer and businessman. He is the chairman, co-owner and executive vice president of the New York Giants, the NFL team co-owned by his family, as well as a film and television pr ...

James Hormel James Catherwood Hormel (January 1, 1933 – August 13, 2021) was an American philanthropist, LGBT activist, diplomat, and heir to the Hormel meatpacking fortune. He served as the United States Ambassador to Luxembourg from 1999 to 2001, and was ...

, and

Hugh Hefner Hugh Marston Hefner (April 9, 1926 – September 27, 2017) was an American magazine publisher. He was the founder and editor-in-chief of ''Playboy'' magazine, a publication with revealing photographs and articles which provoked charges of obsc ...

offered “significant support”, and the filmmakers began to receive foundation funding from the Paul Robeson Fund, the California Council for the Humanities, and the Chicago Resource Center. European television again played an important role in funding the project, when ZDF/arte signed on, but it was not until the filmmakers contacted HBO that they were able to begin production. In May 1994, “

contacted Michael Fuchs, chairman of HBO, on behalf of the project. Epstein, Friedman, Tomlin, and Rosenman flew to New York for a meeting with Fuchs and HBO Vice President Sheila Nevins. At that meeting, HBO committed to supply the remainder of the budget.”

Credits

The following people are interviewed for the documentary. *

(narrator) *

Jay Presson Allen Jay Presson Allen (March 3, 1922 – May 1, 2006) was an American screenwriter, playwright, stage director, television producer, and novelist. Known for her withering wit and sometimes-off-color wisecracks, she was one of the few women making a ...

* Susie Bright *

Quentin Crisp Quentin Crisp (born Denis Charles Pratt; – ) was an English raconteur, whose work in the public eye included a memoir of his life and various media appearances. Before becoming well-known, he was an artist's model, hence the title of ...

* Tony Curtis *

Richard Dyer Richard Dyer (born 1945) is an English academic who held a professorship in the Department of Film Studies at King's College London. Specialising in cinema (particularly Italian cinema), queer theory, and the relationship between entertainment ...

Arthur Laurents Arthur Laurents (July 14, 1917 – May 5, 2011) was an American playwright, theatre director, film producer and screenwriter. After writing scripts for radio shows after college and then training films for the U.S. Army during World War II ...

* Armistead Maupin *

Whoopi Goldberg Caryn Elaine Johnson (born November 13, 1955), known professionally as Whoopi Goldberg (), is an American actor, comedian, author, and television personality.Kuchwara, Michael (AP Drama Writer)"Whoopi Goldberg: A One-Woman Character Parade". ' ...

* Jan Oxenberg *

Gore Vidal Eugene Luther Gore Vidal (; born Eugene Louis Vidal, October 3, 1925 – July 31, 2012) was an American writer and public intellectual known for his epigrammatic wit, erudition, and patrician manner. Vidal was bisexual, and in his novels and e ...

Farley Granger Farley Earle Granger Jr. (July 1, 1925 – March 27, 2011) was an American actor, best known for his two collaborations with director Alfred Hitchcock: ''Rope'' in 1948 and '' Strangers on a Train'' in 1951. Granger was first noticed in a small ...

Paul Rudnick Paul Rudnick (born December 29, 1957) is an American writer. His plays have been produced both on and off Broadway and around the world. He is also known for having written the screenplays for several movies, including '' Sister Act'', ''Addams ...

Shirley MacLaine Shirley MacLaine (born Shirley MacLean Beaty, April 24, 1934) is an American actress, author, and former dancer. Known for her portrayals of quirky, strong-willed and eccentric women, MacLaine has received numerous accolades over her seven-dec ...

* Barry Sandler * Mart Crowley *

Antonio Fargas Antonio Juan Fargas (born August 14, 1946) is an American actor known for his roles in 1970s blaxploitation and comedy movies, as well as his portrayal as Huggy Bear in the 1970s TV series ''Starsky & Hutch''. Early life Fargas was born in New Y ...

Tom Hanks Thomas Jeffrey Hanks (born July 9, 1956) is an American actor and filmmaker. Known for both his comedic and dramatic roles, he is one of the most popular and recognizable film stars worldwide, and is regarded as an American cultural icon. Ha ...

Ron Nyswaner Ronald L. Nyswaner (born October 5, 1956) is an American screenwriter and film director. He has been nominated for numerous awards including an Academy Award, BAFTA Award, and a Primetime Emmy Award. He is known for his screenplays '' Smitheree ...

Daniel Melnick Daniel Melnick (April 21, 1932 – October 13, 2009) was an American film producer and movie studio executive who started working in Hollywood as a teenager in television and then became the producer of such films as '' All That Jazz'', '' Alte ...

* Harry Hamlin *

John Schlesinger John Richard Schlesinger (; 16 February 1926 – 25 July 2003) was an English film and stage director. He won the Academy Award for Best Director for ''Midnight Cowboy'', and was nominated for the same award for two other films ('' Darling'' an ...

Susan Sarandon Susan Abigail Sarandon (; née Tomalin; born October 4, 1946) is an American actorMcCabe, Bruce"Susan Sarandon, the 'actor'" ''Boston Globe''. April 17, 1981. Retrieved January 21, 2021. and activist. She is the recipient of various accolades, ...

Stewart Stern Stewart Henry Stern (March 22, 1922 – February 2, 2015) was an American screenwriter. He is best known for writing the screenplay for the film ''Rebel Without a Cause'' (1955), starring James Dean. Writing In addition to ''Rebel Without a Caus ...

DVD

In 2001, the DVD of the documentary includes a crew audio commentary, a second audio commentary with the late Russo, an interview Russo gave in 1990, and some deleted interviews put together into a second documentary titled ''Rescued from the Closet''.

Impact

''The Celluloid Closet'' had precursors in

Parker Tyler Harrison Parker Tyler (March 6, 1904 – June 1974), was an American author, poet, and film critic. Tyler had a relationship with underground filmmaker Charles Boultenhouse (1926–1994) from 1945 until his death. Their papers are held by the New ...

's 1972 book ''Screening the Sexes'' and

's 1977 ''Gays and Film''. The film was released at a dramatic time in gay history, as Bill Clinton was elected president as the first major party presidential candidate to court and to promise openly to gay voters. However, the movement faced a huge public setback when " Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell" was passed. In response to these obstacles, the LGBT-rights movement became increasingly media focused, realizing that the images projected into the world negatively affected perceptions of homosexuality. In 1994, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation was formed as a national organization. ''The Celluloid Closet'' came out in 1996, as marches and protests against homosexual representation in film and television grew. "Protests ereaimed specifically at some of Hollywood's biggest and most prestigious films, including ''The Silence of the Lambs'', which features a crazed transvestite who kills and flays women, and '' JFK'', which has a scene in which gays alleged to be conspirators in the Kennedy assassination cavort in sadomasochistic fun and games". The article quoted above features an interview with Kate Sorensen, a member of Queer Nation, an organization that helped to organize the protests: "‘Every lesbian and bisexual character in these films is accused of being a psychotic killer ... And the girl never gets the girl. I'm tired of that.’” Gay activists across the country attacked films like these, where the homosexual character is portrayed as a disgustingly erotic killer. It was believed that these portrayals reflected "a perverse fear of AIDS or the rising intolerance that adcaused an increase in hate crimes of all kinds. Still, Hollywood's treatment of gays adn’thelped. With few exceptions, the homosexual characters in films are creepy misfits or campy caricatures". The release of ''The Celluloid Closet'' further emphasized the twisted way homosexuals have been depicted throughout history. Addressing specific issues that were pertinent at the time, Russo exposes the existence of Hollywood homosexuals as well as the uncontrolled homophobia that keeps homosexuality in the closet on and off the screen. "Russo essentially did for film what ACT UP did for AIDS awareness ... he opened up a world and a culture that had almost never been discussed before under any circumstances, exposing prejudices and hurts”. The film continued to motivate the need for positive representation of homosexuals. The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation held seminars for staff at Columbia Pictures and Carolco. In addition, Hollywood Supports, a service organization with the mission to combat AIDS phobia and homophobia in the entertainment industry, was founded.

Accolades

Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation GLAAD (), an acronym of Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, is an American non-governmental media monitoring organization originally founded as a protest against defamatory coverage of gay and lesbian demographics and their portrayals ...

(GLAAD) gives an award called the Vito Russo Award to openly gay or lesbian people within the Hollywood film industry who advance the cause of fighting

homophobia Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who are identified or perceived as being lesbian, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, hatred or antipathy, ...

. In addition the film was honored with four

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

nominations in 1996. It was nominated for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Informational Programming for editing, sound recording and director of photography. It was also nominated for Outstanding Informational special. Additionally, the film received both a

Peabody Award The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Peabody, honor the most powerful, enlightening, and invigorating stories in television, radio, and ...

and recognition at the 1996

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,6 ...

by winning the

Freedom of Expression Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The right to freedom of expression has been recog ...

award. It was also nominated for the Truer Than Fiction Award at the

12th Independent Spirit Awards The 12th Independent Spirit Awards, honoring the best in independent filmmaking for 1996, were announced on March 22, 1997. It was hosted by Samuel L. Jackson. Nominees and winners Films that received multiple nominations Films that ...

.12th annual Spirit Awards ceremony - FULL SHOW , 1997 , Film Independent on YouTube
/ref>

Films

The following is a list of film excerpts in ''The Celluloid Closet'': * ''

48 Hrs. ''48 Hrs.'' (pronounced 'forty-eight hours') is a 1982 American buddy cop action-comedy film directed by Walter Hill, who co-wrote the film with Larry Gross, Steven E. de Souza and Roger Spottiswoode. It stars Nick Nolte and Eddie Murphy, th ...

'' (1982) * '' The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert'' (1994) * '' Advise & Consent'' (1962) * ''

Algie the Miner ''Algie, the Miner'' is a 1912 American silent Western film produced by Solax Studios. It was directed by Harry Schenck, Edward Warren, and Alice Guy and stars Billy Quirk, with Clarice Jackson as Miss Lyons. The film was advertised as: "A rea ...

'' (1912) * ''

An Officer and a Gentleman Conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman (or conduct unbecoming for short) is an offense that is subject to court martial in the armed forces of some nations. Use in the United Kingdom The phrase was used as a charge in courts martial of t ...

'' (1982) * '' Another Country'' (1984) * ''

Basic Instinct ''Basic Instinct'' is a 1992 neo-noir erotic thriller film directed by Paul Verhoeven and written by Joe Eszterhas. The film follows San Francisco police detective Nick Curran (Michael Douglas), who is investigating the brutal murder of a wea ...

'' (1992) * '' Behind the Screen'' (1916) * '' Ben-Hur'' (1959) * '' The Boys in the Band'' (1970) * ''

Boys on the Side '' Boys on the Side '' is a 1995 American comedy-drama film directed by Herbert Ross (in his final film as a director). It stars Whoopi Goldberg, Drew Barrymore, and Mary-Louise Parker as three friends on a cross-country road trip. The screenp ...

'' (1995) * ''

Bride of Frankenstein ''Bride of Frankenstein'' is a 1935 American science fiction horror film, and the first sequel to Universal Pictures' 1931 film ''Frankenstein''. As with the first film, ''Bride of Frankenstein'' was directed by James Whale starring Boris Kar ...

'' (1935) * ''

Bringing Up Baby ''Bringing Up Baby'' is a 1938 American screwball comedy film directed by Howard Hawks, and starring Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant. It was released by RKO Radio Pictures. The film tells the story of a paleontologist in a number of predi ...

'' (1938) * ''

The Broadway Melody ''The Broadway Melody'', also known as ''The Broadway Melody of 1929'', is a 1929 American pre-Code musical film and the first sound film to win an Academy Award for Best Picture. It was one of the first musicals to feature a Technicolor seq ...

'' (1929) * ''

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid ''Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid'' is a 1969 American Western buddy film directed by George Roy Hill and written by William Goldman. Based loosely on fact, the film tells the story of Wild West outlaws Robert LeRoy Parker, known as Butch C ...

'' (1969) * ''

Cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music, song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, a casino, a hotel, a restaurant, or a nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dinin ...

'' (1972) * ''

Caged In music, a barre chord (also spelled bar chord) is a type of chord on a guitar or other stringed instrument played by using one finger to press down multiple strings across a single fret of the fingerboard (like a bar pressing down the strin ...

'' (1950) * ''

Calamity Jane Martha Jane Cannary (May 1, 1852 – August 1, 1903), better known as Calamity Jane, was an American frontierswoman, sharpshooter, and storyteller. In addition to many exploits she was known for being an acquaintance of Wild Bill Hickok. Lat ...

'' (1953) * ''

Call Her Savage ''Call Her Savage'' is a 1932 pre-Code drama film directed by John Francis Dillon and starring Clara Bow. The film was Bow's second-to-last film role. It is also one of the first portrayals of homosexuals on screen, including a scene in a gay ba ...

'' (1932) * '' Car Wash'' (1976) * ''

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof ''Cat on a Hot Tin Roof'' is a three-act play written by Tennessee Williams. An adaptation of his 1952 short story "Three Players of a Summer Game", the play was written by him between 1953 and 1955. One of Williams's more famous works and his p ...

'' (1958) * '' The Children's Hour'' (1961) * '' The Chocolate War'' (1988) * ''

The Color Purple ''The Color Purple'' is a 1982 epistolary novel by American author Alice Walker which won the 1983 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the National Book Award for Fiction.

'' (1985) * ''

Continental Divide A continental divide is a drainage divide on a continent such that the drainage basin on one side of the divide feeds into one ocean or sea, and the basin on the other side either feeds into a different ocean or sea, or else is endorheic, not c ...

'' (1981) * ''

Crossfire A crossfire (also known as interlocking fire) is a military term for the siting of weapons (often automatic weapons such as assault rifles or sub-machine guns) so that their arcs of fire overlap. This tactic came to prominence in World War I. S ...

'' (1947) * '' Cruising'' (1980) * '' The Crying Game'' (1992) * '' Dancing Lady'' (1933) * ''

Desert Hearts ''Desert Hearts'' is a 1985 American romantic drama film directed by Donna Deitch. The screenplay, written by Natalie Cooper, is an adaptation of the 1964 lesbian novel ''Desert of the Heart'' by Jane Rule. Set in Reno, Nevada in 1959, it t ...

'' (1985) * '' The Detective'' (1968) * '' Dickson Experimental Sound Film'' (1895) * ''

Dracula's Daughter ''Dracula's Daughter'' is a 1936 American vampire film, vampire horror film produced by Universal Pictures as a sequel to the 1931 film ''Dracula (1931 English-language film), Dracula''. Directed by Lambert Hillyer from a screenplay by Garrett F ...

'' (1936) * '' Dream a Little Dream'' (1989) * ''

Edward II Edward II (25 April 1284 – 21 September 1327), also called Edward of Caernarfon, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1307 until he was deposed in January 1327. The fourth son of Edward I, Edward became the heir apparent to ...

'' (1991) * '' Fame'' (1936) * '' The Fan'' (1981) * '' A Florida Enchantment'' (1914) * '' The Fox'' (1967) * '' Freebie and the Bean'' (1974) * ''

Fried Green Tomatoes ''Fried Green Tomatoes'' is a 1991 American comedy-drama film directed by Jon Avnet and based on Fannie Flagg's 1987 novel ''Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe''. Written by Flagg and Carol Sobieski, and starring Kathy Bates, Jes ...

'' (1991) * ''

The Gay Divorcee ''The Gay Divorcee'' is a 1934 American musical film directed by Mark Sandrich and starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. It also features Alice Brady, Edward Everett Horton, Eric Blore, and Erik Rhodes. The screenplay was written by ...

'' (1934) * '' Gentlemen Prefer Blondes'' (1953) * '' Gilda'' (1946) * ''

Glengarry Glen Ross ''Glengarry Glen Ross'' is a play by David Mamet that won the Pulitzer Prize in 1984. The play shows parts of two days in the lives of four desperate Chicago real estate agents who are prepared to engage in any number of unethical, illegal acts ...

'' (1992) * ''

Go Fish Go Fish or Fish is a card game usually played by two to five players,
although it can be played wi ...

'' (1994) * '' Hairspray'' (1988) * ''

Heathers ''Heathers'' is a 1989 American black comedy film written by Daniel Waters and directed by Michael Lehmann, in both of their respective film debuts. The film stars Winona Ryder, Christian Slater, Shannen Doherty, Lisanne Falk, Kim Walker, an ...

'' (1988) * '' Heaven Help Us'' (1985) * ''

The Hours and Times ''The Hours and Times'' is a 1991 drama film written and directed by Christopher Münch. Starring David Angus and Ian Hart, it is a fictionalized account of what might have happened during a real holiday taken by John Lennon and The Beatles' man ...

'' (1991) * '' The Hunger'' (1983) * ''

In a Lonely Place ''In a Lonely Place'' is a 1950 American film noir directed by Nicholas Ray and starring Humphrey Bogart and Gloria Grahame, produced for Bogart's Santana Productions. The script was written by Andrew P. Solt from Edmund H. North's adaptation of ...

'' (1950) * ''

Johnny Guitar ''Johnny Guitar'' is a 1954 American Western film directed by Nicholas Ray and starring Joan Crawford, Sterling Hayden, Mercedes McCambridge, Ernest Borgnine and Scott Brady. It was produced and distributed by Republic Pictures. The screen ...

'' (1954) * ''

The Killing of Sister George ''The Killing of Sister George'' is a 1964 play by Frank Marcus that was later adapted into a 1968 film directed by Robert Aldrich. Stage version Sister George is a beloved character in the popular radio series ''Applehurst'', a district nurse ...

'' (1968) * '' La Cage Aux Folles'' (1978) * ''

Ladies They Talk About ''Ladies They Talk About'' is a 1933 pre-Code American crime drama directed by Howard Bretherton and William Keighley, and starring Barbara Stanwyck, Preston Foster, and Lyle Talbot. The film is about an attractive woman who is a member of a ba ...

'' (1933) * '' Lianna'' (1983) * ''

The Living End The Living End are an Australian punk rockabilly band from Melbourne, formed in 1994. Since 2002, the line-up consists of Chris Cheney (vocals, guitar), Scott Owen (double bass, vocals), and Andy Strachan (drums). The band rose to fame in 199 ...

'' (1992) * '' Longtime Companion'' (1990) * '' The Lost Weekend'' (1945) * '' Lover Come Back'' (1961) * '' Making Love'' (1982) * '' The Maltese Falcon'' (1941) * ''

Manslaughter Manslaughter is a common law legal term for homicide considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is sometimes said to have first been made by the ancient Athenian lawmaker Draco in the 7th ce ...

'' (1922) * '' Midnight Express'' (1978) * '' Mo' Money'' (1992) * ''

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to A ...

'' (1930) * ''

Mrs. Doubtfire ''Mrs. Doubtfire'' is a 1993 American comedy-drama film directed by Chris Columbus. It was written for the screen by Randi Mayem Singer and Leslie Dixon, based on the 1987 novel ''Alias Madame Doubtfire'' by Anne Fine. Robin Williams, who also s ...

'' (1993) * ''

My Beautiful Laundrette ''My Beautiful Laundrette'' is a 1985 British romantic comedy-drama film directed by Stephen Frears from a screenplay by Hanif Kureishi. The film was also one of the first films released by Working Title Films. The story is set in London dur ...

'' (1985) * '' My Bodyguard'' (1980) * ''

My Own Private Idaho ''My Own Private Idaho'' is a 1991 American independent adventure drama film written and directed by Gus Van Sant, loosely based on Shakespeare's ''Henry IV, Part 1'', '' Henry IV, Part 2'', and ''Henry V''. The story follows two friends, Mike ...

'' (1991) * '' Myrt and Marge'' (1933) * ''

Next Stop, Greenwich Village ''Next Stop, Greenwich Village'' is a 1976 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Paul Mazursky, featuring Lenny Baker, Shelley Winters, Ellen Greene, Lois Smith, and Christopher Walken. Plot The film takes place in 1953. Larry Lipin ...

'' (1976) * '' Night Shift'' (1982) * '' North Dallas Forty'' (1979) * '' Our Betters'' (1933) * ''

Parting Glances ''Parting Glances'' is a 1986 American drama film. The film was one of the earlier motion pictures to deal frankly and realistically with the subject of AIDS and the impact of the relatively new disease on the gay community in the Ronald Reagan ...

'' (1986) * '' Partners'' (1982) * '' Personal Best'' (1982) * ''

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...

'' (1993) * '' Pillow Talk'' (1959) * ''

Poison Poison is a chemical substance that has a detrimental effect to life. The term is used in a wide range of scientific fields and industries, where it is often specifically defined. It may also be applied colloquially or figuratively, with a broa ...

'' (1991) * '' Queen Christina'' (1933) * ''

Rebecca Rebecca, ; Syriac: , ) from the Hebrew (lit., 'connection'), from Semitic root , 'to tie, couple or join', 'to secure', or 'to snare') () appears in the Hebrew Bible as the wife of Isaac and the mother of Jacob and Esau. According to biblical ...

'' (1940) * '' Rebel Without a Cause'' (1955) * '' Red River'' (1948) * '' Repo Man'' (1984) * ''

Rope A rope is a group of yarns, plies, fibres, or strands that are twisted or braided together into a larger and stronger form. Ropes have tensile strength and so can be used for dragging and lifting. Rope is thicker and stronger than similarl ...

'' (1948) * '' The Sergeant'' (1968) * '' The Silence of the Lambs'' (1991) * '' Silkwood'' (1983) * ''

The Soilers ''The Soilers'' is a 1923 American silent comedy film starring Stan Laurel, and was released in the same year as the Western silent movie drama '' The Spoilers''. The name of one character from the original, "McNamara" is parodied in the James ...

'' (1923) * ''

Some Like It Hot ''Some Like It Hot'' is a 1959 American crime comedy film directed, produced and co-written by Billy Wilder. It stars Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon, with George Raft, Pat O'Brien, Joe E. Brown, Joan Shawlee, Grace Lee Whitne ...

'' (1959) * ''

Spartacus Spartacus ( el, Σπάρτακος '; la, Spartacus; c. 103–71 BC) was a Thracian gladiator who, along with Crixus, Gannicus, Castus, and Oenomaus, was one of the escaped slave leaders in the Third Servile War, a major slave uprisin ...

'' (1960) * ''

Suddenly, Last Summer ''Suddenly Last Summer'' is a one-act play by Tennessee Williams, written in New York in 1957. It opened off Broadway on January 7, 1958, as part of a double bill with another of Williams' one-acts, '' Something Unspoken'' (written in London i ...

'' (1959) * ''

Sunday Bloody Sunday "Sunday Bloody Sunday" is a song by Irish rock band U2. It is the opening track from their 1983 album ''War'' and was released as the album's third single on 21 March 1983 in the Netherlands and West Germany. "Sunday Bloody Sunday" is noted ...

'' (1971) * ''

Swoon Swoon may refer to: * Swoon hypothesis, a number of theories about the resurrection of Jesus Christ * ''Swoon'' (film), a film on the 1924 Leopold and Loeb murder case *Swoon (artist) Caledonia Curry (born 1977), whose work appears under the na ...

'' (1992) * '' Tarzan and His Mate'' (1934) * '' Tea and Sympathy'' (1956) * ''

Teen Wolf ''Teen Wolf'' is a 1985 American coming-of-age romantic fantasy comedy film directed by Rod Daniel and written by Jeph Loeb and Matthew Weisman. Michael J. Fox stars as the title character, a high school student whose ordinary life is chang ...

'' (1985) * '' Their First Mistake'' (1932) * '' Thelma & Louise'' (1991) * '' Thunderbolt and Lightfoot'' (1974) * ''

Top Hat A top hat (also called a high hat, a cylinder hat, or, informally, a topper) is a tall, flat-crowned hat for men traditionally associated with formal wear in Western dress codes, meaning white tie, morning dress, or frock coat. Traditional ...

'' (1935) * ''

Torch Song Trilogy ''Torch Song Trilogy'' is a collection of three plays by Harvey Fierstein rendered in three acts: ''International Stud'', ''Fugue in a Nursery'', and ''Widows and Children First!'' The story centers on Arnold Beckoff, a Jewish homosexual, drag ...

'' (1988) * ''

Vanishing Point A vanishing point is a point on the image plane of a perspective drawing where the two-dimensional perspective projections of mutually parallel lines in three-dimensional space appear to converge. When the set of parallel lines is perpendicul ...

'' (1971) * '' Victim'' (1961) * '' Victor/Victoria'' (1982) * ''

A View from the Bridge ''A View from the Bridge'' is a play by American playwright Arthur Miller. It was first staged on September 29, 1955, as a one-act verse drama with ''A Memory of Two Mondays'' at the Coronet Theatre on Broadway. The run was unsuccessful, and M ...

'' (1962) * '' Walk on the Wild Side'' (1962) * '' The Warriors'' (1979) * ''

The Wedding Banquet ''The Wedding Banquet'' is a 1993 romantic comedy film directed, produced and co-written by Ang Lee. The story concerns a gay Taiwanese immigrant man (played by Winston Chao, in his film debut) who marries a mainland Chinese woman ( May Chin) t ...

'' (1993) * '' Wild at Heart'' (1990) * ''

Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for se ...

'' (1980) * ''

Wings A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expre ...

'' (1927) * '' Wonder Bar'' (1934) * '' Young Man with a Horn'' (1950)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Celluloid Closet, The 1995 films 1995 documentary films 1995 LGBT-related films American documentary films Books about film Documentary films about Hollywood, Los Angeles Films directed by Rob Epstein Films directed by Jeffrey Friedman Documentary films about LGBT film Peabody Award-winning broadcasts Sundance Film Festival award winners Films scored by Carter Burwell Film4 Productions films HBO Films films American LGBT-related films Censorship of LGBT issues 1990s English-language films 1990s American films