''Tab Hunter Confidential'' is a 2015 American

documentary film A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

focusing on the American actor, singer, and author

Tab Hunter Tab Hunter (born Arthur Andrew Kelm; July 11, 1931 – July 8, 2018) was an American actor, singer, film producer, and author. Known for his blond hair and clean-cut good looks, Hunter starred in more than forty films. During the 1950s and 1960s ...

. It is inspired by his autobiography of the same name. The film was produced by

Allan Glaser Allan Glaser (born November 28, 1959) is an American film producer known for the feature films ''Lust in the Dust'' and '' Tab Hunter Confidential''. Production career and Tab Hunter Glaser ultimately became director of acquisitions of feature ...

and directed by

Jeffrey Schwarz Jeffrey Schwarz is an American Emmy Award-winning film producer, director, and editor. He is known for an extensive body of documentary work including ''Commitment to Life'', '' Boulevard! A Hollywood Story'', '' The Fabulous Allan Carr'', '' Ta ...

. The film features extensive interviews with Hunter, as well as contemporaries and associates, including

John Waters John Samuel Waters Jr. (born April 22, 1946) is an American filmmaker, actor, writer, and artist. He rose to fame in the early 1970s for his transgressive cult films, including '' Multiple Maniacs'' (1970), '' Pink Flamingos'' (1972) and '' Fe ...

Clint Eastwood Clinton Eastwood Jr. (born May 31, 1930) is an American actor and film director. After achieving success in the Western (genre), Western TV series ''Rawhide (TV series), Rawhide'', Eastwood rose to international fame with his role as the "Ma ...

Debbie Reynolds Mary Frances "Debbie" Reynolds (April 1, 1932 – December 28, 2016) was an American actress, singer and entrepreneur. Her acting career spanned almost 70 years. Reynolds performed on stage and television and in films into her 80s. She was nom ...

, and more.

Background

In 2005, Hunter's autobiography, ''Tab Hunter Confidential: The Making of a Movie Star'', co-written with

Eddie Muller Eddie Muller (born October 15, 1958) is an American author and the founder and president of the Film Noir Foundation. He is known for his books about the ''film noir'' genre, and is the host of ''Noir Alley'' on Turner Classic Movies. He is also ...

, became a ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' best-seller, and again topped the charts when it was released in paperback in 2007, as well as in 2015, following the release of the documentary. The book served as Hunter's first person account of his rise to Hollywood heartthrob status in the 1950s, as well as his personal struggle with revealing his sexuality over the course of his career. Acknowledging he was gay in the book, the tone set a new precedent for discussion of Hollywood's golden era. Following Hunter's participation in Jeffrey Schwarz's documentary ''

I Am Divine ''I Am Divine'' is a 2013 American documentary film produced and directed by Jeffrey Schwarz of the Los Angeles-based production company Automat Pictures. The documentary focuses on the American actor, singer, and drag performer Divine (October 1 ...

'' (about Baltimore drag queen

Divine Divinity (from Latin ) refers to the quality, presence, or nature of that which is divine—a term that, before the rise of monotheism, evoked a broad and dynamic field of sacred power. In the ancient world, divinity was not limited to a singl ...

, with whom Hunter had appeared in several motion pictures), producer Allan Glaser approached Schwarz about the potential of adapting the ''Confidential'' book into a feature-length documentary. Filming began in 2011 conducting a series of new interviews with Hunter and associates in Los Angeles, New York, Paris and Santa Barbara, as well as culling archival footage of figures from Hollywood's past discussing the star. Filming was completed in 2015.

Release

''Tab Hunter Confidential'' premiered at

South by Southwest South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has conti ...

(SXSW) in 2015, and played over 100 film festivals and independent screenings. The film was also given a theatrical release in October 2015, premiering in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

at The Village East and in

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, ...

at the Nuart Theater, playing theatrically in over 50 cities.

Participants

Archive footage

Reception and awards

Receiving favorable reviews from critics, ''Tab Hunter Confidential'' has been praised for its portrait not only of Hunter, but of Hollywood during the actor's heyday. ''Vanity Fair'' called it “A savvy, rollicking, eye-popping film. Brave for its candor and enlightening for the social context it provides,” while IndieWire posited that the film was “fun and gossipy in the way that great documentaries about Hollywood often are, but it also speaks to a deeper truth about identity and perseverance and the large divide between one's personal and professional life.” The film has been nominated and won a multitude of awards, including the Best Documentary at the California Independent Film Festival, the Audience and Festival Awards for Best Documentary at

FilmOut San Diego FilmOut San Diego, also known as the San Diego LGBTQ Film Festival, is an annual film festival in San Diego, California. History Michael McQuiggan has been the festival programmer since 2003 and the venue locations include the North Park Theat ...

, Best Feature at the Louisville LGBT Film Festival, and the Audience Award for Best Documentary at the Miami Gay and Lesbian Film Festival. ''Tab Hunter Confidential'' was also short listed for consideration for Best Documentary for the 2015 Academy Awards. In January 2016, ''Tab Hunter Confidential'' was nominated for "Outstanding Documentary" at the 27th

GLAAD Media Award The GLAAD Media Award is a US accolade bestowed by GLAAD to recognize and honor various branches of the media for their outstanding portrayals of LGBTQ people and the issues that affect their lives. In addition to film and television, the Awards ...

Notes

References

External links

Official Site
* * * * ''Tab Hunter Confidential'' a
Rotten Tomatoes
* ''Tab Hunter Confidential'' a
Facebook
{{Jeffrey Schwarz Documentary films about gay men 2015 films 2015 documentary films 2015 LGBTQ-related films Films directed by Jeffrey Schwarz 2010s English-language films 2010s American films American LGBTQ-related documentary films English-language documentary films