Straight Films That Are Actually Gay.

[jamesjazzguitar]

45 minutes ago, TopBilled said:

I wish TCM would make Dirk Bogarde a Star of the Month. I'm really surprised they haven't-- he was in so many great "A" films and had such a long career.

Yes,  Bogarde has a solid enough filmography but I do wonder if TCM would be able to lease many of his British films.

 

[TopBilled]

28 minutes ago, jamesjazzguitar said:

Yes,  Bogarde has a solid enough filmography but I do wonder if TCM would be able to lease many of his British films.

 

They should have access to some of them. At least enough for a day in August if it's not feasible to give him a month long tribute.

[TopBilled]

35 minutes ago, don96 said:

I totally agree- even a full day of his films for Summer Under the Stars. Most likely, however, most of his films are  not readily available.  I know that I have had to go to great trouble to see some of his films ( like The Fixer and Providence).

Many of them were on YouTube last fall, posted by someone who was a big fan of his. I watched about ten of them during the course of a week. A few are still on YT. 

[TopBilled]

I just did a search on YouTube. I found these Dirk Bogarde flicks currently posted, though I'm sure there are more:

SEBASTIAN
CAST A DARK SHADOW
VICTIM
APPOINTMENT IN LONDON
THE SLEEPING TIGER
ONCE A JOLLY SWAGMAN
JUSTINE
THE SINGER NOT THE SONG
THE WIND CANNOT READ (one of my faves)
THE DAMNED
THE WOMAN IN QUESTION (probably his best early film...stupendous cast, fine direction from Anthony Asquith)
I COULD GO ON SINGING
THE SPANISH GARDENER (deviates from the original story but still quite good)

[LawrenceA]

Here's an amusing article about an obscure biopic on Billy Graham from several years ago that stars Armie Hammer.

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/armie-hammer-billy-graham-movie_us_5a9861d0e4b0479c025088d2

[jaragon]

Defoe checks out Petersen's package in "To Live and Die in L.A."

 

[jaragon]

On 3/3/2018 at 3:20 PM, LawrenceA said:

Here's an amusing article about an obscure biopic on Billy Graham from several years ago that stars Armie Hammer.

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/armie-hammer-billy-graham-movie_us_5a9861d0e4b0479c025088d2

Thanks for posting this - it looks to gay to be true but it is

[jaragon]

"Noah's Ark" (1928) there seems to something beyond a bromance going on between Travis( George O'brien) and Al (Guinn "Big Boy"  Williams) in the Word War I sequence of this still spectacular biblical epic.  Travis and Al share a room even if Travis has fallen in love with Marie ( Dolores Costello)  These two handsome men can't live with out each other and Travis would rather abandon his new bride and join up his buddy on the battlefield. O'brien and Williams do make a hot looking couple and I love the way they are photographed facing each other in medium shot that you expect them to start kissing.

[jaragon]

"Venom" (2018) Tom Hardy plays Eddie Brock a very straight reporter whose body is taken over by an alien named Venom.  The alien first is just a masculine dominant voice who becomes Brock's master commanding his actions.  Venom materializes as a muscular black creature who licks the head of his male victims with it's long tongue.  Brock does have a token ex girlfriend Anne played by Michelle Williams but by the fade out is obvious that his true love is the alien living inside his body. 

[jaragon]

" Island of the Lost Souls" (1932) there is something very queer going on in this classic adaptation of HG Wells' novel and no I'm not just talking about the still shocking suggestions of bestiality. Handsome and probably straight Edward ends up as the guest of demented Dr Moreau and his "partner" Montgomery.  The two older men use the house of pain to turn poor animals into men like creatures; curiously all the manimals are male except for panther girl Lota.  Moreau wants to prove she is human by getting her to mate with Edward- but the way that he eyeballs Edward you would think he wishes to traded places with Lota.

 

[jaragon]

Could there a be a more gay friendly setting than the world of high fashion modeling?  In 'The Eyes of Laura Mars" (1978) Faye Dunaway plays a photographer who has a psychic link to the psycho who is killing her models.  A hot young Tommy Lee Jones plays the detective investigating the case. Jones is straight in the film but I keep getting this sort of gay vibe from him maybe it was the long hair and the 70's fashion.  Rene Auberjonois is Donald; Laura's obviously gay agent. He has birthday party were all the guest are men but he has no love interest except.  Donald even ends dressing up in drag. 

[rayban]

"Johnny Eager" - Mervyn LeRoy - 1943 -

There is a deeply homoerotic attachment between the two male leads - Johnny Eager (Robert Taylor) and Jeff Hartnett (Van Heflin).

Toward the end, Jeff asks Johnny to go away with him to the Rocky Mountains.

Later, as Johnny lies dying in Jeff's arms, he admits that they should have gone away to the Rocky Mountains.
 

[TopBilled]

1 hour ago, rayban said:

"Johnny Eager" - Mervyn LeRoy - 1943 -

There is a deeply homoerotic attachment between the two male leads - Johnny Eager (Robert Taylor) and Jeff Hartnett (Van Heflin).

Toward the end, Jeff asks Johnny to go away with him to the Rocky Mountains.

Later, as Johnny lies dying in Jeff's arms, he admits that they should have gone away to the Rocky Mountains.
 

Do you think his sexual frustration is what makes Jeff drink in this movie?

[rayban]

5 hours ago, TopBilled said:

Do you think his sexual frustration is what makes Jeff drink in this movie?

Yes, I do, Jeff is carrying quite a heavy torch for Johnny.

"Somewhere there's music

How faint the tune

Somewhere there's heaven

How high the moon."

[jaragon]

"Green Book " (2018) in this crow pleasing bromantic road comedy TonyLip (Viggo Mortensen) a tough straight guy from the Bronx is hired by the Doctor Don Shirley ( Mahenshala Ali ) a black pianist to be his driver/bodyguard on his tour of the racist southern states in 1962 and of course the fall in love.  The script is structure like a romantic comedy- from the awkward first date to the men bonding over food.  Shirley actually asks Tony's wife if she doesn't mind sharing her husband ?!  There is a gay reveal but this quickly dropped because obviously Tony and Don are meant for each other.  I found the gay aspect of the story rather awkward and it's never developed.  Mortense and Ali have such great chemistry .

[DougieB]

I was interested in Green Book anyway, but now I'm really interested. When you say there's a gay reveal which is quickly dropped, do you mean by someone other than the two leads? One of the two leads and someone else?

[jaragon]

1 hour ago, DougieB said:

I was interested in Green Book anyway, but now I'm really interested. When you say there's a gay reveal which is quickly dropped, do you mean by someone other than the two leads? One of the two leads and someone else?

I don't want to spoil the movie for you but the gay story line goes nowhere- it seems to me to be inserted for modern audiences .  This is a feel good road comedy bromance- if the movie had been European the two leads would have ended up as lovers. It's worth seen for the performances and the soundtrack .

[DougieB]

6 hours ago, jaragon said:

I don't want to spoil the movie for you but the gay story line goes nowhere- it seems to me to be inserted for modern audiences .  This is a feel good road comedy bromance- if the movie had been European the two leads would have ended up as lovers. It's worth seen for the performances and the soundtrack .

Thanks for not doing a spoiler. I'm more intrigued than ever now.

[jaragon]

I'm not the only one who has suggested the gay scene is bogus- but do go see the movie

[jaragon]

"Doc Savage Man of Bronze" (1975) Ron Ely plays Doc Savage a clean living hero he neither smokes or drinks and spends two hours every day working out. He does look good in his suits.  Doc has five sidekick- these men who are single too range from fancy dressed lawyer. a bear who has pet pig, a nerd and an engineer with a nice built.  The villain has TWO girlfriends but they have not effect on Doc and the Fabulous Five.  Pamela Hemsley who would later work her ample charms on Buck Rogers is a very g rated love interest. Doc tells her that he can never lover any woman because he doesn't want his enemies to harm to her.  I wonder how Doc feels about the beefy engineer😉

[DougieB]

How many buttons were unbuttoned on his shirt? I bet plenty. I think I remember this as a TV movie. There was also a Dr. Strange TV movie around that time, before the movie industry got so big into films based on comics.

[jaragon]

39 minutes ago, DougieB said:

How many buttons were unbuttoned on his shirt? I bet plenty. I think I remember this as a TV movie. There was also a Dr. Strange TV movie around that time, before the movie industry got so big into films based on comics.

Ely's fine looking body is on display- his shirt rips when ever he uses his muscles and there is a gratuitous swimming scene . Warner Brothers cut the budget so the film does look like a TV movie. 

[jaragon]

"Ben Hur" (1959) first there is the Ben- Hur and Messala bromance from hell.  Heston might be playing it straight but Boyd milks all the gay subtext- I love the way he can't keep his hands off Heston's body either.  Messala wants to go beyond all that symbolic spear throwing.  But I always thought there is also a **** erotic passion between Quintus Arrius ( Jack Hawkins) and Judah Ben Hur.  He seems to be getting turned as he makes the rowers work out.  Quintus want to train Ben Hur as gladiator and who knows what else but the movie doesn't want to go there so he ends up adopting him (?!)

 

[DougieB]

19 hours ago, jaragon said:

"Ben Hur" (1959) first there is the Ben- Hur and Messala bromance from hell.  Heston might be playing it straight but Boyd milks all the gay subtext- I love the way he can't keep his hands off Heston's body either.  Messala wants to go beyond all that symbolic spear throwing.  But I always thought there is also a **** erotic passion between Quintus Arrius ( Jack Hawkins) and Judah Ben Hur.  He seems to be getting turned as he makes the rowers work out.  Quintus want to train Ben Hur as gladiator and who knows what else but the movie doesn't want to go there so he ends up adopting him (?!)

 

Gore Vidal worked on that script and he said that he discussed it with director William Wyler, who then directed Boyd to play it as an old lover, and that they all agreed to keep Heston out of that particular loop so as not to freak him out. Even so, Heston almost matched Boyd's passion in those scenes, without having been asked to do it.

[jaragon]

3 minutes ago, DougieB said:

Gore Vidal worked on that script and he said that he discussed it with director William Wyler, who then directed Boyd to play it as an old lover, and that they all agreed to keep Heston out of that particular loop so as not to freak him out. Even so, Heston almost matched Boyd's passion in those scenes, without having been asked to do it.

I agree- I don't know if Heston was in on it- but he matches Boyd in the gay passion of the scene.   Messala is clearly gay coded in the film- he has no female love interested but does set up house with Drusus ( I love their matching togas) Drusus of course is only a Ben-Hur replacement and I do think the feeling was mutual- Judah blames Rome for corrupting his friend.