DIRECTOR: Vincente Minnelli
BOTTOM LINE: The consensus today is that even if Deborah’s character Laura Reynolds, the mistress of a household of college boys, manages to “save” Tom Robertson Lee’ (John Kerr) from his sensitive (read homosexual) tendencies by seducing him, she cannot save herself from the fact that she married a gay man (Leif Erickson) and is trapped in a loveless union. Bill has taken the opposite road to Tom. He is hyper-masculine, preferring the company of men to women.
In many ways, the film has improved with age. What could not be said under the Hayes code (according to Deborah, the words homosexual, gay, or queer were never mentioned during the entire production – not even, or especially, by gay director Vincente Minnelli) gives it a beauty and delicacy, especially in Deborah’s sublime performance.
Both John Kerr and Deborah Kerr reprised their roles on the Broadway Stage.
Adapted from the play by Robert Anderson.
STREAMING: Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV+
https://thebrownees.net/sixty-six queer-films-made-under-the-hays-code-1934-1967
https://thebrownees.net/sixty-six-queer-films-made-under-the-hays-code-1934-1967-table-summary
https://thebrownees.net/fifty-two-post-hays-code-queer-films-released-in-the-decade-1967-1976
