Whatever Happened Baby Jane? (1962) Film Review A+
Both of Hollywood’s grande dames Bette Davis and Joan Crawford are in top form with Davis getting the showier role as faded child star Baby Jane Hudson.
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Category: Drama
Advice and Consent (1962) Film Review A-
Preminger always liked to be cutting edge and he was with “Advise and Consent” a beautifully written, acted and directed movie.
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The Children’s Hour (1961) Film Review C
Not having the courage of his convictions, what started out as bravery ended in cowardice and it’s a shame.
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A Taste of Honey (1961) Film Review B+
Although he was playing a teenager, gay actor Murray Melvin was almost thirty when he made “A Taste of Honey” with Rita Tushingham.
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Victim (1961) Film Review B+
They say that this film did more to sway public and political opinion on homosexuality in England than any parliamentary discussion.
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Purple Noon (1960) Film Review B+
Although it lacks the emotional depth and the great supporting cast of Minghella’s film, this version has a unique style thanks to director Rene Clement.
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Psycho (1960) Film Review A+
Anthony Perkins’ Norman Bates made him immortal while, at the same, time, ending his career in Hollywood. A masterpiece.
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Spartacus (1960) Film Review B
The Kirk Douglas/Stanley Kubrick epic has not aged well but the supporting cast,, particularly Laurence Olivier and Peter Ustinov, make it worth seeing.
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The Dark at the Top of the Stairs (1960) Film Review A-
A beautiful adaptation of the William Inge play directed by Delbert Mann from a great script by Harriet Frank Jr. and Irving Ravetch..
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Ben Hur (1959) Film Review B
If you believe Gore Vidal it was all because of a lover’s spat. Wyler and Boyd were in on the ruse, and Boyd played his scenes that way, but Heston was not.
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North by Northwest (1959) Film Review A+
Eva Marie Saint gives Grace Kelly in “Rear Window” a run for her money as Hitchcock’s most elegant leading lady and the chemistry between the two leads is more palpable than in any Hollywood picture before or since.
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Suddenly Last Summer (1959) Film Review C-
The movie is risible, its few pleasures come from Hepburn’s regal (but very nasty) mother who will do anything to protect her son’s memory.
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Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958) Film Review B+
Richard Brooks respectable adaptation of the Tennessee Williams play opens with Brick (Paul Newman) pining and drinking in his bedroom for the memory of his best friend (read lover) Skipper.
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Auntie Mame (1958) Film Review C+
Gay director Morton DaCosta directs like he is still in the theatre – he did better in his second and final visit to Hollywood with “The Music Man”.
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A Touch of Evil (1958) Film Review A
Yes, that is Mercedes McCambridge as the unnamed lesbian gang leader getting her kicks while watching Janet Leigh getting roughed up in Welles’ other masterwork.
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Vertigo (1958) Film Review A+
Anchored by an incredible performance by James Stewart as Scotty Ferguson a private detective and ex-cop who suffers from vertigo (fear of heights) after a coworker fell to his death, and Kim Novak is spectacular in the dual role of Judy/Madeleine.
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Funny Face (1957) Film Review A+
“Funny Face“, the 1957 musical romantic comedy directed by Stanley Donen, boasts Audrey Hepburn’s most charming screen performance.
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Bonjour Tristesse (1957) The French Critics Adored Jean Seberg B+
Unlike their American counterparts, the French critics, among whom were the brightest stars of the New Wave, in particular Truffaut and Goddard, were full of praise for the film.
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Tea and Sympathy (1956) Film Review. A-
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.
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The Bad Seed (1956) Film Review B+
Nancy Kelly is ON 100% of the time straddling the twin minefields of camp and drama yet managing to accomplish both simultaneously.
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Written on the Wind (1956) Film Review B+
The film’s central tenet is that Kyle (Oscar Nominee Robert Stack) and his ruthless sister Marylee (Oscar winner Dorothy Malone) lust after the same man.
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The Big Combo (1955) Film Review B-
The gay couple’s (played by Earl Holliman and Lee Van Cleef) chosen profession also adds to their fascination and their sexiness.
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Rebel Without a Cause (1955) Film Review A
Wood, Dean and Mineo form a nuclear family under the shadow of Griffith Park Observatory. Sal Mineo’s Plato is Hollywood’s first adolescent gay character.
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Johnny Guitar (1954) Film Review B
A Western with two female leads is that rarest of cinematic jewels and, under Nicholas Ray’s direction, both Crawford and McCambridge play to the gallery.
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Rear Window (1954) Film Review A+
Stewart, Kelly, and Ritter are all magnificent. Kelly, looking radiant, gets to deliver one of the big screen’s all-time sexy lines.
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Calamity Jane (1953) Film Review B+
The Best Queer Song in the History of Cinema: Day’s spectacular delivery of the Sammy Fain-Paul Francis Webster masterpiece “Secret Love.”
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Niagara (1953) Film Review A-
The buildup to Monroe’s superstardom started here. The magnificent widescreen technicolor cinematography if by Joseph MacDonald.
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Strangers on a Train (1951) Film Review A-
Hitchcock reverses himself here, having gay actor Farley Granger play the straight character and straight actor Robert Walker play the gay character.
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A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) Film Review A+
The best play to film adaptation of all-time with two of the greatest performances: Vivien Leigh as Blanch DuBois and Marlon Brando as Stanley Kowalski.
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Young Man with a Horn (1950) Film Review B
Lauren Bacall is Kirk Douglas’ young man with a horn’s society wife who is also a closeted lesbian. Bacall is very good in a risque role.
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