Diamonds are Forever (1971) Queer Film (C)
In Diamonds Are Forever (1971), Mr. Wint and Mr. Kidd are the chief pleasures in a film that ranks among the most disposable entries in the Bond canon.
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Category: Queer Film/TV
Cabaret (1972) Queer Film A+
Cabaret emerges from a remarkable artistic lineage: the 1966 Broadway musical by Kander and Ebb, itself drawn from Christopher Isherwood’s semi‑autobiographical Berlin Stories (1945) and John Van Druten’s 1951 play I Am a Camera. Under Bob Fosse’s revolutionary direction and choreography—and with Minnelli’s incandescent performance—the film stands as one of the defining achievements of the New Hollywood era.
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Deliverence (1972) Queer Film A+
Beatty’s work is astonishingly brave for a debut role. He plays the aftermath of his sexual assault—shame, anger, and the need to reassert dignity—with a precision that keeps the film from slipping into caricature
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Pink Flamingos (1972) Queer Film. (C) High Camp at a Midnight Screening.
A sick-and-twisted black comedy and the first part of Water’s “Trash Trilogy”, which also includes “Female Trouble” and “Desperate Living.”
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The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant (1972) Queer Film A+
A landmark in both New Queer Cinema and the New German Cinema, Fassbinder’s examination of the dynamics of a lesbian love triangle was shot in der wunderkind’s apartment.
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Pete ‘n’ Tillie (1972) Queer Film C+
And then there Tillie’s other best friend Jimmy, the film’s token gay guy, played by René Auberjonois, who had one of the most memorable names in cinema.
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Play It As It Lays (1972) Queer Film C+
Unfortunately, despite a good performance by Weld, the film only comes alive when she is driving endlessly around LA’s spectacular freeways.
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That Certain Summer (1972) Queer Movie A-
That Certain Summer was the first network TV movie to depict a gay man as a loving parent rather than a deviant or tragic figure. Its restraint is its power, thanks to the expert direction of Lamont Johnson, who had a way with queer topics, and the acting of the three leads. With Hope Land as Nick’s mom.
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Everything You Always Wanted to Know.. What Happens During Ejaculation *A-
Woody is one of the competing sperm determined to penetrate that egg. Our boys have been in training for weeks. But wait! What if it’s homosexual encounter? There’s also a Black sperm! How did he get in the mix?
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Sleeper (1973) Queer Film A-
Turns out Reagan is voiced by Douglas Rain (also uncredited), the Canadian voice artist who did the sibilant lisping for another cantankerous AI phenomenon: the HAL 9000 computer in 2001: A Space Odyssey. It’s pre-Annie Hall Woody Allen at his best.
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Scarecrow (1973) Queer Film (F)
The sexual assault is shocking. No movie has done more to conflate gay identity with pathology and violence than “Scarecrow”.
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Save the Tiger (1973) Queer Film C-
The writer Steve Shagen, an educated Jew, is in the Stone Age when it comes to a human being who has a different sexual preference than himself.
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A Touch of Class (1973) Queer Film C-
Jackson’s character works in the garment industry, so we are on fairy alert. And, wouldn’t you know it, one of them does descend on her office just as Segal is visiting.
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Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams (1973) Queer Film B-
The character Rita Walden, beautifully portrayed by Joanne Woodward, in what might be her finest performance, faces a midlife crisis.
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The Day of the Jackal (1973) Queer Film (A)
Another example of a gay character whose sole purpose in the movie is to be killed. Still, Zinnemmann and Rodgers treat his character with a modicum of respect.
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The Last of Sheila (1973) Queer Film (B)
The actors are in good form, with Raquel Welsh being particularly impressive in her one genuinely good film. Dyan Cannon is a thinly disguised Sue Mengers.
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Freebie and the Bean (1974) Queer Film (F)
Our heroes, James Caan and Alan Arkin, first encounter Morley in a bathtub. He’s preening and lisping, and you can see that he disgusts them.
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Female Trouble (1974) Queer Film B- Solo. The Sky’s the Limit at a Midnight Screening!
Waters’ favorite of all of his movies, with the incomparable Divine embracing ugliness, violence and spectacle in a bravura performance.
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A Very Natural Thing (1974) Queer Film D-
There is massive footage of NYC pride parades that lend nothing to the proceedings. Today, it comes across as a failed curiosity that gets a D- for effort.
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Butley (1974) Queer Film B-
Adapted by Simon Gray from his stage play and directed by Harold Pinter, the movie is a testament to Alan Bates, who, having originated the role on stage, delivers a tour-de-force performance, simultaneously witty, pathetic, and tragic.
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The Great Gatsby (1974) Queer Film (B)
Directed by Jack Clayton, from an adaptation by Francis Ford Coppola, this was the third film version of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Jazz Age masterpiece.
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Going Places (Les Valseuses) (1974) Queer Film (A)
The second scene is where the boys are horsing around and, wouldn’t you know it, they almost start pounding one another. Very sexy.
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Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (1974) Queer Film B+
Michael Cimino’s directorial debut – he also wrote the screenplay – was an enormous critical and commercial success and paved the way for his Oscar-winning triumph The Deer Hunter four years later. Blending humor, melancholy, and violence with a nod to the American road movie, the film boasts great buddy-film chemistry between Eastwood and Bridges.
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The Phantom of the Paradise (1974) Queer Film B+
Sexuality throughout the film seems less important than transformation, performance and desire. It’s The Red Shoes reimagined for the Me Decade.
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The Eiger Sanction (1975) Cinema’s First Queer Canine (F)
When we first meet FAGGOT, he is pleasuring himself on Eastwood’s shoe. Who was the dog who played him? Since the little rascal was uncredited, we will never know. Did the little fellow realize that the audience probably hated him as much as they hated his master. Was it nature or nurture? Where was animal protection in those dark days of 1975?
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Once is Not Enough (1975) Queer Film D-
Unfortunately, the rest of the movie is so awful that the good work of Alexis Smith and Brenda Vaccaro barely registers. Worse, that essential camp factor, which had allowed its predecessor “Valley of the Dolls” to flourish at a thousand Gay Midnight Screenings is nowhere to be found. Eventually, your watch becomes your constant companion as you wait (and wait!) for the best moment to bolt for the exit.
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The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) Queer Film (B) High Camp at a Midnight Screening.
It is, of course, a GROUP EXPERIENCE with those inspired zingers going back to the screen, composed by a generation of audience members over the years.
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Barry Lyndon (1975) Queer Film (A)
In “Barry Lyndon” there is a moment where Ryan O’Neal finds two soldiers naked and holding hands in a pond as they confess their love for one another.
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In Celebration (1975) Queer Film C+
“In Celebration” is another filmed stage play that makes no attempts to hide its origin. James Bolam’s queer Colin remains largely a sounding board for Alan Bates’ barbed wit and, as a Queer Film, it’s negligible.
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Farewell My Lovely (1975) Queer Film A-
One of those rare instances where the remake is marginally better than the original, Farewell My Lovely not only keeps the original title of Raymond Chandler’s novel but is also more faithful to the book’s spirit.
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