Z (1969) Queer Film (F)
Few seem to have noticed that “Z” is a virulently homophobic film in which the main villain is a homosexual and convicted pedophile.
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Goodbye Columbus (1969) Queer Film B-
The Queer element in the film comes from Brenda’s older brother Ron. Ron has the hots for Neil (Richard Benjamin) who he keeps inviting back to his room.
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The Sterile Cuckoo (1969) From Pookie to Sally. B-
Liza Minnelli’s Oscar-nominated turn as quirky, oddball and needy “Pookie” Adams is a preview of her Oscar-winning performance in “Cabaret.”
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The Gay Deceivers (1969) Queer Film C-
Directed by race-car driver, TV director, adventurer and Howard Hawks protegee Bruce Kessler, the film sits squarely in the late-1960s draft-dodger queer farce, and his involvement appears to have been technical and opportunistic rather than personal. This was producer Joe Solomon’s baby in keeping with his other entries in the exploitation genre such as A Small Town in Texas (1976). The surprise, however, is that the gay couple is treated with a modicum of respect.
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Satyricon (1970) Queer Film B-
Seeming longer than its 129-minute running time, and with no discernible plot, the movie becomes a bit of a chore. However, the images stay with you.
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Something for Everyone (1970) Queer Film C-
Unfortunately, what should have been a gay romp and a fabulous showcase for its star, gay icon Angela Lansbury, falls flat after a promising opening chapter.
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Performance (1970) Queer Film B+
There will always be an argument as to who was the real auteur behind the camera. Roeg, one of the great cinematographers (The Masque of the Red Death, Petulia) who evolved into one of the great directors (Walkabout, Don’t Look Now), is the obvious candidate. Yet Donald Cammell—painter, provocateur, and Hollywood outsider—was the film’s conceptual engine.
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Little Big Man (1970) Queer Film (A)
Using humor and irony to critique prejudice, injustice and the destruction of Native American communities, “Little Big Man” is, together with “Bonnie and Clyde”, Arthur Penn’s best film. It helped redefine the Western genre, paving the way for more nuanced depictions of Native Americans.
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Diary of a Mad Housewife (1970) Queer Film. Eleanor Perry. A+
Starring a luminous Carrie Snodgress, the last movie that director Frank Perry and his screenwriter wife Eleanor made together is their best.
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The Conformist (1970) Queer Film. Nando, Vittorio and Bernardo’s Masterpiece. A+
Using Art Deco as a backdrop to the film’s narrative, the partnership of Bertolucci, Storaro and Scarfiotti changed the look of Cinema forever.
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Myra Breckinridge (1970) Queer Film C-
A failed adaptation of Gore Vidal’s novel, directed, by Michael Sarne, the film takes Vidal’s gender‑bending satire and, for the most part, mangles it, although the book was hardly a sacred text to begin with. With an unfortunate Mae West in a cameo as talent scout Leticia Van Allen, and a pre-fame Farah Fawcett making her movie debut. In the end, although Myra does not scandalize or destroy the patriarchy, she exposes and ridicules it, and Welch’s glamorous, tongue-in-cheek comedic performance is always fully committed to the original novel’s satire.
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The Anderson Tapes (1971) Queer Film (F)
Hamming it up and mincing all over the place, this is a cringe-worthy performance from Martin Balsam who is not referred to by his given name, just The Fag.
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The Music Lovers (1971) Queer Film (F)
The honeymoon sequence, set to the “1812 overture,” a delirious mix of sexual frustration and nationalistic bombast, may be for Russell freaks only!
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Death In Venice (1971) Queer Film (B)
Visconti’s best idea was changing Aschenbach’s profession from a writer to a composer opening up the movie to the Mahler Adagietto .
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The Garden of the Finzi-Continis (1971) Queer Film A-
“The Garden of the Finzi Continis” is based on the semi-autobiographical novel by gay Italian writer Giorgio Bassani who is played in the film by Helmut Berger.
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Sunday Bloody Sunday (1971) Queer Film (A)
In “Sunday Bloody Sunday”, Murray Head plays a free-spirited bisexual who is having simultaneous relationships with Glenda Jackson and Peter Finch. Finch’s closing monologue, delivered directly to the camera—“I am happy, apart from missing him”—is one of the great grace notes in queer film history: tender, dignified, and devastating in its simplicity. It is also one of the finest pieces of acting ever captured on film.
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What’s the Matter with Helen? (1971) Queer Film B+
Curtis Harrington’s What’s the Matter with Helen? stands as one of the most refined entries in the psycho‑biddy—or hagsploitation—cycle, anchored by two powerhouse performances from Shelley Winters and Debbie Reynolds.
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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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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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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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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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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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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 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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