DIRECTOR: Martin Ritt

BOTTOM LINE: Tillie (Carol Burnett) is single in her late thirties. At a party, she is introduced to Pete (Walter Matthau) who is a confirmed bachelor. On their first date, given a choice of beverages from Burnett, Matthau answers “Whatever’s the most trouble”. It’s the best line in the movie and it occurs way too early.  Her best friend Gertrude is played by Geraldine Page who won the fifth of her eight Oscar nominations for this role.

And then there is her other best friend Jimmy, the film’s token gay guy, played by René Auberjonois, who had one of the most memorable names in cinema. There is nothing special about Jimmy except that, somehow, he knows Gertrude’s real age (well, he is the token gay guy!). Meanwhile, director Martin Ritt and screenwriter Julius J. Epstein (Oscar nomination) make him into a kind of saint who has no life of his own. All he wants to do is take care of Tillie and offers to marry her if that would make her happy (she wisely refuses). Not exactly a gay stereotype, but a bit one-dimensional.

POST TITLE: Twenty-Seven Queer Films 1967-1976. Queer Cinema Comes Out.

CATEGORY: My Favorites

SUBCATEGORY: Queer Film

STREAMING: YouTube.