DIRECTOR: Paul Newman
BOTTOM LINE: Paul Newman produced and directed (his debut) “Rachel, Rachel,” a slight tale about a schoolteacher’s (Newman’s wife Joanne Woodward) sexual awakening in her mid-30s in a small Connecticut town. Highly regarded at the time of its release (NYFCC awards going to Newman as Best Director and Woodward as Best Actress), it seems a bit underwhelming today. However, it does offer one of the first sympathetic portraits of a lesbian character in an American Film: Rachel’s fellow schoolteacher, Calla. Calla, who has a crush on Rachel, is nicely played by Estelle Parsons, coming off her Oscar in “Bonnie and Clyde.” The screenplay is by Stewart Stern.
STREAMING: Amazon Prime and Apple TV+
https://thebrownees.net/sixty-five-queer-films-made-under-the-hays-code-1934-1967
https://thebrownees.net/sixty-five-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
