The Gay Deceivers (1969) Queer Film C-

DIRECTOR: Bruce Kessler

The Gay Deceivers (1969) is a satirical comedy about two young men who pretend to be gay to avoid the draft, only to find themselves immersed in a queer community that challenges their assumptions. 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.

Danny Devlin (Kevin Coughlin) and Elliot Crane (Larry Casey) are two straight friends desperate to avoid being drafted into the U.S. Army during the Vietnam era. Their scheme: claim to be homosexual, assuming this will disqualify them. The Army, suspicious, places them under surveillance—forcing the pair to convincingly “live as a couple.” To maintain the ruse, they move into a gay apartment building run by Malcolm (Michael Greer) and Craig (Sebastian Brook), a warm, older gay couple whose presence becomes the film’s emotional anchor. Initially, Danny and Elliot dismiss them with homophobic slurs, but as they observe Malcolm and Craig’s tenderness and stability, their own prejudices begin to erode.

RELEASED JUST WEEKS AFTER STONEWALL, THE FILM OCCUPIES A STRANGE CULTURAL MOMENT: CAMPY, PROBLEMATIC, BUT ALSO UNEXPECTEDLY PROGRESSIVE IN ITS DEPICTION OF GAY DOMESTIC LIFE.

Danny insists Elliot – who is basically a gigolo – avoid women entirely, even as Danny continues dating his girlfriend, Karen (Brooke Bundy). This double standard strains their friendship. The film’s most homophobic scene occurs when Elliot, feeling trapped, visits a gay bar, flirts with a man, then panics—punching him in a moment of fear and confusion. In scenes like this, the film’s uneasy blend of queer farce and genuine identity anxiety comes to the fore.

FEATURING AN OUT GAY ACTOR, MICHAEL GREER, WHO FOUGHT TO REDUCE HARMFUL STEREOTYPES.

At a gay party hosted by Malcolm and Craig, Elliot nearly sleeps with a drag queen before being caught by the Army investigator (Jack Starrett – who went on to direct A Small Town in Texas). The twist: the Army investigators themselves are gay. Danny and Elliot are spared induction not because they fooled anyone, but because the system is quietly protecting them. Ha-Ha!

Malcolm fancies himself as having a green thumb and treasures his precious peonies. When one of Elliott’s lady friends, a Mrs. Conway, (Jeanne Baird) carelessly tramples them we get this piece of delicious high camp which is worth the price of admission:

MALCOLM: YOU DIRTY BITCH. LOOK WHAT YOU’VE DONE TO MY PEONIES.

MRS. CONWAY: YOU CAN TAKE YOUR LOVELY PEONIES…AND BESIDES, YOU SILLY QUEEN, THE’RE NOT EVEN PEONIES, THE’RE MARIGOLDS.

CRAIG (clutching Malcolm): OH GOD! I THINK SHE’S RIGHT; THEY ARE MARIGOLDS!

MALCOLM (clutching a flower pot): I MAY NOT KNOW MY FLOWERS, BUT I KNOW A BITCH WHEN I SEE ONE!

See it as a an almost sixty-year-old time capsule or just check out the two-minute peonies-and-marigolds scene on YouTube. Either way, Enjoy!

NOW STREAMING ON TUBI, SHOUT! TV and YouTube.