The Gayest Thing You'll See This Week

Liberace and Scott Thorson c. 1979

If you were alive during the 60's, 70's and 80's you know who Liberace was. At one time, the highest paid performer in the world, the flamboyant (though closeted) pianist was known for his feathered capes, fur-lined costumes and mirror-encrusted piano. He was also famously sued by former "driver" Scott Thorson for palimony. Liberace died of AIDS in 1987, denying his sexuality to the very end. Director Steven Soderbergh (Sex, Lies and Videotape; Magic Mike) has turned Thorson's memoir into an HBO movie called Behind the Candelabra. 

The movie stars Michael Douglas as Lee and Matt Damon as Thorson (who claims Lee made him have plastic surgery to make him look more like his employer/lover - though from the photo above, it's obvious Thorson wasn't exactly a 'buttahface' to begin with). I know I've talked about this movie before, but HBO just released a behind-the-scenes making-of video and I though I should share (via):

So, here are a few thoughts:

While I never need to see what Q calls "Michael Douglas' raggedy ass" again, I think he looks pretty good in the clips I've seen. And Damon looks amazing. But... why the need to cast straight actors in these roles? I would have much preferred to see unknown gay actors playing gay characters. Sure, they're both larger-than-life people. But when will actually gay actors (other than the self-loathing Rupert Everett) get to play gay roles in major films (even if they're just on cable)? Critics will undoubtedly plaud Douglas and Damon for being 'brave.' I call BS. While Debbie Reynolds is nearly unrecognizable in her makeup as Lee's Polish mother and Rob Lowe looks like a disco diva pothead, it all smells rather... fake. Yes, the design team seems to have gone out of their way to recreate Liberace's homes, furnishings and costumes. And the script is based on the memoirs of a man who was actually there. But the only other person who knows the whole truth is dead and can't defend himself against any of Thorson's claims.

"But Uncle P, everything about Liberace was fake." Well... on the surface, yes. But underneath there was a real human being who struggled and lied about himself to the world for his entire life. Liberace may have been all glitz and glamor both on and off stage, but I can't help but feel that a glitzy, glamorous movie about him can only do disservice to the real and ultimately tortured man underneath all the rhinestones and fur.

I hope I'm wrong. I hope Soderbergh and company manage to find a way to delve beneath the Swarovski crystals and etched mirrors and give us a real glimpse into the tortured soul of one of the most famous closeted gay men ever. But nothing I've seen so far indicates anything to that effect. I don't subscribe to HBO (I gave up on them after "Six Feet Under" ended), I have several friends who do and I plan on watching at one of their houses. 

Behind the Candelabra premieres on HBO May 26th.

More, anon.
Prospero

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Prospero's Essential Movie Guide: Part 3

Friends of Dorothy

Now that I've gone and moved onto "talkies," let's talk about a few classics from the 30's, shall we? 

1938's Bringing Up Baby is Uncle P's favorite movie of all time, and with many a good reason. Howard Hawks' definitive madcap comedy was a flop when first released, despite Dudley Nichols and Hagar Wilde's brilliant script and performances from the era's brightest stars (Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn) at the height of their comedic prowess. Grant's hapless paleontologist and Hepburn's flighty heiress characters compliment one another perfectly. Add a dowager aunt (May Robinson); an intrepid wild game hunter (Charles Ruggles); a taunting terrier; two leopards and a befuddled local police department and you have what may very well be the funniest movie ever made (at least until Mel Brooks came along, 30 years later - but more on him, later). 

Of course, everyone talks about the "Perfect Year" for movies - 1939, which gave us two amazing films from gay director Victor Fleming (Gone With the Wind and The Wizard of Oz); probably Shirley Temple's best film, The Little Princess; Greta Garbo in Ninotchka (Garbo laughs!); Jimmy Stewart in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington; Norma Shearer, Joan Crawford, Rosiland Russell and Joan Fontaine in The Women and Robert Donat & Greer Garson in Goodbye Mr. Chips.

Of course, the most famous and beloved film from that year is Fleming's version of L. Frank Baum's children's novel, "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz." The stories surrounding this film are legendary and while many gay men of  'a certain age' consider it a watershed film (indeed, 'A Friend of Dorothy' became a euphemism for being gay in the 60's and 70's), I simply consider it a watershed film among the many that made me love movies as a child. Sequels and prequels to The Wizard of Oz abound, but none have found quite the niche that this film has found in the American psyche. 

In 1978 (told you I was OLD) I played the Cowardly Lion in my high school production, which featured elements (authorized by Geoffrey Holder) of the Broadway production of The Wiz, the African American version. It was probably the first time my high school director (now recognized as the best in the country) used Broadway elements in the staging of a high school musical. The Wizard of Oz is probably the most well-known and most-beloved of all musical films and will no doubt remain a classic for many centuries to come.

All of these films deserve the label "Classic" and should be seen by every cinephile and film student.

More, anon.
Prospero

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