The Celluloid Closet (1996)
• January 30th, 1996 • 1h 42min
Documentary, History
Overview
What "That's Entertainment" did for movie musicals, "The Celluloid Closet" does for Hollywood homosexuality, as this exuberant, eye-opening movie serves up a dazzling hundred-year history of the role of gay men and lesbians have had on the silver screen. Lily Tomlin narrates as Oscar-winning moviemaker Rob Epstein ("The Times of Harvey Milk" and "Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt") and Jeffrey Friedman assemble fabulous footage from 120 films showing the changing face of cinema sexuality, from cruel stereotypes to covert love to the activist triumphs of the 1990s. Tom Hanks, Susan Sarandon, Whoopi Goldberg, Tony Curtis, Harvey Fierstein and Gore Vidal are just a few of the many actors, writers and commentators who provide funny and insightful anecdotes.
Make sure to check your pop-up blocker!!
Trailer
Similar Movies
Mum's the Word
Released on: 1996-09-10
Documentary
Offers a candid portrait of four French Canadian women who adopt surprising new roles as they approa...
Undressing Israel: Gay Men in the Promised Land
Released on: 2013-01-13
Documentary
When many people think of Israel, it is often in terms of modern war or ancient religion. But there ...
Dressed in Blue
Released on: 1983-09-06
Drama, Documentary
A documentary about the lives of six transgender women in post-Franco Spain.
Made in Hollywood
Released on: 2011-05-12
Documentary
A breathtaking investigation into blockbusters, a film genre that enjoys worldwide success yet keeps...
Umsonst Gelebt: Walter Schwarze
Released on: 2005-02-01
Documentary
“This film is part of a series of films on gay men who survived the Nazi era. I met Walter Schwarze ...
This Is Not a Dream
Released on: 2012-10-20
Documentary
The video revolution of the 1970s offered unprecedented access to the moving image for artists and p...
Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism
Released on: 2004-07-14
Documentary
This film examines how media empires, led by Rupert Murdoch's Fox News, have been running a "race to...
Ballot Measure 9
Released on: 1995-07-14
Documentary
Ballot Measure 9 was an anti-gay amendment proposed to Oregon voters in 1992 by the conservative gro...
The Colour of His Hair
Released on: 2017-06-20
Drama, Documentary
Based on an unrealized film script written in 1964 for The Homosexual Law Reform Society, a British ...
Where Have All the Lesbians Gone?
Released on: 2022-04-28
Documentary
Lesbian director Brigid McFall and lesbian photographer Vic Lentaigne create a series of intimate, r...
Transgender Kids: Who Knows Best?
Released on: 2017-01-12
Documentary
Around the world there has been a huge increase in the number of children being referred to gender c...
Mapplethorpe
Released on: 2019-03-01
Drama, History
A look at the life of photographer Robert Mapplethorpe from his rise to fame in the 1970s to his unt...
Don't You Worry, It Will Probably Pass
Released on: 2003-02-28
Documentary
Three Swedish teenagers express their thoughts about bi- and homosexuality while navigating question...
Private Diary
Released on: 2003-06-26
Documentary
Private Diary documents photographer Pedro Usabiaga working with a variety of amateur models. The au...
Stuart Hall: Representation & the Media
Released on: 1997-01-01
Documentary
Cultural theorist Stuart Hall offers an extended meditation on representation. Moving beyond the acc...
Quearborn & Perversion: An Early History of Lesbian & Gay Chicago
Released on: 2007-11-01
Documentary, History
Quearborn & Perversion: An Early History of Lesbian & Gay Chicago (2009, 109 min) is a documentary o...
Mae West and the Men Who Knew Her
Released on: 1994-08-09
Documentary, TV Movie
As the first "blonde bombshell," Mae West reigned supreme and changed the nation's view of women, se...
Gary Cooper: The Face of a Hero
Released on: 1998-03-17
Documentary
Known for his personification of the Western Hero, it was Montana-born Gary Cooper's horse-riding sk...