The Celluloid Closet

Mar 15, 1996

1h 42m

★ 7.1

Overview

Exuberant, eye-opening movie that serves up a dazzling hundred-year history of the role of gay men and lesbians have had on the silver screen. Film contains 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.

Genres

Documentary

History

Production Companies

ZDF

ARTE

Brillstein-Grey Entertainment

HBO

Telling Pictures

Channel 4 Television

The Celluloid Closet Trailers

Cast

Narrator (voice)

Lily Tomlin

Self

Tony Curtis

Self

Susan Sarandon

Self

Gore Vidal

Self

Whoopi Goldberg

Self

Antonio Fargas

Self

Shirley MacLaine

Self

John Schlesinger

Self

Armistead Maupin

Self

Arthur Laurents

Self

Tom Hanks

Self

Farley Granger

Alma is a trans woman who was born in Santa Rosa, a small town in the province of Córdoba, Argentina. Before making the decision to change her gender, she served in the police forces of her province, married twice and had four children. At the age of 36, she decided to travel to the city of Buenos Aires to begin her transformation and gender reassignment process, thus fulfilling her desire to live her identity freely.

3.4

Butch Jamie

Nov 18, 2008

The film follows the story of Jamie, a struggling butch lesbian actress who gets cast as a man in a film. The main plot is a romantic comedy between Jamie's male alter-ego, "Male Jamie," and Jill, a heterosexual woman on set. The film's subplots include Jamie's bisexual roommate Lola and her cat actor Howard, Lola's abrasive butch German girlfriend Andi, and Jamie's gay Asian friend David.

5.8

Sexo en el plató

Apr 9, 2007

How are the sex scenes filmed? What tricks are used to fake the desire? How do the interpreters prepare and feel? Spanish actors and directors talk about the most intimate side of acting, about the tricks and work methods when narrating exposed sex. In Spain the general rule is that there are no rules. Each film, each interpreter, faces it in very different ways.

7.1

Finding Forrester

Dec 21, 2000

Gus Van Sant tells the story of a young African American man named Jamal who confronts his talents while living on the streets of the Bronx. He accidentally runs into an old writer named Forrester who discovers his passion for writing. With help from his new mentor Jamal receives a scholarship to a private school.

5.2

An Actor's Revenge

Jun 27, 1935

An onnagata (female impersonator) of a Kabuki troupe avenges his parents' deaths. Remade in 1963 as Yukinojô Henge.

0.0

Foghorn: Child Actor, Veteran, Friend

Apr 1, 2021

Over the serene and verdant landscape of Northern California, a man with an everlasting childlike spirit lived his last years in a cabin. A story of friendship and loneliness, George Carl Wenzlaff was a Navy veteran and postal service worker with unique artistic talents and an amazing past.

10.0

Out of Uganda

Jun 20, 2023

Philip, Lynn, Hussein and Shammy, young LGBT Ugandans, are fighting for survival. Staying in their country, where religious oppressions and discriminations prevail, endangers their lives. Then, their latest hope is to leave it all behind and experience a long and painful exile.

3.8

Montgomery Clift

Jan 1, 1983

A documentary incorporating footage of Montgomery Clift’s most memorable films; interviews with family and friends, and rare archival material stretching back to his childhood. What develops is the story of an intense young boy who yearned for stardom, achieved notable success in such classic films as From Here to Eternity and I Confess, only to be ruined by alcohol addiction and his inability to face his own fears and homosexual desires. Montgomery Clift, as this film portrays him, may not have been a happy man but he never compromised his acting talents for Hollywood.

2.0

Richard Fontaine's Days of Greek Gods

Jan 1, 1988

Richard Fontaine and Bob Mizer started the current exploration of the male nude in film and photography. The two shared ideas props and models and reinvented some of the sexual icons that we all still recognise today. The gladiator the sailor, the cowboy… Starting with posing-straps and graduating to nudes their "art studies" enlisted the talents of up-and-coming actors and bodybuilders. This film recalls that era.

4.3

Uncle Bob

Jun 26, 2010

Robert Oppel's documentary about the life and murder of his uncle and namesake, Robert Opel, the man who streaked the Academy Awards in 1974.

8.5

In France with Madonna

Oct 17, 2022

France is at the heart of Madonna's life. She is inspired by French culture and its values and has surrounded herself with French artists for many years. To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Queen of Pop's career, this film revisits the close and unique bond between Madonna and France and features testimonials from close collaborators and French friends who have helped create her unique artistic universe: Maripol, Jean Paul Gaultier, Julien d'Ys, Nicolas Huchard, and Marion Motin. Today's artists such as Florence Foresti, Leïla Slimani, Victor Weinsanto and HollySiz talk about the influence of this emancipating figure, which extends far beyond music.

7.2

She Said

Nov 17, 2022

New York Times reporters Megan Twohey and Jodi Kantor break one of the most important stories in a generation — a story that helped launch the #MeToo movement and shattered decades of silence around the subject of sexual assault in Hollywood.

4.9

Queens and Cowboys: A Straight Year on the Gay Rodeo

Dec 20, 2014

A feature film that chronicles a complete season of the International Gay Rodeo Association. Roping and riding across north America for the past 30 years, the IGRA's courageous cowboys and cowgirls brave challenges both in and out of the arena on their quest to qualify for the World Finals at the end of the season. And along the way, they'll bust every stereotype in the book.

3.4

I Always Said Yes: The Many Lives of Wakefield Poole

Jun 9, 2013

I Always Said Yes is a portrait of pioneering filmmaker Wakefield Poole, whose careers as dancer, choreographer, and director spanned the golden years of Broadway, television, porno chic, and gay liberation.

9.0

Sweetheart Dancers

Feb 23, 2019

Sean and Adrian, a Two-Spirit couple, are determined to rewrite the rules of Native American culture through their participation in the “Sweetheart Dance.” This celebratory contest is held at powwows across the country, primarily for heterosexual couples … until now.

1.0

No Goodbyes

Jun 1, 2021

Love in a concentration camp. A young Jewish gay man, Otto, is protected by a "kapo" (a fellow prisoner) and an SS guard who unexpectedly ends up saving his life.

7.3

Kirk Douglas: Before I Forget

Nov 24, 2009

Kirk Douglas recounts his remarkable life in a celebrated one-man theater performance augmented with rare film highlights. He shares memories of family, marriages, other Hollywood greats, breaking the blacklist and his life-altering stroke – all with honesty and humor.

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7.7

Dearly Departed

Dec 14, 2006

Hollywood is a hot spot for celebrities, and tour guide Scott Michaels (E!'s "20 Most Horrifying Hollywood Murders," FindADeath.com) knows their, well, haunts. DEARLY DEPARTED is an all-access tour of the "backlots" of L.A. - locations where the most infamous murders, suicides and bizarre crimes involving A-listers have taken place. The Viper Room, the site where "The Black Dahlia" was discovered, and dozens more legendary spots are explored in this funny and equally shocking ride into L.A.'s seedy underground.

6.6

Becoming Cary Grant

May 23, 2017

For the first time one of Hollywood's greatest stars tells his own story, in his own words. From a childhood of poverty to global fame, Cary Grant, the ultimate self-made star, explores his own screen image and what it took to create it.

6.5

Mary Queen of Scots

Dec 7, 2018

In 1561, Mary Stuart, widow of the King of France, returns to Scotland, reclaims her rightful throne and menaces the future of Queen Elizabeth I as ruler of England, because she has a legitimate claim to the English throne. Betrayals, rebellions, conspiracies and their own life choices imperil both Queens. They experience the bitter cost of power, until their tragic fate is finally fulfilled.