Love is Many Splendored Thing and a Con Artist in Love Makes for a Many Splendored Movie

H.L. Mencken said that "love is the triumph of imagination over intelligence." Evidently Steven Jay Russell, presently serving out a life sentence in a Texas slammer, possessed, in his prime, simply oodles of love, imagination and intelligence.

His adventures are detailed in the film I Love You, Phillip Morris (2009). Jim Carrey stars as Russell and Ewan McGregor plays Morris. It's a gay love story. Sort of.

ILYPM is a slightly fictionalized account of Russell's escapades. Only slightly, because these kind of escapades need no frills to make for an entertaining story. In fact, the filmmakers must have been tempted to tone it down so audiences wouldn't spend the film making a lot of "yeah right!" remarks.

You couldn't make this stuff up. Well, you could but people would say you were daffy.

Lesse...he cons his way into a job as the CFO of a large company (then bilks them out of $100,000s), he convinces the courts he's a lawyer, he...Hey, wait a second, I don't wanna ruin the movie for you. Suffice to say I've only scratched the surface of Russell's chicanery. (Just wait'll you see how he escapes from prison. Classic.)

But Russell, at least as depicted in the film, lacks enough self awareness to avoid his most egregious con -- himself. It doesn't help that as a child he discovers he was adopted, then spends enough years deep enough in the closet to marry (a woman) and father two children. Russell is a doer not a thinker. He immerses himself so much into being someone or something else that he neglects examining who the deuce he is. This is a theme that I touched upon last week in a post about Color Me Kubrick (2005), another film about someone who isn't what or who he appears to be.

Con artists are a film staple, from Trouble in Paradise (1932) through The Sting (1973) through Catch Me If You Can (2002) they make for delightful film characters, especially as their victims are usually stuffy upper crust types or crooks themselves. Sometimes the flim flammer falls for a dame or a dude. But rarely is the love as passionate as in ILYPM. And I defy you to find a con artist film in which the lovers are Gay.

You can argue that the sexual preferences of the screen lovers is irrelevant and I'd agree with you. But as a society we're still new enough to accepting homosexuality (hey! it's only 2011!) so it still can titillate, or more importantly add a dramatic edge to stories. That the film is set in the South which, aside from perhaps Miami Beach, is not known for being at the forefront of the Gay rights movement, adds another dimension.

In ILYPM the lovers meet in prison. So yes this is also in some respects a prison love story. (What, another?!) Carrey and McGregor are wonderful in this film. I always have mixed feelings about Carrey. He's just so much of whatever the hell it is he is, but that's exactly what's called for in playing Russell. I've never known McGregor to do anything but enhance the films he's in. This is a case in point.

ILYPM was a hit in Europe where it was released a full year before hitting these parts. In the U.S., not so much. I don't know the whys and wherefores, but do find it interesting that the Old World took to it and the States didn't. I'm sure part of it has to do with it being released among all those blockbuster/prestige films in December, then slipping out of theaters before you could say I Love You Phillip Morris. Hell, I didn't even catch it. Thanks Netflix for sending it today.

So I had to write something about it. And, in fact, I'll write some more: sweet, engaging, audacious, entertaining, funny as hell and even thought provoking. I like having my thoughts provoked. Gay love stories about con artists, especially true ones, those I'm a sucker for.

Divine Decadence, Thoughts on Cabaret, Ole Chum

I watched Cabaret (1972), one of my all time favorite films, for the zillionth time yesterday. However this was my first viewing since having read Christopher Isherwood's Berlin Stories upon which the story is partly based. I love Isherwood's writing. Simple elegance. The "I am a camera" objective style.

Of course, Cabaret is only very loosely based on on Isherwood's stories. If you're terribly fussy about films replicating the books or events they're inspired by you'll be hugely disappointed. But cinematically it's nigh on impossible to create a better story. Isherwood's stories are a nice companion piece to appreciating the film even further and well worth reading for their own merits.

I was struck this viewing with the extent to which Cabaret foretells the rise of the Nazis. They start the story as minor players being bullied out of the Kit Kat club and before you know it they're beating up the proprietor and becoming a most visible presence. This is analogous to their presence throughout Berlin and Germany. It's amazing how, if anything, films have been quite accurate in their depiction of Nazis. They were plain and simple thugs who relied on brute force to gain and especially to hold power.

Cabaret also features the dramatic scene in a park where the Nazi youth starts singing "Tomorrow Belongs to Me" (surprisingly, it was not a real Nazi anthem but written for the film). I once saw Cabaret in Finland and aside from subtitles, of course, the only difference was the song being sung in German. Even without understanding the language, it made the scene even more powerful. The Nazis came into power without majority support, but one of the ways in which they quickly attained it was by playing on the citizenry's patriotism. They made great use of iconography as well. The scene in the park captures this.

Michael York plays Brian Roberts, a character who bears a resemblance to Isherwood. His sexuality is more ambiguous than the homosexual Isherwood and makes for one of the story's more dramatic elements. He of course becomes smitten with Sally Bowles (Liza Minelli in on Oscar winning performance) with whom he has his first successful heterosexual experience. Nonetheless he also has a dalliance with a man, a Baron who is also screwing Sally.

The frankness of the sex was relatively knew when the film came out and, while tame by today's standards, it serves the story quite well. The whole screw the baron, I have and so have I exchange is still powerful today. Indeed, Cabaret is a movie that holds up quite well and likely always will.

Among other things Cabaret is about a doomed relationship. Brian and Sally are meant to be the good friends they start out as, but marriage and children is not in the cards. This is not meant to surprise us. We've all been in relationships in which we pretend its going further then we know it possibly can. Like Brian and Sally's.

I don't generally care for musicals. I mean there's often a rather nice story being told and suddenly everyone bursts into a choreographed song accompanied by orchestration. Fine, perhaps, for you. Just not my cup of tea. That said, I love a good Astaire and Rogers movie, perhaps because its them doing the dancing. Also their numbers often are part of the story and not a separate reality. All the songs in Cabaret are in the night club and enhance the story telling process. Besides that they're all either very good or bloody wonderful numbers. Minelli and the title song have a lot to do with that but there can be no under estimating the performance of Joel Grey as the master of the ceremonies (he too won an Oscar).

He is truly one of the more...hmmm, let's say, interesting, characters in film. This despite the fact that every line he speaks is from the stage and is either part of a song or is spoken as part of his emcee duties. I have variously found him creepy (that tongue directed at Sally) charming, delightful, and menacing. He is a very broad character yet one we can draw our own conclusions about.

Cabaret is one of those films that, if you'll excuse the cliché, works on so many levels. It is a toe tapping musical, a love story, a history lesson, a vehicle for the incredible talents of Minelli and Grey. Bob Fosse directed and neither he nor Minelli nor Grey ever did anything to match Cabaret on film. That is, to turn a phrase on its head, criticizing them with faint damnation. You could certainly hang your hat on this film and call it one helluva career.

Here's a post I wrote about the film in 2009.

Every Dog Has His Day and So Does Every Sociopath

He was a big man there for a little while. Real big. Got his 15 minutes of fame and then some. His name was John Wotjowicz and he was a nobody. Until he robbed a bank. It was August 22, 1972 and in a span of a few hours the 27 year old loser had the full attention of the local media. Wotjowicz was not just on TV, he was live. Though this was a Brooklyn story, it ultimately gained national attention.

John and his partner Salvatore Naturile had come to be surrounded in the bank by hundreds of law enforcement officers. Thus the robbery became a hostage situation with the two holding eight bank employees and demanding a jet to the country of their choosing.

TV cameras were soon on the scene and Wotjowicz played to the camera. He was not a hero but he was a celebrity. It was reality TV years ahead of its time and without the artifice of a made up situation. It even offered what was by that day's standards a bizarre subplot. It turned out that Jim was married to a man (it simply wasn't done then at all) and part of his motivation for the bank heist was so that he could pay for his beloved's sex change operation. But of course that's not all, for Jim who also had a female wife and with her two young children. It was a story that wrote itself.

Wotjowicz drew a live crowd along with TV viewers and he knew how to work a room, so to speak. He could often be seen cavorting about outside discussing terms with the cops and FBI while Sal kept an eye on the hostages. Wotjowicz played to crowd and they loved it. This man was a classic sociopath.

But after 14 hours the drama ended at the airport with Naturile dead and Wotjowicz in handcuffs. So it goes.

Wotjowicz might have faded into obscurity but for the Sidney Lumet directed drama Dog Day Afternoon released three years after the actual events. Al Pacino played him with John's name changed to Sonny Wortzik. His story was now eternal, forever on film. And as the film has become a classic, never to be forgotten.

Part of the allure of the Dog Day is Pacino's performance, which remains one of the greatest ever in cinema. Premiere Magazine rated it as the fourth best of all time. As far as such things can be measured, they got it about right.

Pacino gave his character equal portions of charm, charisma, pathos, sensitivity, rage, insanity and most of all verve. It is an exciting performance for how daring it is. I still remember seeing it for the first time and being stunned by how compelling a persona he'd made of this man and how grounded in truth it all felt. It is nothing less than an extension of Brando's turn as Stanley Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire (1951).

In the entire film there are two shots fired and not a hint of a car chase or explosion. Instead we are presented a great deal of dialogue and it is so real and yet lively and thoroughly engrossing and entertaining.

The "real Sonny" not only entertained the crowds outside but his hostages as well. They were enthralled by this "character." It was not the Stockholm Syndrome nor even in this case the Brooklyn Syndrome. It was just being around a guy who had a special light glowing feverishly out of him. Never mind that he was somewhat bonkers.

Pacino is not the only actor to distinguish himself in the film. Charles Durning is wonderful as the chief negotiator and John Cazale played Sal. Every film Cazale appeared in before his premature death was nominated for the Best Picture Oscar. It can't just be a coincidence.

Dog Day Afternoon did not try to re-create the events depicted verbatim. Indeed much of the dialogue was improvised, per Lumet's desires. That decision enabled the actors to truly inhabit their characters and faithfully render the feeling of that day and the bizarre man in the middle of it. And for all that improvisation the movie does not stray very far from "the way it really was."

That it was to be a bank robbery like no other is evident early in the film. Sonny's gun is disguised in large long box with a ribbon on it. When the robbery is to commence he attempts to boldly whip the rifle out. Like many small things in life, it does not come off perfectly. The box stubbornly hangs on and Sonny has to whip it away. Then there is the matter of the third accomplice to the robbery. He gets a "bad vibe" about the whole thing and quickly begs off. He and Sonny argue a bit over the car keys before he splits.

It is a film remarkably free of cliches. It is more the type of film to be imitated. Such as the scene when Sonny famously gets onlookers to chant "Attica, Attica, Attica!" Sonny has fashioned himself into a local hero. Like the bandits of old who later became folk heroes. When his bisexuality becomes known, the gay community comes out to root on one of their own.

Dog Day Afternoon features one of the greatest sequences I've ever seen in a film. It comes about half way through the drama. Sonny suspects that the police are trying to break into the back of the bank. To discourage them he fires a shot into a transom. All hell breaks loose. We see it in quick cuts. From the cops running, to Sonny running, to Sal, to the hostages, to command central, back and forth we get quick glimpses of what each major player and group in the drama is doing in reaction to this single gun shot. It lasts not quite 40 seconds of screen time. In that short time we see and even feel a whirlwind of reactions and actions. Amazing stuff. Just like the story itself.

Footnote: Some years ago my darling wife, Kathryn, was living in Santa Barbara (we had not yet met). An acquaintance had organized a visit into Lompoc prison as part of a program he was involved in. There was to be a group session between a few civilians and some of the inmates. Kathryn went along. Among the group of prisoners was John Wotjowicz. He bore no resemblance to Pacino pasty faced, reddish brown hair and not nearly as handsome. She remembers him as a charismatic man (typical of sociopaths) who went to great lengths to impress everyone.


Wotjowicz was able to see some profit from the film (it is no longer legal to so profit from a criminal endeavor) and thus paid for his lover's sex change operation. She died of AIDS at the age of 41 in 1987. That same year John was released from prison having served 25 years. He died of cancer in 2006 at the age of 60.

A Guy I Once Knew (Second in A Series of Reminiscences)

There's a fever in your soul.

Yeah, there is.

You won't settle for contentment, want something more. You've got to feel "it" not just think "it." No going through the motions, being the motions, and the emotions.

I knew a guy once. Steven. Super distant cousin. Rescued my first cousins and I at a big family 4th of July picnic. I was 15, bored hard. HE showed up. Our first meeting. Spiked our drinks with vodka.

Sailing.

Steven -- never Steve -- was 19 and a student at Cal. He looked like David Bowie or Mick Jagger depending on who you asked. Robert Downey Jr. reminds me of him. Steven was way post cool. Had presence, a style unique and amazing. His skinny body shook with laughter which exploded from him as often as could be managed. He could go from philosophical to hilarious to political to sarcastic to awfully damn silly in a the span of a few sentences. Didn't always need that much. Steven's views were always his own, nothing borrowed. His flamboyant manner was unique. Never foppish nor exaggerated, just an extension of the inner fever in his soul.

I wanted to be like him but didn't have the guts. Nor the brilliance. Not a loose employment of the term. He read books in half the time of us mere mortals and retained twice as much. Could learn a language in a few months. Was spellbindingly articulate even while blind drunk.

So you've got intelligence, a hip sophistication, outrageous humor and boundary pushing. Don't forget charisma. I had found an influence. He found something interesting about me so we were able to hook up regularly through the years.

Steven came out to me by necking in front of my girlfriend and I with the guy he was going with. This about four years after we met. No surprise and no matter. If I was going to have my first gay friend all the better that it be someone I admired.

Once we were in a bar in Marin County where there were large communal tables. This guy starts talking to us and raises a question that had to do with intercourse (with women). When the stranger asked for opinions Steven said that being gay he had none on the matter. The guy, an obvious rube, says: "I have a cousin who's gay, his name is Craig, he lives in San Francisco, you know him?" Steven doesn't miss a beat. Replies, sure I know Craig, I s*cked his c*ck once.

I literally, not figuratively, was on the floor with laughter. When I managed to regain my seat, the stranger was gone and Steven was casually puffing on his cigarette which he held as if channelling Marlene Dietrich.

We had many "adventures" together. The quotation marks are required because these "adventures" were invariably alcohol fueled laugh fests leaving most others more than a little bemused at the two know-it-all hyenas. As I climbed into my 20's we grew closer though we only saw one another a few times a year. I always tried to bring my latest girl friend to meet him, which meant a special trip into the wilds of Marin. It was worth it. They liked him as indeed did everyone save a few of the more morally conservative sorts who couldn't abide his bohemian lifestyle. He in turn liked everyone, save perhaps himself. He loved a lot about himself, just not who he was. Though without question possessing a ravenous sexual appetite and quite open about his preferences, Steven actually tried to cure his homosexuality through hypnosis, psychiatry and prescription drugs. You talk about inner conflict.

Steven's life ended up being a mess and he died young. That's abrupt, I know, but that's in keeping with his life.

I didn't miss Steven for many years. By the time of his death we'd been out of touch for awhile. I'd found sobriety, married and become a father and a teacher. Now that the young uns are grown and I've left teaching I realize what a great gift my time with Steven was. It's no use trying to pass judgement on either him or the many dances with Bacchus that we had together. Clearly he failed to find fulfillment in life and would have done well to trying to cure himself of his addictions rather than his sexual proclivities. But that, to me, is not nearly so important as the fact that he lived so stylishly, so fabulously. Richly. I can't condemn him for not utilizing nature's gifts, I can only appreciate him for enriching my life.

He had a fever in his soul and for good or ill, I caught it.

(The phrase "a fever in your soul" is from Jack Kerouac's On the Road)

Single Men: A Look at Three Men of Film, Unmarried and Unattached (Damn it!)

I've recently seen three films that feature single (unmarried and unattached) adult males. All in very different circumstances coping with degrees of pain, angst and frustration. The films are A Single Man, The Bishop's Wife (1947) and 500 Days of Summer. I saw them in a theater, on TV and on DVD, respectively. Here's an examination of each of these men and their circumstances.

A Single Man. Colin Firth is George. He has been mourning the death of his "domestic partner" for eight months when we are introduced to him. The year is 1962. Because George's lover , Jim, was also a man and this is well before most gay men had so much as a toe out of the closet, he is very isolated in his grief. In fact, he was not welcome at Jim's funeral -- family only. George has a nearby friend, Charley (Julianne Moore) with whom he had a brief fling many years ago. She is very much alone, except for George's now exclusively chaste visits, and an ever present alcoholic beverage. Her company can in no way fill the void left by Jim's death in an auto accident. George and Jim were together for 15 blissful years. George is meticulously planning his own suicide. We wonder if the prospect of a relationship with a student (George is a college professor) will alter his plans. George is the very embodiment of the single man. The kind who used to be very much part of a couple. There is no solitude to compare with that suffered who has permanently lost a love. A relationship terminated so suddenly and cruelly causes wounds so deep that time will not heal them. We watch a man trying to just go through the motions, but life, as it does, keeps intervening. How hard is to to "just go about our business" to make our plans to execute them. How hard to wallow in our sorrow when the truth is that no man is an island. Firth wears the weight of his character's sorrow so deeply that he seems to be submerged, swallowed by an ocean of emotional pain. The pain is only greater because of the necessity of keeping that love private from an intolerant world.

The Bishop's Wife. How cool would life be as an angel? Talk about having a super powers! You can save baby's from oncoming traffic, provide an old writer with a magic elixir disguised a sherry and skate like an Olympian. No, you're not a crime fighter but just as important you're a problem solver and a do gooder. If you're handsome, witty and sophisticated like, oh say, Cary Grant...well, what could be better? Hmm, how about being human? You'd think that Dudley, the angel in The Bishop's Wife so charmingly portrayed by Cary Grant would be as happy a being as you'd ever met. And in fact to all outward appearances he is. Unflappable.. Nattily dressed. As warm an inviting, as wise and kind as you please. But folks, he's miserable. Like many a non human he wishes nothing more to be one of us. Why on Earth (no pun intended) would anyone want to be human? The minuses include: No magical powers, growing old, illness and losing loved ones. But Dudley sees the biggest plus and he longs to experience it: love. In answer to a prayer he is helping a bishop (David Niven). Said bishop is quite happily married to a handsome woman, Julia (Loretta Young). Much of Dudley's work requires him squiring around Julia. Not surprisingly he falls head over heals. Tough luck, angel. Ain't gonna happen. Here's an loneliness that we can relate to, even those of us who aren't angels (I'm guessing a majority) forbidden fruit, or perhaps more accurately, inaccessible fruit. Dudley can see, touch and hear, but not have Julia. Worse, he can have no one else. This is one of Cary Grant's great performances. We're used to the slick and sly, but we also get the pain. The more you watch the film the more you see it in his eyes as his work is done and he must leave. Leave a love he can never have. Ever and who knows eternity like an angel?

500 Days of Summer. It always bothered me when at the very outset of relationship a woman would tell me she "wasn't looking for anything serious." So let me get this straight. If you meet the perfect man it ain't gonna happen because you're not "looking for" it? And it some later point in your life you'll think, "say, I'm ready for 'serious' relationship so I'm gonna start looking." I often assumed that what they were saying was in code and really meant: "you're cute and we'll have fun, but don't expect this to go very far." And I wondered why they couldn't just say that from the beginning. In 500 Days, the character named Summer (Zooey Deschanel) delivers the line to Tom Hansen (James Gordon-Levitt). One problem here for him is that he is looking for something "serious." It is no spoiler to tell you that she dumps him. And it seemed so perfect! (To him.) Speaking for my fellow males, we can relate. I reckon we've all been dropped like a bad habit just when we thought "things" were going great. Who can figure women? Us guys are smelly, stupid and grouchy but we're generally like a good dog. We sniff around a lot but are loyal and love affection. James Gordon-Levitt captures the all encompassing melancholia that envelops the jilted male. The increased cynicism, the bouts of depression, the self destructive behavior, the inability to accept attempts to bring us cheer. His face does the happy clown to sad clown switch and its utterly convincing. There is the dull glaze to the eyes, the general stupor in all movements and the world weary voice. But he is young and soldiers on. We almost always do, eventually. I did numerous times until I met the woman of my dreams and the poor lady's been saddled with me for decades.

Firth, Grant and Gordon-Levitt play three very different men (hell, one's not even a man) and capture in their own ways the worst that we can experience in life -- being alone. None go into rages, none rely on theatrical emotions. All are mostly contained and let their faces, especially their eyes, speak for all that pain and isolation. They seem to me particularly challenging roles accomplished by men at the top of their games.

Movies For Your Inner Leftist, That Are Suitable For All Political Persuasions

One of the beauties of cinema is that we all see movies in different ways. One person's anti-war picture is another person's heroic action pic. One person's satire on elitism is another person's rollicking comedy. Duck Soup (1933) is not only a my favorite comedy but it's also my favorite skewing of egomaniacs who lead nations into unnecessary wars. To you it might just be a laugh out loud comedy.

Today I offer the first of a two-part look at some great films that are not only entertaining and engaging but appeal to me for what i perceive to be their political message. All have enjoyed wide spread popularity, so I feel it safe to say that those of other political persuasions would enjoy them as well, albeit for different reasons. I suppose exceptions should be made for Nazis, the Taliban and others of ultra extreme beliefs. (Then again did you know that one of Adolph Hitler's favorite films was The Lives of a Bengal Dancer (1935) starring as-American-as-apple-pie, Gary Cooper?).

In some cases these movies were made by directors who intended to convey a liberal message. In other cases any such message was unintentional and is a product more of either one's own interpretation or the intent of a screenwriter. Frank Capra, for example, was a republican yet he made several movies that speak powerfully to the left, such as Meet John Doe (1941).

What follows is a half dozen wonderful films that appeal to all audiences, but maybe mostly to lefties.

Reds (1981). Let's see ,we we've got the story of John Reed and other characters include Big Bill Hawyood, Emma Goldman, Louise Bryant and Max Eastman (if you're unfamiliar with these people you really need to bone up on your American history). Safe to say that lefties will like it. But who did the film's director and star Warren Beatty screen it for? Then president Ronald Reagan, Mr. Government-is-the-problem his own self*. Reagan reportedly quite liked the film. Many might see it as depicting the failure of the early 20th century leftist movement in the United States and the hypocrisy of the Russian Revolution. To others its many messages, such as this one spoken by Reed: "Look, what does a capitalist do? Let me ask you that, Mike. Huh? Tell me. I mean, what does he make, besides money? I don't know what he makes. The workers do all the work, don't they? Well, what if they got organized?" and its romantic view of Reed's passionate radicalism, make it a celebration of radical chic.

Our Daily Bread (1934). Talk about subversive! This is the story of a a disparate collection of unemployed men and their families getting together during the Depression and SHARING their resources and talents to create a large and successful farm! No hierarchy to speak of, no one reaping a huge profit, its' share and share alike --socialism all the way. From director King Vidor starring Karen Morley, Tom Keene and John Qualen, it is the ultimate collectivist film.

All Quiet on the Western Front (1930). You can argue that any movie that depicts war is prima facie an anti war film. In the case of AQWF however, it was an explicit message and one that was delivered most convincingly. Young men are encouraged to join the army and win glory for their country and themselves. They happily join up only to discover the harsh realities of life at the front. First scared witless, later virtually inured to the slaughter, they become cynical and bitter, finding comfort only in the brotherhood of their fellow soldiers. Yes brotherhood!

The Male Animal (1940). A professor faces possible dismissal because he wants to use a quote from martyred anarchist Bartolomeo Vanzetti in a lecture. Three professors at the same university have already been dismissed under suspicion of Communist leanings. The professor, played by Henry Fonda, must also concern himself with an old flame of his wife's who's in town for the "big game." The lovely Olivia de Havilland and Jack Carson, are the wife and ex football star, respectively. Yes, its a delightful comedy with many a light hearted moment, but to me it's as much an impassioned plea for academic freedom as anything else. While the entire community seems far more interested in the coming football game, the professor must weigh adhering to principles against maintaining a job.

Milk (2008). This actually might be the toughest for the right to accept. Not only does it concern a liberal politician's heroic struggles but he's openly gay. This docudrama is based on the political career of America's first openly homosexual politician elected to public office, Harvey Milk and it features Sean Penn's brilliant Oscar-winning portrayal. While its true that some conservatives who are especially strict about civil liberties support equality regardless of sexual orientation, gay rights has been a cause most closely associated with the left -- as has support of most repressed groups. The male kissing scenes will probably be especially icky to straight men on the right, especially those stuck in closets.

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939). It's been blasted by both ends of the political spectrum, but today is mostly pooh poohed by the right. It shows the U.S. government at its very worst and its very best. Corrupt politicians abound, many in the pockets of an avaricious and unseen political machine. I see it and say: "see how susceptible our government is to the greedy? See how they can manipulate and profit illegally!" But I also see it and say; "see how one person can make a difference? Do you see that our government has within it the avenues by which one may combat those evil forces?" Mr. Smith tells the story of America quite neatly, showing the tragedy and hope that are side by side within our government.

Next time I'll look at six more films that have particular appeal to the progressive that lies within.

* For a rebuttal to this, government is the problem nonsense, see this wonderful website. (You do know that in the words of Abraham Lincoln, the American government is of the people, by the people and for the people. Therefore if government is the problem then "the people" are the problem and must be reigned in by their corporate overlords, for that's truly what Regan was saying. When government is weakened who is strengthened? Not the common people, no weakening the government usually is in the name of corporate freedom.)

Out of the Closet Onto the Big Screen, 10 Films for Gay Pride Week

I am second to no one in my love for films from the first half of the 20th century. A greater proportion of classic films were made in the 1930's and early 1940's than at any other time in history. But there was something missing from that era, actually quite a lot. Namely positive roles for African Americans, Asians or Hispanics or any depiction of open homosexuality. Oh sure there were a few characters and actors who were pretty obviously gay such as Franklin Pangborn and sometimes Edward Everett Horton. But same sex relationships were strictly taboo as were such words as homosexual or lesbian.

Change did not come until the 1960's and it was very very slow. Most depictions of homosexuality were negative. Gays were either limp-wristed nancy boys or perverts with "a problem." Positive change came with the confluence of Stonewall and the cinematic revolution of the 1970's, right? You'd think. The Gay Rights movement has been lagging behind others in acceptance through no fault of its own (see the victory of California's hateful Proposition 8 in last November's election). No, non stereotypical gay characters did not start appearing regularly in films until well into the 1980's. Barely 20 years ago.

TV and Hollywood have been taking baby steps, but at least most of those steps are forward and not backward. Here are ten movies from the last 25 years that have had positive depictions of gay characters. Included are three documentaries. One about this very topic of gays in the movies, one about a gay politician and the other about a gay couple. This is by no means a definitive list and I apologize in advance for including only one film that focuses on a lesbian couple. This inequity probably reflects both on Hollywood and yours truly. The films are not offered in any particular order.

Philadelphia (1993). It was a huge moment for gays and Hollywood and the twain meeting when Tom Hanks won the Best Picture Oscar for this film. And his eloquent acceptance speech capped it off. Philadelphia is the story of a gay closeted lawyer who sues the law firm that fired him. He claims his dismissal was prompted by the discovery that he had AIDS. Philadelphia tackled both homophobia and AIDS discrimination. If you've never seen it have a hankie near by; hell, if you have seen it be sure a hankie is handy. While Hanks was fully deserving of the Oscar and all other accolades, Denzel Washington gives a bravura performance as the ambulance chaser who takes his case. His transformation from macho homophobe to compassionate friend is the center of the story.

In & Out (1997). Let's see a comedy about a man who reluctantly comes out of the closet on the brink of his straight wedding. This could be trouble. The potential for stereotypes and exploitative humor is great. But with Kevin Kline starring and Frank Oz directing a script by Paul Rudnick there was no such problem. In & Out explores coming out, homophobia and acceptance and does it all with a sense of humor.

Milk (2008). Harvey Milk was the first openly gay man to be elected to public office. Well before that day he was already a mover and shaker in San Francisco politics in particular and the gay movement in general. Sean Penn gave one of the performances of a lifetime (of all lifetimes) in this brilliant bio pic from Gus Van Sandt. While Oscar was more than happy to acknowledge Penn's performance it gave the Best Picture award to the emotionally manipulative Slumdog Millionaire. Sheesh! For more on Milk see my post of last December.

Chris & Don. A Love Story (2007). A documentary about May-December romance that took place among some of the the rich, famous and talented in Hollywood circa the 1950's. The two people in love were gay, which, given our times, is unfortunately not just an oh-by-the-way. It's touching and fascinating. I wrote about it last Summer.

The Times of Harvey Milk (1984). Before there was Milk there was this Oscar winning documentary. Indeed the producers of Milk acknowledged their debt this film. The subject of the film should be obvious. I will add that, if nothing else, watching it after seeing Milk makes one appreciate Sean Penn's performance all the more.

The Celluloid Closet (1995). So far the definitive documentary about gay depictions in Hollywood. Lots of clips from lots of films. Obviously the characters and situations discussed in older films were neither openly "practicing" their sexuality nor identified as gay. Some of the film's claims are a bit tenuous but it's a fascinating film nonetheless. An updated version would be appreciated.

Personal Best (1982). Last summer I saw some jerk wearing a tee shirt that said, "I'm for gay marriage if it's between two hot chicks." It is in that unsavory spirit that many men enjoyed Personal Best and its lesbian love story between two female athletes, Mariel Hemingway and Patrice Donnelly. That's unfortunate because Personal Best, though somewhat dated today, deserves respect. The romance is actually a menage a trois as Hemingway's character is also involved with her male coach. A good movie about sports (track and field) sex and the meeting of these two athletic endeavors.

Brokeback Mountain (2005). Even as recently as 2005 the Oscars proved that they are still well behind the curve. While Ang Lee was awarded the Best Director Oscar for this gay love story, the Best Picture nod went to Crash (Seriously? Crash, why not just give the statuette to Norbit?). Heath Ledger gave an amazing performance in a starring role and Jake Gyllenhaal was excellent as his lover. Despite all the lame gay cowboy jokes that followed, this is still a touching and powerful film.

Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985). William Hurt won a Best Actor Oscar as a man imprisoned for "immoral behavior" -- i.e. he's gay in the wrong place at the wrong time. His cellmate couldn't be much different other than also being unjustly imprisoned. He's a political prisoner. They are the classic odd couple but come to understand and learn from one another. The late Raul Julia played the cell mate.

Before Night Falls (2000). Javier Bardem starred as real life gay poet and novelist, Reinaldo Arenas who was born and lived most of his life in Cuba. All was well when Castro came to power, after all Arenas was a revolutionary himself. However when he becomes open about his sexuality he discovered that the revolution wasn't revolutionary about sexual preference (the kind of thing that Castro apologists decide to ignore). The film follows Arenas triumphs, loves, prison terms and eventual emigration to New York. This was my first exposure to Bardem and I assumed he was gay. No, he's just one helluva an actor. Just ask his friend Anton Chigurh.

A Film Worth Crying About

When the credits to Gus Van Sant's Milk ended I literally wanted to pitch forward and sob. This is quite something for a man imbued with an icy Finnish reserve. As it was I settled for being a bit teary eyed.

How did the movie have such a profound effect on me?

For one thing its non fiction. There is far more power to stories that depict actual events. Simply, the knowledge that Harvey Milk was a real person who was struck down tragically, is far more compelling than Jack fading into the ocean at the end of Titanic -- at least for me.

But the main character of a film dying, particularly when you are well aware of his fate in advance, isn't necessarily enough to choke one up in and of itself. This story also included a pitch perfect performance by Sean Penn in the title role. If Harvey Milk's ghost didn't inhabit Penn's body and soul during filming then Penn has taken his craft to a new level.

A great portrayal like Penn's adds immeasurably to the drama, but that too is not enough. You need a director at the top of his game to bring the whole scope of this amazing story to life. Van Sant was up to the task. His occasional blending of real footage was excellent, particularly at the end when he showed the massive candle light march through San Francisco following Milk's death. This scene alone can make a grown man cry.

But still something else is needed. Importance. This is a story that has resonance to many of us for a variety of reasons. One is that we remember Harvey Milk and his times. (His election to San Francisco's Board of Supervisors in 1977 made him the first openly gay man elected to public office in the United States. His murder, along with SF Mayor George Moscone in November 1978 made him martyr. Before this he was already well established as the "Mayor of Castro Street" the largely gay section of San Francisco.)

Finally this is a film that tells one chapter in the story of the ongoing struggle towards equality for all Americans. Given the step back taken by the recent passage of Proposition 8 in California, Milk is a reminder of how great progress can be realized. Gay rights is one of the last major battle fronts in the war against intolerance and bigotry.

On a more personal level Milk helped me again confront the homophobia that I grew up with back in a time when homosexuality wasn't talked about let alone condoned. To make clear that you embrace your gay brothers and sisters is one thing, not being uncomfortable when two men kiss on screen is another ( I admit it and I'm not proud of it, I was uncomfortable during every kiss).

So let's see here. We've got a transcendent acting performance in the starring role of a well-told story about a struggle for equal rights in the recent past with relevance to today some of it on a personal level. Little wonder that I was so touched.

And you now what, I haven't even gotten to how great the rest of the cast such as Josh Brolin, Emile Hirsch and James Franco were.

Every once in awhile a film comes along that reminds me why I love movies. Oh sure, I've got many of them on DVD that I can watch at my convenience but to discover one at the theater is special. You always remember your first time with a great film. There, I said it, Milk is a great film. And if I was more of a man maybe I would have really pitched forward and sobbed.

Once Upon A Time

Two people meeting and falling in love is not unusual. Two people meeting, falling in love and staying together successfully for over 30 years is unusual.

Chris & Don. A Love Story is a documentary about one such successful relationship. The two were together from 1952 until Chris died 34 years later. Their relationship warranted this wonderful film in large part because of who they were as individuals.

Christopher Isherwood was a noted writer whose Berlin Stories formed the basis of the story for Cabaret (1972).  In Cabaret, Michael York was essentially playing Isherwood and York, in fact, provides the narration for excerpts from Isherwod's diary that are read in Chris & Don. A Love Story.  

Isherwood was born to an upper class British family. He moved to Berlin in the 1920's but left when the Nazis came to power, eventually settling in Southern California. There he came to know the glitterati of Hollywood eventually meeting and falling in love with an impossibly handsome young man 30 years his junior.  That man was Southern California native Don Bachardy.

Don, only 18, was still very much in the process of finding himself at the time they met. He would eventually become an extraordinary artist whose drawings of some of Hollywood's elite are among the film's highlights.

Despite their age difference Chris and Don formed a loving couple. Not surprisingly, Chris was a bit of a father figure as well as mentor. Though perhaps Don was initially something of boy toy, he quickly grew into his own man and, as Chris became ill in the last years of his life, Don was taking care of him. Along the way their relationship experienced the requiste ups and downs. Like any long lasting couple, Chris and Don reveled in the ups and survived the downs.

Chris & Don. A Love Story is a portrait of two people who fall and stay in love. Many couples grow apart, others grow together. How this happens in any relationship is nothing short of a miracle. It requires sacrifice, patience and a desire to share not just one another's bodies, but minds and emotions.

The movie was possible because the pair took a lot of home movies and photographs from virtually the time they met until Chris died.  (This spares having to endure any more of the re-enactments that are the film's only blight.) Also, Don drew lots of pictures of Chris, almost compulsively at the end, including post mortem.

Much of the story is told in present day by Don, a remarkably fit 74 year old man who bicycles to the gym for work outs and still draws. He lives in the home he shared with Chris those many years.

I have not yet made reference to the obvious fact that this is the story of two gay men.  While the film explores their being "out " and together in a tightly-closeted Hollywood, their homosexuality was secondary to the main story. Chris and Don should be commended for their bravery in living together openly many years before Stonewall, but I think it wrong to look at this film as a "gay movie."  To do so would suggest that a gay couple is inherently different and the fact of their sexual preference supersedes all else. Hopefully our society is moving to the point where couples are just couples and need not be viewed as particular kinds of couples.

Chris & Don. A Love Story deserves to be seen as the story of two people who defy all odds and lived happily ever after.