1967 - Groundbreaking Year in Hollywood Movies
Roger Ebert's April 22, 1968 review of The Fox (four stars)
The Fox on the Turner Classic Movies website
The Rise of Gay-Bashing, World War II to Stonewall Greenwich Village Caged The Detective In the Closet - Gay and Lesbian
Portrayals in Movies Before the Stonewall Riots (1969)
Osher Lifelong Learning
Institute Connie Hossier, Instructor
excerpt from 1944 film, about 1 3/4 minutes long
Early example of actual violence against a gay man, as opposed to just snide comments.
William Bendix's character gay bashes another character in drag, although he knows him. It's World War II, and men must be men, even though
the movie is set in "Bohemian" Greenwich Village, and William Bendix isn't very masculine himself.
Notice how carefully they establish that it really is a man in drag, because the audience would probably not
catch on otherwise. Also, the reference to "gay" music was probably intentional.
excerpt from 1950 film, about 5 1/2 minutes long
The "justified" murder of a stereotypical lesbian villain is now acceptable, despite the Production Code.
excerpt from 1968 film, about 7 1/2 minutes long
full sequence including the short clip seen on The Celluloid Closet
Gay panic is central to the plot, and motivates the murder of a gay man, in a movie that flaunts how "liberal" it is. Frank Sinatra is bothered that he sent
the wrong homosexual to the electric chair, but is otherwise clueless. One of the most homophobic movies ever made, despite its pretensions.
Note that the reference to "rainbow" is purely co-incidence. This movie was made long before the Rainbow Flag was created.
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Scott Badman,
Instructor