Screened Out

June is bustin’ out all over as many TV networks celebrate gay pride month by pulling both old and new film titles out of the closet. Every Monday and Wednesday this month, Turner Classic Movies will air films to compliment Richard Barrios’ book “Screened Out: Playing Gay in Hollywood from Edison to Stonewall,” which follows gays and lesbians in the movies from the earliest years through the 1960’s. With varying themes, like film noir, prison drama, horror and comedy, each night is not only entertaining but also like watching a film history course. Tonight’s theme The Early Years kicks things off chronologically with a mix of silent and early talkies from 1912-1933. It’s interesting to note how some things have changed in the last 95 years as gay men from this period were presented only as flamboyant pansies and lesbians as cigar smoking butch-types in suits. These characters illustrate not only the public’s perception of the love that dare not speak its name in the early part of the 20th century but also how gays perceived themselves.

Tonight’s films include:
8pm Algie, the Miner (1912) about a man who goes west to become a cowboy
8:30 The Monster (1925), a horror-comedy with Lon Chaney
10:15 Exit Smiling (1926), a theater comedy with Beatrice Lillie and Franklin Pangborn
11:45 The Broadway Melody (1929), the first film musical, and Best Picture Oscar-winner
1:45am Way Out West (1930) William Haines is playful as a carnival barker who cheats 3 cowboys
3am The Office Wife (1930), features a cigar-smoking lesbian author
4:15 Stage Mother (1933) sordid backstage drama, includes a director who likes male companionship…

Go to the TCM site to view full details of their Screened Out programming. http://www.tcm.com/thismonth/article/?cid=159623

Read a review of the book, written by out actor, director, and author Simon Callow. http://film.guardian.co.uk/books/story/0,12788,891250,00.html