First use of the word 'gay' in cinema
Not sure how this has been missed in such a famous film, but I can't find any reference acknowledging the fact that The Thin Man contains a very early use of the word gay meaning homosexual - some years earlier than Cary Grant's use of the word in Bringing up Baby (1938).
It's at the party when the well-lubricated William Powell bumps into a man, walzes a twirl with him and says "Thanks, I'm gay for this one" - then pulls a very camp face. About 37 minutes in.
The term, I gather, was in use among initiates since the 1920s - its first literary appearance may well be in The Great Gatsby when Jordan (a barely-veiled lesbian) says pointedly to Nick and Gatsby at their first meeting "Having a gay time now?" (a line that has been omitted from recent movie versions that apparently didn't understand the novel's deeper meaning).
Anyway, The Thin Man seems to represent the first use of the word 'gay' to indicate 'homosexual' in the movies - at least the first unambiguous use.
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