MovieChat Forums > Under Capricorn (1949) Discussion > More subtle gay characters?

More subtle gay characters?

posted 12 years ago by spyanotherway
9 replies | jump to latest

By the end of the film i had the impression that Adare was gay. All the affection he showed Lady Henrietta was the love of a cousin and in my opinion was not intended to be sexual advances. What really stood out for me was the very end of the film where Adare is saying goodbye and the last person he says goodbye to is Winter. He cradles Winter's left hand and they have this moment. To me that suggests they had a relationship in the film which was not given away. Thoughts?

Last movie seen at cinemas: '-'
Last dvd bought: 'Observe and Report'

[–] gribfritz2 11 years ago

I thought Milly did what she could for love selfishly while Charles did what he could for love unselfishly. This is why Milly will stop at nothing to discredit/kill Henrietta while Charles sacrifices his love so Henrietta can be happy with Sam. If Charles is gay then that can't be right because he sacrifices nothing.

Wasn't there a scene where Henrietta and Charles nearly kiss or am I misremembering? If so, this means nothing but touching some guy's hand is a "moment"?

[–] sir-walt 11 years ago

Wasn't there a scene where Henrietta and Charles nearly kiss or am I misremembering? If so, this means nothing but touching some guy's hand is a "moment"?

Charles does kiss Henrietta in what looks like a passionate mouth-to-mouth kiss of twelve seconds length after Henrietta says "I once had courage but I lost it all." After the kiss, Henrietta says "No, this is all wrong," sounding guilty.

It seemed much more than an altruistic "rehab" embrace or peck to me.

[–] rexshard93 11 years ago

In the film, there is no indication of Charles Adare being gay at all.

[–] mdonln 8 years ago

gribfritz2 says > Wasn't there a scene where Henrietta and Charles nearly kiss or am I misremembering? If so, this means nothing but touching some guy's hand is a "moment"?

Well said! Clearly, some people, like the OP, see what they want to see. I got the impression Charles was smitten with Henrietta ever since they were in Ireland all those years ago. He remembers who she once was and was trying to help her. In the process his feelings grew. He not only kissed her passionately but also wanted her to leave her husband and go with him.

I agree with you, his was a major sacrifice. Had he been that kind of person, it would have been easy to say Flusky had tried to kill him. He would have been thrown in prison and he'd be out of the way. He'd lose everything so it's likely Henrietta would return to Ireland as she would never return to life on the harbor.

As you said there's a big difference between selfish love, which I don't consider love at all, and selfless love.

Woman, man! That's the way it should be Tarzan. [Tarzan and his mate]

[–] moveez 11 years ago

I had the same feeling! Just watched it and thought that the scene where Adare was talking to the governor while he was bathing had homoerotic undertones.

[–] Charlot47 10 years ago

Neat thought. What about the sexy fight of the voluptuous kitchen maids? Doesn’t Milly’s attention to Hatty remind you of Mrs Danvers’ sapphic longing for Rebecca? Isn’t the whole film positively dripping lesbian, gay and sado-masochistic overtones if you just know where to look for them?

[–] Bussssss69 10 years ago

Ya looking for the soap was funny!

[–] PoppyTransfusion 9 years ago

What about the sexy fight of the voluptuous kitchen maids? Doesn’t Milly’s attention to Hatty remind you of Mrs Danvers’ sapphic longing for Rebecca? Isn’t the whole film positively dripping lesbian, gay and sado-masochistic overtones if you just know where to look for them?

 I didn't think it when watching but now that you mention it ...

A bird sings and the mountain's silence deepens.

[–] Tchoutoye 8 years ago

Uhuh, obviously Adare was deeply in love with his own uncle.