As a gay man I find that the stupidest statement I've ever heard. I love this film and have seen it a million times. I never once got an inkling that he was gay. If anything he seems to be anti-sex! The only thing that seems to get him off is violence against anyone--man or woman.
shareAs a gay man, I feel your pain. Some gay people make a sport of finding homosexual references in every movie, particularly those dealing with male culture. When it's played for laughs, it can be fun. What gets to me are those who assert that anyone who doesn't see it is a clueless homophobe or a self-loathing closet case.
One can't help but notice that these claims are far often made about characters or actors who look like Ralph Meeker than about those who look like, say, Jack Elam.
Interesting observation about Hammer being "anti-sex". I know what you mean, but it seems more that he doesn't allow himself to be distracted by sex. He's clearly sexually aroused by Velda when the time is right, but when he meets the (much prettier, IMO) blond sister of Evello, he doesn't allow her obvious advances to distract him from his goal. This is more true-to-life, isn't it? We're so used to movies and TV shows portraying men as melting into puddles of goo at the sight of an attractive woman (or man, if the character happens to be gay) that it's refreshing to see a character who's capable of restraining his hormones to accomplish a task.
Hi. Thanks for backing me up. I haven't seen the film for a while but I remember Hammer was in it for the money NOT the sex. Also we have to remember this came out in 1955. Back then the Production Code was still strongly enforced. The violence they were able to get through but when it came to sex forget about it! The women were all attractive in various ways but the sexual innuendo was pretty tame (by todays standards). And being gay in a 1955 movie was next to impossible--unless you were a villain (like in "Suddenly Last Summer") or as a joke (pick any Doris Day/Rock Hudson sex comedy). I heard this theory about Hammer being gay has come from college professors to explain his treatment of women. That's just so ridiculous it's beyond belief. I'm openly gay now but when I was in the closet I didn't go around beating up women!
shareI heard this theory about Hammer being gay has come from college professors to explain his treatment of women. That's just so ridiculous it's beyond belief. I'm openly gay now but when I was in the closet I didn't go around beating up women!
I think Hammer was too preoccupied with the case and making what he thought would be a big score to bother with sex, although he sure had a sizable volume of women at his beck and call if the urge ever became too strong for him to resist.
I've been chasing grace/ But grace ain't easy to find