MovieChat Forums > The Celluloid Closet (1996) Discussion > Gayness in Noir Films

Gayness in Noir Films

posted 12 years ago by RugGuy
7 replies | jump to latest

I realize a 90-odd minute movie can't cover every aspect of gayness in film making, but I noticed the film gleamed over noir films. Gay character and sub-text were a component of that film genre.

Does the book cover this?

It discusses Joe Cairo from THE MALTESE FALCON, but fails to mention Guttman and Wilmer who were chicken hawk and sodomite.

It shows a flash of GILDA, which IMO has very little sub-text.

No mention of THE BIG SLEEP or THE GLASS KEY, which have gay characters and sub-text respectively.

The 50's noir TOUCH OF EVIL which has Mercedes MaCambridgeas a lesbian member of a male gang.

The Coen Brothers 1990 noir homage, MILLER'S CROSSING, plays tribute by making the inciting incident the result of a gay love triangle.

[–] 12 years ago

[deleted]

[–] roaringgulch 12 years ago

I have seen "The Maltese Falcon," "The Big Sleep," "Gilda" and "Touch of Evil."

You are totally full of sss hhh iii ttt. If your source is a book by a gay historian, don't believe everything you read.

.

No need to be rude. The other poster is correct, in my opinion. I have also seen the films you mention, many times, and while I agree that Gilda has little gay subtext (that's the key word in the assertion), the other three have plenty, as do Out of the Past (Kirk's friend who fusses and fawns over him) and other noirs. If you can't see it in The Maltese Falcon (I'm straight and it leapt off the screen the first time) then, well, I guess you won't ever see it.

Joel Cairo, Wilmer and Gutman, as mentioned. That's as explicit as it got in 1941.

[–] billwenham 11 years ago

The Maltese Falcon is indeed known to have gay characters, but due to the film code at the time they were only able to subtly imply it. And it wasn't even that subtle.

[–] ncgraham 10 years ago

I think there's quite a bit of subtext between Glenn Ford and George Macready's characters in Gilda. Who are the gay characters in The Big Sleep?

[–] RugGuy 10 years ago

In this extremely amateurish video I discuss gay characters in the novels of Hammett and Chandler including TBS

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fi_Y7GUC5tA

[–] RugGuy 10 years ago

I meant not much sub-text in GILDA because I consider it all pretty upfront for the era,

[–] roaringgulch 9 years ago

Who are the gay characters in The Big Sleep?

Carol Lundgren, and Joe Brody.

Carol fatally shoots Joe right at his apartment door, runs, Bogart captures him in his car and says, "Carol, you shot the wrong man." (Or some such thing.) The shooting was a gay lover's spat.

I had to have it explained to me, and no, "The Big Sleep," isn't a "gay movie," it simply has some gay subtext, which I find harmless.

That's the thing; WHY do some people go crazy when there is a small hint at gayness in classic films? I'm straight, but I don't understand the severe reaction. After all, folks, we are talking about fiction. Oy.

The best "modern" noirish film to deal with the subject is MILLER'S CROSSING and (SPOILERS!) I'll spell it out: the gay characters are: Mink (rather obvious), Bernie (ditto) and Eddie Dane, aka The Dane. (Much less obvious.) It's a great film.

Finally, with The Big Sleep, just enjoy it! It's one great scene after another and hugely entertaining. Peace.