Category Archives: Gay Film Classics
WHO THE HELL IS JOE ORTON?
Joe Orton - a Lost Gay Icon?
I recently saw a small British film called Over the Edge. Its weird off-kilter sense of black comedy and unconventional gay characters reminded me of the plays and films of Joe Orton. Orton was an unbelievable trailblazer in 1960s British theatre. His irreverent, sexually-tinged, almost mean-spirited comedies should have been a flop in the socially conservative England, but instead his plays, “What the Butler Saw,” “Entertaining Mr. Sloane,” “The Ruffian on the Stair,” “Loot” were indeed absolutely shocking and controversial but huge hits with an audience ready to enter the modern era. At the height of his ascending fame, he was infamously murdered by his lover Kenneth Halliwell reportedly right before he was to meet the Beatles and present his script for their new film, Up Against It (which ends with all 4 Beatles naked in bed together.) His fame received a boost in the 1980s with the bio-film, Prick Up Your Ears with Gary Oldman playing the impish, sexually adventurous and prodigiously talented Orton. But ask a young homo today who is Joe Orton and 9 out of 10 times you’ll get a blank stare. What has happened to our gay history? This is really sad, because his work is still very current, just as outrageous and very funny today. Frustratingly, the only film adaptations of his plays are the classics, Entertaining Mr. Sloane, and Loot and BOTH are out of print in the USA. Even the film business has forgotten this amazing gay maverick.
The Film Series that REFUSES TO DIE!
Eating Out - Drama Camp
Sequels don’t come naturally for gay films – most are independent productions that barely if ever make their money back, but Michael Shoel, owner of Ariztical, a gay/lesbian film distribution company has defied odds with his Eating Out films. The first one, Eating Out, was a hilariously sexy romp and was quickly followed by Eating Out: Sloppy Seconds and Eating Out: All You Can Eat - and the sequels were not half bad. Now, Eating Out – Drama Camp will receive its World Premiere screening July 8 at the Philadelphia QFest. The film, directed by Q Allan Brocka, who directed and wrote the original Eating Out, hopefully will be just as funny and male flesh-obsessed as the previous one. And there is another one on the way – they made 2 films at the same time, so expect the 5th installment to arrive at the end of the year.
NAME THAT FILM – And Both Actors
Name that Classic - Easy
I was thinking about one of my favorite films from the 1980s - and one that featured the that-explains-it-all line on sexual orientation, “Your dick knows what it likes.” But I suspect that the film is somewhat forgotten. And the great mystery of the film is the actor on the left who says the immortal quote – he was magnetic in the film, but seems to have disappeared from view.
