101 years of gay cinema

This week the Supreme Court is hearing arguments on two historic cases that seek to expand the scope and definition of equal rights in America to include gay people. In honor of The Supreme’s two rulings that most of us hope will declare Prop 8 and DOMA to be unconstitutional in a few months, it might be interesting to look at how far the depiction of LGBT characters in film has come in the last century. A couple of years ago we had a poll to let readers rank your favorite gay films of the past 30 years. That poll was deliberately restricted with a cutoff date of 1970 because frankly I didn’t see many films pre-1970 that didn’t make gays look evil, ridiculous or pathetic. I didn’t want to offer straight people an opportunity to say their favorite gay movie was the self-loathing pity-party on display in The Boys in the Band. After 1970 we finally began to see the emergence of New Queer Cinema — movies about gay people made by gay people or made by straight filmmakers more sympathetic to gay characters. The poll was intended to cover movies with gay characters that gay people could be proud to watch as role models, so movies like Compulsion and Rope didn’t qualify.

But the list I came up with last night is less about gay pride and more about actual gay history as reflected in film. The reality of perception about gay life and its portrayal in mainstream movies hasn’t always been pretty but I think it’s important to acknowledge. The evolution of that perception is a fascinating even when its repellant.

So I’ve expanded the original list of 250 brilliant gay-themed movies produced since 1970 to include over 100 title featuring gay people in the first 60 years of film history. My criteria are arbitrary and the further back in time we go the more lenient the standards to qualify become. I’ve included some movies that have no more than gay innuendo and veiled subtext and left out others that are more overt. My reasons are as varied as the movies themselves. The list is a work in progress, not carved on stone, still fluid. I’m open to suggestion to add titles and remove others. Please feel welcome to point out omissions and make your case.

Wiki has a mind-boggling collection of “lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender-related films” that’s way too inclusive to have much purpose beyond being all-inclusive. For example, if asked to list the gay films of 2012 I would not name On the Road, but it’s one of the 2250 films wiki gathers as pole poking around the periphery of its Big Tent list — which seems to include any movie with any character who’s ever done anything gay. The list below only features 15% of the movies wiki names.

375 Gay Milestones in Film History

Algie the Miner (1912)
A Florida Enchantment (1914)
The Wings (1916)
Different from the Others (1919)
Salomé (1923)
Ponjola (1923)
Leblebici Horhor (1923)
Augusto Anibal quer casar (1923)
Michael (1924)
Beverly of Graustark (1926)
Sex in Chains (1928)
Pandora’s Box (1929)
Morocco (1930)
Mädchen in Uniform (1931)
The Blood of a Poet (1932)
Ladies They Talk About (1933)
Queen Christina (1933)
Zero for Conduct (1933)
Victor and Victoria (1933)
The Gay Divorcee (1934)
Sylvia Scarlett (1935)
Top Hat (1935)
Dracula’s Daughter (1936)
La Garçonne (1936)
Lady Killer (1937)
Hôtel du Nord (1938)
Rebecca (1940)
The Maltese Falcon (1941)
Casablanca (1942)
Children of Paradise (1945)
Gilda (1946)
Crossfire (1947)
Fireworks (1947)
Germany, Year Zero (1948)
Red River (1948)
Rope (1948)
Die Reise nach Marrakesch (1949)
Thirst (1949)
In a Lonely Place (1950)
Caged (1950)
A Strangers on a Train (1951)
Glen or Glenda (1953)
Johnny Guitar (1954)
Air of Paris (1954)
Rebel Without a Cause (1955)
Tea and Sympathy (1956)
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958)
Les Tricheurs (1958)
Mädchen in Uniform (1958)
Compulsion (1959)
Some Like It Hot (1959)
Suddenly, Last Summer (1959)
Pillow Talk (1959)
Spartacus (1960)
The Trials of Oscar Wilde (1960)
Purple Noon (1960)
Accattone (1961)
The Children’s Hour (1961)
A Taste of Honey (1961)
Victim (1961)
Advise & Consent (1962)
Billy Budd (1962)
The L-Shaped Room (1962)
Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
Walk on the Wild Side (1962)
Agostino (1962)
The Balcony (1963)
The Haunting (1963)
The Servant (1963)
491 (1964)
Blow Job (1964)
The Leather Boys (1964)
Les amitiés particulières (1964)
Love Meetings (1964)
The Night of the Iguana (1964)
Manji (1964)
Becket (1964)
Darling (1965)
The Knack …and How to Get It (1965)
The Life of Juanita Castro (1965)
Hustler (1965)
Vinyl (1965)
Winter Kept Us Warm (1965)
The Nun (1966)
Persona (1966)
Young Törless (1966)
The Fox (1967)
The Fearless Vampire Killers (1967)
Portrait of Jason (1967)
Reflections in a Golden Eye (1967)
If… (1968)
The Detective (1968)
Flesh (1968)
Gates to Paradise (1968)
The Killing of Sister George (1968)
Les Biches (1968)
Les jeunes loups (1968)
The Lion in Winter (1968)
Lonesome Cowboys (1968)
The Sergeant (1968)
Teorema (1968)
The Damned (1969)
The Gay Deceivers (1969)
Midnight Cowboy (1969)
Satyricon (1969)
Staircase (1969)
Venus in Furs (1969)
Women in Love (1969)
The Conformist (1970)
Just the Two of Us (1970)
Edward II (1970)
Trash (1970)
The Music Lovers (1970)
Myra Breckinridge (1970)
The Boys in the Band (1970)
Death in Venice (1971)
The Love Garden (1971)
Sunday Bloody Sunday (1971)
Cabaret (1972)
Lucifer Rising (1972)
Pink Flamingos (1972)
The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant (1972)
Butley (1974)
Female Trouble (1974)
Fox and His Friends (1975)
The Naked Civil Servant (1975)
Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)
Dog Day Afternoon (1975)
Satan’s Brew (1976)
Sebastiane (1976)
Bilitis (1977)
The Consequence (1977)
Outrageous (1977)
Desperate Living (1977)
Word is Out (1977)
The Garden of the Finzi-Continis (1970)
You Are Not Alone (1978)
In a Year with 13 Moons (1978)
Nighthawks (1978)
We Were One Man (1979)
To Forget Venice (1979)
The Tempest (1979)
La Cage Aux Folles (1979)
Pixote (1981)
Querelle (1982)
Making Love (1982)
Victor Victoria (1982)
Deathtrap (1982)
Personal Best (1982)
Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean (1982)
Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence (1983)
Yentl (1983)
The Hunger (1983)
The Fourth Man (1983)
The Bostonians (1984)
Another Country (1984)
An Early Frost (1985)
My Beautiful Laundrette (1985)
Desert Hearts (1985)
Mala Noche (1985)
The Color Purple (1985)
The Times of Harvey Milk (1985)
Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985)
Caravaggio (1986)
Matador (1986)
Parting Glances (1986)
Maurice (1987)
Withnail & I (1987)
Law of Desire (1987)
Prick Up Your Ears (1987)
Torch Song Trilogy (1988)
Apartment Zero (1988)
Coming Out (1989)
Longtime Companion (1990)
Strip Jack Naked (1990)
Europa Europa (1990)
Paris Is Burning (1990)
Poison (1991)
The Hours and Times (1991)
The Lost Language of Cranes (1991)
My Own Private Idaho (1991)
The Living End (1992)
Edward II (1992)
The Crying Game (1992)
Orlando (1992)
Swoon (1992)
For a Lost Soldier (1992)
Totally Fucked Up (1993)
And the Band Played On (1993)
Philadelphia (1993)
Farewell My Concubine (1993)
The Wedding Banquet (1993)
Go Fish (1994)
Wild Reeds (1994)
Maybe… Maybe Not (1994)
Priest (1994)
Vive l’Amour (1994)
I Can’t Sleep (1994)
The Sum of Us (1994)
Heavenly Creatures (1994)
The Doom Generation (1995)
Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994)
To Wong Foo Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar (1995)
Jeffrey (1995)
The Celluloid Closet (1995)
Antonia’s Line (1995)
Stonewall (1995)
The Birdcage (1996)
Crash (1996)
Lilies – Les feluettes (1996)
Beautiful Thing (1996)
Bound (1996)
Fire (1996)
Bent (1997)
Happy Together (1997)
Love! Valour! Compassion! (1997)
Ma Vie en Rose (1997)
Chasing Amy (1997)
Love and Death on Long Island (1997)
Nowhere (1997)
In & Out (1997)
Wilde (1997)
Gia (1998)
Love Is the Devil (1998)
Bedrooms and Hallways (1998)
Velvet Goldmine (1998)
The Opposite of Sex (1998)
Get Real (1998)
Wild Things (1998)
Edge of Seventeen (1998)
High Art (1998)
Surrender Dorothy (1998)
Gods and Monsters (1998)
The Object of My Affection (1998)
Fucking Åmål (1998)
Trick (1999)
Criminal Lovers (1999)
American Beauty (1999)
Aimée & Jaguar (1999)
All About My Mother (1999)
The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)
But I’m a Cheerleader (1999)
Beau Travail (1999)
Boys Don’t Cry (1999)
Second Skin (1999)
Billy Elliot (2000)
Just a Question of Love (2000)
Before Night Falls (2000)
The Broken Hearts Club (2000)
Come Undone (2000)
Urbania (2000)
Water Drops on Burning Rocks (2000)
Just a Question of Love (2000)
Burnt Money (2000)
Big Eden (2000)
O Fantasma (2000)
The Iron Ladies (2000)
Circuit (2001)
Kissing Jessica Stein (2001)
Lost and Delirious (2001)
Y tu mamá también (2001)
All Over the Guy (2001)
Mulholland Dr. (2001)
What Time Is It There? (2001)
Hedwig and the Angry Inch (2001)
À cause d’un garçon (You’ll Get Over It) (2002)
Tipping the Velvet (2002)
The Trip (2002)
L.I.E. (2001)
The Hours (2002)
Far From Heaven (2002)
Yossi and Jagger (2002)
Angels in America (2003)
Latter Days (2003)
Monster (2003)
Camp (2003)
Tarnation (2003)
Mambo Italiano (2003)
Bulgarian Lovers (2003)
A Thousand Clouds of Peace (2003)
Father and Son (2003)
Bad Education (2004)
Walk on Water (2004)
Eating Out (2004)
Touch of Pink (2004)
Summer Storm (2004)
A Home at the End of the World (2004)
Tropical Malady (2004)
Saved! (2004)
Kinsey (2004)
Grande école (2004)
My Summer of Love (2004)
Mysterious Skin (2004)
Changing Times (2004)
3 Dancing Slaves (2004)
Breakfast on Pluto (2005)
Brokeback Mountain (2005)
Transamerica (2005)
Kinky Boots (2005)
Capote (2005)
C.R.A.Z.Y. (2005)
Odete (Two Drifters) (2005)
The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros (2005)
Time to Leave (2005)
Boy Culture (2006)
Wild Tigers I Have Known (2006)
Notes on a Scandal (2006)
Quinceanera (2006)
Small Town Gay Bar (2006)
Running with Scissors (2006)
Shortbus (2006)
The History Boys (2006)
The Bubble (2006)
Infamous (2006)
Save Me (2007)
Shelter (2007)
XXY (2007)
Love Songs (2007)
The Witnesses (2007)
Let The Right One In (2008)
Brideshead Revisited (2008)
Antarctica (2008)
Milk (2008)
Chef’s Special (2008)
Born in 68 (2008)
Eyes Wide Open (2009)
I Killed My Mother (2009)
An Englishman in New York (2009)
Brüno (2009)
A Single Man (2009)
Outrage (2009)
Redwoods (2009)
To Die Like a Man (2009)
I Love You Phillip Morris (2010)
The Kids Are All Right (2010)
Let Me In (2010)
Plan B (2010)
Easy A (2010)
Howl (2010)
Black Swan (2010)
Undertow (2010)
Pariah (2011)
Kaboom (2011)
Beauty (2011)
Tomboy (2011)
Weekend (2011)
Beginners (2011)
We Were Here (2011)
J. Edgar (2011)
The Perfect Family (2011)
The Dark Side of Love (2011)
The Mayor of Castro Street (2011)
Any Day Now (2012)
Cloud Atlas (2012)
Gayby (2012)
Farewell, My Queen (2012)
How to Survive a Plague (2012)
The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012)
Jaurès (2012)
Mixed Kebab (2012)
Keep the Lights On (2012)
My Brother the Devil (2012)
A Perfect Ending (2012)
Last Chance (2012)
Laurence Anyways (2012)
Struck by Lightning (2012)
Young and Wild (2012)
The Skinny (2012)
Bambi (2013)
Concussion (2013)
Continental (2013)
Kissing Darkness (2013)
Simple Moves (2013)
Truth (2013)