University of Virginia Library

CINEMA

Crowley's Gay 'Boys' On Screen

By Susan Hardwicke

Cliff Gorman as Emory in "The Boys in the Band"

Mart Crowley's "The Boys in
the Band" is not a musical. That's
what the ads say. And if you go
expecting a life story of Glenn
Miller, you will be surprised, to say
the least. The film is a biting social
commentary underneath its surface
of humor and wit. Mr. Crowley, the
author of both the play and
screenplay, brings the story to the
screen with few changes.

The nine actors in the film are
the members of the original
off-Broadway cast. Director William
Friedkin has added music for
additional effects, such as the tune
"The Look of Love," which
pervades the end of the film.

Kenneth Nelson plays Michael,
who throws an elaborate birthday
party for his friend Harold. He
typifies the "aging faggot" who
spends more money and becomes
miserable.

'Straight' Roommate

While Harold's friends rush
around Manhattan buying presents
or getting ready to the tune of
"Anything Goes," Alan (Peter
White) plans to visit Michael. White
underplays the role of Michael's
"straight" roommate from college
who has quarrelled with his wife.

The "gay crowd" arrives, joking
and laughing, ready to have a gay
time. Alan startles them by his
appearance, and their antics, in
turn, surprise him. Later he
becomes outraged at Emory (Cliff
Gorman), whom he calls a faggot
and unconvincingly busts in the
mouth.

At the moment of chaos,
Harold, excellently portrayed by
Leonard Frey, arrives, describing
himself as a "thirty-four year old,
ugly, pock-marked Jew fairy." The
party becomes less and less
controlled, and less and less a party;
the guests drink heavily and pass
the joints. They talk openly and
freely about themselves and then
begin to criticize each other.

Michael leads them in a
dangerous game called "The Affairs
of the Heart." He forces others to
suffer shame and embarrassment
for his own satisfaction.

Coming Home

He accuses Alan of being gay,
but is proved wrong when Alan
calls his wife to tell her that he will
come home. The guests gradually
leave while Michael stands at the
window, about to burst out with
his self-hate.

The search for identity and
self-hate are the two main themes
of the film. The characters cannot
love anyone totally unless they love
themselves first, and the film points
this out in characterization, setting,
and plot, which are inside the
boundaries of credulity.

"The Boys in the Band" is one
of the few brilliantly done films of
the year.

(Now at the Cinema)

* * *

Now playing at the Paramount,
through next Tuesday, is the
delightful, award-winning
comedy-western, "Butch Cassidy
and the Sundance Kid," which the
Cavalier Daily endorsed last fall
when it first played in
Charlottesville. The film stars Paul
Newman, Robert Redford, and
Katharine Ross, and, for the third
time, we welcome it to
Charlottesville.