Wonderland Burlesque's Let's All Go To The Movies - Say Gay Edition, Part IV: Lady Parts

Wonderland Burlesque's

Let's All Go To The Movies

Say Gay Edition, Part IV

Lady Parts

Today is all about lovely, lovely lady parts - in film. 

And, apparently, in a number of girls' boarding schools, too.

In the hands of Hollywood, do lesbians fare any better than their gay brethren? Well, not in 1980, which seems to have been a turning point for gay film (remember Cruising?) - as in, "we're not gonna take it no more, no more!"

To learn more, let's take a peek behind the velvet curtain...

Pandora's Box

(1929)

(An unsung classic of Weimar German cinema, the film follows Lulu - American actress Louis Brooks - a seductive, thoughtless young woman whose raw sexuality and uninhibited nature bring ruin to herself and those who love her.)

(The film is notable for its lesbian subplot detailing the Countess Augusta Geschwitz's attraction to Lulu. So taken with the girl, the Countess allows Lulu to use her passport in order to escape the authorities. The character of Geschwitz is defined by her masculine look, as she wears a tuxedo. Actress Alice Roberts resisted the idea of playing a lesbian.)

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Mädchen in Uniform

(Girls In Uniform)

(1931)

(This groundbreaking film is based on the play Gestern und heute (Yesterday and Today) by Christa Winsloe and directed by Leontine Sagan. It's notable for having an all-female cast and its sympathetic portrayal of lesbian 'pedagogical eros' and homoeroticism revolving around the passionate love of a fourteen year-old for her teacher.)

(Actress Hertha Theile, who was 23 at the time, was cast to play the role of fourteen year-old Maunuela - a role she'd played on stage - at the insistence of her friend, playwright Christa Winslow. Thiele once said, "The whole of Mädchen in Uniform was set in the Empress Augusta boarding school, where Winsloe was educated. Actually there really was a Manuela, who remained lame all of her life after she threw herself down the stairs. She came to the premiere of the film. I saw her from a distance, and at the time Winsloe told me 'The experience is one which I had to write from my heart.' Winsloe was a lesbian.")

(Banned by The Nazis, the film initially received the same treatment in the U.S., but Eleanor Roosevelt spoke highly of the film, resulting in it receiving a limited release in the US in 1932. While prints of the film survived the war, it was censored heavily until the 1970's and was not shown again in Germany until 1977.)

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Olivia

(AKA: The Pit Of Loneliness)

(1951)

(Inspired by Mädchen in Uniform, the 1949 novel Olivia by Dorothy Bussy, which covers similar territory, was made into a French film. Directed by Jacqueline Audry, it's considered a "landmark of lesbian representation.")

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Mädchen in Uniform

(Girls In Uniform)

(1958)

(This is one of two remakes, the other being a 1951 Mexican adaptation.) 

(Full of high drama, including a drunken public confession followed by a trip to the sanitorium for Manuela, the film has a seemingly happy resolve; the art teacher gets to keep her job, and Manuela gets to hold the head mistress' hand.)

(I remember, as a youth, catching this one on late-night television while babysitting. If the storyline was not enough to get my attention, the film's visuals certainly were. I've been a big fan of Lilli Palmer's ever since.)

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The Children's Hour

(AKA: The Loudest Whisper)

(1961)

(Lillian Hellman's 1934 play was first adapted for film by famed director William Wyler in 1936 as These Three, starring Miriam Hopkins, Merle Oberon, Joel McCrea, and Bonita Granville, with the lesbian angle removed. In 1961, with the Hayes Code having been greatly relaxed, Wyler gave it a second try.)

(In 1995, Shirley MacLaine said she and Audrey Hepburn never talked about their characters' alleged homosexuality. She also claimed Wyler cut some scenes hinting at Martha's love for Karen because of concerns about how the film would be viewed by the critics.)

(Miriam Hopkins, who played the Shirley MacLaine role in 1936's These Three, appears in this version as the character's Aunt Lily. Also notable, a young Veronica Cartwright appears as Rosalie, the little kleptomaniac whose crimes cause her to become complicit in the big lie.)

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The Fox

(1967)

"Between Ellen and Jill came Paul."

(A Canadian production loosely based on the 1923 novella by D. H. Lawrence, The Fox served as Mark Rydell's - The Rose, For The Boys, On Golden Pond - directorial debut. The score by Lalo Schifrin - Bullitt, Cool Hand Luke, The Amityville Horror - was nominated for an Academy Award as Best Original Music Score. It was the fifth most popular film in the UK in 1968.)

"You'll be enthralled by D.H. Lawrence's story - and amazed at the delicacy of the presentation of such an intimate subject."

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The Killing Of Sister George

"The story of three consenting adults in the privacy of their own home..."

(1968)

(Somewhat based on the 1964 play by British playwright Frank Marcus, which was originally framed as a black comedy, the film presents the story as a 'shocking' drama, adding additional explicit lesbian content not found in the play. Sadly, this stood as the definitive word on lesbian relationships for quite some time.)

(Bette Davis and Angela Lansbury were both offered the role of June 'George' Buckridge, however the filmmakers decided to go with Beryl Reid, who had played the part in the original cast production. Aldrich, who had directed Whatever Happened To Baby Jane and Hush, Hush Sweet Charlotte, says he met with Davis. "We were supposed to be discussing the part but what I was really trying to decide is if we could work together again," he said. "The outcome was doubtful.")

(A sex scene was added between the two characters, played by Susannah York and Coral Browne. Browne is on record stating that, while apprehensive about doing the scene, she trusted Aldrich. She also said that Susannah York was so upset about the scene, she had to keep eating grapes in between takes to prevent vomiting. Aldrich put an end to all the anxiety, choosing to fil both actors separately - "making love to the camera," rather than each other.)

(The movie received an X-rating in the US, while facing censorship issues in the UK and Italy - both of which objected to a kiss that takes place between two women and the added sex scene. Still, the week of June 4, 1969, the movie was #1 at the box office in the US. Despite its popularity, due to high costs, the film failed to show a profit.)

(Of historic note: Chelsea's the Gateways Club, a real-life lesbian nightclub, was featured in the party scene. It was the first time a film ever showed the interior of a lesbian nightclub.)

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Windows

(1980)

"Somebody loves Emily... too much."

(Windows is the only film directed by famed cinematographer Gordon Willis - Klute, The Godfather, Manhattan, Annie Hall, All The President's Men, etc. Talia Shire plays the lesbian obsession of her next-door neighbor, Elizabeth Ashley. The film quickly became a target of gay rights activists who deemed it homophobic, claiming it resorted to hateful stereotypes. Willis later admitted that the film, which he did not like, had, indeed, been a mistake.)

The Hunger

(1983)

"Nothing human loves forever."

(Critically deemed a case of style over substance, The Hunger has garnered a cult following. While the sex scenes between Deneuve and Sarandon sizzle, the director places the emphasis on creating a cutting edge world rather than a coherent story. With a studio-ordered ending that makes no sense - they wanted sequels -  the film remains hugely popular among the goth crowd.)

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The Bostonians

(1984)

(Based on the Henry James novel of the same name, this beautiful James Ivory film features solid performances by Vanessa Redgrave, Madeline Potter, Christopher Reeve, Jessica Tandy, and Nancy Marchand. Potter finds herself having to decide between the traditional life being offered by southern lawyer Reeves or the exciting world painted by suffragette Redgrave.)

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Desert Hearts

(1985)

"In 1959, Vivian Bell came to Reno, Nevada for a quickie divorce. Of all the people she met there, the one who surprised her the most was herself. 

(One of the first wide release films to present a positive portrayal of lesbian sexuality, Desert Hearts was adapted from a novel by Jane Rule. Set in 1959, it tells the story of a divorcee' in Reno awaiting her final decree who finds herself falling in love with a confident, carefree woman.)

(It took director Donna Deitch, who raised all the funds herself, nearly six years to bring the film to the big screen. Most of the money came from lesbian couples, with the biggest investor being a gay man. She held fundraisers, sold stock in the picture, and, eventually, sold her house. "In San Francisco I sold it as politics. In New York as Art. In LA I convinced them it would be a box office hit.")

(The film was shot in Reno in 31 days. The sex scene was performed in a hotel room with only the cinematographer and a boom operator present. The Samuel Goldwyn Company, who distributed the film in the US, asked that the sex scene be cut down considerably, but the director refused.)

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The Color Purple

(1985)

(Based on the Pulitzer Prize winning novel by Alice Walker, who was reluctant to sell the movie rights to the book due to the historically poor portrayal of African Americans in film. She relented, but only if certain minority hiring practices were put in place and she was granted final script approval. Producer Quincy Jones convinced Steven Spielberg to sign on as director and work for the Director's Guild minimum, $40K. Walker wasn't sure about Spielberg until she saw E.T. - The Extra-Terrestrial.)

(Spielberg chose to downplay the lesbian subtext between Shug, played by Magaret Avery and Celie, played by Whoopie Goldberg; a decision he later greatly regretted. Walker handpicked Goldberg and Jones insisted Oprah Winfrey be cast.  For the role of Shug, Spielberg wanted Chaka Khan or Tina Turner. Patti LaBelle and Sheryl Lee Ralph both auditioned and were considered, as was Phyllis Hyman.) 

(Goldberg's audition for Spielberg, where she improvised a stoned E.T. being arrested for drug possession, was witnessed by Jones and Michael Jackson. Spielberg encouraged both Goldberg and Winfrey to ad lib during filming, while Quincy Jones's insistence on giving more dialogue to Winfrey sparked an apparent feud between Winfrey and Goldberg that lasted for several years.)

Waiting For The Moon

(1987)

(A fictional depiction of Gertrude Stein and her lover/assistant Alice B. Toklas meeting Pablo Picasso and his lover, Fernande Olivier, as well as authors Ernest Hemingway and Guillaume Apollinaire. I saw this when it was first released and was totally charmed by Linda Hunt.)

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And that's all for now.

Tune in next time...

Same time, same channel!

The Killing Of Georgie (Pt. I & II) - Rod Stewart