Sun September 15, 2013
The Boys in the Band, William Friedkin (U.S., 1970)
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at Pacific Film Archive (PFA) Theater
(see times)
It’s Harold’s (Leonard Frey) birthday and Michael (Kenneth Nelson) is hosting the soiree in his Village digs, right around the corner from Stonewall. Opening off Broadway in 1968, Mart Crowley’s play was groundbreaking but it was also heartbreaking as his gathering of vain closet queens turns nasty, then nastier. Claustrophobically staged inside a single apartment, the bitchy repartee of these “nellies” and “faggots” sends the party boys screaming for the darker corners. Male hysteria is all dressed up with nowhere to go in Friedkin’s reluctant revelry, suggesting that when the closet door is finally flung open, the first thing out is self-loathing.
—Steve Seid
• Written by Mart Crowley, from his play. Photographed by Arthur J. Ornitz. With Kenneth Nelson, Leonard Frey, Cliff Gorman, Reuben Green. (118 mins, Color, 35mm, From Hollywood Classics)
show less
—Steve Seid
• Written by Mart Crowley, from his play. Photographed by Arthur J. Ornitz. With Kenneth Nelson, Leonard Frey, Cliff Gorman, Reuben Green. (118 mins, Color, 35mm, From Hollywood Classics)
It’s Harold’s (Leonard Frey) birthday and Michael (Kenneth Nelson) is hosting the soiree in his Village digs, right around the corner from Stonewall. Opening off Broadway in 1968, Mart Crowley’s play was groundbreaking but it was also heartbreaking as his gathering of vain closet queens turns nasty, then nastier. Claustrophobically staged inside a single apartment, the bitchy repartee of these “nellies” and “faggots” sends the party boys screaming for the darker corners. Male hysteria is all dressed up with nowhere to go in Friedkin’s reluctant revelry, suggesting that when the closet door is finally flung open, the first thing out is self-loathing.
—Steve Seid
• Written by Mart Crowley, from his play. Photographed by Arthur J. Ornitz. With Kenneth Nelson, Leonard Frey, Cliff Gorman, Reuben Green. (118 mins, Color, 35mm, From Hollywood Classics)
read more
—Steve Seid
• Written by Mart Crowley, from his play. Photographed by Arthur J. Ornitz. With Kenneth Nelson, Leonard Frey, Cliff Gorman, Reuben Green. (118 mins, Color, 35mm, From Hollywood Classics)
show less
Date/Times:
Pacific Film Archive (PFA) Theater
2575 Bancroft Way, Berkeley, CA 94720
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