Bonus Video! Hitchcock's Gay Cruising Scene
Hello and welcome to 2023! Let's get down to business.
In this week's video, we're taking a closer look at some of Hitchcock's most notorious queer killers -- and also one gay character who's often overlooked, a somewhat mysterious but highly fashionable gentleman from Hitch's very first film, Pleasure Garden, in 1925. We're also spending some time with Farley Granger, who gets cruised and picked up by a stranger on a train (what could go wrong?) and also exchanging glances with Martin Landau's gay hench-hunk in North by Northwest. Also: I've got an intriguing clip of Barbara Walters interviewing Harvey Fierstein about Torch Song Trilogy in 1983. And a little glimpse at what more we have to look forward to in 2023!
Also, I've added Annual Memberships to the Patreon with a 10% discount. If you switch from monthly membership to annual, you'll get an entire year's membership at a 10% discount from the usual rate. And if you want to stay with month-to-month membership, that's fine -- you don't have to do anything, and nothing will change for you. Here's the link to switch to Annual Membership: https://www.patreon.com/pledges
Here's Patreon's FAQ about annual membership: https://support.patreon.com/hc/en-us/articles/360042152671-Annual-membership-details
And here's a backup link to the video in case the embed's not working:
https://youtu.be/iITw2A6hmUc
Comments (22)
Yes please on the Our Flag Means Death and History of Gay Pirates video!! Also maybe a Lets Watch party? Watching Rope with you making commentary would be fun!
oh i’m catching up on some bonus videos & i gotta say i would love some our flag means death content ! it’s my favorite show rn lol. i usually watch ur videos to hear abt queer pop culture i otherwise wouldn’t hear about as a 20 yr old queer lol but contemporary sitcoms with queer characters are a huge interest of mine
Matt, does the annual subscription -- at a lower price to us -- have benefits to you? The monthly route is fine, especially if it nets you more funds for the work.
Thank you for asking! The benefit to me is knowing that folks will be around for at least a whole year -- having a nice strong long-term group of people participating in the patreon is what matters most to me.
"some of her questions don't age well". Pretty typical of Barbara Walters interviews. Look at her interview with Dolly Parton. BW is SOOOO condescending and outright insulting in her questions, but it just shows how smart and genuinely sweet Dolly Parton is.
With time and distance Barbara Walters interviews were meh. Her inartful way of posing questions was marketed as 'gutsy' but were bottomline aggressive. I believe the guest knew what was coming or they would have walked out of the interview.
Thank you for those dandy CBS Happy New Year promos -- I felt like a kid again! :-)
Great video and lots to look forward to! I'm not sure how to contact her, but Lara Gabrielle writes a blog about classic films at https://backlots.net/author/backlots/ and she might know about how to find a copy of the restored version of The Pleasure Garden.
Thank you for the WONDERFUL video! We really enjoyed it! Turned us on to the Alfred Hitchcock movie “Rope” - which we watched and loved it!!! ❤️
It really breezes by, doesn’t it? I wish Hollywood still knew how to make 80 minute films.
Happy new year 🎉
Terrified twunk*
I don't why it formatted my comment like that. Obviously it's "reportedly gay lovers."
Rope, both movie and play were also famously based on the real life murder of Bobby Franks in 1924. His killers Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb were eportedly gay lovers
Re The Pleasure Garden (or any silent film needs) I'd suggest reaching out to @silenceisplatinum on instagram (she's a silent film encyclopedia and does awesome projects like fundraising to get grave markers for forgotten silent film stars). If she doesn't know she might be able to connect you with someone who does.
Oh YES! PLEASE do that video on Our Flag Means Death. We really loved it bad found so many elements about it really groundbreaking and forward thinking around anticolonial anti racist and post gendered ideas of identity. Really loved it!
When you read his autobiography, you'll find that Farley Granger identified as bi
Have you ever done a segment on those early 'pansy' characters (or 'sissies' as Harvey Fierstein proudly referred to them, and himself in Independence Day)? The Franklin Pangborn and Edward Everett Horton character actors. (EEH had quite a long career)
I did one a loooong time ago but it may be time for a revisit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTzzc_KKRBw
This is a great bonus video to kick off the new year
Checked around for "Pleasure Garden" on WorldCat.org but didn't come up with anything but the 2011 DVD release. Archive.org has a copy: https://archive.org/details/silent-the-pleasure-garden but it is probably the same video you've seen already.
( https://www.worldcat.org/title/773211633 is the WorldCat link; there are duplicates but with the same cover.)