Written by Mart Crowley, The Boys in the Band opened off Broadway on April 14, 1968 at Theater Four. The show played to many standing room only crowds during its 1000 performance run. In 1970, Crowley adapted his play for into a film directed by a young William Friedkin and produced by future Vanity Fair diarist, Dominick Dunne. The ensemble cast, all of whom also played the roles in the play’s initial stage run in New York City, includes Kenneth Nelson as Michael, Peter White as Alan, Leonard Frey as Harold, Cliff Gorman as Emory, Frederick Combs as Donald, Laurence Luckinbill as Hank, Keith Prentice as Larry, Robert La Tourneaux as Cowboy, and Reuben Greene as Bernard.
Released on March 17, 1970, The Boys in the Band was the first mainstream film to deal with homosexuality in America. It may seem tame today, in an age where Showtime’s The L Word and Queer as Folk have shown explicit sex scenes week after week bit in 1970, the idea of a group of gay men openly discussing their sex lives was revolutionary. Prior to The Boys in the Band, homosexual characters on film had been portrayed as tragic figures or used as comic relief.
The Boys in the Band centers around a birthday party being attended by seven gay men, one uninvited college buddy, and a male hustler bought as a gift for the guest of honor. It is at this party that a group of men have to face their deepest, darkest emotions over the course of a couple of hours in a New York City apartment. The filmmakers adapted the entire play without changing a word. The group is an eclectic bunch: Michael, the party giver, is battling drinking problems, lack of faith in Catholicism and a lack of respect for himself. Alan, Michael’s heterosexual college roommate has come to town to talk with him for unknown reasons. Harold, the birthday boy, is a retired figure skater. He seems to be the one with the most self confidence, even though he describes himself as a Jewish man with an afro and pock marks. Emory is an interior decorator with a fast tongue and a flamboyant limp wrist. Donald is Michael’s “friend with benefits.” Hank and Larry are the couple in the group but they’re having issues because one is closeted and wants a monogamous relationship, while the other is openly gay and promiscuous. Bernard is the only African American in the group and struggling with some pretty big childhood issues. Finally, there’s the hustler; dressed up as a “Midnight Cowboy” who comes as a present for Harold. He’s not terribly bright, but he’s very pretty.
The narrative of the play film is styled after Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and contains the same type of rapid fire, biting dialogue that made that film so controversial back in 1966. As the liquor flows, pointed comments are fired at each participant, leaving them exposed and vulnerable. The viewer is left to ascertain what it all means in the end. Certain things are never revealed and we are left wondering what else is going on beneath the surface. There are no happy endings here, no real resolutions; just more questions.
By the time The Boys in the Band was released in 1970, some in the gay community already saw the film as an exercise in self loathing and shame. Crowley wrote the play the same year that Stonewall occurred and attitudes were markedly different. In 1995, Crowley was interviewed for a documentary called The Celluloid Closet, where he said of The Boys in the Band, “I knew a lot of people like those people,” Crowley said of his characters. “The self-deprecating humor was born out of a low self-esteem, from a sense of what the times told you about yourself.”
Of the time he wrote the play, Crowley said: “Homosexuality was still classified as a mental illness. If you went in a gay bar you were liable to be arrested if the place was raided. There were not just attitudes but laws against one’s being — against the core of one’s being.”
No matter how you feel about were the film stands in the pantheon of gay cinema today, Crowley and Friedkin deserve credit for introducing moviegoers to a segment of the population that had been largely ignored by filmmakers in the past. The film itself focuses on real people, caught in a world that wouldn’t truly let them feel safe outside the closet.
The Boys in the Band is an excellent looking DVD. Director William Friedkin personally supervised color timing, and the results are nothing short of amazing. The film has been framed at 1.78:1 for this first DVD release, and it has been enhanced for widescreen televisions. The film moves through three distinct acts, and the transfer shows off the visual style Friedkin executed for each segment beautifully. There are no digital artifacts, and nary a nick or scratch to take you out of the experience.
The sound transfer is a simple stereo which fits the production since the dialogue is about the only thing needing to be showcased.
Extras include a three part documentary that deals with the play, making the film, and the legacy that both have had for the gay community. The interviews include the playwright, the director, two of the three surviving cast members, executive producer Dominick Dunne, and noted playwright Tony Kushner (Angels in America). The segments consist of talking heads mixed with clips and still photos, and the entire story about The Boys in the Band. Also included is a director commentary with William Friedkin which includes a short interview with Mart Crowley near the conclusion. Friedkin talks through the experience at a quick pace, and his input is engaging as well as enlightening. Crowley’s portion recaps most of what he says in the documentary about the genesis of the play, but provides further insight in to what the filming process was like for him. Easily this is one of the best commentaries out there with proud participants who are eager to share their views.
