Quentin Crisp

A documentary surveying the various Hollywood screen depictions of homosexuals and the attitudes behind them throughout the history of North American film. A comprehensive documentary of the history of gays and lesbians in cinema, from negative to positive reflections of gay characters and the troubles of actors and actresses. —R. John Berggren <jberg@nina.pagesz.net> The history of the portrayals of homosexuals in the movies, especially mainstream ones widely distributed in the United States, is presented, this topic important as movies were and are how audiences, the general public, heterosexual or homosexual, often learned about societal mores and norms. It has only been quite recent that homosexual characters could be the stars, they more often on the fringes. While such portrayals were more open in the early stages of movie making, they became more coded - the terms gay or lesbian never used - starting in what is considered the Golden Age of Hollywood, especially with the onset of the Hays Code and the Legion of Decency in the 1930s. In filling gender stereotypes, the gay male was the harmless effeminate - a source of humor - in making straight men more masculine and straight women more feminine, while lesbians, in their masculinity, were more sinister characters. As the restrictions through the Code and by the Legion became more relaxed, homosexual characters, now more openly so, became the unhappy, self-loathing, tragic figure that needed to meet a gruesome end, except when the homosexual nature was done in subtext. The character of the homosexual victim, a decade or so later, became the character of the societal menace. The more diverse characterizations over the past 10 to 15 years are discussed, as is the acceptance of general audiences to see two women being affectionate with each other compared to two men. —Huggo

The story begins in the Elizabethan era in 1600 AD, shortly before the death of Queen Elizabeth I (Quentin Crisp) in 1603. On her deathbed, the queen promises an androgynous young nobleman named Orlando (Tilda Swinton) a large tract of land and a castle built on it, along with a generous monetary gift; both Orlando and his heirs would keep the land and inheritance forever, but Elizabeth will bequeath it to him only if he assents to an unusual command: "Do not fade. Do not wither. Do not grow old." The queen had treated Orlando as a son of her old age (and the limb of her infirmity) and her mascot, and she considered Orlando as her favorite. Orlando was interested in poetry. Orlando was lonely and he sought company over privilege. The Queen ruled with absolute power over her subjects and nobody dared question her decisions. When Elizabeth dies, Orlando becomes attracted to Sasha (Charlotte Valandrey) in 1610, the daughter of a Russian diplomat. Orlando was engaged to an English nobleman's daughter Euphrosyne (Anna Healy) at this time. Orlando and Sasha connected as they had many shared interests such as the French language. Orlando spends more time with Sasha and this is observed by the entire court. Earl of Moray (Simon Russell Beale) had warned Orlando that his affair with Sasha will be taken as an insult to all English women. Orlando follows his heart and as a result his engagement is broken. Orlando is madly in love with Sasha, but is still sad and melancholy. Sasha says that Orlando takes everything too seriously. One day he sees Sasha kissing a Russian sailor, when he drops Sasha at the Russian ship. Sasha insists that Orlando only saw shadows as the sailor was simply escorting Sasha across the deck of a ship. Orlando declares his love for Sasha and implores her to stay, but she decides to leave for Russia once the ice breaks. Orlando is heartbroken. by 1650, Orlando acquiesces and reposes in splendid isolation in the castle (he sleeps for one week straight and no amount of effort from the butlers of the house could wake him up) for a couple of decades during which time he dabbles in poetry and art. Orlando writes poems with inspiration from his general sadness from life and the treachery of women. Orlando tries to have his work validated by noted poets such as Nick Greene (Heathcote Williams), who ridicules him. His attempts at befriending Greene falls flat. Greene says that most work of genius came from poverty and desperation that put the poets in touch with their most inner feelings, but Orlando came from a life of luxury and hence could never feel those emotions and hence his work would never have the quality of a genius. Greene says that he has a large heart, a ruptured spleen, a bad liver and a large knot in his spine. He has a constant headache and yet despite going through this misery, his poems have sold only 115 copies. Orlando even offers Greene a pension of 300 pounds a year, but Greene simply laughs at his work. Greene implies that he cannot insult his host as Orlando is rich, but Orlando understands his meaning and sends him away from the castle. Orlando gets interested in politics and convinces the English King to send him to Constantinople (in 1700) as English ambassador to the Ottoman Empire. The emperor The Khan (Lothaire Bluteau), asks Orlando for British Empire's help in war against mutual enemies. The Khan is apprehensive that the English have the habit of annexing nations, but Orlando assure him that it is not his mission to do so. The Khan realizes that Orlando has come to Constantinople to mend a broken heart. Orlando and the Emperor become good friends and share bread and wine together. After 10 years Archduke Harry (John Wood) arrives and informs Orlando that he has been promoted by his sovereign Queen Anne. At the celebratory dinner, the Emperor tells Orlando that the enemy is at their city gates and demands his help in war. Orlando is forced to pick up arms to keep his promise to the Emperor. Orlando witnesses too much death and blood in the war at the city gates. He falls unconscious. Waking seven days later, he learns something startling: He has transformed into a woman. The now Lady Orlando comes home to her estate in Middle Eastern attire in 1750, only to learn that she faces several impending lawsuits arguing that Orlando was a woman all along and therefore has no right to the land or any of the royal inheritance that the queen had promised. Archduke Harry offers to marry Orlando, to grant her respectability, but she refuses, which offends Harry. Orlando continues to nurse her love for poetry and meets several leading authors of the generation including Swift (Roger Hammond) and Pope (Peter Eyre). She finds that women are their muse, but they have no respect or admiration for females. They also consider a woman without a father, or a husband as "lost". The succeeding two centuries tire Orlando; Orlando falls in love with a US adventurer Shelmerdine (Billy Zane). She feels she has found her soulmate. She has sex with Shelmerdine. Meanwhile the British crown pronounces that Orlando is a female and will lose her property unless she bears a son. Orlando refuses to go with Shelmerdine to the US, the land of liberty and freedom. The court case, bad luck in love, and the wars of British history eventually bring the story to the present day (i.e., the early 1990s). Orlando now has a young daughter in tow and is in search of a publisher for her book. (The literary editor who judges the work as "quite good" is portrayed by Heathcote Williams-the same actor who played the poet who had, earlier in the film, denigrated Orlando's poetry.) Having lived a most bizarre existence, Orlando, relaxing with her daughter, points out to her an angel.

Baron Charles Frankenstein (Sting), Dr. Zalhus (Quentin Crisp), and Frankenstein's assistant, Paulus (Timothy Spall), attempt to create a female mate, Eva (Jennifer Beals), for his creation (Clancy Brown). The team of scientists succeed in creating Eva, who is physically identical to a human and lacking the deformities of the monster. As such, she is disgusted by the monster and rejects him. A confrontation between the monster and Frankenstein regarding Eva lead the monster to become deadly angry and destroy the laboratory. Believing the monster has perished, Frankenstein escapes with Eva back to Castle Frankenstein. There he falls in love with her and, with the help of his friend Charles Clerval (Anthony Higgins) and housekeeper Mrs. Baumann (Geraldine Page), educates her with the goal of making her a perfect human mate. Having survived, the monster wanders into the countryside where he makes friends with a circus dwarf, Rinaldo (David Rappaport) after he stops children from physically abusing him. As they learn more about each other, Rinaldo eventually gives the monster more humanity by gracing him with a name: Viktor ("he will win"). The men travel by foot through Europe, eventually arriving in Budapest, where they became involved with a circus owner named Magar (Alexei Sayle), who hires them despite his dislike of Rinaldo. Meanwhile, as Eva acquires language and develops furtive cognizance, she begins to question her origin and, while visiting a weakened mausoleum with Baron Charles, tells him that she wishes to "go home". The Baron has Eva accompany him to a formal party held by the Countess (Veruschka von Lehndorff), where he introduces her. Eva is initially well-spoken and formal, impressing the Countess, Captain Josef Schoden (Cary Elwes), and other guests, but becomes agitated when a cat enters the room. Having no knowledge of the animal, Eva begins to scream at it, embarrassing the Baron. Several days later, while riding her horse near the castle, Eva is come near by Josef, who attempts to romance her. Josef informs Eva that the Baron was thrown out of the university while studying medicine. She eventually begins to question the Baron and his intentions. Meanwhile, during a trapeze performance with the circus, Rinaldo is injured in a deadly fall. Viktor is immediately heartbroken at the loss of his friend, a feeling that Eva apparently feels. Hinting the two share a type a psychic connection, as Viktor mourns, Eva suddenly feels a great sense of loss and cries in her room. Viktor learns the circus performer Bela (Phil Daniels) deliberately tampered with Rinaldo's harness, causing the fall, he becomes deadly angry, flipping Magar's caravan over before murdering Bela. The next morning, Viktor returns to the castle and finds Eva outside on the grounds. However, Eva mistakes him for a vagrant and does not recognize him. A mob from the circus later arrives in the village in search of Viktor, and shackle him to a wall. Meanwhile, Eva disappears from Castle Frankenstein. The Baron inquires of her whereabouts, and Mrs. Baumann reluctantly reveals that she has runaway with Josef. Soon after, the Baron locates the two lovers. Much to Eva's shock, Josef reveals he doesn't care much or ever about Eva and walks away from her not looking back. The Baron drags an extremely defiant Eva back to Castle Frankenstein. During an argument, the Baron finally reveals to Eva how he created her, using part of corpses, and bringing her to life via an electric charge. This information humiliates Eva. The Baron states he's glad the monster is dead because giving her to him would have been a waste. His possessive nature shows as he demands he will take Eva as his bride, whether she consents or not. Though Eva tries to keep him away from her, she's virtually trapped and feels powerless. Viktor eventually senses her extreme fear and desperation. He breaks free from his shackles and escapes by horse to Castle Frankenstein. Back at the castle the Baron fights Eva, a fight she loses. Before the Baron can force himself on Eva, Viktor confronts him. A fight ensues, and Viktor is chased to the top of the laboratory, where he throws the Baron to his death. In the castle, Viktor returns to a sleeping Eva, and when she awakens, he turns to leave. Eva asks him never to leave and he introduces himself to her with his name. She tells him the meaning of his name, which pleases him. She asks if he knows who made him and he reveals that it was the Baron. Reunited, they begin moving away to Venice to carry out Rinaldo's dream.