The Celluloid Closet

With films like Milk and Brokeback Mountain achieving Oscar wins and mainstream success, it’s easy to forget that in the dark days of Hollywood gone by, homosexuality in American cinema was strictly forbidden. During the reign of the Orwellian Legion of Decency, any reference to homosexuality had to be quietly hidden from the censors in code or hastily rewritten. The Celluloid Closet, based on Vito Russo’s award-winning book, explores that secret history and charts the evolution of homosexuality's depiction in Hollywood during the last century. Filled with dozens of film clips and frank and often funny contributions from writers, actors and directors, this release is a timely companion piece to Sean Penn’s Oscar speech. It’s where it all began. The astonishing battles behind the scenes of some of Hollywood’s classic movies is where the documentary strikes gold. But the story ends in 1994 and this new DVD badly misses commentary on recent hits or the huge strides Hollywood has made in the last ten years. Nonetheless, compelling stuff.