The Boys in the Band
Directed by William Friedkin
Written by Marc Crowly from his play
1970/US
IMDb page
Repeat viewing?/Netflix rental
Michael: Believe it or not, there was a time in my life when I didn’t go around announcing I was a faggot.
Donald: Well, that must have been before speech replaced sign language!
What starts out as a kind of gay The Women (1939) ends as a melodramatic truth telling session along the lines of Who’s Afraid fo Virginia Woolf? (1966). The razor-sharp repartee and excellent acting make this very stage-bound picture good cinema as well.
As the story begins, we follow eight flamoyantly gay men as they pursue a working day in New York City. One of their number, Michael, is hosting a birthday bash for another named Harold. Before the guests arrive Michael gets a call from an old college friend Alan. Alan seems desperate and in dire need of friendly conversation. He wants to come over. The guests start arriving and the catty bitchy barbs start flying. The men start dancing and having a good time. The cast is completed by a hustler purchased as one of the birthday presents.
Then Alan arrives. The men let it all hang out in front of him and Alan’s gallant effort to ignore their sexuality fails miserably.
Then birthday boy Harold shows up. He has offended the host and eventually provokes Michael to initiating a variant game of Get the Guests. This one involves daring partygoers to call the greatest love of their lives and handing out points. Much melodrama ensues.
This movie really brought back a special time in my like. I was very into theater and my best friend was a gay man who quoted from the dialog of this thing constantly. I’m not sure if I actually saw the movie but I know I read the script of the play. Anyway. this was a winner for nostalgia and for solid film-making. A not-so-guilty pleasure for those who love a little trashy camp in their lives – like me.
It’s also a reminder of the world before HIV/AIDS. Five of the cast members had succumbed to the disease by 1993.
