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The Celluloid Closet
Directed by
Rob Epstein
,
Jeffrey Friedman
R
1996
1h 42m
History
,
Documentary
7.8
96%
89%
7.2
Add to Watchlist
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.
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Where to Watch The Celluloid Closet
The Roku Channel
Free
Amazon Video
Buy $12.99
Apple TV
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Cast of The Celluloid Closet
Lily Tomlin
Narrator (voice) / Co-Executive Producer
Tony Curtis
Self
Susan Sarandon
Self
Gore Vidal
Self
Whoopi Goldberg
Self
Antonio Fargas
Self
Shirley MacLaine
Self
John Schlesinger
Self
Armistead Maupin
Self / Writer
Arthur Laurents
Self
Tom Hanks
Self
Farley Granger
Self
Quentin Crisp
Self
Harry Hamlin
Self
Sharon Stone
Self
Susie Bright
Self
Mart Crowley
Self
Jay Presson Allen
Self
Richard Dyer
Self
Jan Oxenberg
Self
The Celluloid Closet Ratings & Reviews
Arizona Republic
Bob Fenster
This is an educated analysis on a social issue, not tabloid titilation.
USA Today
Mike Clark
Beyond the gay writers and historians who offer their own essential perspectives, the film is packed with savvily chosen screen scenes and just about every straight performer who ought to be here -- from Shirley MacLaine to Tom Hanks.
Orlando Sentinel
Hal Boedeker
With wit and insight, the documentary traces Hollywood's treatment of gay and lesbian characters. Despite a tough production code that once restricted homosexual material, gay characters slipped through in some classic films.
Dallas Morning News
Manuel Mendoza
Friedman and Epstein don't preach or judge. Their rich, textured film is entertaining scholarship that celebrates gay movie images as much as it criticizes them (or the lack of them).
Minneapolis Star Tribune
Jeff Strickler
A gay "That's Entertainment!"... [is] a little too flippant to convey the seriousness with which the filmmakers approach their subject.
L.A. Weekly
Manohla Dargis
Too bad the resulting film is not a landmark, or, for that matter, particularly new.
Boston Globe
Jay Carr
One of the surprising things about this entertaining and informative documentary about movies and homosexuality is how much was right there in plain view.
Detroit News
Michael McWilliams
One of the strengths of "Closet" is its openness to disagreement, and the skill with which its conflicts are framed.
Fort Worth Star-Telegram/DFW.com
Todd Camp
The film's greatest achievement is the introduction to a large audience, both gay and straight, of how a segment of society ignored by Hollywood managed to find a place, however discreet, in the world of film.
Chicago Tribune
Michael Wilmington
It's a mixed achievement, but mostly an admirable one. Graced with more than 100 well-chosen and juxtaposed film clips.
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Eleanor Ringel Cater
A mesmerizing exploration of how cinema and society have dealt with gays and lesbians for the last century; it is an amazing prism through which straights may see "the other" and, better still, see ourselves both in "the other" as other.
Newsday
Jack Mathews
Much of the interview material is strictly informational, with anecdotes about how filmmakers got around the Code, but there's also moving testimony about the impact that negative portrayals of gays had on young homosexuals in the audience.
Los Angeles Times
Kenneth Turan
Because of the questions it raises and the evidence it provides, The Celluloid Closet remains of compelling interest.
Philadelphia Inquirer
Carrie Rickey
One of The Celluloid Closet's many revelations is that as long as there have been films, there have been homosexuals on film.
Boston Globe
Frederic M. Biddle
The Celluloid Closet does more than rant, although it rants righteously. Affectionately, the documentary gives due to what gay visibility there was, even if gay characters met tragic ends.
Detroit Free Press
Terry Lawson
Closet pays proper respect to the groundbreaking films of the '60s and early '70s.
Chicago Reader
Jonathan Rosenbaum
The clips and the intelligence of the commentaries keep this lively and absorbing.
San Francisco Chronicle
Edward Guthmann
"The Celluloid Closet" goes all the way back to the birth of cinema, to an experimental Thomas Edison short of two men dancing, to trace the odd, funny, sad and disgraceful history of homosexual iconography on film.
Variety
David Rooney
An immensely entertaining, galloping reflection on screen perceptions of lesbians and gay men, from the humorous to the heinous to the heartening.
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