July 30, 1999 G

RONICLE

eveningsout

Some things change, and some things stay the same

The Boys in the Band

Directed by William Friedkin Cleveland Cinematheque, Aug. 5-6

Reviewed by Frank Green

We've come a long way, baby. When it opened off-Broadway in 1968, Mart Crowley's play The Boys in the Band was hailed as a breakthrough-the first play to portray gay men sympathetically, without pity or mockery or scorn. Its brilliant rapidfire dialogue and melodramatic unfolding of the personal crises of nine diverse gay men at a party became a classic of American drama that's still produced in theaters today.

If the play's characterization of gay men as guilt-ridden, self-loathing, miserable creatures seems dated-and it does, though the campy dialogue still sounds crisp and right on the money-it's because we've come a long way in terms of pride and self-esteem since the Stonewall riots in 1969.

But it's good to look back once in awhile to see where we came from. In 1970, William Friedkin, who later directed The Exorcist, The French Connection, and Cruising, made a film version of The Boys in the Band, using the original script and cast. Basically a filmed play, the movie is remarkable for its ensemble acting, and for hand-held camera work that makes you feel like you're there at the party with the boys.

The film has been re-released in a new uncut, color print that screens August 5 at

Harold's friends dance to the Supremes at his birthday party.

9:00 pm and August 6 at 7:15 pm at the Cleveland Cinematheque.

In those days, homosexuality was still considered a mental illness, and most states had laws that made it difficult for gays to congregate together openly, let alone have sex. Is it any wonder that gay men had low self-esteem?

Sad as it seems, a lot of guys lived lives like those portrayed in this film: hating themselves and unable to find love, resigned to a

life of drinking and drugs and lonely mornings after one-night stands. Although it's not politically correct to admit it, there are still men like that today. For every pair of outand-proud queers marching in the gay parade, there's a self-loathing fag still locked in the closet.

The action starts with the dishy bitching of two friends, Michael (played by Kenneth Nelson) and Donald (Frederick Combs), as they prepare Michael's Man-

hattan apartment for a birthday party for their buddy Harold (Leonard Frey). A smorgasbord of gay types begins to arrive a screaming queen, a wisecracking black man, a stoic Jew, a beautiful hustler without a brain in his head-friends united in loneliness. There's even a gay couple, though it's significant that they're unhappy because one of the partners is too promiscuous to make a real commitment.

The plot heats up when Michael's roommate from college calls from out of the blue and wants to come over. He's straight (or is he?) and Michael wants "the girls" to pretend to be straight while he's there. That proves impossible, the jig's soon up, and violence ensues.

The second half of the movie gets really intense as, to the sound of a relentless rainstorm, and in the guise of a game devised by an increasingly drunk and cruel host, the party guests confront their loneliness and guilt.

Michael's final lament, "If we could only learn not to hate ourselves so very much," has come true for a great many gay men. But let's not forgot how hard it was to get here. This melodramatic film is an entertaining reminder of a psychological mind-set we've only recently learned to resist.

Frank Green is a Chronicle contributing writer living in Cleveland's Tremont neighborhood.

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