NITRATE KISSES

Hammer’s daring impressionist documentary seethes over the historical suppression of homosexual thought. A triptych structure features voiceover testimony to American lesbians in the 1930s, gay men from the same era, and both “third sexes” in war era Berlin. This is emphasized by striking black & white visuals of vintage paperbacks, old film clips, neglect and decay, accompanied by rarely heard, vintage queer themed blues and jazz. The central segment peaks with scraps of the 1933 experimental short “Lot In Sodom,” a strange and surreal biblical pic that looks like a phantom vogue in a dark carnival funhouse. In a shockingly defiant moment, the Hays Office Production Code of film censorship scrolls over a screenful of rather graphic lesbian images, scenes old Will Hays most likely never even imagined! C. C