THE BOYS IN THE BAND

When Robin Wood saw THE BOYS IN THE BAND upon its intial release, he turned to his then-wife and said, “Look what you've saved me from.” Years later Wood was one of the best-known avowedly homosexual film commentators and could recall the incident with irony. Obviously things have changed since Mart Crowley's gay-themed off-Broadway hit was adapated to the screen. Activists slammed it as rife with negative stereotypes and oppressive angst, while others who came out of their closets long before Stonewall affirmed that the characters accurately reflected an era. In any case, THE BOYS IN THE BAND remains a cinema milestone as the first serious mainstream American feature to depict queer lifestyles, and it's due for an appreciation on its 25th anniversary. A straight man drops in unexpectantly on his old college roommate during a birthday party for a mutual friend. The visitor doesn't realize at first that all the celebrants are gay-one is, in fact, the birthday gift himself. Initial embarrassment and discomfort turns to curiosity, as the outsider confronts his own latent tendencies. For all the broad brushstrokes, the drama's obvious sympathy for its subjects was nothing less than historic, and this film effectivelyy shattered one of Hollywood's most hypocritical taboos.