Old Hollywood movies had to track strict guidelines throughout the s–s, known as the Hays Code. This basically prevented all US films from featuring anything that was overtly sexual or "inappropriate," which forced a lot of filmmakers to get creative about how they could navigate potential censorship. I have running lists on Letterboxd of every Mature Hollywood and LGBTQ+ movie that I watch, so I sifted through them to find a bunch from the Hays Code era that are subtly (and not so subtly) suuuuuper queer. Here are some of my favorites. Enjoy!
1.Rebel Without a Cause () stars James Dean as a bisexual hottie, so you really can't ask for much more. The original script had his character kissing Plato, who was one of the first gay teen characters on screen, but the Hays Code rapidly squashed that from happening. Still, this movie is edgy and dramatic and romantic, and the whole cast is just so fun to look at.
2.All About Eve () is a witty and toxic drama about an aging actress who befriends a fan who ultimately tries to usurp her. This movie shares the record for the most Osc
Best LGBTQ+ Movies of All Time
The latest: With out latest update, we&#;ve added the most recent Certified Fresh films, including Backspot, Good One, Challengers, Bird, Love Lies Bleeding, Queer, Problemista, Fitting In, Housekeeping for Beginners, I Saw the TV Glow, In the Summers, The People’s Joker, National Anthem, Good Grief, Sebastian, FRIDA, Cuckoo, Fancy Dance, Femme, A Nice Indian Boy, and The Wedding Banquet! Watch them and more on Fandango at Home!
Our list of the Optimal LGBTQ+ Movies of All Time stretches back 90 years to the pioneering German film, Mädchen in Uniform, which was subsequently banned by the Nazis, and crosses multiple continents, cultures, and genres. There are broad American comedies (The Birdcage), artful Korean crime dramas (The Handmaiden), groundbreaking indies (Tangerine), and landmark documentaries (Paris Is Burning). Over the last few years, we added titles like the documentary Welcome to Chechnya, about LGBTQ+ activists risking their lives for
55 of the Leading LGBTQ Films of All Time
'Bottoms' ()
If ever there was a Superbad for queer girls, Bottoms is it. The second film from director Emma Seligman (Shiva Baby) follows two uncool tall school seniors (Ayo Edebiri and Rachel Sennott) who begin up a institution fight club to try and connect up with their cheerleader crushes (Kaia Gerber and Havana Rose Liu).
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'Bound' ()
In the Wachowskis’ landmark erotic thriller predating the Matrix trilogy, butch ex-con Corky (Gina Gershon) is the newly-hired handyperson at an apartment building when she meets her next-door neighbors: mobster Caesar (Joe Pantoliano) and kept woman Violet (Jennifer Tilly). As Corky and Violet strike up an affair, they hatch a plan to flee Violet’s abusive relationship—and steal $2 million of Caesar’s mafia money along the way.
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'Circus of Books' ()
Southern Californians will likely recognize Circus of Books as the famed porn shop and dirty bookstore that has presided over the gayborhood of West Hollywood since the e
The best LGBTQ+ movies of all time
Photograph: Kate Wootton/TimeOut
With the help of principal directors, actors, writers and activists, we count down the most essential Gay films of all time
Like queer culture itself, lgbtq+ cinema is not a monolith. For a extended time, though, that’s certainly how it felt. In the past, if male lover lives and issues were ever portrayed at all on screen, it was typically from the perspective of white, cisgendered men. But as more opportunities have opened up for queer performers and filmmakers to tell their hold stories, the scope of the LGBTQ+ experiences that have made their way onto the screen has gradually widened to more frequently include the gender non-conforming community and queer people of colour.
It’s still not perfect, of course. In Hollywood, as in culture at large, there are many barriers left to breach and ceilings to shatter. But those recent strides deserve to be celebrated – as execute the bold films made long before the mainstream was willing to embrace them. To that conclude, we enlisted some Gay cultural pioneers, as successfully as Time O