One of the biggt challeng facg silent film historians today is this, “Whout sound, jt how are you supposed to tell if your favore silent era film star was gay?” Whout sound, there’s no tell-tale lisp; no guttural bulldog growl mblg om an otherwise mure, dove-whe throat. The qutn of silent era sexualy has ed […]
Contents:
- HOLLYWOOD’S FIRST GAY MARRIAGE
- SILENT FILMS, RATED BY GAYNS
- MICHAEL (1924): CARL THEODOR DREYER’S INIC GAY SILENT FILM, STARRG WALTER SLEZAK
HOLLYWOOD’S FIRST GAY MARRIAGE
* gay actor silent films *
Hollywood’s First Gay Marriage. The story of William Ha is remembered, if ’s remembered at all, as the story of the first openly gay Hollywood star. And through all he was, proudly, one-half of Hollywood’s first openly gay marriage.
That Ha was livg openly wh another man, thereby stroyg any possibily that he might not be gay, ially did absolutely nothg to impact Ha’ populary around town or at his home stud.
For years, everyone at MGM had known that William Ha was gay and livg wh a man he loved.
SILENT FILMS, RATED BY GAYNS
Danish director Carl Theodor Dreyer ma Michael (aka Mikaël, Chaed: The Story of the Third Sex, and Heart's Dire), an inic German gay silent drama, which is strikg both visually and emotnally. * gay actor silent films *
Members of the Hollywood gay scene of the time believe that Billy had taken the h for Jimmy, who had been arrted a bar or a park, where he was known to cise. We know that many other stars Hollywood had gay relatnships, but most prented themselv as straight when told to. Billy’s old iend Archie Leach, for stance, is acknowledged now by many bgraphers to have lived as a gay man before he me to Hollywood and to have ntued relatnships wh men after he beme Cary Grant.
Homosexualy the Silent Cema. Banned 1920, only a agment surviv of Different om the Others (1919), an "Enlightenment Film" promotg tolerance of homosexualiy, wh a fe st head up by the great Conrad Veidt.
Veidt plays Korner, a gay vlist.
MICHAEL (1924): CARL THEODOR DREYER’S INIC GAY SILENT FILM, STARRG WALTER SLEZAK
He has been llectg news clippgs on homosexual suicis triggered by Paragraph 175, a German law crimalizg homosexualy, & which the nazis ma good e of a uple s later. He ponrs the nam of great men history who were gay, & builds his own self-teem sufficiently to meet wh & beg a relatnship wh a very young man, Kurt (Frz Schulz), who is voted to classil mic & uld benef by a mentor.
Franz is himself gay but neverthels feels no qualms threateng other gay men to obta sh, the notor Paragraph 175 makg very easy to threaten homosexuals wh imprisonment or Korner's se, at the very least, the loss of his reer as a ncert vlist. His ltle llectn of newspaper notic of gay men's suicis begs to make more & more sense to him. For an "enlightenment" film this wasn't all that enlightened, & dangeroly close to a plea for tolerance of perasty rather than homosexualy between nsentg adults.
Still, for such a relic on the ted si, the film's assertn that "only ignorance or bigotry" would disapprove of homosexualy was bold for s day. Although only a few overtly gay films are known to survive om the silent era, the world-wi history of homosexualy the cema do beg wh the silent era, & is que extensive on one or another level.