Description Hide Description- Show Description+
Just in time for Pride Month promotions, this book is a first-of-its-kind in-depth exploration of LGBTQ+ representation from the dawn of cinema through today, from noted film critic Alonso Duralde and Turner Classic Movies.
For generations, members of the LGBTQ+ community in Hollywood needed to be "discreet" about their lives but-make no mistake-they were everywhere, both in front of and behind the camera.
On the eve the 20th century, in Thomas Edison's laboratory, one of the earliest attempts at a sound film depicted two men dancing together as a third plays the violin. It's only a few minutes long, but this cornerstone of early cinema captures a queer moment on film. It would not be the last.
Hollywood Pride is a tale spanning from "pansy craze" of the 1930s to the New Queer Cinema of the 1990s, all the way up to today. It deals with the hard-working actors, writers, directors, producers, cinematographers, art directors, and choreographers whose achievements defined the American film industry, as well as charting the evolution of LGBTQ+ storytelling itself-the way that mainstream Hollywood decided it would portray (or erase) their lives and the narratives created by queer filmmakers who fought to tell those stories themselves.
Along the way, readers will encounter a fascinating cast of characters, such as the first generation of queer actors, including J. Warren Kerrigan, Ramon Novarro, William Haines, and Lilyan Tashman. Early cinema pioneers like Alla Nazimova and F.W. Murnau helped shape the new medium of moving pictures. The sex symbols, both male (Rock Hudson, Tab Hunter, and Anthony Perkins) and female (Lizbeth Scott and Greta Garbo), lived under the threat of their private lives undermining their public personas. Underground filmmakers Kenneth Anger and John Waters made huge strides in LGBTQ+ representation with their off-off-Hollywood productions in the 1960s and '70s. These screen legends paved the way for the likes of Billy Porter, Laverne Cox, Kimberly Peirce, Elliot Paige, Bowen Yang, and every other openly queer figure in twenty-first century Hollywood.
?Illustrated by more than 100 full-colour and black-and-white images, Hollywood Pride charts the future of the LGBTQ+ community in cinema by revealing the story of its triumphs and tragedies, its inclusion and erasure, and its visibility and invisibility.
Author: Alonso Duralde
Hardback Published 13 December 2024 336 pages
“Hollywood Pride isn’t a recitation of the most important LGBTQ+ films; it is an exploration of the forces that have made film queer. From gay love for straight stories, queer charisma from closeted actors, or ridiculous trends which shifted the performance of gender on film, Alonso Duralde masterfully traces an often-hidden lineage of queer culture on the big screen. His short, poppy essays combine authoritative research, incisive criticism, and dishy gossip to let gay text and subtext shine with the glitter they deserve.”―Guy Branum, writer and comedian
“A smart, swift, extensively researched and often deeply-moving celebration of the movies, actors, writers, directors, composers, designers, and cinematographers that indelibly marked queer cinema and the wider culture during each successive era—for better or worse. What Duralde has accomplished here is, especially during our dark and reactionary times, vitally important.”―Stephen Rebello, author of Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho and Dolls! Dolls! Dolls! Deep Inside Valley of the Dolls