In 1968, Mart Crowley’s The Boys in the Band premiered Off-Broadway and shocked audiences with its candid portrayal of homosexual men. The story of getting the play written and on stage is lengthy, including Mart (Fade-In) being hired as actor Natalie Woods’s assistant to have the time and money to write it. Once it was written, it was nearly impossible to find actors who would portray gay characters. Once that was accomplished, he had difficulty finding producers and theater owners. This story begins as a triumph of will in a climate that was openly hostile towards homosexuality.
Set in an Upper East Side apartment in Manhattan in 1968, Michael (Kenneth Nelson) is getting ready to host a birthday party for his friend Harold (Leonard Frey). But tempers flare and true selves are revealed when a heterosexual accidentally intrudes on the homosexual party.
The great news is that it made its way Off-Broadway and left an indelible mark on history, so much so that over 50 years later, we have a revival both on Broadway and film. Two years after it premiered Off-Broadway it was adapted into a film, written by Mart Crowley and directed by William Friedkin right before he would make The French Connection (1971) and The Exorcist (1973) back-to-back. Adapting this for the screen is a challenge, it’s all set in one night, in one location, and while it may feel like a play, Friedkin is able to use blocking and creative camera work to bring this intensely personal story to the big screen.
This story is all about the characters; each one embodies certain facets of a gay man’s life, from the flamboyant to the brooding, the questioning, and the self-hating. This wouldn’t be half the film that it is without the cast with everyone reprising their roles from the stage play: Cliff Gorman (All That Jazz) as Emory, Keith Prentice (Cruising) as Larry, Robert La Tourneaux (Pilgrimage) as Cowboy Tex, Peter White (Armageddon) as Alan McCarthy, Frederick Combs (David) as Donald, Laurence Luckinbill (Cocktail) as Hank, and Reuben Greene (The Clairvoyant) as Bernard. Each has their own demons they are battling and they all play off each other, showing that these men have spent a long time together. After 1,001 shows Off-Broadway, there’s definitely a comradery, and you can feel it.
The main focus is on Michael, the host of the party, a recovering alcoholic, and struggling with his identity. He gets a phone call from an old college friend named Alan, with whom there is an unrequited love, and Michael is hoping that if Alan comes to the party, they will be able to talk. It’s almost set up like a murder mystery, but instead of dead bodies, its skeletons in the closet that keep coming out. Each character begins to show up at the party, some with more grand entrances than others.
As the night progresses, they get stuck inside due to a storm, with the alcohol flowing Michael comes up with a game where you have to call that one person you loved, that you never told, and tell them you love them. Obviously, these men are varying degrees of closeted, and the ones they would be calling are straight. There are intense scenes of these men coming to terms with loving someone else they know will never love them, dealing with the bigotry and hate from outsiders, and even some from within. It’s an absolutely fascinating look at this moment in time with characters and scenes that will stick with you. It is extremely important and necessary to show what the LBGTQ community had to face, and the personal stories they tell and that we get to experience first-hand is a beautiful way of relaying this history. The special features are a bit somber, as only two cast members were still alive. Between 1984 and 1993, five of the gay men in the original production (as well as stage director Robert Moore and producer Richard Barr) died in the ensuing AIDS epidemic.
The DVD re-release has additional material including an audio commentary, and a three-part documentary that traces its evolution from stage to screen with director William Friedkin, playwright/screenwriter Mart Crowley, executive producer Dominick Dunne (The Ushers), writer Tony Kushner (West Side Story (2021)), and two of the surviving cast members, Peter White and Laurence Luckinbill.
Overall, this film is an absolute must-watch, for its rich history, important subject matter, and brilliant performances.
Available on DVD June 25th, 2024.
Final Score: 5 out of 5.
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Categories: Films To Watch, Home Release, Home Video, Recommendation, Reviews
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