Some Of My Best Friends Are... (U.S. 1971)

The Gist:

Patrons gather in a Manhattan gay bar on Christmas Eve 1971 for what will end up being a tumultuous evening of high drama. 

Comments:

The movie has a reputation of being a depressing artifact of the time it was made. A position that is hard to argue with. After all, consider its famous last line, spoken when two bartenders shutting down the bar for the night realize they have locked someone inside and say: "Leave him there until morning. Where else does a faggot have to go?" 

Fun times. 

This may be post Stonewall Riots New York, but no one has told anyone in the movie. Many, though admittedly not all, of the gay characters actively believe they are somehow damaged and deserve oppression. Part of that attitude though is that everyone in the bar is some sort of stereotype or another, and boy are there are a lot of them. There are too many characters and story lines to develop very deeply, although character growth doesn't seem to be a very high priority in this jam packed bar. 

Interestingly, the movie is filled with well known or upcoming (for the time) TV and movie actors, which gives the bar an odd sort of familiarity, as if the people here were one cab ride away from being in a "very special episode" of All in the Family. We have:

• A straight mafioso who owns a gay bar
• A fussy sissy waiter who speaks in an affected voice so high that the man he's been speaking to on the telephone doesn't realize he is not a woman
• A bisexual airline pilot (Gil Gerrard) with a heart of gold (more or less) who is feuding with a vindictive fag hag (Rue MccLanahan)
• A belligerent self-hating hustler (Gary Sandy)
• A tortured, married, closeted man who takes hot showers to try to wash the homosexuality off of him after he has sex with his hot Swiss ski instructor lover (who for some reason goes around wearing thick blue eyeshadow)
• A woman with a secret (Candy Darling of Warhol fame) 
• A bar hostess (Fanny Flag) whose job duties includes dancing with gay couples (because in this time it is illegal for men to dance together).  

This is only a partial list of characters. There are so many people and a lot of stuff going on here. Much of it arguably sad. Perhaps because of that sadness, the movie comes off as a plea for sympathy. Not because homophobia is wrong, but rather because these poor twisted people's lives are so screwed up that they deserve the viewers pity.

'Don't hate the fags, the poor wretches got enough troubles of their own' is not exactly a positive 70’s pro gay liberation rallying cry, and the movie is definitely not a high point in LGBT pride, but it is an interesting look at a certain view of late 60's / early 70's queer culture. 

The stories are messy and sad (and if you have issues with feminine men, likely annoying as well), but I think it is worth watching to see how we were once viewed and how far we have or have not come since then. 

Women:

Yes

People of color:

Yes

Gratuitous nudity:

Very brief nudity, though in a very 70's realism way, so natural may be a better adjective than gratuitous 

• Director: Mervyn Nelson
• Writer: Mervyn Nelson
• Actors: Fannie Flagg, Rue McClanahan, Candy Darling, Gil Gerrard, ...
• 110 min
• IMDB