The Barb. (Atlanta, Ga.) 197?-197?, December 01, 1974, Image 6
THE BARB - 6
GAT-INe TC THE HCVIES
With Steve Warren
December’s the month
when all the big movies
come marked “Do not open
until Christmas.” They in
clude “The Towering In
ferno,” The Man with the
Golden Gun,” “The Little
Prince,” Mel Brooks’
“Young Frankenstein,”
“Freebie and the Bean,”
“The Front Page” and
“The Godfather, Part II.”
We’ll tell you about them
next month.
Meanwhile, the talk of
every town it’s played in
is “A Very Natural Thing,”
a serious film about gay
lifestyles and problems.
Gay audiences have
praised it too highly for its
honesty "' and sensitivity,
simply because no other
films have taken this ap
proach on a nonporno-;
graphic level. Most critics
--straight and gay--have
panned it too harshly for
the usual weaknesses of a
low-budget first feature:
didactic script that tries
to say too much; preten
tiously arty photography;
and acting that’s passable
at best.
Robert Joel plays David,
who comes out in a
monastery, and leaves with
the feeling that God is
“either sadistic or incom
petent.”
Seeking a lasting re
lationship, he latches onto
Mark (Curt Gareth), who is
clearly not the marrying
kind. The relationship is
doomed from the start, but
hey make it last for a year
or so.
When David meets Jason
(Bo White), a divorced man
with a young daughter, the
roles are reversed: this
ime David’s the one who’s
afraid to make a commit
ment. The ending lets you
draw your own conclusions
as to whether or not they’ll
work it out.
The publicists have done
their job well, because the 1
ohrase, “the first positive
gay film,” is traveling the
grapevine in “Manchurian
Candidate” fashion. But “A
Very Natural Thing” is too
r ealistic to be positive. The
most successful relation
ship it shows is one that has
lasted five years; and
there’s no love left between
the “lovers”--they just
won’t admit defeat.
I saw “A Very Natural
Thing” at a theatre in San
Robert Joel As David And Bo White
As Jason In "A Very Natural Thing”
Francisco, where it was
paired with “The Boys in
the Band.” Seeing them to
gether gives a startling
portrait of where we’re
coming from, and how much
we’ve progressed in the
last four years.
One wishes that “AVery
Natural Thing” could have
been produced, directed,
written and acted as well as
“The Boys in the Band”;
but a milestone is a mile
stone.
***
While we’re on the sub
ject of gay movies, it’s
time we mentioned porno
graphy. Atlantans who are
into that, and who read ads
and reviews in national pub
lications, may wonder why
the features they read about
never play locally.
I wonder, too. We’ve yet
to see a film by PatRocco,
Wakefield Poole, Jack De-
veau, Arch Brown and
others who have established
reputations in gay hard
core.
Perhaps it’s because the
Gay Paree has a local
monopoly in this field, and
can charge as much for the
low-rental pictures they
show as they would for
better films.
And perhaps they’re
right in thinking that no
one goes to see the movie
anyway.
(I don’t know what the
features they’re running
are like; but I’ve seen a
couple of the “biggies”
out of town, and you’re not
missing much.)
But don’t you wish they’d
give you credit for a little
intelligence? They’ve been
running the same ad in the
daily papers for over a
year, changing only the
title of the picture. The
format includes an alleged
quote from the Advocate
which says, “One of the
wildest yet . . . on the
lavender film circuit. A
film that gives its audience
their money’s worth.”,
Obviously, the Advocate
hasn’t said this about every
film they show, and the Gay
Paree is guilty of fraud
ulent advertising.
For gays who are only
interested in getting
screwed, there are plenty
Bob Fosse In "The Little Prince”
of unscrupulous business
men around to do the job.
When you demand more,
you’ll get it!
Our gay brothers and
sisters in the animal world
are slandered by implica
tion in the new nature
documentary, “Birds Do
It, Bees Do It.” The film
is primarily concerned with
the mating habits of every
thing from one-celled
creatures to elephants,
hippos and rhinos.
Although it’s common
knowledge that homosexual
encounters are frequent
among most species, this
aspect is virtually ignored
(expect when bulls are
shown arousing each other
so their sperm can be
captured for artificial in
semination).
‘ ‘Nothing that promotes
life can be termed abnor
mal,” intones the narrator
- - which says as much for
our side as Ann Landers,
and with as much validity,
in context.
A lot of the footage in
“Birds Do It, Bees Do It”
is old-hat, the kind of stuff
we saw in “educational
Continued On Page 8
Ik
^LUB
1139 WEST PEACHTREE ST. NE
■ HREE Discotheque
THE SOUND OF LOVE
( a cabaret A rcstnarawf )
ATLANTA
Super Show
All I Ytl cH Iflillcll V
I iiftTliiinmenf I \perienre
Have you
listened lately?