Vintage Thursday

Hollywood Tidbits



Character actors Edward Everett Horton, Franklin Pangborn, Eric Blore and Billy DeWolfe had extensive careers playing effeminate roles in comedies and musicals – depicting floorwalkers, bureaucrats, valets, designers, etc. Although proof is primarily circumstantial, many film historians suggest that that all four were actually gay. If so, they all may have found some satisfaction in openly tweaking society's nose.



Broadway's gay musical star Clifton Webb stuck to waspish non-singing roles in Hollywood, where he avoided any scandal connected with his homosexuality. Star of the popular Mr. Belvedere films, he also had memorable roles in such hits as Laura (1944). His only musical appearance was as the non-singing march king John Phillip Sousa in Stars and Stripes Forever (1952).



Because Danny Kaye portrayed the title role in The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1947) as a heterosexual, he got away with performing "Anatol of Paris," the ruminations of a queeny hat designer who finally proclaims, "I hate women!"



Heterosexual actor Bert Lahr minces and camps as The Cowardly Lion in The Wizard of Oz (MGM 1939), but since his limp-wristed character shows no attraction to other males, code administrators viewed his sexuality as a non-issue.



The Wizard of Oz provided a treasure trove of gay-friendly statements and images, ranging from the sentimental to the campy –
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The Scarecrow's sly observation that "some people do go both ways."
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Judy Garland's sparkling red pumps that could take you anywhere with a triple click of the heels.
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The musical invocation to “come out, come out.”
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The versatile "horse of a different color."
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Glinda's spirited affirmation "and Toto too!"
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The song “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” became an unofficial gay anthem and later inspired the Rainbow Pride Flag.
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In the 1970s, when Anita Bryant joined the long line of hypocrites who have wrapped their personal bigotries in the Christian cross, some critics noted her striking attitudinal resemblance to the Wicked Witch of the West. What a pity orange juice didn't have the same effect as water.