''The Celluloid Closet: Homosexuality in the Movies'' is a non-fiction book by

film historian The history of film chronicles the development of a visual art form created using film technologies that began in the late 19th century. The advent of film as an artistic medium is not clearly defined. However, the commercial, public scr ...

and

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...

activist

Vito Russo Vito Russo (July 11, 1946 – November 7, 1990) was an American LGBT activist, film historian, and author. He is best remembered as the author of the book ''The Celluloid Closet'' (1981, revised edition 1987), described in ''The New York Time ...

, first published in 1981 by

Harper & Row Harper is an American publishing house, the flagship imprint of global publisher HarperCollins based in New York City. History J. & J. Harper (1817–1833) James Harper and his brother John, printers by training, started their book publishin ...

. The book examines the history of depictions of homosexuality in film, particularly in

Hollywood film The cinema of the United States, consisting mainly of major film studios (also known as Hollywood) along with some independent film, has had a large effect on the global film industry since the early 20th century. The dominant style of Ame ...

s, from queer coded to overt portrayals. A revised edition of the book was published in 1987, with 80 additional pages. The book was released after two books of the same subject

Parker Tyler Harrison Parker Tyler (March 6, 1904 – June 1974), was an American author, poet, and film critic. Tyler had a relationship with underground filmmaker Charles Boultenhouse (1926–1994) from 1945 until his death. Their papers are held by the New ...

's 1972 book ''Screening the Sexes'' and

Richard Dyer Richard Dyer (born 1945) is an English academic who held a professorship in the Department of Film Studies at King's College London. Specialising in cinema (particularly Italian cinema), queer theory, and the relationship between entertainment ...

's 1977 ''Gays and Film'', even though Russo complained at the time of the release that no gay writer had produced any meaningful criticism of homosexuality in the movies. ''The Celluloid Closet'' book was prefigured by a live lecture/film clip presentation of the same name, which Russo first presented in 1972 and would go on to deliver at colleges, universities, and small cinemas. After Russo's death in 1990, ''The Celluloid Closet'' book was adapted into a 1995 documentary film of the same name directed by

Rob Epstein Robert P. Epstein (born April 6, 1955), is an American director, producer, writer, and editor. He has won two Academy Awards for Best Documentary Feature, for the films ''The Times of Harvey Milk'' and '' Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt ...

and Jeffrey Friedman.

Reception

Demian of the ''

Seattle Gay News The ''Seattle Gay News'' is a weekly newspaper aimed at the Seattle and Puget Sound area LGBT community in the U.S. state of Washington. History ''Seattle Gay News'' was founded in 1974 by Jim Tully and Jim Anderson. As of 2022, the SGN is dist ...

'' wrote that, "Vito Russo brings to his book the same wealth of political and social history that he used in creating his lecture and film show", and concluded: "''The Celluloid Closet'' is a great book to browse through. The writing is direct, clear, and entertaining. The book is another piece of history reclaimed. Vito Russo has created an exciting volume out his great love of cinema and out of his gay pride."

References

1981 non-fiction books Books about LGBT history Books about film Historiography of LGBT in the United States History of film of the United States LGBT portrayals in mass media 1980s LGBT literature Non-fiction books adapted into films {{LGBT-book-stub

Reception

See also

References