Old Hollywood movies had to follow strict guidelines throughout the s–s, known as the Hays Code. This basically prevented all US films from featuring anything that was overtly sexual or "inappropriate," which forced a lot of filmmakers to get creative about how they could navigate potential censorship. I hold running lists on Letterboxd of every Old Hollywood and LGBTQ+ movie that I watch, so I sifted through them to find a bunch from the Hays Code era that are subtly (and not so subtly) suuuuuper gay. Here are some of my favorites. Enjoy!
1.Rebel Without a Cause () stars James Dean as a bisexual hottie, so you really can't inquire for much more. The original script had his character kissing Plato, who was one of the first gay teen characters on screen, but the Hays Code quickly squashed that from happening. Still, this movie is edgy and dramatic and quixotic, and the whole cast is just so amusement to look at.
2.All About Eve () is a witty and toxic drama about an aging actress who befriends a fan who ultimately tries to usurp her. This show shares the record for the most Oscar nominations ever, with 14, and it briefly features Marilyn Monroe in one of her first roles ever.
Best LGBTQ+ Movies of All Time
The latest: With out latest update, we&#;ve added the most recent Certified Fresh films, including Backspot, Good One, Challengers, Bird, Love Lies Bleeding, Queer, Problemista, Fitting In, Housekeeping for Beginners, I Saw the TV Glow, In the Summers, The People’s Joker, National Anthem, Good Grief, Sebastian, FRIDA, Cuckoo, Fancy Dance, Femme, A Nice Indian Boy, and The Wedding Banquet! Watch them and more on Fandango at Home!
Our list of the Top LGBTQ+ Movies of All Time stretches back 90 years to the pioneering German film, Mädchen in Uniform, which was subsequently banned by the Nazis, and crosses multiple continents, cultures, and genres. There are broad American comedies (The Birdcage), artful Korean crime dramas (The Handmaiden), groundbreaking indies (Tangerine), and landmark documentaries (Paris Is Burning). Over the last few years, we added titles like the documentary Welcome to Chechnya, about LGBTQ+ activists risking their lives for the lead to in Russia; Certified Fresh comedy Shiva, Baby; and Netflix&#;s The Old Guard, a rare
55 of the Best LGBTQ Films of All Time
'Bottoms' ()
If ever there was a Superbad for homosexual girls, Bottoms is it. The second film from director Emma Seligman (Shiva Baby) follows two uncool high school seniors (Ayo Edebiri and Rachel Sennott) who start up a school fight club to try and hook up with their cheerleader crushes (Kaia Gerber and Havana Rose Liu).
WATCH NOW
'Bound' ()
In the Wachowskis’ landmark erotic thriller predating the Matrix trilogy, butch ex-con Corky (Gina Gershon) is the newly-hired handyperson at an apartment building when she meets her next-door neighbors: mobster Caesar (Joe Pantoliano) and kept gal Violet (Jennifer Tilly). As Corky and Violet strike up an affair, they hatch a plan to flee Violet’s abusive relationship—and steal $2 million of Caesar’s mafia money along the way.
WATCH NOW
Advertisement - Continue Reading Below
'Circus of Books' ()
Southern Californians will likely recognize Circus of Books as the famed porn shop and soiled bookstore that has presided over the gayborhood of West Hollywood since the early s. For those who are not familiar—and even for those who are—this documentary, directed by the
The best LGBTQ+ movies of all time
Photograph: Kate Wootton/TimeOut
With the help of principal directors, actors, writers and activists, we count down the most essential Homosexual films of all time
Like queer culture itself, homosexual cinema is not a monolith. For a extended time, though, that’s certainly how it felt. In the past, if homosexual lives and issues were ever portrayed at all on screen, it was typically from the perspective of white, cisgendered men. But as more opportunities have opened up for queer performers and filmmakers to tell their possess stories, the scope of the LGBTQ+ experiences that have made their way onto the screen has gradually widened to more frequently include the transgender community and queer people of colour.
It’s still not perfect, of course. In Hollywood, as in culture at large, there are many barriers left to breach and ceilings to shatter. But those recent strides deserve to be celebrated – as execute the bold films made long before the mainstream was willing to allow them. To that termination, we enlisted some Homosexual cultural pioneers, as adv as Time Out writers to assist in assembling a list of the greatest gay films ever made.
