Backdrop image for movie The Celluloid Closet

The Celluloid Closet (1996)

What "That's Entertainment" did for movie musicals, "The Celluloid Closet" does for Hollywood homosexuality, as this exuberant, eye-opening movie serves up a dazzling hundred-year history of the role of gay men and lesbians have had on the silver screen. Lily Tomlin narrates as Oscar-winning moviemaker Rob Epstein ("The Times of Harvey Milk" and "Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt") and Jeffrey Friedman assemble fabulous footage from 120 films showing the changing face of cinema sexuality, from cruel stereotypes to covert love to the activist triumphs of the 1990s. Tom Hanks, Susan Sarandon, Whoopi Goldberg, Tony Curtis, Harvey Fierstein and Gore Vidal are just a few of the many actors, writers and commentators who provide funny and insightful anecdotes.

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History

Top billed cast

Lily TomlinNarrator (voice)
Tony CurtisSelf
Susan SarandonSelf
Gore VidalSelf
Whoopi GoldbergSelf
Antonio FargasSelf
Shirley MacLaineSelf
John SchlesingerSelf
Armistead MaupinSelf
Arthur LaurentsSelf

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