Can you spot the coded gay character in this movie masterpiece?
Welcome to Screen Gems, our weekend dive into queer and queer-adjacent titles of the past that deserve a watch or a re-watch.Cinema lost one of its most interesting and talented filmmakers this week with the death of director Peter Bogdanovich at age 82.
Though very (very) straight, Bogdanovich crafted at least two Great Movies with queer interest: What’s Up Doc?, one of the most outrageous screwball comedies ever made, featuring Barbra Streisand at her most hilarious and Madeline Kahn in her cinematic debut; and Paper Moon, a perfect comedy starring Madeline Kahn at her best and bisexual actress Tatum O’Neal, the latter of whom won an Oscar for her work.Bogdanovich’s masterpiece–and indeed, the movie that elevated him to superstardom as a director–also features some LGBTQ interest, though of a more subtle variety.
The Last Picture Show debuted in 1971 and scored eight Oscar nominations, including nods for Best Director and Best Picture.
The movie, based on the novel by a pre-Brokeback Mountain Larry McMurtry, follows the goings-on of a small Texas town in the 1950s.
