Does This One Have A Gay Angle????

I agree that "These Three" was the better directed version but "Children's" impact was stronger. Also I know "Children's" was HEAVILY edited before it came out. The entire scene when they went on trial was cut out entirely! Shirley MacLaine mentions it in her autobiography. There's also a pic of the trial scene in "The Celluloid Closet" book.

I didn't know that about the original screenplay of "Dracula's Daughter". THAT would have been interesting if it were allowed:) As it is I'm surprised they got by with that one scene. Maybe because it was made clear that she was in love with a guy later on. AND she is killed at the end so...

I heard in the original script of Hammer's vampire film "Brides of Dracula" the main vampire (Baron Meinster NOT Dracula despite the title) was going to be bisexual...but the censors rejected it. I think it was because the actor playing the role was openly gay.

That's all new to me. I've seen Brides of Dracula, but I didn't know that the actor who played the lead vampire was gay or that a courtroom scene had been filmed for The Children's Hour. Mercifully, its omission didn't hurt the film's narrative structure, but I'm sure it would have added to the drama to see how everyone reacted in court.

Also, I didn't mention it in the last post, but you're right about Victim. It was a good movie and Dirk Bogarde was a good casting choice. I think the scene where he confesses to his wife "I WANTED HIM" had probably the biggest emotional impact out of any in the film. Second place would go to the elderly barber talking about having been arrested for something he had no control over.

That was a film which escaped the ax when it came to censorship. Several lines were originally to have been cut, but then all but one of them were restored. I think the only part which didn't make it into the movie was a reference to an adolescent boy who "made the wrong decision." I guess the acknowledgement of teen homosexuality was too much for them at the time, but that still leaves the film's overall message intact.

I agree that "The Children's Hour" works beautifuly without the trial sequence but it was confusing the first time I saw it. When the aunt returns to the school and they yell at her for not showinfg up at trial I was like "WHAT trial"? I think that sequence was cut out because the two women were found guilty of "having sinful sexual knowledge of each other". That might have been too strong for 1962. Remember--the word lesbian was never said during the entire film.

I agree about "Victim" too. "The Cellulouid Closet" film actually does show that sequence when he confesses to his wife. The best thing about the film was the gay men are not made fun of and don't act fem and aren't lisping words. For its time that was revolutionary. The only American film that I can think of from that era that REALLY pushed the boundaries of showing gay men was "Suddenly Last Summer". There's a lot of pointless dialogue that leads to nothing but it's made clear a man is gay and is "using" boys that him mom and sis "procure" for him! It's a terrible movie and author Tennessee Williams was purportedly livid when he saw it but it was a huge hit and paved the way for better films.

If I'm not mistaken, Tennessee Williams disliked all of the film adaptations of his plays. Of course, they kept modifying the endings to minimize or omit the tragedies or to see to it that the guilty parties were punished in some manner. I could see how that would upset him.

As for The Children's Hour, I didn't even notice that the word lesbian was never spoken.

That's right! I remember he hated "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" because they made the ending all happy and the two guys who had gay sex in the play NEVER had it in the movie!

As for not ever hearing the word 'lesbian' it took me 4 or 5 viewings before I realized it was never uttered:)