I watched this movie for the first time last night, and when Peter Lorre first came on, I didn't recognize him...with his hair like that he reminded me a bit of Robert Mitchum at first. But is it me or did he look cute in that movie? Usually he's the scary, intimidating, psychotic, whatever...here he was a pitiful little man who got beat up by a woman (), but he looka so cute in that movie, I think. Anybody else think so?
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Maybe I'm the only one but I really don't get that...exactly HOW was he supposed to have been a gay character?
shareThe character was gay in the book. In the movie, he couldn't be blatantly gay due to restrictions of the time; he was more effeminate ("look what you did to my shirt")... but there were some tell-tale signs, e.g. the way he 'fondles' his cane in Spade's office, the sadness on his face when Wilmer is sold out (presumably they were lovers), and the most obvious give-away was when Bridget mentions something about a boy in Istanbul.
shareI thought "Look what you did to my shirt" was funny. I also thought it was funny when that woman was beating him up, a little man being beaten up by a tiny woman, .
shareDue to Hays Office censorship, homosexuality could not be mentioned. Thus they hint that Cairo is gay - perfumed hankerchief, theatre ticket, physical weakness, fawning over Wilmer Cook, etc. Bridget O'Shaunessy fears Cairo as he is immune to her sexual charms - charms she uses to hoodwink and double-cross guys like Archer and Thursby.
shareAnd Spade.
shareThis was discussed in another recent thread, and I'll just cut and paste my comment:
Actually, they were not that subtle for 1941 (although vague enough to get by the Production Code). Audiences in different eras have different expectations and will pick up on contemporary conventions that may be lost on viewers in later eras that are unfamiliar with movie code. For 1941 audiences, Cairo's gardenia scented business card and prissy manner was almost as unsubtle as having a Loony Tunes character hold up a sign with an arrow reading "this character is gay." BTW, there is also a suggestive exchange in the scene where Cairo and Brigid O'Shaughnessy are arguing in Spade's apartment. Concluding that "the boy" outside works for the Fat Man, Brigid says (paraphrasing) "You may be able to get around him Joel, like you did that boy in Istanbul. What was his name?" Cairo replies, "You mean the one that you couldn't get to come to your ..." and they come to blows.
And, Spade repeatedly refers to him as a gunsel, which was somewhat obscure slang for a catamite (boy-toy to an older man). It's thought that the word got past the censors because they weren't familiar with it.
The truth is, when I saw this movie for the first time, I thought that 'gunsel' meant gangster, as in 'carry and use a gun'. It wasn't untgil much later that I discovered that the word is Yiddish for gay young man.
share>>the word is Yiddish for gay young man.<<
Technically, it's Yiddish for "gosling!" I guess the image of a baby goose toddling along after Papa goose is invoked by the idea of a young kept man.
A gantz is a goose, and a gentzl is a gosling -- that extra syllable is often used for "the small or baby version of" something.
All of the spellings are phonetic, since Yiddish would be written with a whole other alphabet anyway. So, "gentzl" and "gunsel" are really the same word.
Yiddish words for gay men lean toward the avian in general -- slang for a male homosexual is "faigl" -- bird, or "faigeleh" -- little bird.
So, there is a whole linguistic lesson nobody asked for! Sorry, I love words and sometimes I just can't help myself . . .
Due to Hays Office censorship, homosexuality could not be mentioned. Thus they hint that Cairo is gay - perfumed hankerchief, theatre ticket, physical weakness, fawning over Wilmer Cook, etc. Bridget O'Shaunessy fears Cairo as he is immune to her sexual charms - charms she uses to hoodwink and double-cross guys like Archer and Thursby.
I agreed with everything but the theatre ticket. I KNOW in the film the theatre ticket is one of the indicators that he is gay. But WHY is it an indicator? Only gay man would go see a play?
I never actually thought of him as a gay character, but it makes perfect sense. It also explains why he threw himself on the chair at the end and cried like a little girl because the falcon wasn't real. I mean, I get it, he's upset. But him being gay turns it from a WTF moment into something that makes a tad more sense.
"Well!!! Since when did you become the physical type?"
The smell of his calling card was the first definitive reference that Cairo was gay. Unfortunately, many that contend to be fans of film noir are not capable of understanding how the directors needed to work around the Hays Code. This viewer actually prefers this approach as opposed to spelling everything out since it requires one to actually think.
shareThere is a similar scene in Murder My Sweet. The elevator operator tells Phillip Marlowe that the customer smells real good.
"Two more swords and I'll be Queen of the Monkey People." Roseanne
Ok, I got it... are all of you drool over Mr. Cairo, SUC&ERS?
:_:_:_:_:_:
"There's nothing wrong with your mind set. You're just a moron"
I remember hearing about "Gardenia" from my mother. Mom worked in a "Five and Dime" before she got married, and she said that the only ones who bought the Gardenia perfume were "Chippies" and the "Boys". She also said that the "boys" always used "Mother's Day" as an excuse to stock up.
I remembered how we laughed when Effie handed Cairo's card to Sam, and said "Gardenia". She always wondered how they, and "Little Peter", got away with it..
This was in Summer of 1939, when she was working.
"I do hope he won't upset Henry.."
Beautiful!
"There's nothing wrong with your mind set. You're just a moron"
evil bob.
We have a pool and a pond...pond be good for you.
Besides all the clues mentioned aforehand, how about the reference to the man he couldn't get around in Istanbull?
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Peter Lorre reminded the OP of Robert Mitchum. Astounding.
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