Is it true about George Cukor?
Is it true what Whale says about Cukor being gay and having relations with boys?
shareWas it true?
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MovieChat Forums > Gods and Monsters (1998) Discussion > Is it true about George Cukor?
I couldn't say about 1st person, but according to his bios, yes.
Defintely. I thought that was well known...
"Where's the sherbert, mother?"
"It's there, beneath the layer of protective ice..."
When he says "boys", I don't think he means under-age boys.
I think it's like people who refer to "male and female" as "girls and boys".
But yeah, George Cukor was gay. And he lost jobs over it.
(For instance, Clark Gable had him kicked off "Gone With The Wind" specifically because he was gay -- he never got to finish the movie, and didn't get screen credit for the very large part of it that he directed.)
Cukor didn't direct a "large part" of GWTW. He directed some scenes, like the charity ball, before he was fired.
The official reason for the firing was differences with the studio. Cukor himself admitted he didn't have a handle on the picture, and an epic like GWTW was certainly a stretch for him. I've also heard the "Gable had him fired because he was gay" version. And another: that Gable had him fired not just because he was gay (no doubt he worked with a lot of gays in Hollywood), but because Cukor knew men who'd slept with Gable early in his career as he was trying to get to the top. True? Who knows. But not unbelieveable. Makes for interesting speculation.
In a PBS documentary about the Making of Gone with the Wind, it explained George Cukor's firing over 1.) Gable's discomfort with a director who catered so much to Vivien Leigh and the other actresses, and 2.) the fact that all the catering to Vivien and the girls was taking up too much time and costing the studio money.
Flanagan
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In gay terminology, the term "boy" doesn't mean underage. Sometimes it's referred to as "boi" to distinguish it. It just means someone with youthful qualities ... If I sit down at a restaurant in the Castro with friends (gay neighborhood in my city of San Francisco) the waiter might say "what can I get you boys" even though it's obvious I'm over 30.
And let's not get started on the fun that can be had with pronouns.
"Who is she? Who was she? Who does she hope to be?"
-- THE BOYS IN THE BAND
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Several reasons have been vited for Cukors firing, including that he was known as a women's director, and Gable, already insecure about being in a period role and having to live up to everyone's expectations of Rhett Butler; felt his costars were being favored. (Indeed Cukor is said to have coached Vivian and Olivia in private throughout the film. ) There are also more salacious rumors that Gable either objected to Cukor's orientation or Cukor's knowledge of aspects of Gable's past. Personally I think the more professional explanation makes more sense.
It is not our abilities that show who we truly are...it is our choices