Saturday Night now out on DVD!
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robbchadwick — 19 years ago(April 12, 2006 09:31 AM)
but I'm just curious how "campy" the whole thing is. Isn't it kind of a BI-sexual thing?
It's not all that campy; and even though the lead character, Michael, is involved with a woman, the entire focus of the film is on him and his budding relationship with the entertainment director at the baths, the real Don Scotti. Actually the female, Ellen, is very supportive and encourages Michael to be open about gay things. (I'm not sure if she actually knows how open Michael already is in his fantasies or anything about his past.)
I think I said this before in another thread; but the real value of the film is not so much the story but a look back at a time 30 years ago, after Stonewall, when things had started to change somewhat and to give the viewer a peak inside the Continental Baths. -
robbchadwick — 19 years ago(April 14, 2006 08:46 AM)
I just always thought that it was in the realm of The Gay Deceivers. Have you seen THAT?
You're making me remember my childhood! Yes, I do remember it, sort of. Wasn't it 2 cops pretending to live as a gay couple and one of them (John Hurt?) was actually gay?
Well
Saturday Night at the Baths
is actually meant to be much more serious than
The Gay Decievers.
Of course, from today's vantage point, it looks a little different, I'm sure, than it did in the mid-70's. -
Jase0118 — 19 years ago(April 15, 2006 10:20 PM)
[Wasn't it 2 cops pretending to live as a gay couple and one of them (John Hurt?) was actually gay?
No but you're making yourself a BIT younger by thinking that it WAS! LOL The movie you're thinking of is Partners (1982), which was really awful, too. MAYBE more awful than The Gay Deceivers. actually, I'm thinking that Partners is definately worse than The Gay Deceivers (1969) with the story of two STRAIGHT Vietnam dodgers who pretend to BE gay so they are automatically rejected (but of course!) and end up living next door to this "flamboyant" gay guy oh, you'd know if you saw it! I mean, I definately take into account the time in which it came out so, it's moderately entertaining even still. -
robbchadwick — 19 years ago(April 16, 2006 08:10 AM)
The movie you're thinking of is Partners (1982), which was really awful, too. MAYBE more awful than The Gay Deceivers.
Thanks for setting me
straight.
LOL
I actually went to the IMDB article on
The Gay Deceivers
and read the only two reviews that are available. It does sound corny; but from the reviews, it does delve into some serious territory as well. The two guys evidently set out to get out of Vietnam by convincing the draft board that they are not gay, not realizing that their 4F status and the reason behind it would keep them from getting a security clearance needed for many jobs in that era. (It sometimes takes a realization like this to make me understand how far we have come since then.)
Another interesting thing I learned is that it is available on DVD in Canada. I will never understand how that happens. Recently I found that
Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle
was available on DVD in Canada and ordered it from amazon.ca. It's not available here in the USA. Strange! -
Jase0118 — 19 years ago(April 17, 2006 10:39 PM)
The two guys evidently set out to get out of Vietnam by convincing the draft board that they are not gay, not realizing that their 4F status and the reason behind it would keep them from getting a security clearance needed for many jobs in that era.
No, they're both STRAIGHT! Here's a description that I got (and it's the movie that I saw):
Danny and Elliot have no intention of giving up their swinging heterosexual lifestyles that is, until Colonel Dixon starts spying on them. To throw him off the trail, Danny and Elliot move into an all-gay L.A. apartment comlex where there lives are turned upsie down.
MOST of the movie is very STRAIGHT-oriented. The unusual thing is that the "twist" at the end (hope I don't spoil it for you) is that the Colonel is not who HE appears to be.
There's a gay neighbor, who I suppose you could say turns in a really nice performance. but he's such a flamer! I don't have anything against that, mind you (to each his own.and I've had some friends who.), but his lines are so campy that it's hard to take him serious. I think the two straight guys learn some "lessons" or such from him, though right now I can't think what they were.
I love seeing "gay" movies from earlier times. The way the whole thing started was me reading the book The Celluloid Closet, and then I also saw the film. It's VERY interesting how this whole thing has evolved. TRULY, the success of Brokeback Mountain is the pinnacle example of how far we've come. -
Jase0118 — 19 years ago(April 27, 2006 11:34 PM)
Do you see any "action" going on??? As if! I'm sure as a "period piece" it holds some fascination and I would like to see it! I think I'll go check into the message board for Gay Sex in the 70's. bet you
that
film will give us ALL a pretty good idea of how fake a film like Saturday Night at the Baths is. -
kavan30013 — 10 years ago(February 27, 2016 03:27 PM)
I just watched the film today, I was interested in seeing authentic 70's New York. It's clearly a B movie and rather short but I enjoyed it.
However the ending confused me a bit So I googled some reviews and such. Several said that Michael resolved his questions after the evening with Scotti. I did not get that impression at all.
My impression was that Michael was beginning to accept he was bisexual and would probably continue exploring matters both with Scotti and Tracy. He promised Scotti to see him the following day, said he would play the baths next week-the conversation was very casual and light. When Scotti says Michael really wants to see Tracy Scotti very accepting of that and does not seem slightly upset.
Contrast that with Tracy who nervously(justifiably)asks if what happened between him and Scotti will change them he said, "I don't know. I hope it doesn't." There is no reassuring kiss or hug or smile. Michael seems very relaxed but Tracy is the opposite.
The more I think about the ending the more convinced I am that six months down the line the partnerships might be very different.