On the eve of the 40th anniversary of the Gay Rights Movement, the film explores the drama, struggle and enduring legacy of the first-ever gay play and subsequent Hollywood movie to successf... Read allOn the eve of the 40th anniversary of the Gay Rights Movement, the film explores the drama, struggle and enduring legacy of the first-ever gay play and subsequent Hollywood movie to successfully reach a mainstream audience. Beloved by some for breaking new ground, and condemned b... Read allOn the eve of the 40th anniversary of the Gay Rights Movement, the film explores the drama, struggle and enduring legacy of the first-ever gay play and subsequent Hollywood movie to successfully reach a mainstream audience. Beloved by some for breaking new ground, and condemned by others for reinforcing gay stereotypes, The Boys in the Band sparked heated controversy ... Read all
- Awards
- 1 nomination
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Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaSince the play had a small budget, and the theater it was staged in did not have high ceilings, blown up photographs were used to approximate the effect of a Manhattan duplex (two story) apartment. The set designer clipped some magazine photographs which he liked, had them enlarged, and collaged together. Unbeknownst to him, one of the photographs was from the Manhattan apartment of Barbara Walters. Someone Walters knew saw the play on its opening night, and let her know that pictures of her apartment might have been used. She bought tickets and attended the play early in its run, and told the production team that the pictures were indeed of her apartment, and she was quite amused.
- Crazy creditsCliff Gorman died of Leukemia at age 65
- ConnectionsFeatures ABC World News Tonight with David Muir (1953)
- SoundtracksNew Digs for Cassey
Performed by Monte Carlo & His Orchestra
Composed by Peitor Angell
[From the Soundtrack "Kiss Yesterday Goodbye"]
Obviously central to the project, Mart Crowley takes us back to the writer and the person he was before the idea of THE BOYS IN THE BAND was even on the horizon and leads us to how it came to be, and what it and he came to be. This and the general cultural discussion - and how BOYS... changed that discussion yet came to be viewed as something of an embarrassment to some activists and then came full circle to regain respect - are done superbly (despite the off-hand use of TV's "Will and Grace," still viewed as something of a gay "Amos & Andy" in some quarters, as a pride-ful example - a slip). The details of this evolution are so fascinating that it's easy to miss the few things the film tends to short.
One is the rehearsal and interpretation process under the great (and unfortunately late) Robert Moore's direction (four Broadway productions as an actor before BOYS..., eight as director after it - almost all of the latter major hits), but understanding this, the film makers (researcher Rosemary Rotondi and director Crayton Robey) have brought in those close to Moore to fill in the blanks. The brief section on Peter Harvey's scenic design, building on the use of projections (so brilliantly used by Robert Guerra and Tom Skelton in YOUR OWN THING just three months earlier) is fascinating.
They are less successful in fleshing out the lost members of the original Off-Broadway and film cast, but in dealing with inevitable questions - it has long been famously reported how many were lost in the early waves of the AIDS epidemic years after BOYS... and less accurately how few were launched into successful stage and film careers after BOYS... - the interview observations are well chosen even when not definitive.
Whatever the film's shortcomings in flow and the few details lost with the passing of primary sources, its success is overwhelming in how much it does give us putting THE BOYS IN THE BAND in historical perspective and showing us how far we've come building on the groundwork it laid. This is a major achievement and very satisfying viewing. A generation of gay and straight men and women too young to have lived through the events discussed should be highly encouraged to see it. They will not be bored.
- eschetic-2
- Mar 15, 2011
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official sites
- Language
- Also known as
- Создание мальчиков
- Filming locations
- Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA(various exterior and interior shots)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Gross US & Canada
- $33,443
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $7,513
- Mar 13, 2011
- Gross worldwide
- $33,443
- Runtime1 hour 30 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1