pixrox1 Review of Wild Poses

Wild Poses (1933)

I think that all these folks on various other . . .

[8/10 · 28 February 2018]

. . . social media venues and movie trivia websites accusing MGM of fomenting some sort of mass American homophobia during the 1930s may be a little off kilter. Since the "Our Gang" episode WILD POSES and the snooze marathon feature GONE WITH THE WIND are often presented as Exhibits A and B for this theory, it makes sense to give these two seemingly divergent films a closer look. Though the angry photographer "Otto Phocus" wears a black beret throughout WILD POSES, loads of men have sported such headgear, including The Artist Formerly Known as "Prince." Therefore, berets prove nothing, whether green or puce. Ditto for that constant physical tweaking, touches, pokes and prods exchanged between Otto and young "Spanky" as WILD POSES drenches Otto, Spanky, and "Mr. T." with Otto's little squirt gun. And Otto's decision to devote 90 minutes of his work day to messing around with Spanky probably has more to do with the corporate Work Ethic at MGM in the 1930s than Otto's orientation. As for the wrong-headed rumors swirling around "Rhett Butler's" insipid rival during GWTW--"Ashley Wilkes"--for goodness sake, he is married to "Melanie!" As far as I'm concerned, case closed: "Not guilty" is the verdict for MGM.