Some of My Best Friends Are...
When I shared the "Kiss Me, Guido" spinoff sitcom "Some of My Best Friends," I mentioned that the title it ultimately got saddled with was lifted from the seldom-seen and completely unrelated 1971 film "Some of My Best Friends Are..." What I didn't realize as I was writing is the movie is next to impossible for the average person to find -- which is quite a shame considering it's an early landmark of gay cinema. The only reason I knew anything about the film is because I caught it on the late show years ago (man, I miss the days when obscure movies, not infomercials, dominated late night TV!). I found the movie on a torrent at Cinemageddon, so I figured I might as well go gay for one more day....
Originally intended to be titled "The Bar," "Some of My Best Friends Are..." is a slow and meandering film that follows a wide array of patrons (straight, gay, bi and tranny) of a NYC bar one Christmas eve in the early '70s. Each has their own little stories to tell, but it takes a while for those stories to unfold. Matter of fact, the first half hour of the movie really drags (and no, that's not a reference to Candy Darling!). There's lots of little comic moments and self-loathing characters in this overlong drama, but the movie's more realistic, less-dated and infinitely more watchable than the excruciating, overrated previous year's "The Boys in the Band."
What makes the movie even more notable than being an early gay film is the bizarre cast of TV regulars that they amassed. Gary Sandy ("W.K.R.P in Cincinnati," "Troll") plays a belligerent hustler. Rue McClanahan ("The Golden Girls") is his huge-haired female counterpart. Comedienne Fannie Flagg ("Match Game") is the bar's hostess, who has to dance with gay couples so they don't get arrested for lewd conduct(!!). Gil Gerard (aka Buck Rogers) is a bisexual airline pilot (lusted after by "dragonlady" McClanahan) whose boyfriend has some serious mommy issues. Dick O'Neill ("Cagney & Lacey") is a seemingly straight guy with a thing for trannies (perhaps this is why he was later cast as a man smitten with Jack Tripper in drag on an episode of "Three's Company"). Someone who worked on the film mentioned on imdb that Erik Estrada was in it, and he could very well be kitchen worker Jose (who was barely seen and uncredited). Throw in pre-op transexual / Warhol regular Candy Darling for good measure and you have... an extremely eclectic cast.
"Would you like to see a menu?"
Apparently the movie was released on DVD in 2008 by Cabin Films, a Hawaiian company that doesn't have a website (mail-order only), which seriously makes me question its legitimacy. A version that surfaced online (until MegaUpload went down) seems to have been duped from a rare TV broadcast in the UK -- nudity and profanity is intact but it runs 5 minutes shorter than the running time cited on imdb (could be due to PAL Speedup or imdb might merely be wrong). I'm also presuming it was broadcast open-matte since a microphone is prominently seen waving back and forth above Rue McClanahan's head for an entire scene.
While looking for info on the film (of which there's currently virtually none), I stumbled onto Queer Music Heritage. The podcast for June 2003 that included radio spots for the movie doesn't appear to be available anymore, but the press book is viewable and mp3s of four songs from the film that were released as promotional singles are still downloadable (it doesn't appear that a full soundtrack was issued).
LINKS:
You Tube (Trailer)
Wow, I really need to offer something John Wayne-ish tomorrow to offset all of the gayness around here....