Directed by Vincente Minnelli • 1956 • United States
Starring Deborah Kerr, John Kerr, Leif Erickson
Vincente Minnelli’s masterful direction gives stirring expression to the ache of outsiderhood in this taboo-shattering adaptation of Robert Anderson’s play, one of the first major films to deal empathetically with the subject of homosexuality. Sensitive, artistic, confused—and labelled “sister boy” by the other students at his all-male prep school—Tom Robinson Lee (John Kerr) struggles to conform to the rigid ideas of “normal” masculine behavior. His angst awakens long-suppressed feelings in Laura Reynolds (Deborah Kerr), the wife of Tom’s housemaster. As Laura becomes aware of the isolation she feels within her marriage, she finds herself drawn to the troubled young man.
Up Next in Queersighted: Sick and Dirty
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Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
Directed by Richard Brooks • 1958 • United States
Starring Elizabeth Taylor, Paul Newman, Burl IvesElizabeth Taylor and Paul Newman sizzle in this delirious adaptation of Tennessee Williams’s Pulitzer Prize–winning play. She’s the hot-blooded Maggie the Cat whose voracious desires can’t be fulf...
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The Children’s Hour
Directed by William Wyler • 1961 • United States
Starring Audrey Hepburn, Shirley MacLaine, James GarnerA child’s lie has life-shattering consequences in this daring adaptation of Lillian Hellman’s celebrated play—previously filmed by director William Wyler as THESE THREE. Karen (Audrey Hepburn...
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Suddenly, Last Summer
Directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz • 1959 • United States, United Kingdom
Starring Elizabeth Taylor, Katharine Hepburn, Montgomery CliftGay panic, incest, and a sprinkling of cannibalism: Tennessee Williams’s one-act southern-gothic shocker gets an appropriately lurid screen adaptation cowritten ...
