The Making Of "The Boys In The Band"

03-10-2011 | 0 Comments | Izzoiz

Mart Crowley was in a desperate situation. The screenplay he had written for 20th Century Fox was never produced, a TV pilot he scripted for a major star wasn’t picked up by the network, and his agent had dropped him. Crowley needed something to write about that would get him back in the game.

Then Crowley read a New York Times article in which theater critic Stanley Kauffmann complained that three of America’s most famous playwrights — Edward Albee, William Inge and Tennessee Williams — were gay, but refused to write about homosexuality. Crowley, gay himself, thought this was a good idea. After a friend took him to a party where he saw an assortment of gay men from all walks of life, he decided to write a play set in an apartment where the lead is having a birthday celebration.

The result was The Boys in the Band, which opened on April 14, 1968, to critical acclaim, immediate box office success and, ultimately, major controversy. Its story is told in Making the Boys, a documentary directed by Crayton Robey that’s opening around the country. deets here
Every gay person should see this film. It is part of our history!

Categories: gay history, gay movies,

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