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Harry Hamlin: Playing Gay in 1982's 'Making Love' Ended My Film Career

After 1981's 'Clash of the Titans,' the Yale-grad wanted to tackle "something relevant and cutting edge." But he says the way-ahead-of-its-time drama torpedoed his job prospects until 'L.A. Law': "The door shut with a resounding smash." Harry Hamlin says playing a gay writer in the 1982 big-screen drama Making Love put his career on ice for several years.

The actor, looking back now, says the film "was too early. It was 10 years too early, I guess, and it completely ended my career. That was the last studio picture I ever did. The door shut with a resounding smash."

Hamlin, 68, was an in-demand actor in Hollywood at the time, he tells the It Happened in Hollywood podcast. Warner Bros. had offered him "the Clint" — a three-picture deal named for the one given to Clint Eastwood.

But when he learned the two movies the studio had in mind for him were Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes and First Blood, the Yale-educated actor decided the deal wasn't for him. (The parts ended up going to Christopher Lambert and Sylvester Stallone, respectively.) Instead, he made the schlocky Greek-myth epic Clash of the Titans, a part he took because it would allow him to work alongside his acting hero, Sir Laurence Olivier, who played Zeus to Hamlin's Perseus. The film shot in 1978 but was released in 1981 — as it took Ray Harryhausen three years to complete the painstaking stop-motion effects.

For his follow up, he was brought in by director Arthur Hiller (Love Story) to read for 20th Century Fox's Making Love, which was to be groundbreaking film about a same-sex affair, the first of its kind for a major studio.

"Everyone in town had turned the movie down," says Hamlin. "Because at that time the idea of a gay world was still not accepted." Hamlin read the script and thought, "this is exactly the kind of movie I'm looking for. I want to do something that's relevant and cutting edge."

He took the part — but as production wore on, the script was toned down considerably from the one he signed on to. (One scene, involving a sex act with a pay phone, was cut out completely.)

Hamlin had a tradition of cooking a chicken dinner for his female co-stars before shooting commenced, and continued the tradition with his male romantic lead, Michael Ontkean.

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by Anonymousreply 245January 28, 2020 1:21 PM

Michael said we have to rehearse the kiss," Hamlin recalls, referring to their initial kiss — a first for a studio film. Hamlin demurred, saying since it was Ontkean's character's first time kissing a man, they should save the moment for when cameras rolled.

Before the scene, Hamlin suggested the kiss be a "soft, only slightly open-mouth kiss." Ontkean agreed, but when Hiller called action, he "put his hand behind my neck, came in and just shoved his tongue down my throat."

While the film did modest business at the box office, Hamlin says his movie offers all but disappeared after the film came out — and he wouldn't work again until 1986 and the NBC drama L.A. Law, on which he played law firm partner Michael Kuzak for eight seasons.

For years after Making Love, Marvin Davis, the late Colorado billionaire who bought the studio shortly before the movie came out, would remind Hamlin that he very nearly sold off the studio at his wife's urging over the gay-themed film.

Hamlin, who appears on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills alongside wife Lisa Rinna, recently appeared in the off-Broadway play One November Yankee.

by Anonymousreply 1January 20, 2020 10:02 PM

This movie was shocking when it came out. Of course, his film offers dried up.

He also played a very unsympathetic character in the movie.

by Anonymousreply 2January 20, 2020 10:06 PM

I'd say it derailed both of their careers.

by Anonymousreply 3January 20, 2020 10:07 PM

Oy, vey!

by Anonymousreply 4January 20, 2020 10:13 PM

[quote]Before the scene, Hamlin suggested the kiss be a "soft, only slightly open-mouth kiss." Ontkean agreed, but when Hiller called action, he "put his hand behind my neck, came in and just shoved his tongue down my throat."

I just came

by Anonymousreply 5January 20, 2020 10:16 PM

R1 He did 5 seasons of LA Law.

by Anonymousreply 6January 20, 2020 10:16 PM

When was the first time it was no longer considered a career killer to play gay nonchastly? Post Brokeback?

by Anonymousreply 7January 20, 2020 10:19 PM

That may very well be true, but Harry being a pretty lousy actor didn’t help matters either.

by Anonymousreply 8January 20, 2020 10:20 PM

What is he talking about? I watched la Law.

by Anonymousreply 9January 20, 2020 10:20 PM

R3-- Yes but it is only one of them that has been bleating on about this for years and years

by Anonymousreply 10January 20, 2020 10:23 PM
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by Anonymousreply 11January 20, 2020 10:26 PM

Before Brokeback playing gay was a career killer.

by Anonymousreply 12January 20, 2020 10:27 PM

Making Love was definitely ahead of it's time. As a closeted gay man in his early 20s, I went to see it with my girlfriend, thinking that I had the appropriate cover for viewing a film that I desperately wanted to see that had the theme of two men in love. When the two male co-stars began their first kissing scene (I remember it so well) a young straight couple in the audience got up and walked out, and I immediately became embarrassed for myself and for my girlfriend. I don't think she ever suspected as to why I took her to see it.

by Anonymousreply 13January 20, 2020 10:29 PM

R13 is delusional.

by Anonymousreply 14January 20, 2020 10:31 PM

I saw it in Chicago. People in the audience groaned in disgust at the kissing scene.

by Anonymousreply 15January 20, 2020 10:33 PM

Tom Hanks' career didn't suffer although sure he played a tragic role. But a gay role nonetheless, and a very sympathetic one.

by Anonymousreply 16January 20, 2020 10:34 PM

Tony Goldwyn's who's straight said he was warned in the early 90s that playing gay would ruin his career. It hasn't, he going into "The Inheritance."

by Anonymousreply 17January 20, 2020 10:42 PM

R14, Hi ex! Thanks for reminding me as to why I could never love you. Cunt. Go back to your pretentious pool party Facebook world.

by Anonymousreply 18January 20, 2020 10:43 PM

Hamlin is just being honest about what happened. I don't get the impression he regrets playing gay as much as the reaction it got from Hollywood and the public. He participated in The Celluloid Closet documentary discussing the movie and has been an open LGBT ally for years. Ontkean, in contrast, tried to keep the documentary from using clips from Making Love and has never really talked about it.

by Anonymousreply 19January 20, 2020 10:43 PM

[quote] Before Brokeback playing gay was a career killer.

What about that little film called Philadelphia?

by Anonymousreply 20January 20, 2020 10:44 PM

It was very confrontational for me too. R13. I saw it in the early 90's I think. I was 22. Straight. Had a girlfriend. I was in college at a very liberal school that had a big Queer Theory program, so there was a VHS Copy at the Library. I had no idea what it was, but the box cover was very risque. I brought it to the library's video booth and popped it in, and lemme tell you I had never seen gay porn before (and seen straight porn once) and I thought it was gay porn!!!! I was exhilarated and scared I would get caught watching it because anyone walking by could see the TV screen!!!! I sat there riveted and rock hard. When it was over, I stood up, walked into the men's room, jerked off, came in 10 seconds, and returned the movie to the shelf.

by Anonymousreply 21January 20, 2020 10:44 PM

He did five fucking years on a TV show, as someone else pointed out. His career didn't end. He was no movie star to begin with. Neither was Ontkean.

by Anonymousreply 22January 20, 2020 10:46 PM

He specifically says it killed his film career. Clash of The Titans came out a year before Making Love. One would think that he would start a big film career based on being a lead in two films, but after Making Love his credits are television credits.

by Anonymousreply 23January 20, 2020 10:52 PM

Tom Hanks didn't have a love scene in Philadelphia. It's gay sex that turns off the straights.

by Anonymousreply 24January 20, 2020 10:52 PM

R20, "Philadelphia" was quite different from "Making Love." I do not think "Philadelphia" had any scenes of kissing let anything else. It was okay to play a sick, gay man but a far cry from playing an actively sexual, gay man.

I always thought "Making Love" was a television movie, but the moans and groans from straight audiences at two men kissing on screen or elsewhere continued to even more recent times in my experience. I went to a play on Broadway within the past fifteen years where the plot device called for one of the main characters to reveal himself as gay by kissing another male character. On Broadway...no less...I remember hearing a few audible groans from audience members..

by Anonymousreply 25January 20, 2020 10:56 PM

I agree with whoever said his sucking as an actor derailed his career.

by Anonymousreply 26January 20, 2020 11:00 PM

I knew him when he was an acting student/waiter in SF. He rose in the ranks quickly. I suspect he was making the gay artistic director happy!

by Anonymousreply 27January 20, 2020 11:04 PM

[quote] It's gay sex that turns off the straights

That's why CMBYN was such a diluted, milquetoast gay-themed film. It was, in essence, a milk-chocolate love affair, made to be acceptable to a wider heterosexual audience.

by Anonymousreply 28January 20, 2020 11:05 PM

It did the same thing for the guy on Dynasty. I remember thinking he was crazy for taking a "gay role". And I think the first actor cast in the role quit because he didn't want to ruin his career opportunities. I assumed that the Dynasty guy was gay in real life, but he wasn't . That was very brave of him considering the climate of the times. (or he was very desperate for cash.)

by Anonymousreply 29January 20, 2020 11:06 PM

Biggest surprise of this write up — he went to fucking Yale??!? He’s such a himbo I’m amazed.

by Anonymousreply 30January 20, 2020 11:17 PM

[quote] Making Love was definitely ahead of it's time.

Oh, dear!

by Anonymousreply 31January 20, 2020 11:23 PM

[quote] It was okay to play a sick, gay man but a far cry from playing an actively sexual, gay man.

And actively sexual with a man who is cheating on his wife with *gasp* another man!

by Anonymousreply 32January 20, 2020 11:24 PM

When he was married to Falcon Crest's Laura Johnson, she tried to get him cast in the role John Callahan played - Eric Stavros and Lorimar passed. How he got LA Law and was named Sexiest Man Alive is a mystery to me today.

by Anonymousreply 33January 20, 2020 11:25 PM

It's now the Meth Capitol of Southern California, so that should tell ya something! Mmmmyeah.

by Anonymousreply 34January 20, 2020 11:25 PM

Are you doing meth now, r34?

What the hell are you talking about?

by Anonymousreply 35January 20, 2020 11:27 PM

Wrong Thread

by Anonymousreply 36January 20, 2020 11:27 PM

R31 Oh fuck!

by Anonymousreply 37January 20, 2020 11:32 PM

Good. Straight actors need to stop taking gay roles away from gay actors anyway and let actual gay actors take those roles since Hollywood already doesn't want to give them straight roles.

So he and all other straight actors can STFU if they think playing gay is SOOOOO brave and challenging. We don't need their martyrdom.

by Anonymousreply 38January 20, 2020 11:38 PM

[quote]Making Love was definitely ahead of it's time. As a closeted gay man in his early 20s, I went to see it with my girlfriend, thinking that I had the appropriate cover for viewing a film that I desperately wanted to see that had the theme of two men in love. When the two male co-stars began their first kissing scene (I remember it so well) a young straight couple in the audience got up and walked out, and I immediately became embarrassed for myself and for my girlfriend. I don't think she ever suspected as to why I took her to see it.

I can concur with this. I was a movie theater manager. I temp managed a nice neighborhood house that did very well on weekends. Opening night the kiss comes and half the house got up and left. Got to be honest, there was no moans and groans, no stamped to the exists and not one person asked for a refund ( I wouldn't have have given one anyway). Second show the same. By Sat matinee we knew when to open the out lobby exit doors to make the process flow. Every single show it happened. It was disheartening but grateful no one made a scene and the staff of 16 year old kids were offended by the crowd leaving, not what was on the screen.

by Anonymousreply 39January 20, 2020 11:42 PM

Can we make an exception for Josh O'Connor? I 'd love to see his big dong again.

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by Anonymousreply 40January 20, 2020 11:42 PM

R38 BACK THEN, IT WAS BRAVE. You have to keep it in context. You cant look at 80's society through a 2020 lens and judge it. It was so fucking homophobic that it's impossible to understand. You see it as just taking a part away from a gay actor. THERE WERE NO GAY ACTORS TO TAKE THE PART FROM! You couldn't find a gay actor to play the part!!! That's how horrible it was!!!!

by Anonymousreply 41January 20, 2020 11:43 PM

R41 = Retard doormat who worships straight men

by Anonymousreply 42January 20, 2020 11:48 PM

R41 is over-reacting. There were several big gay themed movies / tv projects that year.

by Anonymousreply 43January 20, 2020 11:48 PM

R43 Name them! In fact, name an out working gay actor in 1981. You stupid fuck!

by Anonymousreply 44January 20, 2020 11:53 PM

[quote] Got to be honest, there was no moans and groans, no stamped to the exists and not one person asked for a refund ( I wouldn't have have given one anyway).

Yeah, we see why you were the temp manager of a movie house.

by Anonymousreply 45January 20, 2020 11:54 PM

I remember going to see Cruising in 1980 with Al Pacino playing an undercover cop in NY gay clubs. The cinema audience clapped and cheered when the psychopath tortured and killed a gay guy with a knife to the back. I remember seeing Midnight Express in 1978 and there were groans and muttering of disgust all around in the really tame shower scene with Brad Davis and a Swedish guy. Not even sex just a soft focus kiss. If I'd had a sub machine gun I'd have gone to the front and slaughtered every last fucker in that cinema, like Carrie. Straight people need to be taught a lesson: they need to be killed.

by Anonymousreply 46January 20, 2020 11:57 PM

[quote]Straight people need to be taught a lesson: they need to be killed.

That'll learn 'em

by Anonymousreply 47January 20, 2020 11:58 PM

Yeah, that would be ironic. I'd like to see them squeal like stuck pigs and beg for mercy.

by Anonymousreply 48January 21, 2020 12:00 AM

I'm still waiting for R42 / R43 to name a gay out actor working in 1981.

All the Actor's listed above were "straight".

by Anonymousreply 49January 21, 2020 12:02 AM

[quote]Yeah, we see why you were the temp manager of a movie house.

What's your issue?

by Anonymousreply 50January 21, 2020 12:03 AM

Didn't Harry Hamlin play an old queen who was trying to pick up Chris Colfer in an episode of Glee ?

by Anonymousreply 51January 21, 2020 12:08 AM

I thought Hamlin was hot in Making Love, but not a very good actor. I think he's gotten better overtime--almost unrecognizable in Mad Men (in a good way).

by Anonymousreply 52January 21, 2020 12:15 AM

I mean he's never been Oscar material. Kinda boring. He's just a grumpy old man. He has a good life. Some old people just like to bitch.

by Anonymousreply 53January 21, 2020 12:23 AM

[quote]Didn't Harry Hamlin play an old queen who was trying to pick up Chris Colfer in an episode of Glee ?

He also had a recurring role on SHAMELESS as Ian's lover.

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by Anonymousreply 54January 21, 2020 12:26 AM

I remember as a kid setting my alarm so I could get up in the middle of the night and watch Making Love on HBO while my parents were asleep. I kept my hand on the dial the whole time in case they came into my room and I needed to change the channel quickly. I did this maybe a dozen times.

I couldn't wait till I graduated from high school so I could move to the big city and kiss boys like Ontkean and Hamlin. But I also picked up on the sad aspect of gay life from the movie and it made me anxious and a little depressed. And sure enough, that's exactly how it turned out. I moved to the big city, kissed lots of gorgeous boys and faced sadness and depression along the way. I still loved every minute of it.

by Anonymousreply 55January 21, 2020 12:29 AM

I still hear groans with gay scenes. In Rocketman, I heard a husband and wife talking about how unnecessary that 15 second gay bit was. I actually don't think it's homophobia in that case. I just think most of the U.S. is insanely sexually repressed and doesn't know what to do when they see these things in public. I'm sure, in private, they watch all kinds of crazy porn, but they want to put on the respectable faux outrage for all the other people in the theater.

by Anonymousreply 56January 21, 2020 12:32 AM

When I saw "Making Love" in a movie theater (FAR away from where I lived), I saw the same reaction among straights (mild disgust), but I also remember a couple of queens behind me, giving commentary throughout the film. When Kate Jackson's character slapped Ontkean, they yelled out in unison "You hit him again, Kate!".

by Anonymousreply 57January 21, 2020 12:35 AM

I feel uncomfortable seeing any sex scene in public. I often look away or down during sex scenes.

by Anonymousreply 58January 21, 2020 12:35 AM

I was busy patting my crotch when I first saw the film in 1982

by Anonymousreply 59January 21, 2020 12:38 AM

Ontkean is practically glowing from the amazing sex they just had. Poor Kate.

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by Anonymousreply 60January 21, 2020 12:46 AM

I've never seen this movie. Is it worth watching?

by Anonymousreply 61January 21, 2020 12:49 AM

I remember reading an interview where Kate talked about how important it was that the film was showing gay men as normal, not deviants the way movies and TV typically did.

I give them credit for choosing a bold film at a time when society was not ready for it.

by Anonymousreply 62January 21, 2020 12:50 AM

and yet it didn't hurt al pacino's career in the much darker, raunchier "cruising"....

face it hamlin ( i know he's a actor so being able to NOT be narcissistic is waaay too difficult to do) it wasn't that movie that did your career in, it was you and your acting, maybe your personality too?!..

by Anonymousreply 63January 21, 2020 12:51 AM

Harry Hamlin says playing gay ruined his career but he's kissing this?

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by Anonymousreply 64January 21, 2020 12:55 AM

[quote]You cant look at 80's society through a 2020 lens and judge it. It was so fucking homophobic that it's impossible to understand.

Even fucking Liberace had to pretend to be straight. That's how different things were back then.

by Anonymousreply 65January 21, 2020 12:55 AM

Only in the puritan USA where playing gay in a movie would ruin one's career. What a twisted shithole redneck country.

by Anonymousreply 66January 21, 2020 12:56 AM

Harry is get and closeted. Everyone knows.

by Anonymousreply 67January 21, 2020 12:57 AM

want to talk about playing "gay" ending a career.. ALL ONE HAS TO LOOK AT IS THE CAREER OF ONE ROGER HERREN IN MYRA BRECKENRIDGE! and his character wasn't even gay, just pegged on screen by raquel welch's transsexual character.. HERREN WAS BEYOND gorgeous and his career in every way was ended by this movie and his character Rusty..

interesting tidbit that in the book, his character changes his name, becomes a huge movie star and indeed becomes completely 100% gay.

by Anonymousreply 68January 21, 2020 12:58 AM

R66, actually it’s that way in most of the world.

by Anonymousreply 69January 21, 2020 12:59 AM

Sorry, meant gay. I have been drinking and driving.

by Anonymousreply 70January 21, 2020 12:59 AM

Harry Hamlin didn't have much of a film career because he just wasn't a very interesting actor. He was pretty, but not much more than that. He's just using "I played a gay guy and it ruined my career" as an excuse.

by Anonymousreply 71January 21, 2020 1:16 AM

Making Love was a terrible movie: an example of what happens when you deliberately set out to make something in "good taste". It was as if everyone involved in it was embarrased by the subject matter so it had the tone of walking on eggshells. In contrast, Cruising – where there were no concerns of good taste -- was a terrific movie made from a crap book. Same thing with Brokeback Mountain: a deeply tedious earnest movie that felt dated.

I stood next to the young Hamlin at the airport once: exceptionally handsome in the flesh (I couldn't stop gazing at his beautifully manicured fingernails), but as someone said upthread, a B-grade actor. My mother who was with me looked at his surly face and said "He'd be a difficult man to live with." LOL.

by Anonymousreply 72January 21, 2020 1:33 AM

What r71 said.

I know right, It's like when Mariah Carey blamed the failure of GLITTER on 9/11.

Yeah, The Musketeer and Rock Star weren't classics but they still made money. Duh!

by Anonymousreply 73January 21, 2020 1:41 AM

Remember that the gay John Schlesinger's matter of fact french kiss in Sunday Bloody Sunday came out in 1971. It was modern and fresh. Yet over a decade later Making Love still treating homosexuality in a creaky embarrassed way. But unlike the US, England had been incorporating gay characters into television for years. e.g. the TV series Rock Follies (featuring DL's own favourite Polish countess Rula Lenska) came out in 1976, and 1977. It was scripted by Howard Schuman who was gay. Like Sunday Bloody Sunday, in one scene two male characters are at the cinema, and one of them turns to the other and a very long rolling tongue kiss. Then he responds with something along the lines of "I needed that". It was just treated as an incidental. This was prime time TV. Even now US broadast television would eschew such a thing. America tends to think it invented everything, but in terms of gay representation it trailed most western countries by a long mile.

by Anonymousreply 74January 21, 2020 1:51 AM

Michael Ontkean in that movie was to me the perfect man. so gorgeous, masculine, and a dr. and he wanted a ltr

by Anonymousreply 75January 21, 2020 2:03 AM

I watched the love scene between Hamlin and Ontkean on YouTube. I guess it's what you would call tasteful and romantic. They don't rip each other's clothes off or grind their mouths together like Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal did in "Brokeback Mountain." They remove each other's shirts ("Let me do that", says Hamlin when Ontkean is removing his tie) and they start to kiss deeply. It's a sensual, effective love scene. Only homophobes would groan or laugh at it.

by Anonymousreply 76January 21, 2020 2:06 AM

is Harry implying Micheal is gay and into him? Saying Michael just shoving his tongue down Harry's throat.

by Anonymousreply 77January 21, 2020 2:14 AM

R76 is correct

by Anonymousreply 78January 21, 2020 2:18 AM

[quote] Marvin Davis, the late Colorado billionaire who bought the studio shortly before the movie came out, would remind Hamlin that he very nearly sold off the studio at his wife's urging over the gay-themed film.

Why is no one discussing this quote? The mogul's wife is so homophobic she wanted him to sell the studio over this film?

by Anonymousreply 79January 21, 2020 2:21 AM

I've always loved the song by Roberta Flack.

by Anonymousreply 80January 21, 2020 2:31 AM

Moans, groans, shrieks, and bolting from seats. They're only behaving as they're obligated to behave. Learned and conditioned responses. Hate what they fear. Want what the cannot have. United States is an extremely hypocritical natjion/zociety.

by Anonymousreply 81January 21, 2020 2:33 AM

It should have been titled "Being Married To Kate Jackson Made Me Gay".

by Anonymousreply 82January 21, 2020 2:36 AM

Hamlin is delusional. He was in Clash and then Making Love. He was pretty but not much of an actor. Crusin came out two years before Making Love and showed hard core leather and gay sex, didn't seem to hurt Al Pachino's career.

by Anonymousreply 83January 21, 2020 2:41 AM

What I don’t understand is, why so many gays, here and in the media, act like it’s such an honor when a straight man deigns to play gay. “Oh, he’s so brave”. A view shared by many directors, including gay ones like Lee Daniels (who I can’t stand for his white, straight man obsession) who actively only chase straight actors for any gay parts. “Thank you, for taking on this role, sir”. No, bitch! He should be thanking you for the work.

Anywhere, do you think black people would appreciate Brad Pitt playing black? Pathetic.

by Anonymousreply 84January 21, 2020 2:48 AM

My lesbian friend dragged me to see "Personal Best" released the same year, I believe. The atmosphere was totally different in the theater. It sort of pissed me off that it was more acceptable for girls.

R39 Do you remember showing this where you managed?

by Anonymousreply 85January 21, 2020 2:48 AM

"The atmosphere was totally different in the theater. It sort of pissed me off that it was more acceptable for girls."

Homophobic men have absolutely no problem with lesbianism. They find male homosexuality repulsive and gross but "yeah, two women together! I don't see nuthin' wrong with THAT! Heh-heh-heh!" I actually did hear some clod say something like that.

by Anonymousreply 86January 21, 2020 2:52 AM

Don’t take it so personally

by Anonymousreply 87January 21, 2020 3:04 AM

I always wondered why Ontkean never wanted to talk about the film in all the years afterwards, why he didn’t want clips from it used in The Celluloid Closet. Hmmmmm....me thinks....something about protesting too much....

by Anonymousreply 88January 21, 2020 3:05 AM

The last date I ever had w a woman was to go see Making Love in Oshkosh, WI. I barely remember what it was like be that guy.

by Anonymousreply 89January 21, 2020 3:11 AM

and...it didn't really seem to hurt Ontkean's career. I guess Harry just thinks he was better than the roles he got.

by Anonymousreply 90January 21, 2020 3:19 AM

R38 Still waiting for you to name ONE out gay actor! I'm just gonna sit here and wait, you fuckin' pompous faggot. Google away! Can't come up with name, can you! You're piece of shit! You have no idea what the gays went through in the 80's so you can come on a message board in 2020 and blast men who fought for you, YOU FUCKIN' PIECE OF SHIT!!!!! FUCK YOU!

by Anonymousreply 91January 21, 2020 3:24 AM

What did Ontkean really do after that tho? He was in Slap shot but that was way before.

Honestly, it was just a pretty tepid movie. And Arthur Hiller? If you were going to make a movie about a previously taboo subject matter that’s going to be considered a pioneer and forward thinking, you needed a forward thinking auteur/director at the helm. Arthur Hiller surely wasn’t that guy.

Oh yeah, and good actors would have helped too.

by Anonymousreply 92January 21, 2020 3:25 AM

I'll never forgive Hamlin for treating Ontkean the way he did in that movie. Ontkean's character was 100% husband material and Hamlin just wanted to sleep around. I'm so happy that Ontkean found true love in the end, moved to NYC and lived happily ever after.

I'm sure that Hamlin's character probably contracted AIDS and died. It makes me sad to think about it.

I still cry thinking about how Kate named her son Rupert.

This movie was so much better than Call Me By Your Name.

by Anonymousreply 93January 21, 2020 3:29 AM

“Playing” lol

by Anonymousreply 94January 21, 2020 3:30 AM

R5 so did I, twice

by Anonymousreply 95January 21, 2020 3:43 AM

Everyone involved in Making Love deserves credit. To portray the reality of gay life, coming out, acceptance of an ex-wife - groundbreaking and invaluable. It saved my life as a teen to know that life was available. Harry deserves a thank you - not because he was straight playing gay but because he played gay - period.

by Anonymousreply 96January 21, 2020 3:44 AM

Ontkean went onto Twin Peaks r92. David Lynch used Ontkean's blandness to great effect.

The thing is both Hamlin and Ontkean can complain that their movie careers were "ruined" by the film, but they both went onto two successful and iconic TV series. Okay, Twin Peaks didn't last that long but it remains iconic and influential (and Ontkean chose not to return to season three).

They are not great actors but they are lucky they got defining roles.

And re: Al Corley on Dynasty, he left the show because the show was not writing Steven as he thought the character was going to be written. You know, gay. I'll always respect him for that.

by Anonymousreply 97January 21, 2020 3:44 AM

OK, what was the sex scene with a phone that was cut?

by Anonymousreply 98January 21, 2020 3:46 AM

R93 you fucktard = troll.

by Anonymousreply 99January 21, 2020 5:14 AM

r99

Miss Landers the Beaver isn't agreeing with me, he's a troll.

by Anonymousreply 100January 21, 2020 5:23 AM

It was when AIDS was becoming well known. No one wanted to be that.

by Anonymousreply 101January 21, 2020 5:24 AM

Posters above, you can't compare Al Pacino in Cruising with Harry Hamelin in Making Love. Pacino was already an established multi-Oscar nominated actor; one who could take chances and play just about any role. He had 3 movies already set to film long after Cruising before shooting on the film even began.

Hamlin was known for only one movie role: Clash of the Titans. The movie was basically a cartoon and all he had to do in it was be pretty, which he did very well. He was mostly an unknown taking a very chancy role. The movie was mostly negatively received critically, and he wasn't particularly good - (and it was an unsympathetic character). Maybe he played it too believably.

Anyway, it's understandable that Hamlin's career would have stalled while Pacino's didn't suffer.

And Tom Hanks? He won a fucking Oscar!

by Anonymousreply 102January 21, 2020 5:39 AM

[quote] Why is no one discussing this quote? The mogul's wife is so homophobic she wanted him to sell the studio over this film?

Because it's likely complete bullshit. If you're that offended over an impending movie, then you just shelve it, you don't sell the studio.

by Anonymousreply 103January 21, 2020 7:16 AM

[quote] [R38] Still waiting for you to name ONE out gay actor! I'm just gonna sit here and wait, you fuckin' pompous faggot. Google away! Can't come up with name, can you! You're piece of shit! You have no idea what the gays went through in the 80's so you can come on a message board in 2020 and blast men who fought for you, YOU FUCKIN' PIECE OF SHIT!!!!! FUCK YOU!

Take it down a notch, you fucking lunatic. The guy never mentioned gay actors. He said there were a lot of high profile gay films that year. He clearly misread what you wrote when responding, but I'm sure you've realized that and have still chosen to act like an asshole.

by Anonymousreply 104January 21, 2020 7:20 AM

R102 actually Cruising was not great for Pacino’s career, at all. It was actually the start of what was the least successful string of years for him until his big comeback with Sea of Love (remember Scarface at the time got largely negative reviews). He did mostly theatre in the 80s.

I don’t know if Cruising per se caused that slide (probably not), but it is considered one of the lower points in his career.

by Anonymousreply 105January 21, 2020 7:44 AM

Al Pacino was already an established star when Cruising was made and had played an 'out there' role in Dog Day Afternoon (1976) as the goofy bank robber pulling a heist to pay for the gender reassignment surgery of his lover Leon. In those days, I suspect that would just have been seen as a species of gay, no awareness of trans movement. What both films have in common is putting homosexuality in the context of criminality. In the case of Cruising it was more offensive because it came over as an AIDS allegory - look at what those disgusting weirdos get up to you, no wonder they end up dead. Americans to this day see gayness as immoral and essentially criminal behaviour. They can’t quite say so directly but it's always adjacent. If you go to any US 'sex positive' site, you'll see gayness constantly associated with criminality. They go on about prison sex, gays forcing themselves on unwilling straights, lack of consent, use of drugs/alcohol by gays to dupe straight men and have their wicked away, blackmail, and general “disrespecting” of boundaries by gays and “crossing the line”. We haven’t moved as far as people think.

by Anonymousreply 106January 21, 2020 7:57 AM

[quote] Same thing with Brokeback Mountain: a deeply tedious earnest movie that felt dated.

Brokeback Mountain has some clunky bits, mainly around Gyllenhaal, but otherwise it's a solid film with gorgeous cinematography. Making Love looks and feels like a TV film next to it. That doesn't mean it wasn't groundbreaking with its subject matter. Cruising was a horror thriller and the gay men were mostly targets for violence and the perpetrators themselves. You didn't have to really get in their shoes unlike in Making Love which was more or less a romantic film.

by Anonymousreply 107January 21, 2020 8:04 AM

Oh and of course illegal gay sex in public, that's the other theme that constantly gets dragged up by straights on these sites. At some point someone will always say, 'nothing against gays, not a homophobe, but what if there were families and children around when they got up to that in public.'. So, again, associating gay with illegality. I haven’t seen the Hamlin movie but I'd bet his “crime” was to be playing a role that was essentially normalising gay relationships, rather than criminalising it. That really would be unforgivable to the great American public.

by Anonymousreply 108January 21, 2020 8:09 AM

[quote] How he got LA Law and was named Sexiest Man Alive is a mystery to me today.

Why? He was right for the part and he is sexy, even now.

by Anonymousreply 109January 21, 2020 8:19 AM

R52, he was in Mad Men? I would have watched it only for that

by Anonymousreply 110January 21, 2020 8:22 AM

Very good point R106. It reminds me of this recent piece of news. The most prolific rapist? Seriously? It's pandering to straight guy's fears.

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by Anonymousreply 111January 21, 2020 8:53 AM

The brave one back then was Aidan Quinin for "An Early Frost." There was such hysteria about AIDS that he risked being done violence in public after that.

by Anonymousreply 112January 21, 2020 9:15 AM

I was an 18 yo when it came out in a small Irish city and saw the late screening. There was hardly anyone in the theatre.

by Anonymousreply 113January 21, 2020 9:46 AM

Of course the role was originally offered to Lucille Ball. She was looking for a serious project considered it for a while but Gary talked her out of it. He told her the film was just too controversial and her fans wouldn't accept her in role.

by Anonymousreply 114January 21, 2020 9:51 AM

Lucy would have eaten all the scenery, I would have eaten all the dicks.

by Anonymousreply 115January 21, 2020 11:07 AM

Hamlin giving head.....

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by Anonymousreply 116January 21, 2020 11:18 AM

This thread is almost as depressing as the movie.

All I remember is the Vaseline by the bed in the final scene when she goes to see her husband's ex-gay lover.

by Anonymousreply 117January 21, 2020 11:33 AM

Would ya?

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by Anonymousreply 118January 21, 2020 11:38 AM

Here's an idea, stupid actors. When the suits warn you about the ramifications to your career for taking this or that role, you listen. Follow their marching orders, or take your hard knocks. Sheesh!!

by Anonymousreply 119January 21, 2020 11:47 AM

Why does no one mention Kiss of the Spiderwoman? William Hurt won the fucking OSCAR for it! and it didn't ruin his career, either. Making Love is not a good movie, that's why it hurt the careers of all involved.

by Anonymousreply 120January 21, 2020 12:01 PM

R39 You have to wonder, did these people not know what the movie was about ?

by Anonymousreply 121January 21, 2020 12:04 PM

Shouldn't he have had a t least one project lined up before Making Love came out ? I don't deny it probably affected his career for a few years after it opened, but if he was so in demand, he would have had a least one major film before the bomb dropped.

by Anonymousreply 122January 21, 2020 12:10 PM

R84 is living in the nineties. It hasn't been "brave" to play gay for decades. If anything it's prestigious and treated very matter of factly.

by Anonymousreply 123January 21, 2020 12:26 PM

Harry Hamlin had other problems being cast in movies, like that time he knew too much about Steven Spielberg-

Harry Hamlin believes his disastrous — and bizarre — audition for “Raiders of the Lost Ark” is the reason he’s never worked with Steven Spielberg.

In 1978, Hamlin was on a short-list of actors for the famed role of Indiana Jones and was asked to come in and read for Spielberg and George Lucas. He and actress Stephanie Zimbalist, who was auditioning for Marion, came in together for the audition.

“When I got there, Steven came down,” Hamlin, 68, recently told Page Six. “He said, ‘Harry, Stephanie, I’m so sorry, but George’s plane is going to be late. He’s flying down from San Francisco and it’s going to be at least 45 minutes until he gets here.'”

Spielberg then bizarrely asked the actors to bake a chocolate cake for Lucas in the production studio’s kitchen while they waited for him to arrive.

“He closed the door and left and we were standing alone in this kitchen,” Hamlin continued. “I said, ‘Stephanie, have you ever made a chocolate cake?’ And she said, ‘No…'”

The pair then spent 40 minutes talking as they attempted to make a cake with no instructions.

“During that time, because Amy Irving (Spielberg’s future wife from 1985-1989) had been a good friend of mine, I was talking about how Amy was calling her friend group in LA and saying that this guy, this director guy was stalking her in New York and how she was kind of getting annoyed because this guy, Steven Spielberg, was showing up at the stage door every night with flowers.”

He continued, “It never occurred to me … that we were actually in the audition while we were making the cake.”

Hamlin said the kitchen was bugged with cameras and microphones while Spielberg and Lucas were upstairs watching them, seeing if they had chemistry.

“I’d been riffing on how annoying Steven Spielberg was to my friend Amy, so hey, guess what? I didn’t get the part, OK, and I’ve never worked with Steven Spielberg, and I grant you that I never will work with Steven Spielberg and I never learned how to make a cake.”

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by Anonymousreply 124January 21, 2020 1:13 PM

[quote]Why does no one mention Kiss of the Spiderwoman? William Hurt won the fucking OSCAR for it! and it didn't ruin his career, either.

Because he was so bad and unbelievable in the part.

by Anonymousreply 125January 21, 2020 1:15 PM

R63, Al Pacino was a well-established actor by 1980, so playing an undercover straight cop in "Cruising" would not have been detrimental to his career. Harry Hamlin was an actor establishing his career in the early 1980s, so he could easily have become typecast with the roles he chose (or was given) to act. I give him a great deal of credit for "Making Love," because he clearly wanted to explore the range of characters he could play. Timing is everything in show business, and the movie came out during a rising tide of homophobia in this country. Looking back, the role probably hurt his film career. He went on, though, to have an incredibly successful TV career.

by Anonymousreply 126January 21, 2020 1:36 PM

I'd have known what the cake gig was all about right off the bat - as soon as he asked for it. Harry = dumb-dumb

by Anonymousreply 127January 21, 2020 1:37 PM

It sounds like Hamlin is just an idiot. If someone asked me to bake a cake while i waited for a director I would be pretty sure it was a test.

by Anonymousreply 128January 21, 2020 1:51 PM

[quote] Good. Straight actors need to stop taking gay roles away from gay actors anyway and let actual gay actors take those roles since Hollywood already doesn't want to give them straight roles. So he and all other straight actors can STFU if they think playing gay is SOOOOO brave and challenging. We don't need their martyrdom.

R104, I’m not the guy who went off upthread, but the argument was based on the above from r38. Then the guy challenged him to name an openly gay actor who the role was taken from and is, evidently, still waiting a response.

by Anonymousreply 129January 21, 2020 1:53 PM

any comments on that movie "partners" with ryan o'neal and john hurt?...

have to say i love the scene where ryan's character sitting with hurt's character and the hotel manager is felt up and basically jacked off in his short jean shorts by the hotel manager and ryan's character squirms and just takes it!...

by Anonymousreply 130January 21, 2020 2:04 PM

Comparing Hamlin to Pacino is off the mark because Cruising was a thriller in which the gay people were (primarily faceless) victims, the Pacino character was basically pretending to be straight (to hunt down a gay serial killer), and the whole tone of the movie was that that victims were getting killed because they were doing things that put themselves at risk.

In contrast the gay people in Making Love were regular suburban guys who fell for each other, and that consequently upped the "ick" factor for people at the time who were watching it.

William Hurt (in Kiss of the Spider Woman) and Hamlin aren't comparable either because Hurt played a flamboyant character (to put it mildly), and roles like that are so far removed from the actor playing them that viewers are easily able to distinguish the actor from the roll.

That wasn't the case with Hamlin re the way he played the character in Making Love and the way people responded to it.

I agree with the poster above who said that Aidan Quinin was brave for starring in An Early Frost.

by Anonymousreply 131January 21, 2020 2:06 PM

Has nobody mentioned that the actual love scene in the movie is using doubles? From IMDb:

For the "make love" scene, actors Michael Ontkean and Harry Hamlin only agreed to kiss and be in bed together but refused to do the simulated sex sequence, which was a last minute addition by director Arthur Hiller. Therefore, [the] screenwriter and a location manager went to West Hollywood and picked up two similarly-built extras for the scene.

by Anonymousreply 132January 21, 2020 2:11 PM

Pacino played gay in Dog Day Afternoon in 1975. Didn't kill his career.

by Anonymousreply 133January 21, 2020 2:19 PM

r130 I was going to bring up Partners and O'Neil and Hurt - neither of whom suffered but I assume I would be torpedoed because it was a comedy and played a lot of stereotypes.

by Anonymousreply 134January 21, 2020 2:19 PM

And I dunno about Hamlin, but Pacino is at least bi if not gay. And everyone in Hollywood knows.

by Anonymousreply 135January 21, 2020 2:20 PM

Partners has amazing footage of early ‘80s west hollywood. Worth seeing for that alone!

by Anonymousreply 136January 21, 2020 2:21 PM

[quote]Pacino played gay in Dog Day Afternoon in 1975. Didn't kill his career.

Again, totally unbelievable as gay and I don't think he ever TOUCHED his lover, did he?

by Anonymousreply 137January 21, 2020 2:21 PM

The Gay Deceivers 1969!

by Anonymousreply 138January 21, 2020 2:24 PM

Looking at Hamlin's IMDb page, he did have a project in the can when Making Love was released: Blue Skies Again, a romantic comedy co-starring Mimi Rogers, which bombed. The following year he co-starred alongside Dyan Cannon in the popular miniseries Master of the Game (1984); thus began a string of TV movies leading eventually to L.A. Law in 1986. So it's not exactly like he was hurting for work.

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by Anonymousreply 139January 21, 2020 2:27 PM

I loved that Scott Bakula was in Looking, and that led him to getting NCIS New Orleans and now he doesn't acknowledge he was in Looking. Sad because his chemistry with Murray Bartlett was real.

by Anonymousreply 140January 21, 2020 2:27 PM

The huge manatee of it all!

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by Anonymousreply 141January 21, 2020 2:36 PM

Harry and Lisa Rinna are sketchy, problematic people.

by Anonymousreply 142January 21, 2020 4:31 PM

What is a well-born handsome preppy Yale grad doing with Lisa anyway. Is she clever? Is he dumb?

by Anonymousreply 143January 21, 2020 4:33 PM

I saw Harry in Equus. Before you ask...average.

by Anonymousreply 144January 21, 2020 4:42 PM

Besides being the objet of Ontkean’s desire, Hamlin’s character was presented as pretty, but self-centered. After tricking with him early in the film, a guy tries to get him to go out for a chili burger. Hamlin refuses, the guy leaves, then Hamlin goes out for a chili burger, by himself!

Then, during his first meeting with Ontkean, who is the doctor examining him, Hamlin almost automatically begins flirting with him, but it seems more automatic than personal. (In a funny moment rare for the film, Hamlin also slowly admits to having used a long list of drugs.)

The indication all along is that Hamlin is more intrigued with the idea of Ontkean as another conquest more than anything else. Towards the end, after dropping Ontkean, he is last seen just fading away. He is not a very sympathetic role model.

I also saw this film in its original release. I was a closeted, self-hating, periodic alcoholic, married to a woman, and identified so much with Ontkean’s anguish. Though Ontkean’s later perfect partner was way too fanciful, even, then, I can still remember sitting with that sparse afternoon audience, yearning for the courage to stop spending my life spinning wheels.

The movie is so earnest, and plodding in its pacing, not to mention a mostly needless subplot, even though that gave the wonderful Wendy Hiller needed work. But it was worth it to share Ontkean’s awakening to his true self.

Finally, decades later, the effective music score by Elmer Bernsten was finally released on CD.

by Anonymousreply 145January 21, 2020 5:25 PM

r143 Rinna is no scientist.

by Anonymousreply 146January 21, 2020 5:46 PM

R145, His character's behavior is poignant in hindsight because the AIDS crisis hit a year later. It's probable that he would have been among the first casualties considering his promiscuity and drug use.

It's almost like the screenwriter knew what was around the corner, because there's already a sadness and foreboding around Hamlin's character.

by Anonymousreply 147January 21, 2020 5:59 PM

I was such a Kate Jackson fan and had read that she lost out on the Meryl role in Kramer that I was hoping this would be her big film break, launching her into more roles.

I thought she was great in the film.

I was in college at the time and didn't see it in theater but I went to school close to my family home and I had to come home one day and the house was empty. I turned on the TV and there it was playing on The Movie Channel (whatever happened to that?) and I thought it was great. I was alone in my house, secure that no one was going to come in and surprise me. Mom was at work; brothers were in school.

I remember thinking, well, here in the security of this house I can see this dramatic work and see people living lives (so sad, though - except I guess at the end Ontkean's character got a happy ending). And then it was out into the real world -- full of homophobia, closeted, angry bullies; then AIDS, of course, which changed everything.

by Anonymousreply 148January 21, 2020 6:01 PM

He's super gay with those Roast Beef lips of his. I NEVER found this queen appealing.

by Anonymousreply 149January 21, 2020 6:02 PM

The same year as "Making Love", "Deathtrap" came out. I saw it in the theater, and when Christopher Reeve and Michael Caine had their sudden kiss, a lot of people violently reacted to it. At the time, it was much publicized that some woman screamed out in shock, "Oh no, not Superman!"

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by Anonymousreply 150January 21, 2020 6:20 PM

R116 Actually, the best head in "Clash of the Titans" was given by Maggie Smith.

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by Anonymousreply 151January 21, 2020 6:21 PM

Hard to remember how much we were hated then. I was a kid and the vitriolic anti-gay statements made by everyone about Making Love and Deathtrap left scars that won’t go away. Glad things have changed so much for the better. Hope the next generations grow up without the scars. Those actors were very brave. Took 2 good looking guys who were confident in their sexuality to brave the backlash. Grateful to them.

by Anonymousreply 152January 21, 2020 6:45 PM

R149 I found him hot during his LA Law seasons. I was teenager and spent lots of time thinking him naked and kissing his beautiful lip.

by Anonymousreply 153January 21, 2020 7:30 PM

Back in 1982, when the movie was released, I went with a friend to see it. Prior to that, I met an actress who had a small role in the movie. (She spoke at a college English class I attended.) Of course I “had” to see the movie because I wanted to see the actress. I used this as an excuse, because I was closeted and was eager to watch it.

When the “kissing scene” appeared, there were groans of disgust in the audience. I wasn’t surprised, but looking back, I wondered why they were upset. They paid money to see the movie, knowing it was about homosexuality. I thought Harry Hamlin and Michael Onkean were gorgeous. They, with Kate Jackson, gave excellent performances.

Regarding the actress I met, her role was smaller than I imagined. I think a number of scenes were cut. Her name was Carole King. (I’m not sure if she’s still performing.) She played Pam, a relative, while eating dinner with family members. Ontkean’s mother asked Pam if she wanted more meat. Pam said “no thanks, Christine. I’m fine.”

by Anonymousreply 154January 21, 2020 7:40 PM

R154 here. The actress was Carol King. (It’s not the singer Carole King.)

by Anonymousreply 155January 21, 2020 7:45 PM

R154 here. The actress was Carol King. (It’s not the singer Carole King.)

by Anonymousreply 156January 21, 2020 7:45 PM

As a gayling, I secretly recoded Making Love when it was on late night TV and watched it when I was home alone. I loved it.

That said, Hamlin was never gonna be a movie star, Making Love or no Making Love.

by Anonymousreply 157January 21, 2020 7:45 PM

When I first saw MAKING LOVE, I found it very touching and I Loved Michael Ontkean, basically because he was me and his character was the type of guy I'd go for. It didn't hurt that he was So attractive. Harry was sexy of course but unattainable (the character) so I was put off. The ending with Ontkean living in NYC in a Central Park West-lookalike apartment with a great partner was a bit too fantasy for me but I just bought into the whole picture anyway.

by Anonymousreply 158January 21, 2020 8:09 PM

Hamlin was/is something very close to a Star, if not an outright star.

by Anonymousreply 159January 21, 2020 8:57 PM

"And Tom Hanks? He won a fucking Oscar!"

"Philadelphia" was one of the lamest movies I ever saw. Tom Hanks and Antonio Banderas, two gay men in love, aren't shown doing anything more than slow dancing, if I recall correctly. You would think there would be one passionate embrace, one kiss, something! But I don't remember anything like that. It was a movie about gay men that was made to be palatable to straights.

by Anonymousreply 160January 21, 2020 11:17 PM

Phildelphia was movie about man overcoming his own homophobia to see another as a human being. It was not a love story.

by Anonymousreply 161January 21, 2020 11:20 PM

Philadelphia was so pandering and the gay couple was sexless.

by Anonymousreply 162January 21, 2020 11:24 PM

[quote]Tom Hanks and Antonio Banderas, two gay men in love, aren't shown doing anything more than slow dancing, if I recall correctly. You would think there would be one passionate embrace, one kiss, something!

There was one kiss, albeit not a passionate one but a peck on the lips.

by Anonymousreply 163January 21, 2020 11:24 PM

And the fact that he has marginal talent had nothing to do with it.

by Anonymousreply 164January 21, 2020 11:24 PM

It humanized the AIDS crisis and all "the disgusting fags who deserved to die because of their deviant gross sexual antics!!!!"

by Anonymousreply 165January 21, 2020 11:32 PM

Harry Hamlin has a very ethnic look. What were they going to cast him in during the early 1980s? Al Pacino had done Cruising two years earlier. So it's not like Making Love was the first homosexual movie out there.

by Anonymousreply 166January 21, 2020 11:55 PM

Ethnic? What ethnicity would you say he could be? Because he looks very American to me

by Anonymousreply 167January 22, 2020 12:02 AM

Whatever he is, he's definitely SWARTHY!

by Anonymousreply 168January 22, 2020 12:05 AM

Harry's grandfather.

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by Anonymousreply 169January 22, 2020 12:08 AM

Hamlin was the Gale Harold of the 80s.

by Anonymousreply 170January 22, 2020 12:29 AM

" It was not a love story."

Wasn't it? I thought the love between the two men was a major factor in "Philadelphia."

by Anonymousreply 171January 22, 2020 12:42 AM

R170, Harry is better than Gale 100%

by Anonymousreply 172January 22, 2020 12:53 AM

Real courage was Hal Holbrook and Martin Sheen as the gay couple in "That Certain Summer", with Hope Lange in the type of role Kate Jackson later got.

by Anonymousreply 173January 22, 2020 12:54 AM

Harry likes being a himbo. I kind of respect him for that. He's not very talented but he has a good life and he's kept his sexy pouty face out there as much as possible. He's likes attention from men, women and puppies. He's the poor man's Peter Callagher. His looks were a bit too lush and dark and feminine to be a leading man in films anyway.

by Anonymousreply 174January 22, 2020 1:31 AM

[quote]Ethnic? What ethnicity would you say he could be? Because he looks very American to me

When younger, he looked Hispanic.

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by Anonymousreply 175January 22, 2020 1:49 AM

Harry reminds me of a young Adrienne Barbeau.

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by Anonymousreply 176January 22, 2020 1:54 AM

[quote]Harry reminds me of a young Adrienne Barbeau.

Except for the large bazooms.

by Anonymousreply 177January 22, 2020 1:57 AM

Its a Germano-French name that came into England after 1066.

by Anonymousreply 178January 22, 2020 1:58 AM

[quote]Its a Germano-French name that came into England after 1066.

Well, he looks like a Bernardo understudy from West Side Story.

by Anonymousreply 179January 22, 2020 2:00 AM

[quote] He's the poor man's Peter Callagher.

I rather thought Peter Gallagher was the poor man's Peter Gallagher.

by Anonymousreply 180January 22, 2020 2:30 AM

Unlike Hamlin, Peter Gallagher is talented and attractive.

by Anonymousreply 181January 22, 2020 2:47 AM

Philadelphia most certainly was mostly made for the straight crowd, and I'm thankful for that. That film alone probably furthered our acceptance more than any news stories about AIDS. I've seen it a few times and I'm always extremely touched in the end. When they show Hanks' character as a little kid right before the end credits I lose it. I didn't need to see more touching or kisses since even the little affection they showed was much more than we'd normally see.

Philadephia was sort of the Brokeback Mountain of its time. It showed the hets what gay pain can be in an acceptable and approachable way, and at that point it was unfortunately all about dying of AIDS. Brokeback then later showed the same thing but this time it wasn't about AIDS but about how deeply gay men can feel, and how devastating living in the shadows can be. Making Love attempted something similar but unfortunately the film isn't exactly a masterpiece which is partly what halted Hamlin's career. Still, a commendable effort from both Hamlin and Ontkean.

by Anonymousreply 182January 22, 2020 2:53 AM

Yeah, Hamlin looks like he's got some Brazilian blood in him.

by Anonymousreply 183January 22, 2020 4:02 AM

Philadelphia was about a Hetero Black Man confronting his own internalized homophobia. I think Denzel was as shocked as I was that he was not nominated for best actor. It was really HIS story. But Hanks upstaged him. The editing skewed the balance toward Hanks, but it was supposed to be a well balanced gay vs straight movie about AIDS and homophobia. Again, it was NOT a love story. So those associations, I find odd. The climate of the time was gay men dropping like flies with this "gay cancer" although more hetero people were contracting the disease than gay people! Regardless, it was a very important film because it humanized homosexuality and was a HUGE step in showing that gay men lived like hetero men and "loved their spouses" just like hetero men and could contract an STD disease just like hetero men! It really created a cultural shift in how gay men were perceived. We became "human".

by Anonymousreply 184January 22, 2020 4:17 AM

R180 I’d say he’s more of a poor mans Richard Gere — if he had just continued to preen and show full frontal and had never learned how to act (which, thankfully, he did).

I still can’t get over that he went to Yale — does he even have a brain? Any stories of when he was there?

by Anonymousreply 185January 22, 2020 4:19 AM

^^Unless he went to Yale to wash windows, I'd say he must have a brain.

by Anonymousreply 186January 22, 2020 4:47 AM

R152 your right about those situations staying with you. Those things do still happen but the response is different. Saw Rocketman and there was a man who started talking to the screen during the love scene. Except this time the audience fought back. Got him thrown out and we all got a free movie pass.

by Anonymousreply 187January 22, 2020 12:51 PM

"It was really HIS story."

No, it wasn't. It was the Tom Hanks character's story, the story of his dealing with dying from AIDS and fighting discrimination. It was HIS story, and that's why Tom Hanks was nominated for an Oscar for it, and won.

by Anonymousreply 188January 22, 2020 8:28 PM

It was both. Hanks and Washington were co-leads. And Washington gave the better performance.

by Anonymousreply 189January 22, 2020 9:23 PM

I know girls who went to see Deathtrap and screamed out EWWW when the men kissed.

I don't know why that is. I don't scream out when I see straights kiss.

I guess that's what makes us different; straights spend a lot of time giving opinions on gay sex, but gays could care less what the straights do.

by Anonymousreply 190January 22, 2020 9:27 PM

Philadelphia was a cowardly and heavy handed film. The relationship between Antonio Banderas and Hanks was practically non existent for a reason, lets not show real gay love or passion. But, we're given Hanks walking around with an IV pole queening out to Maria Callas? I know that's gay, but it was safe gay and frankly a bit silly. Why was his lover a background character? Rhetorical. The lawyers were practically given horns too and the whole thing was both sanitized AND sensationalized. Hanks Oscar speech seems almost a part of the movie to me. I didn't like any of it, except for Denzel Washington. Because he only came so far towards acceptance. That was realistic.

Compare it to the real passion, grief and horror of AIDS and much more realistic portrayal of gay men and their relationships, friendships and LOVE found in Longtime Companion. Philadelphia wrings a tear out of you mostly from the song and Hanks peculiar performance. Longtime Companion wasn't afraid to show the fun, fantasy, fear and devastation. It was a much more progressive little film. It was hip to the actual gay community as a diverse group that included friends and family, longtime love and hedonistic fun. Individual personalities in face of the same tidal wave.

I'm not saying that Philadelphia wasn't a big deal for mainstream Hollywood. They always think they're a big deal and that's when they call Hanks. But 1994 was not exactly the beginning of the AIDS crisis. It was more than a decade in. Not impressed.

by Anonymousreply 191January 22, 2020 9:51 PM

Torch Song Trilogy is the best gay movie ever.

by Anonymousreply 192January 22, 2020 9:54 PM

Harry Hamlin is one of the dumbest and nastiest celebrities I've ever encountered. I have a feeling that is what killed his career.

by Anonymousreply 193January 22, 2020 10:12 PM

Hamlin has played gay in the American remake of Shameless, sexually involved with an underaged teenager played by Cameron Monaghan, including a fully nude scene. So Hamlin has clearly gotten past any issues or reticence he may have had due to Making Love. Different days.

by Anonymousreply 194January 22, 2020 10:12 PM

R194 Harry would take anything at this point.

He learned from his wife, who did a Depends ad.

by Anonymousreply 195January 22, 2020 10:18 PM

r191 Philadelphia was about homophobia and humanizing gay men who were ostracized by society especially at the dawn of AIDS. It was 1992. Times were different. IT WAS NOT A LOVE STORY! IF IT WERE A LOVE A STORY BANDERAS WOULD HAVE BEEN THE CO-LEAD! Jesus, you people are so dumb.

by Anonymousreply 196January 22, 2020 10:28 PM

The scenes of Banderas and Hanks in bed and expressing affection were cut from the movie. Hanks has said so. Philadelphia was released in December of 1993. So Hanks could get his cornball Oscar. Philadelphia is the The Guess Who's Coming To Dinner of gay movies. Liberal Hollywood patting itself on the back, but an already regressive film when it was released.

by Anonymousreply 197January 22, 2020 10:37 PM

When I watched Philadelphia, I did not think of it as a love story.

I was an attorney at a large law firm and it reminded me of how afraid I was that our homophobic managing partner would fire me.

He did the year after I saw the movie.

by Anonymousreply 198January 22, 2020 10:52 PM

[quote]Hard to remember how much we were hated then.

It was unbelievable, the viciousness directed at gay men. People were openly anti-gay back then and it was tolerated. Younger people have no idea how bad it was.

by Anonymousreply 199January 22, 2020 10:57 PM

R191, Longtime Companion was a gay film meant mostly for the gay audience, Philadelphia was clearly targeting the hets. Denzel's journey in the film was to learn to accept gay men and feel sorry for us for the AIDS crisis. He served as the main character the het viewers identify with although obviously Hanks was the other main character. You could clearly see the studio was walking on eggshells when showing the gay aspects, and like it or not who can blame them. Times were different then and the studio knew exactly what it was doing by leaving out anything het viewers might find too controversial.

by Anonymousreply 200January 22, 2020 11:08 PM

IMO I think Michael York deserves an honorable mention. He played gay / bi characters in at least two movies. Cabaret and the movie with Angela Lansbury, Something For Everyone.

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by Anonymousreply 201January 22, 2020 11:17 PM

Ryan O'Neal kissed another guy in Barry Lyndon. Didn't do his career any harm as far as I know.

by Anonymousreply 202January 22, 2020 11:31 PM

R166. We ALL have a "very ethnic look," because we all come from particular ethnicities (or combinations thereof). If you mean he doesn't look WASPy, just say so--that's what you're trying to say (and yes, WASPS are also "ethnic.").

You cluck.

by Anonymousreply 203January 22, 2020 11:41 PM

r203 romantic leading men back then, which was Hamlin's niche, weren't really ethnic-looking. I get what the poster was saying.

by Anonymousreply 204January 22, 2020 11:43 PM

I am a WASP and don't consider myself to be in a minority at all.

by Anonymousreply 205January 22, 2020 11:46 PM

Longtime Companion is such a terrific film. it's a disgrace it's out of print on DVD, and has never been released on Blu-Ray and is hard to find in any format. It's not only an IMPORTANT film, it was Oscar-nominated (for Bruce Davison's superb performance).

by Anonymousreply 206January 23, 2020 12:26 AM

Anyway, HH is gay. Ou est le depression (sic)?

by Anonymousreply 207January 23, 2020 12:29 AM

R206, Longtime Companion is on Youtube.

by Anonymousreply 208January 23, 2020 12:43 AM

Making Love: The Broadway Musical!

And don't try to compare it to Falsettos. If wife swapping can have two musicals, then so can str8 man discovering homosex.

by Anonymousreply 209January 23, 2020 12:45 AM

He was not destined to be a big star. Not charismatic enough to be a headliner. Destined for television.

by Anonymousreply 210January 23, 2020 12:54 AM

I saw Longtime Companion as a closeted man in college with my girlfriend. I didn’t know anyone who had died of AIDS at the time so didn’t feel much.

Years later, now a full fledged gay, I watched it again and it affected me so deeply

by Anonymousreply 211January 23, 2020 2:46 AM

[quote] He learned from his wife, who did a Depends ad.

And what is wrong with that???

by Anonymousreply 212January 23, 2020 3:01 AM

What was startling about Philadelphia was gays fighting back and winning money, something which was pure fantasy at the time except for the one case on which the movie was based. But it worked. It scared straighty into treating us better even thought we lost case after case in that era.

by Anonymousreply 213January 23, 2020 3:57 AM

I saw it in the theater by Bloomingdales (forget which one) and as “middle of the road” as we think of the movie, almost everyone who was sitting around me was gay. So there was a lot to be done back then if even this movie, with Tom Hanks, has trouble bringing in straight audiences (at least initially).

I saw it with my mom opening weekend, I think.

by Anonymousreply 214January 23, 2020 7:34 AM

He was so good in Veronica Mars as Aaron Echolls.

by Anonymousreply 215January 23, 2020 1:20 PM

I wonder if all the groaning by straight people when they used to see gay affection on screen is more about show. They feel it's what they're supposed to do because they have to show all the people around them.

If they're home alone watching the movie, I doubt they're groaning.

by Anonymousreply 216January 23, 2020 5:47 PM

R216: Or they are just uncomfortable and express it in an ignorant way

by Anonymousreply 217January 23, 2020 6:20 PM

"IT WAS NOT A LOVE STORY! IF IT WERE A LOVE A STORY BANDERAS WOULD HAVE BEEN THE CO-LEAD! Jesus, you people are so dumb."

Calm down, Mary! I don't think anyone has outright said it was a love story. But the love between the two gay men WAS emphasized during the film, you silly thing.

by Anonymousreply 218January 23, 2020 8:34 PM

R200, I don't think those random pair of tits were meant for a gay audience...

by Anonymousreply 219January 23, 2020 10:41 PM

R74, Still hot!

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 220January 23, 2020 10:47 PM

Bumpn

by Anonymousreply 221January 24, 2020 12:33 PM

Michael Ontkean is 74 today.; Happy Birthday.

by Anonymousreply 222January 25, 2020 1:17 AM

Wasn't out yet, but when Philadelphia comes out my mom asks 'why do they call it Philadelphia?'

I said, rather methodically, 'it's...the city...of brotherly love...'

she told me I was so deep; I said well, you shouldn't have sent me to college then.

The exchange wasn't as nasty as it appears in print.

by Anonymousreply 223January 25, 2020 4:09 AM

[quote] she told me I was so deep;

Ewwwww.

by Anonymousreply 224January 25, 2020 11:08 AM

[quote] The exchange wasn't as nasty as it appears in print.

Maybe not to you, but calling your mother stupid scarred her for life. She's just used to hiding her pain from you.

by Anonymousreply 225January 25, 2020 3:50 PM

R225, sigh. I wish dad were around. Died at a young age. (How that affected me I can only imagine?)

Mom and I throw the ball back a lot. I'm the only son who calls her in the assisted living with any regularity.

I'll call you later I said to her last night.

Tomorrow? She replied. Not as in 'oh, please...please tomorrow if you can', more like a 'NO. Cripes. Wait till tomorrow, will ya?'

by Anonymousreply 226January 25, 2020 8:23 PM

PHILADELPHIA was a huge hit! It was among the Top Ten grossers of the year. Incidentally, seeing this list makes me sad and nostalgic. Look at the diverse selection! Half of them are adult films.

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 227January 25, 2020 11:31 PM

I was 14 or 15 when the movie was released. I remember hearing about the warning in the film and how people were aghast that one of Charlie's Angels was in the film. People talked about the movie like it was horrifying.

I wanted to see it, but I was scared. I think it was rated R. I heard the song on the radio a few times and brought the single.

Nevertheless, in 1982 it was groundbreaking. I rented it on DVD years later and thought it was a good film.

by Anonymousreply 228January 27, 2020 2:25 AM

[quote]Straight actors need to stop taking gay roles away from gay actors anyway...

Oh, gawd!

You might be surprised that actors actually don't cast themselves in movies, and that pretending to be people unlike themselves is actually their job!

For-profit show biz is NOT a SJW tool, nor an oppressed persons job program, AND that hiring anyone based on their sexual orientation is illegal!

by Anonymousreply 229January 27, 2020 2:37 AM

[quote] I heard the song on the radio a few times and brought the single.

Song? Forgive me, I don’t remember a particular song associated with this movie.

What was it?

by Anonymousreply 230January 27, 2020 10:57 AM

Didn't stay for the end credits, did you r230

This is the theme song, "Making Love" sung by Roberta Flack. It played over the end credits.

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by Anonymousreply 231January 27, 2020 11:06 AM

Thanks, r231!

No, I didn’t see the movie in a theater. I saw it on TV.

by Anonymousreply 232January 27, 2020 1:02 PM

When Roberta Flack was asked by Hotspots Magazine if she was nervous about recording the title song knowing the movie's content, Flack responded, "Afraid of singing a song about love? Never. I was so glad when that song charted. People who did not know that the song was about love between two men loved that song. I would talk about it in my shows, and about how love is love. Between a man and a woman, between two men, between two women. Love is universal, like music."

by Anonymousreply 233January 27, 2020 2:18 PM

Good for Roberta!

by Anonymousreply 234January 27, 2020 3:05 PM

Good for Roberta but the song isn’t available on any of her comps. Licensing issue?

by Anonymousreply 235January 27, 2020 3:32 PM

r235, It's the 10th track on "The Very Best of Roberta Flack" (2006):

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 236January 27, 2020 3:36 PM

OH dear. Thanks r236. I must have confused it with the Valerie theme.

by Anonymousreply 237January 27, 2020 5:23 PM

R233 Always loved that song, now even more I realise the context. Roberta will forever have a place in my heart.

by Anonymousreply 238January 27, 2020 7:15 PM

I never knew that about Roberta Flack. To be so accepting and saying it publicly in the early 80s when things were so insane was wonderful of her.

by Anonymousreply 239January 27, 2020 8:27 PM

Hello R230, I'm R228. I remember hearing the song MAKING LOVE by Roberta Flack on the radio once or twice when it was first released, years before I actually watched the movie. Then I heard Casey Kasem count it down on America's Top 40, so I purchased the single as a show of support to Roberta Flack and the film. I'm pretty sure the song rose into the Top 20. I was in my early teens and was scared to see the film on my own. I think it may have been R-rated. I borrowed it on DVD years later from the library and thought it was a good movie, not sensationalist , kind of thoughtful.

by Anonymousreply 240January 28, 2020 2:45 AM

The song went to #13 on the Hot 100 and #7 on the AC Chart

by Anonymousreply 241January 28, 2020 2:50 AM

Girl... Clash of the Titans waylaid your career. Not some gay movie where you actually got to "act".

by Anonymousreply 242January 28, 2020 2:52 AM

Wasn't CLASH OF THE TITANS a hit?

by Anonymousreply 243January 28, 2020 3:13 AM

Didn't Roberta sing Ballad of the Sad Young Men on her first album? I think she's always been gay-friendly.

by Anonymousreply 244January 28, 2020 4:27 AM

I LOVED "Clash" as a kid. I cannot count the number of times I watched it then. Tried to watch it again recently after so many years, and I couldn't - I just couldn't....

by Anonymousreply 245January 28, 2020 1:21 PM
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