I bet a lot of you never heard of this 1976 movie starring star of Sanford and Son Redd Foxx and Pearl Bailey.
Be glad you didn't because nothing can prepare you for how strange it is.
Foxx has just found out that his wife, Bailey, has left him for his brother. So he goes to Los Angeles to tell his son, played by Michael Warren.
But what he doesn't know is that his son is in a same-sex relationship with a white man, Garson (Dennis Dugan). And Garson is highly, highly flamboyant. Needless to say that Foxx is not at all pleased to find out that his son is gay.
And to complicate matters, his wife pays a visit after leaving his brother.
All I can say is that they tried. Too bad that the following preview didn't include the most surreal scene of the movie where Foxx has a nightmare that he is getting an award for being the most homosexual person or something or another. The vision of Foxx with a Liberace wig and speaking with a lisp is something that I never want to see again.
(Editor's note - A reader just sent me a clip of the scene which I have just spoken of. The link is in the comments section. View it with barf bag in hand.)
Past Know Your LGBT History postings:
Know your lgbt history - The 'Exotic' Adrian Street
Know your lgbt history - The Choirboys
Know your lgbt history - Eddie Murphy
Know your lgbt history - The Killing of Sister George
Know your lgbt history - Hanna-Barbera cartoons pushes the 'gay agenda'
Know your lgbt history - Cruising
Know your lgbt history - Foxy Brown and Cleopatra Jones
Know your lgbt history - I Got Da Hook Up
Know your lgbt history - Fright Night
Know your lgbt history - Flowers of Evil
The Jeffersons and the transgender community
http://www.4shared.com/file/120486418/1ff8f48a/7-25-2009_12-41-35_AM.html
ReplyDeleteI did see this movie on tv in the early '80's, around the time Michael Warren was on "Hill Stret Blues". It's based on a play, and I think the family was originally Jewish.
ReplyDeleteIt's a pretty bizarre movie, and if I recall correctly, Norman has a one-night stand with a woman, breaks up with Garsen (whose understandably upset reaction is played for laughs) and joins the army (or was it the navy?)
Dennis Dugen's now a director.
Yep, that's about it. The only thing good about this movie is seeing Michael Warren in jockey shorts.
ReplyDeleteActually I had and it was a very funny movie, being a Red Foxx fan.
ReplyDeleteThose of course who are all riled up over Bruno wouldn't appreciate it.
Come on people, loosen up and laugh at yourself once in a while.
I'm all for funny movies with lgbts (hell I got the Dom DeLuise sequence from Blazing Saddles memorized) but this movie was a poor attempt at humor. I mean at the very least don't you think Dennis Dugan's character was over the top?
ReplyDeleteA few more bits o'trivia:
ReplyDeleteTamara Dobson (AKA "Cleopatra Jones") played the hooker Norman sleeps with.
Dennis Dugan's directing credits include "I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry" (make of that what you will). He also appeared on "Hill Street Blues" as Captain Freedom. Maybe the reason Garson seems so over-the-top is because, as an actor, Dugan tends to be.
The closing song on the soundtrack was sung by Thelma Houston.
Garson presents Ben with a book about "Famous Homosexual Geniuses". This is one of the few scenes that isn't offensive: we learn that the book was originally a gift to Garson from his mother. One of the people mentioned is Stephen Foster; I do not know if the claim that he was gay is true or not.
It's allegedly the first feature film to be shot on videotape and transferred onto film. That might explain why, visually, it looks so bad.
Funny you should mention Tamara Dobson. I was contemplating looking at the lesbian villains in her Cleopatra Jones movies but decided to do this instead. I may do it for next week.
ReplyDeleteYou did a post on "Cleopatra Jones" on June 5. Don't tell me there's MORE! :)
ReplyDeleteThere were two Cleopatra Jones movies made. The original and then there was Cleopatra Jones and the Casino of Gold.
ReplyDeleteIn both movies, she battled lesbian drug lords. Shelley Winters was the villain in the original movie while Stella Stevens was the villain in the second one. I wanted to compare the two portrayals, although both are a demonstration of what a talented actress can do with a role.
Oh, I look forward to that-So...
ReplyDeleteTWO ladies from "Poseidan Adventure"? There's a well I didn't imagine anyone dipping from. I guess if there'd been a third, they'd have gotten Carol Lynley.
Actually, the bad video quality is coming from my end. I used SnagIt and the outcome was due to my PC's limitations.
ReplyDeleteHere's a better quality version:
http://www.4shared.com/file/120676317/4590c944/Movie19.html