Based on Vito Russo’s groundbreaking 1981 work of film history, The Celluloid Closet gathers clips from dozens of mainstream Hollywood films to illustrate how the movies have dealt explicitly — and more importantly, implicitly — with gay and lesbian themes. Layered between the clips are interviews with filmmakers whose works have touched on that subject. The popular films of the Golden Age could only hint at homosexuality and often portrayed gays as simpering characters, objects of scorn or merriment, or insidious villains.

With the strictures of the old Production Code loosening, bolder presentations were possible, but often over the objections of studio executives who feared a public backlash against a film that dealt with a long taboo subject.

Among the films discussed are Philadelphia, The Children’s Hour, Making Love, Rope, and Spartacus. Gore Vidal, Tom Hanks, Susan Sarandon, and director John Schlesinger are among the film’s strongest interview subjects. (Barnes & Noble)

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Author Armistead Maupin (Tales of the City) wrote Lily Tomlin’s narration for this superb documentary, based on a book by the late Vito Russo, about Hollywood’s treatment of homosexual characters in the 20th century.

Never pointing a finger at anyone in the film community, The Celluloid Closet presents clips from more than 100 mainstream features (including The Children’s Hour, Advise and Consent, The Boys in the Band, and The Hunger) that speak loudly in their respective images of gays and lesbians.

The film makes a persuasive case for patterns of sexual mythology in Hollywood, such as presenting homosexuals repeatedly as tragic, helpless figures redeemed only through death or as back-street monsters cavorting in the shadows.

Things change, of course, and clips from more recent films by gay and lesbian filmmakers suggest a more vital, diverse, autobiographical approach. There are lots of great interviews with screenwriters (Gore Vidal), filmmakers (John Schlesinger), actors (Tom Hanks, Whoopi Goldberg), and others to enunciate the major themes. (Amazon)