Before Stonewall: The Making of a Gay and Lesbian Community is a documentary film which premiered at the Toronto International film Festival in 1984. It was released in US theaters in June 1985.
This film is about the LGBT community in the USA during the years before the Stonewall Uprising of 1969.
In 2019 - shortly before the 50-year anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising - it was restored and re-released by First Run Pictures.
Here is some basic information about this film:
** Directors: Robert Rosenberg and Greta Schiller
** Producers: John Scagliotti, Robert Rosenberg and Greta Schiller
** Narrator: Rita Mae Brown
** Language: English
** Subtitles: English
** Run time: 87 minutes
More than twenty persons are interviewed in this film
Here are the names of the participants
Listed in alphabetical order
** Ann Bannon (born 1932)
** Lisa Ben (1921-2015)
** Ivy Bottini (1926-2021)
** George S. Buse (1924-2000)
** Carroll Davis
** Martin Duberman (born 1930)
** Allen Ginsberg (1926-1997)
** Barbara Gittings (1932-2007)
** Barbara Grier (1933-2011)
** Mabel Hampton (1902-1989)
** Harry Hay (1912-2022)
** Dorothy “Smilie” Hillaire
** Evelyn Hooker (1907-1996)
** Red Jordan Arobateau (1943-2021)
** Frank Kameny (1925-2011)
** Jim Kepner (1923-1997)
** Audre Lorde (1934-1992)
** Bruce Nugent (1906-1987)
** Nell “Johnnie” Phelps (1922-1997)
** Craig Rodwell (1940-1993)
** José Julio Sarria (1922-2013)
Archive footage is used between the talking heads.
Archive footage is used to support and supplement the statements made by the talking heads.
Archive footage allows us to meet some people who were no longer alive when this film was made, including the following person:
Gladys Bentley (1907-1960)
This film covers the history of the gay and lesbian community in the US during the five decades leading up to the Stonewall Uprising in 1969.
** The 1920s
** The 1930s
** World War II (1941-1945)
** The 1950s
** The 1960s
During these five decades there were many changes. The conditions under which gay men and lesbian women lived changed many times.
The 1920s: this was a time with an economic upswing and a time which was dominated by optimism.
During this decade, the general trend for the gay and lesbian community was positive.
The 1930s: this was a time with an economic crisis and a time which was dominated by pessimism.
During this decade, the general trend for the gay and lesbian community was negative.
World war Two: this was an unusual time for the gay and lesbian community.
Many American men joined the armed forces. Every man was needed to support the war effort against Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, and Imperial Japan.
Some of these men were gay men, but in this situation, the leaders of the armed forces were not highly concerned with homosexual activities among American troops. The general trend for gay men was positive.
American women remained in the US, but their situation also changed. Before the war, many women lived at home; they had no job and no money. The war changed everything.
American women were encouraged to take a job in the defense industry. Their contribution to the war effort was essential.
Women were no longer at home all day, they had a job where they met other women, and they made money. Suddenly, they achieved a degree of independence which they had never experienced before.
Some of these women were lesbian women, but in this situation, the leaders of the defense industry were not deeply concerned with lesbian activities among the female workers. The general trend for lesbian women was positive.
When the war ended, American society quickly returned to what it had been before the war began.
The 1950s: during this time, American society was dominated by political campaigns such as the Second Red Scare (1947-1957) and by McCarthyism (1950-1954).
The main purpose of these campaigns was to find and to punish communists. But this was not the only purpose.
This was also the time of the so-called Lavender Scare, whose purpose was to find and to punish gay men and lesbian women.
The general trend for the gay and lesbian community was negative.
The 1960s: this decade was a time of economic upswing. Many popular movements were established during this decade:
** A civil rights movement
** A peace movement
** A feminist movement
** A student movement
** A hippie movement
Was there a movement for gay and lesbian rights?
The answer is not really.
There were small beginnings of a movement, but the men and women who wanted to build a movement for equal rights, knew they had to be very careful.
They did not want to attract too much attention to themselves. They did not want to provoke the authorities. There were a few publications written for gay men. There were a few publications written for lesbian women.
But there was no national network – no national organization - whose main purpose was to secure equal rights for gay men and lesbian women.
These were the conditions which prevailed during the five decades leading up to the Stonewall Uprising in 1969.
After the Stonewall Uprising in 1969, the situation was radically different. Gay men and lesbian women began to operate in a new and different way.
They were no longer prepared to submit to the constant repression of American society.
They demanded equal rights. They no longer tried to hide. They came out. They demanded to be recognized as full members of American society.
In this film, the history of the gay and lesbian community during the five decades before the Stonewall Uprising is told by some of the people who lived through these decades.
What do reviewers say about this film?
Here are some results:
75 percent = IMDb
78 percent = Rotten Tomatoes (the audience)
94 percent = Rotten Tomatoes (the critics)
On Amazon there are at the moment more than 160 ratings of this product, including more than 30 with reviews.
The average rating is 4.6 stars, which corresponds to a rating of 92 percent.
The ratings are very good, as you can see. I understand the numerous positive reviews and I agree with them.
The topic of this film is important. The story deserves to be told, and in this film, it is done very well.
I want to go all the way to the top with this product. I think it deserves a rating of five stars (100 percent).
REFERENCES
The Times of Harvey Milk
(1984)
After Stonewall
(1999)
Milk
(2008)
Stonewall Uprising
(2010)
Stonewall
(2015)
The Pride of Stonewall
(2021)
*****
Before Stonewall
A documentary film
which premiered in 1984
Restored version released in 2019
*****
Before Stonewall:
The making of a
Gay and Lesbian Community
25th anniversary edition
Released in 2009
*****
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