If you’ve ever seen the excellent 1995 documentary The Celluloid Closet, which examines the coded history of gay and lesbian characters in Hollywood movies, you’ll know that it provides enough viewing suggestions to fill your Netflix queue into next year. One movie it mentions (which I finally got hold of recently on DVD) is Young Man With A Horn, made in 1950.

Since the price you pay with gay characters in movies of that vintage is usually that you have to read heavily between the lines — as well as watch the character come to a sticky end — I had been in two minds about renting the movie. But in fact, it turned out to provide an intriguing representation of a fairly clear lesbian character, who — 11 years before The Children’s Hour — not only doesn’t die in the end, but actually has an on-screen female love interest with whom she probably goes off into the sunset. … continue reading

As AfterEllen.com reader shelby noted in the forums, yesterday The New York Times featured an interesting article about The Beebo Brinker Chronicles, a stage production based on the Ann Bannon pulp novels from the 1950s.

This paragraph of the article worries me a little:

Many artists would turn [the source material] into campy fun, but the tone of “The Beebo Brinker Chronicles” is sincere. “It felt to me that the audience would feel more delight the straighter we play it, so to speak,” said the director, Leigh Silverman, before a recent rehearsal.

Really? No camp? Seems like a missed opportunity. But maybe I'm still high on the pulp of Girl Gang, which was part of the New York Musical Theater Festival over the last couple of weeks. Now that was the perfect balance of camp and sincerity.

But that doesn't mean I'm not excited about Beebo. In the Times article, one of the playwrights observes that it's tough to get backing for a show like this:

A project led by gay men (or just men) of similar professional standing might face fewer hindrances. “It’s very hard to get lesbian work up,” Ms. Ryan said. “If you’re not a self-starter and you don’t put the pieces together, it’s not going to happen.”

Kudos to everyone involved for making this one happen. The Beebo Brinker Chronicles opens tonight and runs through Oct. 20 at the Fourth Street Theater in New York. Get your tickets while you can, and if you saw one of the preview performances over the weekend, give us your review in the comments! We'll offer our take on the show in the Best. Lesbian. Week. Ever. column on Oct. 19.