a film by Arthur Hiller
1982 | 113 mins | US
Michael Ontkean .... Zach Elliot
Kate Jackson .... Claire Elliott
Harry Hamlin .... Bart McGuire
Wendy Hiller .... Winnie Bates
Nancy Olson .... Christine
Arthur Hill .... Henry
John Dukakis .... Tim
Making Love
a landmark piece that made America
rest uneasy with the subject of
homosexual love
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Whilst sounding more like a sex education video than a feature film, this nevertheless equates to
a classic work of gay cinema. It tells, in effect, the story of Zach, a happily married doctor
who comes into contact with fun loving Bart, a successful LA writer. As the two men get to
know each other in ways that go beyond mere friendship, Zach contemplates leaving his
wife for the man he now loves, but in whom the word 'commitment' remains a stranger.
In short, what you have here is a variant of the love triangle scenario, albeit one with a gay
twist. Only this is far more than a variation on an old theme, given it marks a landmark
piece that back in 1982 made America sit up, to rest uneasy with the subject
of homosexual love.
And America was not alone in turning in its seat, for as producer Daniel Melnick recalled in the
critically acclaimed documentary THE CELLULOID CLOSET, "I had the unpleasant task of running the
rough cut of the film" for a man who in Melnick's own words was not from "the film world, nor
the intellectual world nor the world of letters and arts." Squirming in his seat throughout the
screening, it was at the point in which the "two men embrace and kiss, that he jumped up and said
'you made a goddamn faggot movie' and stormed out." A reaction that was mirrored up and down
the US, as the majority of the cinema going public showed via the exit door, that they were
ill-at-ease with the sight of two men being intimate with each other on the big screen.
Thankfully times have changed, at least in certain parts of the world, but back then
and inspite of nothing remotely explicit on view, many still lay uncomfortable
with the subject, one that prompted Twentieth Century Fox to issue words of
warning citing it as a delicate issue that 'may be too strong for some people.'
All of which is ironic given the end product is hardly cutting edge by today's standards, being
clearly soap opera in style. This however is not to take anyway anything from Kate Jackson who
shines in the role of a wife forced to come to terms with her husbands' newfound sexuality,
equipped as she is with many a key line courtesy of the pen of screenwriter Barry Sandler. But
it is to say that Harry Hamlin and Michael Ontkean deserve specific attention, not only for
their compelling work, but for having undertaken parts that many in the business at
this time simply would not touch, in fear that such would prove to be career suicide.
Said by some to be the BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN of the '80s, such a comparison is only just in terms
that both overtly gay features were geared to mainstream cinemas and audiences thereof. For
decades before the Ang Lee classic, here was a work that in its own way pushed the boundaries of
Stateside gay visibility in depicting homosexuals as real men and not as victims of their
sexuality. True many would have liked it to have said more in terms of gay rights, but it did
show 'the gay kiss,' namely an act that numerous Hollywood offerings that followed notably stayed
shy of. Melodramatic in parts and yet equally touching, this breakthrough film marked the first
occasion in which Hollywood had produced and moreover directly marketed a gay feature to the
general public. And yet here I cannot help but recall that John Schlesinger forever of
MIDNIGHT COWBOY fame delivered yet another mainstream variant of the love triangle
scenario, including the sight of two men kissing, way back in 1971 in the
groundbreaking work SUNDAY, BLOODY SUNDAY. But that was in the UK
and not the US. Need more be said?
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