The Boys in the Band

Director: William Friedkin William Friedkin

Overview

"The Boys in the Band is not a musical" read the film's original advertisements. The film is set in the apartment of Michael (Kenneth Nelson), a homosexual who holds a birthday party for his friend Harold (Leonard Frey). As Michael and his gay buddies prepare for Harold's arrival, Michael's old college chum Alan (Peter White) makes a surprise appearance. Alan is straight, so Michael tells the revellers to watch their step. Alan's uptight reaction to gay Emory (Cliff Gorman) foments a confrontation. The embittered Michael tries to prove that Alan is a latent homosexual by staging a perverse game in which all the partygoers are required to declare their affections for the persons that they love the most. As it turns out, the person most injured by this game is Michael himself, who is incapable of loving anyone. As the first major-studio production to deal frankly with homosexuality, every member of the show's original Broadway cast appears in the film, including Laurence Luckinbill as an out-of-the-closet husband and father.

Product Details

Release Date:	06/25/2024
UPC:	0840418305317
Original Release:	1970
Rating:	R
Source:	Paramount
Language:	English
Time:	6:00:00
Sales rank:	8,576

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Kenneth Nelson	Michael,Michael
Cliff Gorman	Emory,Emory
Leonard Frey	Harold,Harold
Frederick Combs	Donald,Donald
Reuben Greene	Bernard,Bernard
Robert La Tourneaux	Cowboy,Cowboy
Laurence Luckinbill	Hank,Hank
Keith Prentice	Larry,Larry
Peter White	Alan McCarthy,Alan McCarthy
Murray Melvin	Alphonse,Alphonse
Frederick Combes	Actor,Actor

Technical Credits

Mart Crowley

Mart Crowley	Producer,Producer,Screenwriter,Screenwriter
Dominick Dunne	Executive Producer,Executive Producer,Producer,Producer
William Friedkin	Director,Director
Robert Jiras	Executive Producer,Executive Producer,Producer,Producer
Jack C. Jacobsen	Sound/Sound Designer,Sound/Sound Designer