A Step Forward: The Boys in the Band (1970)

Sing Hallelujah, come on get happy! Please, we implore you: get happy already! For this episode we train our gaze at William Friedkin’s minor masterpiece, The Boys in the Band. Although it is a landmark film in queer cinema, Boys has by now acquired a rather tricky reputation and we dig right into that. We laugh and cry along with these characters as they navigate the vagaries of identity and performative friendship. Topics include: comparisons to the Netflix version, Leonard Frey’s stunning performance, and Friedkin’s relationship to masculinity.