Before gay became okay onscreen – well, before a veeeeeery specific white, skinny, feminine version of gay became okay – movie star Bette Davis turned down a role in this film because she didn’t want to do a “dyke movie.” Sheesh! Now why wouldn’t she want to be a part of a story about an incarcerated pregnant married woman who finds herself under the non-Bette Davis acted thumb of the prison’s butch bully? According to Vito Russo, this film’s got an “astonishing amount of lesbianism.” How about that… Examine this chapter of queer cinema history with a video intro from newly New York-located programmer Elizabeth Purchell. – James Scott
Wed., July 17