What do you think the George Cukor pool parties were like? Was there active sex going on or was it just a place to make acquaintances? Did George ever play or was he just interested in watching? If you were a young Broadway hoofer who had just moved to Hollywood, would you have accepted an invitation?
I had an older friend in Sedona, AZ years ago who’d been a contract player at Universal in the late 40’s. When I asked him if he’d ever been to Cukor’s Sunday pool parties, he quickly responded, “Never! Because, if you went there Sunday, by Monday everyone would know, and your career would be over. You just couldn’t take that kind of stupid risk.”
We think ourselves so protected. But it’s more of a shared illusion than we like to think. Attitudes can change overnight. Remember, during the Weimar Republic, gay culture was more public than now. All of that was erased in a very short time.
Cukor was able to create a niche career in Hollywood, and managed to maintain it. But that did not necessarily extend to anyone around him. If you are gay in any publicly spotlighted business, you can’t always be as outspoken as you please.
There aren’t a lot of Cukors in this world.
| by Anonymous | reply 1 | August 26, 2020 3:09 AM |
I love the naked men in the film
| by Anonymous | reply 2 | August 26, 2020 3:16 AM |