A dramatic expose of the lives of a group of gays who meet in a New York City bar on Christmas Eve.A dramatic expose of the lives of a group of gays who meet in a New York City bar on Christmas Eve.A dramatic expose of the lives of a group of gays who meet in a New York City bar on Christmas Eve.
James Murdock
- Clint
- (as David Baker)
Robert Christian
- Eric
- (as Rob Christian)
Nick De Noia
- Phil Drew
- (as Nick DeNoia)
Thomas Fiorello
- Ernie
- (as Tommy Fiorello)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
5.9472
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Featured reviews
Another vote for a DVD release!
This title is just another of the many gay oriented flicks that needs to be released on disc. (Dinah East and Boys In The Band are two others.) I use to live in Birmingham where Flannie Flagg is from so when this movie first played there, we went to see it, not really knowing what to expect. I was thoroughly entertained, although every time I see Carlton Carpenter, I think of he and Debbie Reynolds doing "Aba Daba Honeymoon" in the 1950 Two Weeks With Love starring Jane Powell. Anyway, getting back to this movie, Rue, of course, went on to be known best for her Golden Girls role and Gary Sandy in WKRP in Cincinnati. Since it has been so many years since Some Of My Best Friends Are, was released, it's hard to remember that much about the movie so hopefully some film distributor can acquire the rights for a DVD release.
When You're Alone
It's Christmas Eve at a gay bar in Greenwich Village.
It's a portrait of a bunch of isolated people who, in one of the ending statements, have nowhere else to go. The range of characters run from flashy queens all the way to uptight New Englanders who don't do anything about their sexuality but talk about it. The bar is owned by a woman who presides like a mother at a party; her staff is mostly middle-aged men who go home to their wives. There's an undercurrent of sadness under the almost hysterical holiday partying. Like many of the cheap movies of the era -- of any era, really -- the cast includes actors years after their cinematic prime, like Carleton Carpenter, the current stars of queer cinema, like Candy Darling, and performers before they became well known, like Fannie Flagg, Gil Gerard, and Rue McClanahan.
In the end, Christmas Eve is no time to be alone, and these people are more alone than most.
It's a portrait of a bunch of isolated people who, in one of the ending statements, have nowhere else to go. The range of characters run from flashy queens all the way to uptight New Englanders who don't do anything about their sexuality but talk about it. The bar is owned by a woman who presides like a mother at a party; her staff is mostly middle-aged men who go home to their wives. There's an undercurrent of sadness under the almost hysterical holiday partying. Like many of the cheap movies of the era -- of any era, really -- the cast includes actors years after their cinematic prime, like Carleton Carpenter, the current stars of queer cinema, like Candy Darling, and performers before they became well known, like Fannie Flagg, Gil Gerard, and Rue McClanahan.
In the end, Christmas Eve is no time to be alone, and these people are more alone than most.
A depressing view of 1970s gay life
Yes, 1970s gay life was no picnic but it was not as bad as presented in this dark movie. But I suppose it could be this way in some situations. Too bad it was not more balanced through use of some positive characters. I was surprised to see some long-time as well as up-and-coming entertainers in this movie: Carlton, Rue and Gil. And the filming technique resembled the handheld shooting technique of more recent horror movies.
Gay life post Stonewall
It's two years past Stonewall and now certainly a story like Some Of My Best Friends Are could now be put on the screen. Still it was only a very few straight
players who would cast in a gay film. You will see however a couple of adventurous souls you might recognize from the cast.
This film if anything shows Stonewall was for the young. The young gay men hanging out at the Blue Jay bar on Christmas Eve aren't content to live life as was ordained by the sexual orientation and their elders up to now. Not sure of where the direction is going, but the younger ones don't want to settle.
The older ones are scared. Not just of the dominant straight society oppression. If anything they're afraid that the young with their agitation and demonstrations will bring down unwanted attention. The older gay men in this film are deeply closeted and are afraid of the door being even slightly ajar.
The fact that back in the day the gay bars were mob controlled was certainly noted. One of the great changes in the past 50 years was first the fact that the mob ran fewer and fewer of these establishments. And then as the community developed non-alcoholic venues bars themselves began to decline. Probably a good thing because drinking establishments everywhere by their nature bring gloom after the high wears off.
Some Of My Best Friends Are is kind of an expanded version of gay life in the early 70s that Boys In The Band showed in the middle 60s. One wonders how that group of gay men would have taken to Stonewall.
This film if anything shows Stonewall was for the young. The young gay men hanging out at the Blue Jay bar on Christmas Eve aren't content to live life as was ordained by the sexual orientation and their elders up to now. Not sure of where the direction is going, but the younger ones don't want to settle.
The older ones are scared. Not just of the dominant straight society oppression. If anything they're afraid that the young with their agitation and demonstrations will bring down unwanted attention. The older gay men in this film are deeply closeted and are afraid of the door being even slightly ajar.
The fact that back in the day the gay bars were mob controlled was certainly noted. One of the great changes in the past 50 years was first the fact that the mob ran fewer and fewer of these establishments. And then as the community developed non-alcoholic venues bars themselves began to decline. Probably a good thing because drinking establishments everywhere by their nature bring gloom after the high wears off.
Some Of My Best Friends Are is kind of an expanded version of gay life in the early 70s that Boys In The Band showed in the middle 60s. One wonders how that group of gay men would have taken to Stonewall.
A Time Capsule and cinema study of gay life in the 70's
This is an important piece of cinema. Why? Because it exposes the overall gay experience in its different facets - in this film it is represented through the characters at a bar. They spectrum of characters is like the rainbow flag even if it may not be identifiable or labeled as it is nowadays it does not mean it did not exist, it just means it was all under a few banners of the rainbow at the time. The situations are real, the pain in overwhelming and what makes this masterpiece so poignant is that this may not all be happening at one bar during one night but the film is set up as such.
These are the events lgbt people experienced on a daily basis everywhere from unrequited love only answered in the dark to family troubles to straight identified men having their side lovers. It's all there as it it today all converged beautifully and cinematically in one bar for us all to remember and never forget how times have changed and how far we've come as a society.
A brilliant piece of cinema and case study of how life was for lgbt+ back in 1971. A fine and highly recommended film.
These are the events lgbt people experienced on a daily basis everywhere from unrequited love only answered in the dark to family troubles to straight identified men having their side lovers. It's all there as it it today all converged beautifully and cinematically in one bar for us all to remember and never forget how times have changed and how far we've come as a society.
A brilliant piece of cinema and case study of how life was for lgbt+ back in 1971. A fine and highly recommended film.
Did you know
- TriviaThis film was way ahead of its time. One of the characters referred to J. Edgar Hoover as "....a drag queen." In 1971, Hoover was still Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and viewed as a traditional American hero by the majority of his fellow Americans.
- GoofsWhen the hustler (Gary Sandy) rips off the drag queen's (Candy Darling) wig, her hair ribbon somehow stays attached to her real hair underneath.
- Quotes
Barrett Hartman: Forgive me for not getting up. It's a bit awkward.
Lita Joyce: Don't apologize. I abhor men in a vertical position.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Homo Promo (1991)
- How long is Some of My Best Friends Are...?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Languages
- Also known as
- The Bar
- Filming locations
- Zodiac Bar - 835 Washington Street, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA(used for Blue Jay bar)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Gross US & Canada
- $117,169
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