Alexander: The Other Side of Dawn

What sort of crazy, backwards universe are we finding here? Jan from Brady Bunch is a hooker? Russel from Hamburger: The Motion Picture is into gay sex? This can't be right, but it is and it's actually a sequel to a better film called "Dawn" that focuses more on Jan......er......Dawn. Both films are basically sanitized, Hollywood Hogwash depictions of life on the streets but have enough grit to make them interesting in a Horatio Alger sort of way. Watchable enough and the good news is Alex later changes his name to Russel in the mid-1980's, graduates from Busterburger University and gets his own franchise. You might want to watch that movie instead.

Shy, straight kid from Oklahoma who likes to draw and paint gets thrown out of his house, soon ending up in Los Angeles where he romances a pretty young prostitute while paying the bills as a male escort to women and men. Worthy TV-made continuation of the 1976 ratings blockbuster "Dawn: Portrait of a Teenage Runaway" wasn't as big a success, partly due to a been-there-done-that feel but also perhaps because of the gay content--uncomfortable territory for 1977. The filmmakers work very hard to show us that Alexander (deep-voiced Leigh McCloskey, looking too old to be a minor) is indeed heterosexual; with lots of lip-locking between he and Dawn (returning Eve Plumb), we get the point early he's just using the gays as trade without all the speech-making. Alexander ends up living with a gay football player, who's just another stepping stone to this kid and one who seems to understand the situation (he quickly picks up another boy, though he isn't made out to be a villain). Earl Holliman gives probably the strongest performance in the movie, playing a (presumably gay) community center counselor who wants to clean up the streets--and Alex's life. John Erman directs in an unembarrassed, straightforward fashion, admirable for what is basically low-budget, exploitation television. The film refuses to paint the characters in shades of black or white, good guys or bad guys. Though the pseudo-happy ending doesn't quite ring true, and McCloskey's slack-jawed performance is disappointing, it's a decent attempt to scare impressionable kids away from Hollywood Boulevard.

This film is the sequel to "Dawn: Portrait of a Teenage Runaway". This original made for TV movie was pretty shocking as America got to see Eve Plumb (from "The Brady Bunch") playing a prostitute! Pretty steamy stuff for the 1970s. Well, the character is back but plays second fiddle to Alexander (Leigh McCloskey)...her love interest who also is a prostitute who mostly services men...though he insists that he's not gay (and they never mention that he's most likely bisexual).

Like the first movie, this one is HIGHLY sanitized because otherwise they never would have allowed it to be shown on TV. So, you never really see Alexander prostituting himself and the film jumps too quickly from Alexander being homeless to sleeping with folks for profit. It basically talks around what is happening. Additionally, McCloskey and Plumb look so whitebread and so pretty that it is hard to imagine either being prostitutes. As a result, instead of being shocking it comes off as a bit silly. Additionally, the film feels very episodic and disjoint...perhaps due to some editing to please the network. Because of this, it's really not that good a movie BUT it's also a groundbreaking and important film due to its subject matter...and for that reason folks might wanna give it a look.

Quite the daring thing for television in its day (it might have trouble getting off the ground at all in today's morally frigid climate!), it was nevertheless a disappointing sequel to "Dawn: Portrait of a Teenaged Runaway." The character of Alexander brought tears to the eye in "Dawn;" in his own film he just seems to be going through the motions, doing what was "expected" of a daring, groundbreaking '70s Gay television character.

Sequel to "Dawn: Portrait of a Teenage Prostitute" (which I never saw). Alexander (Leigh McCloskey) is a teenager who has been thrown out of his home in Oklahoma. He goes to California and (almost immediately) becomes a str8 male prostitute. He falls for Dawn (Eve Plumb!) who is a hooker. He gets her away from her pimp and sends her away until he can make it on his own. But he's 17, no high school graduation and his prostitution is known about. He ends up being "kept" by closeted gay football player Chuck Selby (Alan Feinstein). But can he leave and ever get back to Dawn?

"Dawn..." came out a year before this and was a ratings blockbuster. This was rushed into production and released but it wasn't the success "Dawn" was. For 1977 TV however, this was groundbreaking. It shows gay teens in a "rap" session talking openly about their families rejecting them--the dialogue is tame but the characters are shown in a sympathetic light. Also when Alex lives with Chuck it's pretty obvious that they must be having sex (although it's never shown). That may seem like nothing today but for 1977 that was pretty shocking.

The acting is actually not bad. McCloskey is a little bland at times and he seems nervous at playing the role but he comes through every once in a while. His plea at court at the end is actually pretty moving. He's obviously in his 20s (he was 24 when this was made) but he still could pass for 17. Feinstein is good is his role and Juliet Mills has a nice bit part. Also it was shocking to see Jean Hagen looking so bad and frail and sounding so bad (but she was ill at the time). She even mocks her Hollywood image (the picture on the wall behind her IS actually her). Top-billed Eve Plumb is hardly in this.

This all has a totally unbelievable but somewhat satisfying Hollywood ending. I got a copy from a friend on DVD--the print is in poor shape. The picture was blurry and the color faded. The sound was strong and clear. This needs a total makeover. Still, see it if you get the chance. Ahead of its time. I give it an 8.