Customer Reviews

Before Stonewall: The Making of a Gay and Lesbian Community [VHS]

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Originally produced for PBS television, the Emmy-winning "Before Stonewall" is a must-see documentary for anyone researching Gay American history. What makes this film so invaluable is its success in recreating - through photographs, film clips, and later-day interviews - a period in time that was carefully and deliberately NOT recorded as it was happening due to the pervasive institution of "the closet", and the very real dangers that faced those brave enough to crack open the door and step out into the light. As one courageous lesbian pioneer remembers, just being accused of being a gay woman was grounds for involuntary commitment to a mental institution during her youth. Small wonder, then, that there is such a paucity of material documenting the gay movement pre-Stonewall, especially during the years from 1900-1950, before the earliest Gay and Lesbian social and political institutions in the United States were founded.

The cornerstone of this remarkable film is the handful of interviews conducted with some elderly activists from the years before the Stonewall riots began on June 27, 1969. With humor, dignity, and matter-of-fact courage, these men and women tell personal stories about their experiences in the armed forces, in the halls of government, in society, and in their home lives during the years in which America at large experienced the roaring Twenties, the Great Depression, the Second World War, the beginning of the Baby Boom era, and the radical Sixties. Their recollections are not only fascinating and brilliantly told; they are of critical importance in understanding the true heritage and history of today's American gay community. The DVD edition offers some fascinating extra material, including some expanded interviews, and footage of poet Allen Ginsberg reading two of his early compositions. Very highly recommended in terms of both quality and content.

For many of us, the seeds of the gay liberation movement started on the nights of Stonewall, when a group of people just decided that they weren't going to take it anymore. However, there was gay life before Stonewall, which is documented in this fast paced documentary.

The movie attempts to collapse about forty years of gay history into a documentary of about ninety minutes. With a plethora of interviews, people telling their own stories, it's amazing what it does cover. While the depth of the history may be somewhat lacking, the real impact of the document is an understanding of the roots of where the gay movement came from.

It seems as we enter times of trial and tribulation, it's important to understand our roots. It's those roots, based in the stories that are in this movie, that ground us and help instill a sense a pride in where we've come from, and where we'll be going. With that pride comes strength, strength of will, strength of character. The people who so bravely walked before us, in the 1920's where wearing a red tie with matching hanky was the most obvious sign, to those impressive drag queens who finally decided that enough was enough, are our sources of self-empowerment.

Watch the documentary, buy it, and be ready.

The prior reviews on this movie hit most of the high points. The scene from Eisenhower's office during WWII is amazing - every time I see it I get goosebumps.

This movie does move quickly, but it really takes you from the days of hiding and shame to the revolution of Stonewall and beyond, to end on a note of triumph. It has been a while since I have been to a march, but every time I watch this movie, I am so moved, and proud of those who came before me. I am honored to be the recipient of the rewards of their struggle. I am inspired to live my best life as an openly gay man.

If you have ever felt second best, if you have ever ducked into the closet to make someone else more comfortable, if you have ever been ashamed of who you are as a gay person; this movie is for you.

I personally believe this movie should be required viewing for every gay person.

The BEFORE STONEWALL dvd is one of three must have documentaries for all LGBT people (the others being After Stonewall and Paris Is Burning).

Chronicling the time from the roaring 20s to just before the Stonewall riots in 1969, BEFORE STONEWALL takes the viewer on a journey through the struggle that gay men and lesbians have faced as they go from isolation to finding others "like them." The story is told from the mouths of the people who lived through those times like Harry Hay, Barbara Gittings, Audre Lorde, Allen Ginsberg and others, and provides photos, news-clippings, and personal home movies and talks about the importance of underground 'zines that helped gay and lesbians connect with one another.

The doc also shows the beginnings of LGBT groups like "The Mattachine Society" and "Daughters of Billitis" during the late 50s, and features a reunion of workers and patrons of San Francisco gay bar from the 50s "The Black Cat."

BEFORE... came out on PBS in 1985 and "first-run-features" has done an excellent job cleaning up the footage. Of course it doesn't look as though it were done recently, but it's passable. The film runs at about 87-minutes and the special features include: blurry interview with Allen Ginsberg who reads two of his poems; additional interviews with Audre Lorde and Yvonne Flowers; additional footage of The Black Cat bar reunion and interview with Jose Sarria.

Those of us who remember the closeted years before 1969, where the "love that dare not speak its name" remained silent, recognize the importance of documenting the hardships of gays and lesbians who lived in an era shrouded in secrecy and paranoia. This documentary does an adequate job of providing its viewers a brief glimpse into that era where there were no gay rights. I especially recommend this work to younger viewers who have little knowledge of what gay life was like before the Stonewall riots. In fact, dear reader, if you have never heard of the Stonewall riots, I implore you to purchase and view this documentary immediately!

I consider myself privileged to have personally known, and counted as a dear friend, one of the actors in this work -- George Buse. As stated by the Amazon reviewer, the only objection I have regarding this documentary is that it is too brief and only provides a "snapshot" into the lives of gay and lesbian Americans in times past. I spent many hours listening to George's plethora of anecdotes, and am sorry I never recorded them. When George passed in April of 2000 aged 75, his remarkable personal history, as well as his mental archives of that bygone era were taken with him, save for what he wrote in the Chicago gay press over the years, and his comments in this work. The producers of this documentary could not possibly have chosen a better historian or storyteller. Brief or not, the documentary is a worthwhile purchase. Five honored stars.

And the world turns and slowly gets fairer and just better. Great political story and why some of us are here and out and about!

This documentary includes interviews with members of the GLBT community and their personal recollections of life from the 1920's to Stonewall. The inclusion of film clips, photos, and news items along with the personal recollections makes the history both interesting and personable. Too often we take our current freedoms for granted without appreciating those who fought to gain those rights. As a member of the GLBT community and a president of a PFLAG chapter I recommend this documentary along with the "After Stonewall" documentary.

for anyone who wants to understand better the real history of the GBLT movement. Great presentation, easy to watch and informative. A tool for educating anyone willing to sit and watch it!

It is sometimes necessary to explain what Stonewall was. In 1960s New York, it was illegal to be homosexual, and gays and lesbian bars were generally mob controlled venues that made pay offs to the police in order to stay open. Located in the gay enclave of Greenwich Village, Stonewall was a seedy bar where watered-down drinks were the norm and the owners didn't much care if you liked it or not: you took it or left it. From time to time the police came around; most of the time they were looking for a pay off, but sometimes they had instructions to crack down on vice. And that is what happened on 27 June 1969, with police officers arresting bar patrons. But on this occasion tempers flared. The bar patrons had had enough and they fought back. The battle spilled into the street, the police took cover inside the bar, and the gays and lesbians tried to burn it down with the police inside. The Stonewall Riots continued on and off for several days, shutting down a big chunk of New York in the process. Today the riots are seen as the turning point in the struggle for gay and lesbian equality.

Well, maybe. The trouble with people who live in New York and Los Angeles and other major urban areas is that they usually discount everybody else, and the stories presented by BEFORE STONEWALL are very much those of gays and lesbians living in major urban areas and struggling against the odds to reach some sort of happy ending. (The only arrest footage in the film shows the drag queens waving happily for the camera.) The film doesn't have much to say about the really bad things that happened, the murders and the deaths, the forced shocked treatments, those who lived in terror in small town hells from one end of the country to another. What emerges is a highly sanitized portrait of the American 20th Century gay and lesbian movement that seems calculated to please liberal heterosexuals instead of inform about the triumphs and failures of the pre-1960s movement. As for Stonewall being a turning point, no doubt it was--in New York. Truth is, it didn't actually receive much coverage at the time. I'd say the national turning point came a decade later when Anita Bryant discovered gays and lesbians had enough leverage to have her fired as spokeswoman for Florida orange juice and when Harvey Milk showed that gays and lesbians could actually be elected to public office.

That said, BEFORE STONEWALL is a nice little feel-good documentary with the occasional glimpse of an interesting interview, such as Harry Hay, who was both adored and reviled (typically of this film, you don't get any of the latter), Martin Duberman (who starts to talk about how he sought a "cure" but never really goes anywhere with the story), and a reunion of those who frequented a bar called The Black Cat (and they, at least, are genuinely fun.) When all is said and done, BEFORE STONEWALL is upbeat, peppy, and tries to make you feel that the bad old days probably weren't quite so bad after all. Recommended, but keep your salt shaker hander, because you'll need to watch it with more than few grains of salt.

GFT, Amazon Reviewer

I apologize---I actually thought I was reviewing "Before Stonewall" when I wrote review for After Stonewall. However---you NEED both---they complement one another--and my comments apply to BOTH!! Outstanding!! Invaluable to add to your collection of gay history!