Hollywood Pride — Part 1
June is Pride Month, and tonight and next Friday, Turner Classic Movies celebrates with various films featuring LGBTQ+ characters, themes and icons, and/or created by and starring queer filmmakers/actors. Up first is Sylvia Scarlett (pictured), the 1935 romantic comedy led by Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant and whose gender-bending story and sexual politics were well ahead of their time. Next is the TCM premiere of Gay USA (1978), a documentary focusing on the gay rights movement of its time. Then comes Torch Song Trilogy (1988), a comedy/drama starring Harvey Fierstein, who adapted the screenplay from his play of the same name. Anne Bancroft and Matthew Broderick co-star. Following that is The Queen (1968), an influential documentary that goes behind the scenes of a national drag-queen contest in New York City. Moving into early Saturday morning, the lineup features The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant (1972), a West German romantic drama led by an all-female cast; The Blue Angel (1930), the famed German musical comedy/drama that made Marlene Dietrich an international star; and the biographical drama Queen Christina (1933), led by Greta Garbo as the titular Swedish royal.
