The first movie to use the word "homosexual"

[Behind the Aegis]

“You knew of course he was a homosexual,” a police officer says to the up-and-coming star of the British legal scene, lawyer Melville Farr (Dirk Bogarde).

The officer refers to Jack Barrett (Peter McEnery), a young man who we’ve seen constantly trying to get in touch with Farr, only to be ignored repeatedly. Farr isn’t surprised by the revelation that Barrett is gay, in fact, he tells the officer he suspected as much. He is astonished to learn that Barrett has hung himself in his prison cell, which spurs Farr on a journey destined to change his life forever.

The line is an innocuous one—a mere statement of fact. In truth, it was an extremely groundbreaking moment in cinema history, and the first utterance of the word “homosexual” in an English-language film.

Victim, directed by Basil Dearden and released in the UK in 1961, was made at a time when having homosexual characters or even mentioning homosexuality at all, was against the law. In fact, homosexuality wasn’t even decriminalized until 1967, six years after the film was released.

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[Goonch]

1. 👇

[blm]

2. Suddenly Last Summer was 1959

But, of course it was delivered with heavy servings of pain for all.

…Unlike Tennessee Williams’ other queer coded film adaptations of the 1950s, A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958), Suddenly, Last Summer leans into its queer content and grapples more openly with cultural taboos. In 1959, enforcement of The Hays Code was declining but studio film depictions of homosexuality in positive terms were still all but non-existent. …

[ShazzieB]

3. Was the word "homosexual" actually uttered in Suddenly Last Sumer?

I saw the film ages ago and can't remember much about it. I feel like the gay element was more implied than stated outright, but that could be my faulty memory.

[blm]

4. I don't know. I have only seen tv versions, but

I would say that it was obvious as part of the storyline, far beyond the implied homosexuality of past films.

[ShazzieB]

5. The point made in the OP was that "Victim" was the first movie to use the actual word.

That's why I asked, because I don't remember SLS using the word "homosexual." The content is definitely there, not (iirc) the word itself.

[blm]

6. Of course. And I honestly can't say.

It was so apparent in SLS, but, the restrictions were still in place. It would be interesting to find out if there was a fuller version of the film, unedited to appease Hays guidelines.