http://youtu.be/XLSStnTCulE
Courtesy of SissyDude comes “The Secret of Wendel Samson,” a piece of vintage celluloid psychedelica from queer filmmaker Mike Kuchar, circa 1966.
Shy Pop artist Wendel Samson (played by real Pop artist Red Grooms) can’t work up the nerve to break up with his boyfriend, so he has anonymous trysts with other men. Meanwhile, when his female friend Margaret pressures him into an intimate relationship, it sends Wendel spiraling into a nightmare world where he’s violently punished for his sexuality.
If “Samson” doesn’t seem to make a whole lot of sense—one reviewer said, “[Kuchar] never met a plot he couldn’t pepper with nonsequitors, asides, and dream sequences”—remember it was the ’60s.
Maybe it’ll be clearer after a funny cigarette or a few of mother’s little helpers.
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Greybat
Divine! Nobody does Avaunte-Garde anymore.
David Ehrenstein
THis is such a wonderful movie. Red Groom is a great artist. Mike is a Total Sweetheart. I miss his twin brother George — who was also gay. George’s lover for many years was the great gay filmmaker Curt McDoiwell. George wirte and starred in Curt’s masterpeice “Thundercrack!” which was for many years a Midnight Movie staple.
Evangelos Tziallas
Considering its 1966 release, the film is a kitschy yet haunting portrait
of the closet as a personal affect, but also symbolic of the upcoming collective coming
out the Stonewall riots would initiate. An underrated classic!