At last the Queer Film Blogathon sponsored by the excellent classic film blog Garbo Laughs is here. It has arrived at a very special time too, not only because Garbo Laughs is doing this blogathon in June, Pride month, but also because the ‘thon is coming to you mere days after gay marriage became legal in New York. The Legend of Hell House shows us by contrast how far we have come towards acceptance since 1973, but not in nearly as brutal a fashion as it could have done.
Hell House takes us through a few days in the life of a team of psychics and psychic investigators who have been dispatched to the titular house by a wealthy man who is about to die. He offers the group a large sum for proof of life after death. Roddy McDowall’s character, Benjamin Franklin Fischer, is a medium and the only surviving member of the last group to undertake a similar mission to the house several years before. The new brave and crazy team also includes another medium, Florence Tanner (Pamela Franklin of The Innocents), skeptic and investigator Lionel Barrett (Clive Revill) and Barrett’s wife Ann (Gayle Hunnicutt).
Roddy McDowall, as we now know, is widely believed to have been a gay man, although he was never officially out. If we can consider Rock Hudson’s movies to contain clues to the truth about Hudson’s sexuality, as seen in Rock Hudson’s Home Movies, I can believe that there could be a similar element to McDowall’s work. We know this coded inclusion of gay themes was often used in old movies.
I see it in this film mostly in one scene, when the ghost of Hell House’s evil former owner Emeric Belasco (Michael Gough in an uncredited role) possesses Ann and causes her to make sexual advances toward Fischer. The look of complete terror on his face as she describes her fantasy of having a three-way with Fischer and Miss Tanner could be attributed to his fear of the house, but to me it seems as much a hint to the character’s gayness as Paul Newman’s sexual rejection of Elizabeth Taylor in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. (And yes, I am aware that there are many reasons a man would reject a woman’s advances but we’re talking about old movies here, in which queer themes were painted with a pretty broad brush.) When Ann tears off her nightgown and stands nude before Fischer, he slaps her face quickly and violently. Again, this could be passed off as an example of the way people treated hysterical women in old movies, but I really don’t get that sense. It plays like a hint (more of a clue-by-four, really) to the character’s orientation.
Later, Miss Tanner, after having suffered at the hands of Belasco, awakens from a sort of coma to find that a concerned Fischer has spent the night in a chair in her room to watch over her. She seductively says that Fischer could have slept in her bed, but he just looks at her blankly without reacting. Again, he would have many reasons not to have joined her in bed, especially given that she is recovering from violent ghost sex at the time, but his silence seems to say more than any explanation. It is as if she should know very well that he isn’t interested and that he won’t even dignify her offer with a response.
The good news here is that, unlike in so many old movies, the gay character doesn’t die horribly. In fact, he defeats the evil in the house and survives the film. Unfortunately, things don’t look so good for the bisexual characters. Ann is first made to look foolish and unattractive (though she may only have been bi when possessed), and then she is widowed. Then there’s the ghost of Emeric Belasco. This guy twice attempts to have sex with Fischer using Ann’s body, and he does have sex with Miss Tanner as his ghostly self, so he’s clearly bi. Belasco, like so many bi characters, is depicted as a greedy, decadent horndog, and short to boot, but he had many other bad points in life and in death, and he’s dead of natural causes before the movie begins. At least his ultimate downfall comes at the hands of a courageous, clever gay man, right? Perhaps the character of Belasco would only seem defamatory to any evil bisexual ghosts who happen to see the film. If you know of any such entities, please don’t send them this link.
June 27th, 2011 at 11:43 am
[...] In It For The Kills – Gay Subtext in The Legend of Hell House [...]
June 27th, 2011 at 12:32 pm
This is a very interesting analysis. I haven’t seen this film yet, but given that Roddy McDowall is one of my absolute favorite actors, I must rectify that soon. Thank you so much for this great contribution!
June 27th, 2011 at 12:41 pm
Thank you. Please let me know what you think of the film when you do get around to watching it. I believe it is streaming on Netflix and is a regular feature on the Fox movies channel.
June 27th, 2011 at 9:02 pm
I thought the same thing about that exact scene where she tries to seduce Fischer. It never occurred to me that his repulsion — which is really what it looked like to me — could have been because of his fear of the haunting until you mentioned it, actually. It’s a problematic film, especially when we find out the “why” of the ghost at the end, but I still really enjoy it.
June 27th, 2011 at 9:18 pm
I don’t think it was anything but repulsion, either, but I have this terrible habit (born of getting trolled on the internet) to try to anticipate what people’s arguments might be so they don’t get to make them. I’m glad you saw the same thing in the scene as I did. The “why” is ultimately a bit of a letdown for me, to be honest, but that’s probably because the amazing scene in which Fischer yells at the ghost beforehand is really the climax.
June 28th, 2011 at 4:29 am
Another great post for a film I haven’t seen. Luckily this one’s on Watch Instantly, and I’ll be able to rectify this soon.
The most intriguing part is that the subtextually Gay character lives! Gotta check it out.
Thanks for your fun, insightful analysis.
June 28th, 2011 at 8:29 am
Thank you!
June 28th, 2011 at 10:35 am
Wow. I never even thought of The Legend of Hell House through a queer perspective. Time for another viewing, methinks! Thanks!
June 28th, 2011 at 11:31 am
Hey, thanks for reading. Let me know what you think when you see the movie again.
June 28th, 2011 at 2:17 pm
Oh wow, great post! I saw The Legend of Hell House years ago so I barely remember a thing about it. I’m definitely going to give it another viewing soon to see if I glean anything new from it
.
Speaking of which, I recently heard about how A Nightmare on Elm Street 2 is apparently “so very gay” but I never noticed even when I watched it months ago! Maybe I’m just dense or my LGBT glasses are defective
.
June 28th, 2011 at 2:45 pm
I haven’t seen NOES 2 since the 80s but I have read several articles on its gay themes. I guess it’s pretty much accepted as the gay NOES among horror critics. As for me, I was in middle school when I saw it and I thought it was a bad movie then because it didn’t have anything to do with part 1 or 3 and it wasn’t scary, but I wasn’t thinking in gay terms or even symbolic terms in general yet. I’d like to see just the clips in question. Maybe someone has just the gay parts condensed in one video somewhere; gonna look for that.
I will say that after reading everyone’s blogathon posts all day yesterday I was able to see gay subtext in the Flintstones cartoon my kid was watching this afternoon. It’s freakin’ everywhere!
Edit: Okay, there are lots of such fan highlight reels of NOES 2 on YouTube but some of them are offensive. Here’s the section of the NOES doc Never Sleep Again though that talks about it pretty respectfully: http://youtu.be/XzpvK24AEuo
Dammit, now I am gonna have to watch this entire movie again, especially since I see that Robert Rusler was in it.
June 28th, 2011 at 11:33 pm
I haven’t seen LOHH in a while, but you make a convincing argument about its gay subtext. It seems many horror films, particularly those that focus on ghosts and hauntings, can be interpreted in the same way – such as The Haunting (1963) and The Uninvited (1944): both films have lesbian undertones in the ghostly presences and in the characters being haunted.
June 28th, 2011 at 11:50 pm
I’m glad the argument is convincing. I should have cited a scholar who made the point about Cat On A Hot Tin Roof and then compared the sexual rejection scenes in the two movies, but I’m lazy. I agree that horror movies can often be read as having gay subtext. I wonder if it is the fear of being gay or a fear of gay people that drives this pattern. Also, I really need to see The Uninvited. Certainly a follow up post is in order that focuses on lesbian subtext in some horror film.
July 21st, 2011 at 10:54 am
Ha, you know I have seen this movie countless times and not once did I look at it this way! I have always attributed these actions to just classic film over the top dramatics lol. Great article! Now when I watch this movie again I will be watching with an open mind.
July 21st, 2011 at 6:49 pm
Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think when you see it again.
July 21st, 2011 at 6:51 pm
will certainly do!
May 27th, 2012 at 11:51 pm
This is an interesting theory, but I think you’re looking too hard for gay subtext. I’ve seen this film numerous times since its original release and have read the novel several times also. If I remember correctly, the scenes you mention come straight out of Matheson’s novel, so your argument just doesn’t fly with me. This has been an enjoyable read though and when I get a chance I’ll give it another look and read!
May 28th, 2012 at 7:24 am
Thank you for reading and commenting.