Before Stonewall is a 1985 film directed by Greta Schiller and Robert Rosenberg.
It is a documentary about gay life in 20th century America, in the years before the 1969 Stonewall riots
that are considered a landmark in the history of the gay rights movement. The film starts roughly around the 1920s, with various interviewees talking about how gays and lesbians met each other and made connections in an era where they were highly stigmatized. World War II is discussed at length, with particular focus on how the war brought women (including a lot of lesbians) out of the towns and into the cities where they got jobs and became independent, and brought men (including a lot of gays) into the armed forces. (The induction center for new recruits at Fort Snelling, GA was called the "seduction center" for the recreational activities of the officers there.)
The war proves a milestone for gay culture, as gays congregate to coastal cities. It is soon followed by the women's rights movement and the civil rights movement, each of which attract many gays and lesbians who are naturally sympathetic to other liberation movements. Anti-war protests in the 1960s are another milestone of free thinking and liberation, leading to...the Stonewall riots.
Tropes:
- Book Ends: The film starts out with the Stonewall riots, before jumping back in time to "before Stonewall", namely the 1920s or thereabouts. It then winds through the Depression and World War II and the Red Scare and Vietnam, before ending with the Stonewall riots.
- Camp: Discussed Trope, as one interview subject defines it as "the self-conscious parody of heterosexual behaviors and attitudes."
- Cast Full of Gay: Discussed Trope. One man mentions a silent-era film production of Salome that, according to him, had an almost completely gay cast.
- Diegetic Switch: A lesbian song called "The Girl That I Marry" by Lisa Ben plays over photos of World War II-era pictures of lesbians. The scene cuts to Lisa Ben performing her song.
- Documentary: Of the history of the gay and lesbian communities in the United States, roughly 1920-70.
- Gay Cowboy: Discussed Trope, as an interview subject says that all those cowboys back in the Wild West must have been gay. This is accompanied by a remarkable song called "The Lavender Cowboy" about a hairless, smooth-chested cowboy, and an even more remarkable 1923 Stan Laurel short called The Soilers which features an actual gay cowboy primping and skipping around in the middle of a massive brawl.
- Gaydar: Discussed Trope. One man says that wearing a red tie was a signal, and then says that wearing a handkerchief that matched your tie was an even bigger signal.
- The Ken Burns Effect: Not used for all stills but for quite a few of them. There's a zoom-out from a picture of two cowboys holding hands and a pan up a photo of a man in drag.
- Narrator: Narrated by author, lesbian, and feminist Rita Mae Brown.
- Round Table Shot: The scene with the reunion of the regulars and staff of the Black Cat (a famous gay bar) ends with a Round Table Shot of all the partygoers as they sing a somewhat revised version of "God Save the King" that might be titled "God Save Us Queens".
- Stock Footage: A lot, naturally, being a documentary about 20th century historical events. There's footage of gay rights protests, gay parties, and films with gay themes, both overt (Different from the Others) and hidden (This Is The Army, in which Alan Hale has to put on a dress and join an all-male chorus line.)
- Talking Heads: Many, with some LGBT writers talking about the history of the community while a larger number discuss their own experiences from the 1920s on.
- Title Drop: The narrator refers to the time "before Stonewall" when the gay community grew and evolved.
- Where Everybody Knows Your Flame: Discussed at length. One guy who joined the armed forces during the war talks about the burgeoning San Francisco gay scene, and how gay bars would pop up for a while, serve massive crowds, and then disappear. Later another San Francisco gay bar, the Black Cat, becomes a Local Hangout for the gay community.
