re: #119 buzzsawmonkey

Joel Cairo in The Maltese Falcon is introduced in the book as being “queer.” It is merely implied in the film, with some gardenia perfume, a few raised eyebrows, and the positioning of the head of Cairo’s walking stick in his first scene; had the film been made five years earlier it would have been much more frank.

For that matter, it is clear that Cairo has a yen for Wilmer, Gutman’s gunsel. “Gunsel”—derived from the Polish/Yiddish for “goose”—has nothing to do with guns; it is a term analagous to the term “chicken,” which means a young, sexually subservient gay man.

Lorre’s character of Ugarti in Casablanca is not around long enough to show any particular sexual bent; he is, however, certainly oily, furtive, and effeminate. The most overt homosexual joke in the film is Captain Renault’s response when Rick tells him the letters were hidden in Sam’s piano; “Serves me right for not being musical.” “Musical” was a common euphemism of the day for describing someone as homosexual—and, of course, Renault’s heterosexual appetite has been a running joke through the film.

Great backstory. Thanks.

Pity about the advent of censorship in Hollywood. The Marx Brothers also suffered; it’s almost unbelievable what they got away with in their earlier films, and how much the studio clamped down on them later.