The Film That Became a Milestone—and a Box-Office Liability Outside the Cities

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The Film That Became a Milestone—and a Box-Office Liability Outside the Cities

The Boys in the Band / 1970s

The Boys in the Band was released by National General Pictures on March 18, 1970, and immediately exposed the geographical limits of Hollywood’s supposed new openness. Gordon Stulberg later admitted that the film was a financial failure: it performed reasonably well in major cities but was rejected by what he called the 'heartland of America,' despite containing no explicit sex. The resistance was not merely commercial. The Los Angeles Times praised the film as 'unquestionably a milestone' yet refused to run its advertisements, an extraordinary form of institutional gatekeeping for a major newspaper. The film’s reception became part of its historical legacy: some gay viewers regarded it as an important act of visibility, while others condemned its self-loathing characters and pessimistic portrait of gay life as damaging stereotyping. Vito Russo later described it as both a catalyst and a 'freak show,' capturing why the picture could be culturally groundbreaking and politically troubling at the same time.