The Paradine Case & women hooked on gay men

[Denise noe]

It seems to me that Alfred Hitchcock's "The Paradine Case," which someone said
should have been titled "The Paradine Closet Case," was a treatment of the
plight of women married to and/or in love with gay men. Of course, one of the
characters notes that Mrs. Paradine's late husband "couldn't appreciate" her
beauty because he was blind but it's obvious that he probably wouldn't have
been interested in it if he had had his sight.
What do others think?


****************************
Denise Noe
Koko the Signing Gorilla says: "Fine animal gorilla."

[Poisonmail]

Post by Denise noe
What do others think?

I haven't seen the movie yet but if you're right it sure makes it sound a lot
more interesting than anything else I've read about it.


n.

http://www.dusty-books.com

[SSmith]

Who else didn't really see the apparent Homosexual subtext in Rope ?

I read lots of stories that it wants to convey that sense, but that concept
seems a bit far-fetched...

Any thoughts ?

Ssmith

Post by Poisonmail

Post by Denise noe
What do others think?

I haven't seen the movie yet but if you're right it sure makes it sound a lot
more interesting than anything else I've read about it.
n.
http://www.dusty-books.com

[Spud]

Post by SSmith
Who else didn't really see the apparent Homosexual subtext in Rope ?
I read lots of stories that it wants to convey that sense, but that concept
seems a bit far-fetched...

I have to admit, I didn't see it the first time I watched the film ..
but ever since I did notice it, I can't but.

Not that far-fetched when you consider the delivery of some dialogue
after the murder,
Brandon: '... then his body went limp ... and I felt tremendously
exhilarated. H-how did you feel?'
and when you consider Brandon's masturbatory twirling of the champagne
bottle when describing his Superman theory.

I've learned (from Ken Mogg's writing) that both lead actors (John
Dall and Farley Granger) were gay ... as was the composer of the piece
Perpetual Movement No.1 (Francois Poulenc), famously so. Also that
Hitchcock apparently originally wanted Cary Grant for the role of
Rupert (Grant's own sexuality was considered 'ambiguous').
(As I think I understand it, Grant declined for this very reason and
Hitchcock subsequently got the very heterosexual James Stewart.)

Fergal Hughes

(Someone correct me if any of the above is wrong.)

[Spud]

Post by Denise noe
It seems to me that Alfred Hitchcock's "The Paradine Case," which someone said
should have been titled "The Paradine Closet Case," was a treatment of the
plight of women married to and/or in love with gay men. Of course, one of the
characters notes that Mrs. Paradine's late husband "couldn't appreciate" her
beauty because he was blind but it's obvious that he probably wouldn't have
been interested in it if he had had his sight.

And so she murdered him! (Well, that's one way to deal with such a
plight! ;) )

Was Mrs Paradine *really* in love with the Colonel? Or was it Latour
she wanted to be with? (Or both???)
Its been a while since I last watched 'The Paradine Case' but I
suppose I think that if the film is to be seen as a ménage-a-trois at
all, the object of affection in the triangle is Latour the valet.
Obviously, we don't ever get to see all three in a scene together (in
a prologue or in flashback), so it takes a little imagination to
picture it .. but I get the impression Latour was seduced by Mrs
Paradine and subsequently resented her out of guilt (of betraying his
"beloved Colonel").
(Or am I merely stating the bleeding obvious here?!)