Saturday Night at the Baths
1975
Manhattan, NY
David Buckley
Queer Afterschool Special
What’s it all about: A young Mike Pence (Robert Aberdeen) takes a job as pianist at a gay bathhouse, and his girlfriend Ellen Sheppard encourages him to cross the fence with club manager Don Scotti so she can go to all the parties. Silly, Ellen, that’s not how that works.
First Encounter: first viewing
Prostitute Index: low
Death By: straights overrunning a gay space
Relics: the Riviera Cafe on 7th Avenue, bodies before corn syrup
Hoops: fixating on the reluctant straight guy from fly-over country
Heartthrob: Jerry the Dancer, Valerie Lemann, L. Tall
Pass/Fails the Test of Time: Judy Garland drag
LoFi Magic: making out at a Bruce Weber gallery showing; masking an out-of-focus shot with credits; queer football huddle; picking out a wedgie onstage
Makes me want to: go to The Eagle
Words to live by: “I haven’t talked to a woman in ages!”
Candotti Take: “Why they never go to the baths in this movie?”
@saululerio Take: (see comments)
Worth a watch/rewatch: No
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