Boys in the Band

OK, apparently I'm the only person on earth who hasn't seen this one. William Friedkin's 1970 film about a birthday party gone bad.
While it seems most people were off-put by the films vicious dialogue, I was drawn to the process of the characters being ruthlessly stripped down to the barest truths of their being. The snipey barbs didn't bother me so much- I lived with a lot of New Yorkers in the late 70's and the bon mots seem familiar. Not to say it's not brutal. But anyone who's been in therapy can see the link between finding the truth and accepting it.


I dreamed about the movie all night long. It's haunting. The character of Michael is the cruelest of all. He's also the only one who drinks booze and refuses the joint that gets passed around. He should have partaken because he really needed to mellow out! Maybe I could write my paper on how this is a pro-marijuana subplot. Just kidding. But Michael serves a the instigator who rips down everyone's carefully built walls of protection, even his own. and in the end he did what we all have done, go back to the familiar. So I can't really hold it against him. It's more true that way.
Yesterday I did some easy research. Out of the 9 characters in the film, 7 originated their roles in the play when it was first produced in 1968. And sadly, 6 of these men have died. Only Peter White (Alan), Lawrence Luckinbill (Hank) and Reuben Greene (Bernard) are still with us.
One interesting note: Keith Prentice (Larry) went on to play Morgan Collins in the cult classic "Dark Shadows" TV horror/soap series.













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