12 of Doris Day's Campiest Films
| 05/13/19
Calamity Jane, 1953
Basically Doris as a trans man. Everyone goes on about the song "Secret Love" as the important LGBTQ anthem, but we prefer "Whip Crack Away," a nod to our BDSM friends. Doris sets up house with a showgirl, escorts her around town, and defends her honor. There is little ambiguity here.
Love Me or Leave Me, 1955
A fictionalized account of the career of jazz singer Ruth Etting and her tempestuous marriage to gangster Marty Snyder. Watch the film with what you know now and you may see as we do that Marty had some male problems. Greatest gay moment? Doris singing "Ten Cents a Dance," with these lyrics: "Ten cents a dance, pansies and rough guys, tough guys who tear my gown."
Send Me No Flowers, 1964
Possibly the gayest of the three Rock and Doris films. Rock thinks he's dying, so he and his companion Tony Randall (crypto-gay), decide to pick Doris's next husband, and they come up with the only male star bigger, beefier, and more butch than Rock -- Clint Walker. Achingly funny moments of Rock and Tony drooling over Clint.
The Man Who Knew Too Much, 1956
The first screamer role for Doris. Jimmy Stewart might have been the straightest man in Hollywood. (We may have to reread Scotty Bowers to confirm that). But Alfred Hitchcock was fascinated by all things LGBTQ. Nobody does frantic hysteria better than Doris, or with more abandon. Her epic scream in Albert Hall makes us bust out laughing every time. Screaming is basically a gay activity. Trust us here.
Lover Come Back, 1961
Doris, Rock, and Tony Randall. Rock's a lothario, Doris is a virgin, and Tony is a queen. Rinse and repeat.
Midnight Lace, 1960
Rex Harrison is wonderfully evil in this homage to Gaslight. Doris screams a lot in this. Rescued by one of the most perfect men in Hollywood, John Gavin. Oh, just to sob in his big arms for a bit. Need more gay? Roddy McDowall costars.
Billy Rose's Jumbo, 1962
Doris with an elephant. Oh, and Martha Raye, but first an elephant. Stephen Boyd is also decorating the screen, and he has a whole big complicated gay thing going on in Ben-Hur with Charleston Heston. Look it up. The music (composed by Richard Rodgers, and most songs have lyrics by the great -- and gay -- Lorenz Hart) is especially good: "My Romance," "Little Girl Blue," and "Sawdust and Spangles and Dreams" with Jimmy Durante.
Pillow Talk, 1959
Doris plays an interior decorator (which is essentially a stand-in for a gay man). Rock is -- guess what -- a lothario. Doris defends her virginity ferociously but then decides to "save" Rock when he shows gay tendencies. Tony Randall watches from the sidelines with lavender rage and envy. Thelma Ritter drinks too much. Famous for the risque-at-the-time split-screen bathtub shots, which we all loaded up from our memory bank in quieter moments as children.
Caprice, 1967
Doris goes mod in a cosmetics spy-caper film. Odd hats, frosty pink lipstick, and astronaut-collared shifts. Lots of girl-in-peril stuff: suspension bondage, being secreted away in confined spaces, and evil men trying to do her in. You can watch this with the sound off and just take in the glorious costumes. Ray Aghayan, lifetime partner of Bob Mackie, was the costume designer; his work also included Funny Lady.
The Pajama Game, 1957
OK, we didn't include this so much for Doris, even though she's great and it is wonderful to hear her sing the songs. But this film does have Carol Haney singing her star-making number "Steam Heat" with choreography by Bob Fosse. That should get the gay for you.
