Friday, November 24, 2017

Today in 1959: Gay-Themed TV Drama Broadcast in UK


The Guardian reports:

It involves a dashing Polish army lieutenant exiled in the US deep south as civil war approaches and the question of who he really loves: the plantation owner's angry niece, Miss Regina, or the tall, blond, rugged officer who arrives suddenly – a handsome man called Eric MacClure.

The television play is heady, emotional stuff tackling issues of race as well as sexuality and that it was broadcast by ITV [58] years ago is nothing short of remarkable. The [British Film Institute (BFI)] now believes the newly rediscovered production is the earliest known gay TV drama.

South, adapted by Gerald Savory from an original play by Julien Green and screened on 24 November 1959, "is a milestone" in gay cultural history, said the BFI curator Simon McCallum.


See full story here.

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