On the last day of pride month, some classic Hollywood films with some very LGBT themes

Back in old Hollywood, married couples couldn't even be shown sleeping in the same bed. The Hays code was so strict. Therefore, LGBT themes had to be extra subtle. Nevertheless, there are a lot of classic Hollywood films where the subtext is more like a blinking red barely (sub)text.

Here are a few of my favorites:

1. Wizard of Oz – while not explicitly gay, "friend of Dorothy" and the rainbow became LGBT symbols. Movie touches on a lot of themes of self-acceptance, a loving found family, non-toxic masculinity, etc. Judy Garland became a queer icon. If you watch this movie, you'll be amazed by how fresh it still is.
2. Gilda – the relationship between Johnny and Ballin is is extremely homoerotic. You can see the chemistry between Glenn Ford and George McReady in this picture. By the way, one good thing about Gilda is that Glenn Ford and Rita Hayworth became lifelong friends and occasionally lovers, and he supported her when she suffered from Alzheimer's.
3. My Favorite Wife – the lore behind this movie is legendary. Randolph Scott plays this total hottie that Cary Grant's (Nick) character suspects of having an affair with his wife (played by Irene Dunne). There is a famous scene where Nick looks at this Randolph Scott hotness in the pool and admires with a very homoerotic gaze. Offscreen Randolph Scott and Cary Grant were a longtime couple who lived together for 12 years and seemed to have never really gotten over each other even as they married other women. They died months apart.
4. Queen Christina – Queen Garbo just plants a big kiss on a woman. Garbo was at least bisexual, but probably lesbian in real life. Playing a queen who refused to marry and often wore men's clothes was very on brand for her.
5. Rope – Alfred Hitchcock could always get away with more subtext. He cast two gay actors (John Dall and Farley Granger) to play two guys in a relationship who decide to commit the perfect murder. Farley Granger lived with his partner from 1963 to his death. I actually kind of wonder what the set was like, as the movie also starred ultra-conservative James Stewart.
6. Strangers on a Train – Hitchcock again. This one is a doozy. But the chemistry/tension between Robert Walker and Farley Granger is so dangerous and exciting. Robert Walker's life story is heartbreaking. Read up.
7. The Children's Hour – an unusually frank study of two women who are destroyed by rumors of lesbianism that are … idk, true? Shirley MacLaine and Audrey Hepburn are cast against type. Great movie, and incredible that it was made in 1961 and the play was written in 1934.
8. Rebel Without a Cause – James Dean (bi in real life) and Sal Mineo (gay irl) play two teens who develop a strong bond that seems very romantic, at least on the part of Plato (Mineo's) part.
9. Spartacus – the infamous bath scene between Laurence Olivier and Tony Curtis. "Do you eat oysters?" "I eat snails and oysters." Neat way to come out as bi. Laurence Olivier was bi in real life too.
10. Rebecca – Hitch again! There is a strong sapphic subtext behind Mrs. Danver's obsession with Rebecca.
11. Midnight Cowboy – Hustler Ratso Rizzo and rent boy Joe Buck ironically form the kind of loving domestic partnership that wouldn't become legal until 2013. Excellent movie, and kind of a shame Jon Voight probably would be embarrassed by this today.
12. Some Like it Hot – Nobody's perfect! A neat way to be like "oh well whatever" when Osgood realizes he's about to marry a man.
13. Cat on a Hot Tin Roof – based on Tennesse Williams' play and heavily censored, but still obvious enough to audiences. Brick and Maggie's marriage problems are because Brick is gay and grieving the death of Skipper. And Paul Newman is a total smokeshow.