User reviews

Award winning writer actor Harvey Fierstein portrays a shy and loveless cabaret artist who comes to terms with his bisexual lover, with the man of his dreams, and finally (in a heartbreaking confrontation sure to leave a lump in even the most stoic of throats) with his homophobic, harpy mother. The strengths of the film are those of any adapted stage play, but this isn't just another theater piece arbitrarily transferred to the screen. The original three acts have been married into one sustained narrative, with the cosmetic benefits of skillful editing and camera-work to help smooth the rougher transitions. Of course it's Fierstein himself who holds the film together, showing a wonderful, subtle blend of confidence and insecurity, with eloquent body language and expressive facial tics reminiscent of Charlie Chaplin, and with a voice best described as unique.

TST is like Harvey Fierstein himself: you love it or you loathe it; I love it. Preachy and heavy-handed as "Torch" is at times, it's also a brilliant, hilarious, and truly heartfelt look at how gay men love each other and their families. Arnold Beckoff, like Harvey, apologizes to no one for who and what he his, and his pride is infectious. And Matthew Broderick, as Arnold's model lover, has never been more appealing.

Back when "Torch Song Trilogy" came out in 1988, acceptance of gay folks was far different than today...so much so that I am shocked the film was made in the first place. However, just because a lot of straight folks didn't go see the film when it was in the theaters does not mean you can't give the film a try now.

The film is based on Harvey Fierstein's one act plays...with three of them strung together to help create a portrait of many of the issues gay men have to deal with day to day. Among the many interesting issues in the film are his dealing with a bi-sexual lover who hasn't really come to terms with his attraction to other men, the loss of his lover and life partner due to a hate crime as well as his god-awful mother. This final issue creates the best moments for me and it was mostly later in the film. His mother claims to love and accept him but she is also full of snide comments, put-downs and hate...and hearing Arnold (Harvey Fierstein) finally exploding at her was magnificent. You can't help but be affected by these brutally honest scenes with the mother (Anne Bancroft)...and it is universal.

Overall, a very engaging and moving film...one of the better ones of the era...and a film, sadly, probably not seen by many straight viewers.

I absolutely love this movie. It certainly was created for gay men, but as a lesbian, I feel a kinship with other gay people, and I believe this is an excellent movie. The depiction of female impersonators is genuine, and doesn't give the false glamourpuss view that probably causes many outsiders to think all drag queens are just like RuPaul (nothing against her, she's a diva, but not everyone has so much money!). The portrayal of a relationship involving one gay person and one bisexual person is also beautifully realistic. Ann Bancroft's performance as the Ma is stunning. I believe this movie would also appeal to open-minded heterosexuals who may not have too much involvement with our culture, as it depicts a grittier side of life than the commonly-seen rich gay boy lifestyle. (Movie viewers with an eye toward the cinematography of films will also enjoy the artistry presented here.)

This film is, undoubtedly, *the* quintessential gay film.

If you even claim to know gay people you should see this film. I used to help run a youth group for under 25s dealing with their sexuality and we screened this film four times in two years.

I have seen this film more times than almost any other film and it still never fails to move me. Take your Kleenex, this'll make you cry! :o)

WATCH IT -- IT'S EXCELLENT!

Harvey Fierstein, Anne Bancroft, Matthew Broderick and Brian Kerwin combine in a bitter-sweet comedy-drama set in the 1970's, concluding in 1980. The "Trilogy" is a collection of 3 specific pieces blended together telling the saga of Arnold Beckoff (Fierstein). The story revolves around love, relationships and family - something everyone can relate to. It was a movie before its time when it premiered in 1988. It is straight-forward and to the point. It will make you laugh and cry and understand the true meaning of love and respect. Harvey Fierstein & Anne Bancroft (Arnold's Mother) are outstanding in their roles! A must see for anyone trying to understand the complexity of love, with themselves, significant others and their family. A well-done adaption to the screen from theatre. Add this video to your collection! "I love you...enough."

This film is very deep and superbly acted. It requires a viewer with a heart, but once you got that working you will surely fall into this touching drama. What is most appealing about this film is its realism and the fact that scenes of heartfelt drama are followed by light hearted humour, leading one easily through this well designed

A touching portrayal of the difficulties involved in family relationships among gays. Noteworthy performances by Fierstein, Broderick and Bancroft. Lotsa laughs and tears. An underground film that deserves more attention. Daring and disturbing, this film examines the trying reality of being rejected by family, friends and co-workers for no other reason than homosexuality.

"Torch Song Trilogy" contains enough fine footage to make an excellent film. With careful trimming (down from 120 to say 90 minutes) this would be tight comedy-drama, with pertinence and verve. It is still a film which works on a number of levels, and bears repeated viewings.

The cast is greatly talented: Harvey Fierstein's Arnold is a unique screen presence; Matthew Broderick's Alan is youthful and appealing; Brian Kerwin's Ed is thorougly convincing; and Anne Bancroft's Ma is clearly a blatant scene-stealer.

Where the film lags is in Fierstein's scripting and Paul Bogart's directing (and supervising the editing). Given a sharp editor, this could be condensed to provide a tighter presentation with real tempo. As it is, there are just too many sags and lags to keep it from sparkling.

Nevertheless, "Torch Song Trilogy" offers a look at its unusual subject material in a way which is absorbing, amusing, and touching.

Ineffective, miscast, and curiously awkward comedy-drama about a gay drag queen's search for true love. Harvey Fierstein adapted his stage triumph for the screen and has the leading role, but Fierstein (who has proved to be a great character actor in showy supporting roles) isn't quite able to carry off a lead, at least not on film. On-screen almost constantly, his sandpaper voice breaking up in mock-happiness or despair, he's too needy, too unsure of himself, and he takes visual and verbal short-cuts to emotions without taking the audience's sense of rhythm into consideration (he's always two steps ahead, beating us to the laughs and the pathos). As for his script, the dialogue has the unmistakable ring of late-night-movie clichés, and director Paul Bogart's comic timing is gummy and rehearsed. Anne Bancroft, a great actress, is miscast once again as Harvey's mother (she seldom found a role that suited her, particularly after "The Graduate"). Tidy, lackluster scenario is plastic and unconvincing, as are Matthew Broderick and Brian Kerwin as Fierstein's lovers. It's a harmless sitcom...and what a shame that is. ** from ****

Torch Song Trilogy is so called because its acts were originally presented one-by-one, months apart, at the off-Broadway La Mama Theater. It is done with a sparse set and few props, letting the incredibly funny, amazingly touching script fuel the play.

The movie version is done much more realistically, and it works! Things that are merely discussed in the play are shown to viewers. The cast is wonderfully realistic (Brian Kerwin is a bit stiff, but it works for the character of Ed.) and the script is just as good as the stage play. So many books and plays are adapted into something that is barely recognizable, but Fierstein makes his own script into something even more special.

The story benefits from the larger scope allowed by the movie.

We get to SEE the drag club, the bars, Arnold's (bunny-motif) apartment, Ed's country house and other locations merely hinted at in the play. The scenes that take place during and after the visit to the country house are somewhat confusing on stage, performed in a huge bed, but are beautifully edited in the movie. Best of all is Arnold's best friend, Murray, only talked about in the stage production. But in the movie, he's brought to magnificent life by Ken Page, filling the screen with his usual warmth and wit.

Harvey Fierstein has said that he hopes TST is like an Indian dress, made beautiful by all the little mirrors that decorate it. And truly, it is seeing and hearing *ourselves* that makes this script sparkle. You don't have to be a female impersonator to understand love and loss and laughter. This is NOT just a movie for gay men.

I was fortunate enough to see one of the 1222 performances of Torch Song Trilogy when it was on Broadway, a show written and starring Harvey Fierstein who with this success becomes a Brooklyn Jewish version of Noel Coward. Sad to say Torch Song Trilogy was tragically dated when it got to the screen because the AIDS epidemic had not occurred when Fierstein wrote this bittersweet tale of a gay life, and a man who refuses to conform to anyone else's ideas including his all powerful Jewish mother. And we know how formidable those folks can be.

Fierstein is Arnold Beckoff who knew from early childhood he was a gay kid and took life as it came. In fact he became a drag entertainer of note and seems to be doing quite well at it, making a living, much to the consternation of his mother Anne Bancroft. I saw Estelle Getty do this on Broadway and I wouldn't want to split hairs on the differences between the two actresses. Like so many of her generation, Bancroft just thinks being gay is a phase that her son will grow out of. Of course by his mid thirties you'd think she would have a clue. As on Broadway the scenes between Mrs. Beckoff and her son have the real meat of the play.

As you might have guessed Torch Song Trilogy had its beginnings in the gay cabaret scene and through the persistence of Harvey Fierstein it got to Broadway. On stage the various scenes which are more segmented than in the film version are punctuated by a cabaret singers doing various torch song ballads to put a coda on what the audience had just seen. Here the torch songs are relegated to background music, the best kind of background music to be sure. Harvey himself however does perform in his drag character.

The one true love of his life is Brian Kerwin who can't quite accept himself as gay. He's comfortable being 'bisexual', but as Fierstein so accurately points out, he'd like to meet just one bisexual who is open with his boyfriends, but keeps his women a big old secret.

Kerwin is always an interesting player to watch. He got his first notice as the hayseed deputy on the Sheriff Lobo series and he's spent the rest of his career making sure he was NEVER cast in that kind of part again. As the troubled love of Harvey's life, Kerwin certainly proves he's more than a hayseed. Because Kerwin won't be true to himself, Harvey looks for love elsewhere. Harvey's not capable of closeted behavior, the closet would be death for him.

Matthew Broderick plays Alan the young male model who Harvey falls for and he's as winning here as he is in Ferris Bueller's Day Off. In fact he's a gay Ferris Bueller who probably did spend time trying to get into adult gay clubs and knew all the places where they'd wink and let him in. His tragic end at the hands of a gang of homophobic street thugs is something I saw all too much of in my working life at Crime Victims Board.

Torch Song Trilogy transfers quite well from the stage to the screen and with Harvey Fierstein helping with the transfer, we'd expect nothing less. He kept the film true to the vision of gay male life that he saw and lived. I still remember he and I were both witnesses at the gay rights hearings in New York City back when Torch Song Trilogy had just finished its Broadway run. His words there were among the most inspiring.

So this review is dedicated to the author and star of Torch Song Trilogy who has never slackened in his dedication for Gay/Lesbian/Bisexual/Transgender Rights and gives of himself and his talents to his people. From your fellow Brooklynite Harvey, with love.

A notable film on several levels. First, it was way ahead of America in being a relatively mainstream film that treated gay men as people of depth, value, humor and worth making a film about. (Although there is sad irony in the fact this huge hit play took so long to make it to the screen that AIDS had already totally altered the landscape by the time of its release. That's something the film only notes in the closing credits, and gives it a bit of a 'rose colored glasses' hue).

But beyond any politics or social significance this is also a very well acted, funny and moving look at one man, Arnold, (played by the unique and charismatic Harvey Firestein, who wrote the play and screenplay) as he looks for love – both romantic and familial in a sometimes very cold world. If Firestein's performance can occasionally feel theatrical, it's also entirely appropriate for the starting-to-age drag queen performer he plays. What's wonderful is how Firestein always keeps the humanity under Arnold's occasional flamboyance very alive, as does Anne Bancroft as his 'difficult' mother. Later in her career Bancroft could tend towards theatricality on screen as well, but she tones it down just enough to feel real here, and anyway, lets face it, next to a drag queen, who is more innately dramatic than a Jewish mother? (I grew up with one, trust me).

Matthew Broderick and Brian Kerwin also do very good work in support, Broderick as a sexy but understated young man totally at ease with his sexuality, and Kerwin as a confused bi- sexual trying to work out his. While never rising to the level of a great film (the direction is very straightforward and bland, there's almost a TV movie look to it, it never completely surpasses it's theatrical origins), it's certainly a good, touching, human, and important one – although to a generation growing up with the reality of gay marriage and deeper integration of gay people into society, some of the historical importance may be lost. But not the essential, timeless embrace of kindness, love, respect and understanding

I watched this movie (about 9 years ago -- in secret no less, while my parents were away) as a budding young gay man. I didn't quite catch much of the humor then, but something has compelled me to pick the title off the shelf once more. This is a truly outstanding movie; the characters are wonderful -- they will make you shed a tear or two or otherwise double over in laughter. I won't bore you with the plot synopsis or *my* take on it, just see it. It's truly one terrific film.

Sidebar: It just hit me this time around that I am the reincarnation of Arnold Beckoff...and I'm not even Jewish! Oi! =)

The biggest crime about this film is that it has not been released on DVD. It is one of the best films ever! Anne Bancroft gives the performance of a lifetime! It really bothers me that Movies like "Sleepaway Camp III" get put on DVD and important films like "Torch Song Trilogy" are not. Something is wrong with the people at New Line Cinema!

I discovered the play "Torch Song Trilogy" on stage in Stockholm 1986. I immediately fell in love with it and saw it five times (even though it was 5 1/2 hours long). When I realized that they've made a film out of it I was delighted. The sad (and exciting) thing about stage productions is that once they're not playing anymore, you can never see them again. But in this case this film gave me the chance to revisit the wonderful world of Arnold!

I found it on VHS maybe 12 years ago and I have no idea how many times I've watched it. All I can say is that my copy is all but unwatchable by now. Once in a while I get the urge to "visit old friends" and I just have to see the film again. To say it in a few words: I love it I love it I love it! Harvey Fierstein is fantastic and unique! Anne Bancroft is a mother that sends chills along your spine - but you can't help loving her just the way Arnold does. Don't miss this film!

This movie is so good at every level! Like from emotions to funny moments. It has everything a film needs ! I love this movie and u will too love it ! Give it a watch u wouldn't regret ! Really felt bad when alen was killed. They were gonna makeing a family but it all ended ! Still this kind of horrific incidents hapoens nowadays in some corner of the world! Which is sad. And breaks my heart.

Harvey Fierstein started performing as a drag artist in Manhattan clubs from the age of 15; even before that age he knew he was just a bit different. He became widely known on the New York club circuit and was more often than not to be found playing drag roles in off off Broadway shows. Following a bad break-up Harvey set about writing a play detailing the difficult and painful experience, this became the play 'The International Stud' and was presented in New York during 1976. The play introduced the character of Arnold Beckoff to the world, writing a further two semi-autobiographical plays about Arnold's life. Eventually Harvey conjoined and amalgamated these three plays into just one, 'Torch Song Trilogy' which, had its stage debut off off Broadway in 1981, where it ran for almost 1230 performances.

Torch Song Trilogy was adapted from stage for cinema and came out in 1998, directed by Paul Bogart and not surprisingly starring Harvey as Arnold Beckoff. Also included in the cast were Brian Kerwin, sexy stunner Matthew Broderick, screen legend Anne Bancroft and infamous American female impersonator Charles Pierce.

The play version ran for over four hours, something not possible in film and thus many cuts, exclusions and edits had to be employed to bring it down to a studio demanded running time of two hours. Without wishing to ignore the onset of AIDS whilst also not wishing to alter the entire fabric of the story the time line of the movie was shifted back several years, started in 1971.

It is a deeply affecting film, emotional and funny to the extreme and yet it works marvellously well, which I am sure is thanks mainly to the authentic way Harvey tells it as Arnold. There are such wonderful moments, high drama, deep sadness and almost unbridled joy, that watching Torch Song Trilogy could be considered of riding on a roller coaster of emotions. However, that should be seen as and is indeed a good thing; it allows you scope to feel things that perhaps you had not even noticed in yourself, or others. It gives you the power to see the good and bad in the characters of others, in all our Technicolor differences.Read more and find out where this film made it in the Top 50 Most Influential Gay Movies of All Time book, search on Amazon for Top 50 Most Influential Gay Movies of All Time, or visit - http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B007FU7HPO 

When I first watched Torch Song Trilogy I was living in my birthplace Burgos (Spain). I was 19 years old. My life changed completely because it was my first film about gay people.

When I was a teenager I had some problems being gay. I did not accept myself but since I watched Torch Song Trilogy I feel pride in myself every day.

I love every minute from the film but there is a part very special to me, when Arnold explained his mother why his boyfriend was murdered.

You will love it. Please if you have any chance, watch it. You will not regret it.

Looking for love, finding love, losing love, wondering what love is, finding it again but in a different way. That's what this movie is about.

Torch Song Trilogy is an excellent movie. It's a combination of 3 plays Harvey Fierstein wrote in the 1970s. I was fortunate to see the world premiere of 2 of them in San Francisco at Theatre Rhinoceros. The combination into a single movie makes for a very powerful movie.

I'm told that Matthew Broderick agreed to be Harvey Fierstein's lover in this movie (he even kisses Harvey in the movie) in gratitude for Harvey's giving him a break on the Broadway stage when Torch Song was first performed as a play. (In the original play, Matthew Broderick plays the son.)

It was a very courageous thing for Matthew Broderick, at the height of his career, to play a gay character and especially to kiss another guy, knowing that he would be dropped from all the teen heart-throb magazines and would lose a ton of movie roles.

Between Harvey and Matthew, this is a film well worth seeing.

This is a wonderful adaption of Harvey Fierstein's Tony Award-winning play about the life and loves of the drag queen Arnold, played by the magnificent Fierstein himself. Despite of all the tragedy (for instance the violent death of Arnolds gay lover Alan), this movie is full of warm and uplifting humor. At the end, the movie presents a honorable portrayal of a fully functional patchwork family: Arnold and his bisexual friend and former lover Ed, who take care of the adopted son David (Eddie Castrodad).

The actors (Fierstein, Matthew Broderick, Brian Kerwin and the great Anne Bancroft as Arnolds harsh mother) do a very good job. It's a solid 9 out of 10 gay film.

Watching Torch song trilogy on DVD was such an incredible experience. I had seen it as a teenager (being now 34). It had helped me get through my homosexuality. Showing ways and means of understanding life within a minority. Years after, I had found the original score which i have adored since then. To talk about the movie itself, the first half an hour was a bit old (apart from the second scene which is still so moving from the very start), but as soon as you get the hang of it, you can only let yourself be dragged by the amazing talent of the actors. The montage is perfect and so is everything in this eternal jewel. Watch it once and you'll want to watch it forever and ever.