As regular readers know, I'm a huge fan of "Parting Glances." It was one of the first gay films I ever saw, and even though it dealt with the topic of AIDS, it was the principal characters' life as a couple in Manhattan that really made an impression on me. This wasn't about coming out, or being ashamed of being gay, or being married but sleeping with men behind your wife's back. And it wasn't really even about AIDS, even though the disease was addressed head-on. It was about a couple ... who happened to be gay ... living their lives. It was the first time I ever saw -- in real life or in art -- that it was possible to be both gay and "normal," whatever that meant. From there I learned that gay couples had the same kind of lives as every other couple -- friends you love, friends who get on your nerves, work obligations, complications in your relationship. Michael and Robert, of course, were gay men in New York City in the late '80s, so their lives included knowing people with AIDS. But they had other concerns as well.
When "Longtime Companion" came out a few years later, I was immediately skeptical, looking at it as a bigger-budget, big-studio knockoff. It was a ridiculous reaction, but I was defensive of my "first love," a film I had felt was sorely neglected. A friend who had never seen either (Ken) watched them both recently -- without knowing the pedigree of either -- and casually mentioned that he thought "Longtime Companion" was the superior of the two, a statement that brought an audible gasp from me.
I only saw it once -- at the Beverly Center in 1990 with my friend Greg who was visiting from Phoenix -- and while I remember thinking it wasn't bad, I certainly thought it paled in comparison to Bill Sherwood's 1986 classic. Intrigued by what my friend Ken had said, I watched "Longtime Companion" again last night and had a few new revelations. First off, was this really from 1989? I know films play in theaters longer than they do now, but I could have sworn Greg and I saw it in L.A. when it had just come out. But my research shows it was released on Oct. 11, 1989. Anyone remember anything about its release/distribution? Perhaps it showed exclusively in New York at first -- but I always thought these things tended to be New York and L.A. when first released. This film has always been a 1990 film to me, so while a year might not seem like that big of a difference, it is in my highly chronological mind.
I didn't realize the guy who played the soap star was a Cassidy, as in Jack Cassidy and Shirley Jones' son, brother of Shaun and half brother of David. What a hunk! I remember Campbell Scott being in it -- I knew he was George C. Scott and Colleen Dewhurst's son -- but I had forgotten his character grows a mustache late in the '80s. (I'm assuming his hunky lover, Fuzzy, didn't mind, even though he had shaved his beard by the time the 'stache sprouted!) I'd forgotten how fabulously femme Dermot Mulroney was -- and how great it was to see Michael "Jake Ryan" Schoeffling again.
The dialogue on the beach at the end (not the reunion, but the dialogue) was still as cringe-inducing today as it was 20-some years ago -- I think the idea was right, but the execution faltered -- but overall I thought the film held up rather nicely, even better than I had remembered. I think it captured what so many people were going through at the time -- with everyone they know dying one after the other. Still, even opening with Blondie's "The Tide Is High" and everyone reading an article in the New York Times, it's still no "Parting Glances." Thoughts?
UPDATE: Got some clarity on the film's release date today in an email:
Mr. Walsh, My friend, Norman Rene, directed Longtime. The premiere was May 3,1990 and it opened publically the next day. I very much enjoy your blog. Best, George
