The Gay Deceivers [1969]

[Cross-posted on the Bad Movie Night Facebook page.]

We took a risk with this one on the sole basis of an amazing movie clip that has been making the internet rounds for a while. You can watch it here. We had to know what movie this clip was from and we found "The Gay Deceivers." The premise made it pretty clear that it was a comedy - two guys pretend to be gay to get out of the Vietnam War draft - but it was really the acting and dialogue of the clip that showed bad movie potential. Unfortunately or fortunately, depending on how you look at it, the film turned out to be not bad as a movie. We got a few real laughs and made some good puns on our own but it's really not a bad movie. The gay characters are incredibly camp, expected really since non-camp gays seemed to be nonexistent before Will from "Will & Grace," but are portrayed as much more together than our messy straight mains. The clip in the link is actually kind of out of character and the whole scene even feels random in the film.

At the beginning of the movie two straight guys who are friends fake enlist in the Vietnam War and pretend to be gay so they will be blacklisted. They succeed but later find the doubtful recruiter lurking around their apartment where they were just fooling around with girls. They decide to up their cover and rent a cottage in a gay neighborhood decorated by the gay landlord Malcolm, who doesn't know his flowers. The straights agree to not having girls over to keep up the act but one of them is a slut and he has a hard time with this, although he is much friendlier and more comfortable with the gay community. The other is barely suppressing homophobia the whole movie and makes the stupid decision to not tell his girlfriend what he's doing so she eventually breaks up with him, sure he's gay. There are various hijinks including a gay bar, a round double bed in a very pink room, and the slutty straight mistaking a drag queen for a woman. In the end, they get excused from the army but plot twist, it's because they're straight and the recruiter is gay and only wants other gays around.

The film is interesting from an LGBT+ history perspective but otherwise the best thing about the movie is the short clip I linked to. Skip it as a bad movie, but watch it for real if you happen to be interested.

Quote: "I detest cheap notoriety."

Spoon Rating: 2
Star Rating: 2 out of 5

Bonus:
At one point Malcolm goes over to the straight house to borrow eggs and ends up cooking them dinner. Later when Straight #1's parents come over Malcolm says he came to borrow oregano. We envisioned a scene of him having to explain this to his husband.

Malcolm: I got the oregano!
Craig: You went over to get eggs.
Malcolm: Oh.
Craig: It's fine. Just go return the oregano and borrow some eggs.
Malcolm: I can't. 
Craig: Why?
Malcolm: I made all the eggs for their breakfast.
Craig: Is that why you were gone for an hour?