La escalera

Hollywood went slumming into the gay demimonde of London with the 1969 film "Staircase". The result was a fascinating mess becoming one of the worst films ever to come out of the latter part or the end of the 1960's. Producer-Director Stanley Donen(whose work includes working with stars like Audrey Hepburn and Cary Grant in "Charade"),had started out to make a small film about the human need for relationships in even the most desperate times. With the casting of Richard Burton and Rex Harrison as aging gay lovers,however,it turned into the kind of Hollywood tribute to "the little people" that inevitably comes off phony. There was too much talent involved in this film not display moments of insight,but as a whole the picture left audiences wondering just who was the intended audience for it. And furthermore,who would have thought that two of the greatest actors in the history of film cinema---Richard Burton("Cleopatra","Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf?", "Becket"),and Rex Harrison("The Ghost and Mrs. Muir","Cleopatra","My Fair Lady",and Doctor Doolittle")stoop to a piece of dung like this to even knowing that their careers would be jeopardize by this?

However,Stanley Donen must have felt the same way after seeing the original London production starring Paul Scofield and Patrick Magee. When "Staircase" came out in 1969,and with the decline in film censorship,Hollywood was opening up to films about the subject of homosexuality. Whereas previous literary properties with gay or lesbian characters had been avoided or "straightened out" by the big studios. By the late 60's,such prominent works as D.H. Lawrence's novella "The Fox",Carson McCullers' "Reflections In A Golden Eye",and John Herbert's play "Fortune and Men's Eyes",not to mention the stage version of "The Killing of Sister George" were all brought to the screen with a certain degree of faithfulness. In that spirit,20th Century-Fox agreed to take on the film version of "Staircase". The result was one of the biggest mistake Richard Burton and Rex Harrison ever did,resulting in becoming one of the worst films of the year,since "Staircase" came out in around Christmas of 1969. Along with it the bad reviews this movie received especially by some critics who blame director Stanley Donen for making Burton and Harrison exploitations of a sideshow attraction. To make things even worst getting stage veterans Cathleen Nesbitt and Beatrix Lehmann as the strong supporting mothers was probably the best part of the whole movies,since they actually stole the show. The rest of it was a bonafide mess. Check it the musical score composed by Dudley Moore-- yes,that Dudley Moore(from the "10" and "Arthur" movies).

I don't know what movie the other reviewers were watching, or why they are so bitter. I agree completely with the contemporaneous reviews, which praised the movie highly. Two fine actors spend the entire movie, out of their normal characters, showing off to each other and producing a gem as a result. The contrast between Burton's prissy old woman and Harrison's aging swish -- that so embarrassed the Burton character -- was wonderfully portrayed. Yet they managed to demonstrate that querulous yet enduring relationship that often results between an aging couple that experience each other's foibles, constantly express annoyance at them, and yet have too much basic affection to part. This is a marvelous movie, and I regret that I can't find it on video to share with others.

Maybe it's that I'm not gay that allows me to appreciate the fine craft it exhibits, since it doesn't threaten me personally.

I can see why this might have been disappointing from a 1969 perspective, especially if it was the first relatively mainstream gay couple movie. They behave like an old embittered married couple, hardly promoting the concept of gay relationship harmony. If you're gay, you may have hoped for people with more obvious emotional strength and dignity, to start things off.

But from this end, nearly 40 years later, there's a great deal to admire. Most of us can see them as just people, yes, suffering the issues of the day in certain respects, but otherwise going through the same relationship struggles experienced by any two people who've been together for a very long time.

With only a few mild changes, this movie could be set today, because it's confronting the aging process, a somewhat unequal relationship, the problem of elderly parents—just plain real life stuff told with pathos and humor.

As to the swishiness of either character, say all you want about the womanizing ways of these two actors, they both swished and preened through many of their other previous roles as well. It was enhanced in this movie, but not unnaturally so. There's now enough water under the bridge for us to understand this isn't the Singular Gay Trait, but it certainly does exist, and it's not necessarily the evidence for self-loathing by these two characters. Anyone can have doubts about themselves, and most of us do, in one way or another.

It's not a great movie, because it moves in fits and spurts and there are moments that seem a little emotionally vacant. But it's a decent movie because the characters are believable and you do grow to care for and about them.

Apparently, this is the inspiration for the sitcom "Vicious" with Ian McKellen and Derrek Jacobi, (incidentally a great tongue-in-cheek piece of comedy.)

As a gay man, Myself. I would just like to ask aloud, who are all the negative reviews from? Are people offended on the gay folks' behalf? Or trying to correct a perceived wrong?!. Just a thought.

All I see is a couple that's been together too long exaggerated for comedy. We all know that couple. Good camp fun.

Playful, occasionally moving, often funny comedy about a gay hairstylist and his lover/business partner living in London, an aging couple going on 30 years together who each jab at the others' ego like two bitchy woodpeckers--but who consistently lean on each other (and feed off each other) like two halves of the same person. Richard Burton and Rex Harrison were reportedly unhappy making this film, but they do manage to get a rhythm going that is rather infectious. Charles Dyer adapted his own "intimate" British play--and was probably reeling once his quaint, humble material got blown up on the big screen with major stars--yet his theatrical and literary pretensions are worked out charmingly, and some of his lines get big laughs. There are times when Burton seems more apt to go the distance personally with his character than Harrison is; then, in the very next scene, they flip and it's Harrison who takes off. The "plot" doesn't amount to much (Harrison's Charlie must attend court after being caught in lascivious garb at the same moment his estranged daughter is planning a visit), but to director Stanley Donen's credit the focus of the piece seldom wavers--we never even meet the daughter, which in this case is a blessing. The gay text is not handled madly or foolishly; Donen pairs the scenes down to quick, efficient little episodes, and this keeps the pacing brisk and gives the lead performances a nice edge (we never tire of them). Much ballyhoo was made over two heterosexual stars "camping it up" on screen, but I saw very little swishing. Dyer gets a few dramatic moments perfectly right, and he's written some good lines (such as when Harrison tells Burton, "I need someone new now and then"). The finer sequences are not trampled on by Donen, nor by his editor. "Staircase" is pithy and beguiling and should resonate with audiences who don't mind a tentative mix of sassy humor, self-pity, impatient wisecracks, and a tearing down of vanity. **1/2 from ****