Alexander: The Other Side of Dawn

I saw this TV movie years ago during its initial broadcast. I distinctly remember watching for it after a commercial preview: pix of Lee and company shirtless, commentary about how "this young man's life...". I knew the storyline had something to do with male-on-male sex - and I knew I was gay.

This film goes about as far as one could go in those days in order to depict a "gay lifestyle" - in particular, that of a "young gay male lifestyle".

The kicker is that the whole gay theme has/had to be sandwiched in a "confused"-gay-for-pay envelope.

The rest in-between is all about coming out of the closet, coming to terms with your gay identity and moving forward.

"Alexander" starts off where "Dawn: Portrait of a Teenage Runaway" left off: Dawn ("Brady Bunch" Eve Plumb as - if you can believe it - a runaway teen forced into prostitution), just getting her life straightened, is accosted by a former john; Alexander, her boyfriend, (also a runaway), tries to intervene/protect and in the process gets a knife-wound and a trip to the hospital. During Alexander's subsequent comatose healing period, viewers learn of his background... Get ready kids - cuz it's all GAY.

Alex, it turns out, is a "sensitive artistic type" from Oklahoma: he plans to paint and draw for a living. However, this did not go well with his father, who berates him for being an artist, then orders him off the farm for good. Mom relays her sympathies to Alex but also proclaims she can't change Dad's mind. (Read: homophobic, overbearing dad and understanding but equally-homophobic mom.) Thus, off Alex goes to the hills of (West) Hollywood to seek his fortune.

So much for the dream sequence. When Alexander regains consciousness (after much nurturing from Dawn), he orders Dawn to go back where she came from (somewhere in AZ) and stay on the straight and narrow until he can send for her. And off Dawn goes - reluctantly.

Alex, fully-recovered, re-enters the world and experiences a rude-awakening: age and lack of education work against him - his former boss will not re-hire him, any potential new employers refuse to hire minors.

That leaves Alex with only one option... Thus begins Alex's entry into the world of Hollywood homosexuality.

At first, there is confusion as the movie tries to set up Alex as a straight hustler. He is immediately befriended by another male hustler (same guy who gave Michael Ontkean his phone number in "Making Love"). The duo at first bed ladies for pay - but, as anyone can tell you, women - especially well-to-do women - do not hire call-boys!

Eventually, however, Alex discovers that his roommate is also doing well-to-do men. Roommate one morning emerges shirtless from bedroom, yelling but confessing that its yet another way to make money.

From that point on, the movie presents a flurry of gay experiences: the reluctance of coming-out, the romance with a hot-jock, gay discos/parties (one particularly memorable scene filmed inside WeHo's old Studio One - replete with lots of shirtless guys on the dance floor), drugs, even getting dumped.

This movie almost seems as if it was a project staffed by what was then some of Hollywood's "gay mafia".

Earl Holliman plays a gay counselor at the community center, interesting in the fact that Earl never married.

There is also Alan Feinstein as a popular - and closeted - pro-football player. Is/was Feinstein gay? Don't know - but how many male actors of that time were willing to be filmed on a beach in a skimpy speedo alongside a cutoff-clad shirtless young hunk? (Feinstein is hot btw.)

The production team definitely knows its territory: the gays Alex meets are "networked" - as demonstrated when Holliman's character socializes at a party thrown by Feinstein, recognizing many a familiarize face in the process. At the Back Lot cabaret (behind Studio One disco - hence its name), legendary lesbian performer Frances Faye - in all her glorious raspy-voiced ugliness - calls out to Alex in a song. In the same scene, a presumed lipstick lesbian confidante of the gay football player challenges him to a physical showdown of sorts. "We are family", indeed.

And there are countless homo-erotic moments featuring longing eyes, pregnant pauses, familiar "gayisms" (i.e., "We've all been there...") - along with pecs, abs and glutes.

At the end, the movie abruptly switches gears at the end - as does Alex - ditching the gay plot angle in favor of an affirmation of heterosexual identity (just barely, though).

All in all, however, it provides fairly accurate portraits of gay life just prior to the Holocaust.

Quite the daring thing for television in its day (it might have trouble getting off the ground at all in today's morally frigid climate!), it was nevertheless a disappointing sequel to "Dawn: Portrait of a Teenaged Runaway." The character of Alexander brought tears to the eye in "Dawn;" in his own film he just seems to be going through the motions, doing what was "expected" of a daring, groundbreaking '70s Gay television character.

Sequel to "Dawn: Portrait of a Teenage Prostitute" (which I never saw). Alexander (Leigh McCloskey) is a teenager who has been thrown out of his home in Oklahoma. He goes to California and (almost immediately) becomes a str8 male prostitute. He falls for Dawn (Eve Plumb!) who is a hooker. He gets her away from her pimp and sends her away until he can make it on his own. But he's 17, no high school graduation and his prostitution is known about. He ends up being "kept" by closeted gay football player Chuck Selby (Alan Feinstein). But can he leave and ever get back to Dawn?

"Dawn..." came out a year before this and was a ratings blockbuster. This was rushed into production and released but it wasn't the success "Dawn" was. For 1977 TV however, this was groundbreaking. It shows gay teens in a "rap" session talking openly about their families rejecting them--the dialogue is tame but the characters are shown in a sympathetic light. Also when Alex lives with Chuck it's pretty obvious that they must be having sex (although it's never shown). That may seem like nothing today but for 1977 that was pretty shocking.

The acting is actually not bad. McCloskey is a little bland at times and he seems nervous at playing the role but he comes through every once in a while. His plea at court at the end is actually pretty moving. He's obviously in his 20s (he was 24 when this was made) but he still could pass for 17. Feinstein is good is his role and Juliet Mills has a nice bit part. Also it was shocking to see Jean Hagen looking so bad and frail and sounding so bad (but she was ill at the time). She even mocks her Hollywood image (the picture on the wall behind her IS actually her). Top-billed Eve Plumb is hardly in this.

This all has a totally unbelievable but somewhat satisfying Hollywood ending. I got a copy from a friend on DVD--the print is in poor shape. The picture was blurry and the color faded. The sound was strong and clear. This needs a total makeover. Still, see it if you get the chance. Ahead of its time. I give it an 8.

What sort of crazy, backwards universe are we finding here? Jan from Brady Bunch is a hooker? Russel from Hamburger: The Motion Picture is into gay sex? This can't be right, but it is and it's actually a sequel to a better film called "Dawn" that focuses more on Jan......er......Dawn. Both films are basically sanitized, Hollywood Hogwash depictions of life on the streets but have enough grit to make them interesting in a Horatio Alger sort of way. Watchable enough and the good news is Alex later changes his name to Russel in the mid-1980's, graduates from Busterburger University and gets his own franchise. You might want to watch that movie instead.

This was a story about young man named Alexander who came to LA to look for his girlfriend Dawn. Well she had already gone back home to get away from that seedy city. Now he can't find her and has no money. What is he going to do. He stays with a hustler who sleeps with men. The hustler says you can make some good money from these guys. Alexander swears he will never do that.

Here and there he runs into trouble and is saved by Earl Holliman. He wants to help him out and keep him off the streets. But Alexander becomes desperate. He runs into a pro football star who takes him in off the streets. They start hanging out with each other and get along quite well. Then one night by the fire Mr. Pro Star ask him if he will stay with him as his lover, with no where to go Alexander does. As time goes by he learns that lovers come cheap. For there are many handsome young hungry men on the streets of LA. Now he has become something he swore he'd never be, a hustler on the streets of LA.

This TV movie made me open my eyes and realize what I really am, Gay. I wish I could see this again. I remembered it being a good, for being a '70s TV movie.....