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The story of matinee idol Tab Hunter from teenage stable boy to closeted Hollywood star of the 1950s.
The Coen Brothers recently touched upon the persecution of homosexuals after the Cold War in their black comedy “Hail, Caesar!.” Closeted gay actors, such as Tab Hunter and Rock Hudson, found refuge in Hollywood, the duality of being an actor arguably helping them deal with their double identities. (Hobie Doyle, as hilariously played by Alden Ehrenreich in the Coens’ film, even somewhat resembles a young, naive and inexperienced Tab.)
Director Jeffrey Schwarz’s documentary, “Tab Hunter Confidential,” delves deep into the story of the titular 1950s icon, who, despite his sexual orientation, overcame a slew of obstacles and paved himself a lasting career in Hollywood. A heartthrob, Tab appeared in dozens of commercials and films, such as “The Burning Hills” with Natalie Wood, “That Kind of Woman” with Sophia Loren and “Damn Yankees!” with Broadway star Gwen Verdon. It’s an inspiring – albeit somewhat run-of-the-mill and unfocused – story of resilience and the pursuit of dreams against all odds.
The doc starts off intriguingly, resembling a film noir: “Los Angeles, CA, October 14, 1950,” the credits announce. Tab remembers being arrested at a gay party. “What would my mother think?” was the first terrifying thought that came to Tab’s mind. “Will it affect this career I’m trying to get started in motion pictures?”
Born Arthur Andrew Kelm, raised by a single mother, whose abusive husband left the family when Tab was a young boy, Tab grew up feeling “lost in many ways – introverted…and extremely shy.” His sole escape was the cool darkness of a movie theater, where he sat mesmerized by the moving pictures on the silver screen. The term “gay” didn’t yet exist, people referring to homosexuals derogatorily as “fairies and queers.” Tab readily admits that he may have called someone those names himself back then, “not wanting to be different.”
The girls adored him at school, but all the attention made him seek solace in the Coast Guard and, when that didn’t work out, horses (as in, horseback riding, etc, for those of you thrown off). His reputation as a “chick-magnet” followed him into Hollywood, where he signed a deal with the legendary agent Henry Wilson, who tended to “take the pretty boys.” Good-looking, talented, popular, Tab, in the words of one of the interviewees, “had the star quality and he had the X-factor.”
Then came the promotional tours with Natalie Wood, with “thousands and thousands” of adoring baby boomers, along with Tab’s recording career (his hit single “Young Love” hit #1 on the pop charts). The “Tab-Hunter-ytus” disease spread through the nation, the young actor at the apex of his professional career.
The irony, of course, was that, unbeknownst to the public (at least, at first), it was all a show for Tab, a fake identity he created for himself. His first real relationship with a figure-skater apparently only spread amongst vehement, bigoted ice-skaters, somehow never reaching the mass media (I guess those were the 1950s…). “I had the ability to live behind this wall,” Tab says, and it summarizes the juxtaposition of him relishing the fame, while painfully hiding his true self from his adoring fan base. “You were rewarded for pretending to be someone you’re not,” he says.
Until, that is, an article surfaced, which led to a rapid studio cover-up and forced romances with the likes of “Lafayette Escadrille” co-star, the gorgeous Etchika Choureau. “I think it was a soul-searching period of time about his sexuality,” the actress reminisces. “It must have been very painful for him. You know, actors always have two faces.” A tumultuous romance with Tony Perkins followed, along with acting for directors such as Sidney Lumet and John Frankenheimer – and, of course, “Gunman’s Walk,” which he proudly calls his “best work as an actor.”
Soon after, he left Warner Brothers – a self-proclaimed “career suicide” – and a young lookalike Troy Donahue began to replace him. A swiftly sinking career led to a comedy show Tab refers to as “bottom of the barrel” – “The Tab Hunter Show.” He then returned to his beloved horses, reconnected with his roots, got into a long-term relationship, and revitalized his career via John Waters’ scandalous cult classic “Polyester.”
“Tab Hunter Confidential” feels a bit disjointed, careening from the whole “ice-skater bigotry” issue, to the intensely dark story of Tab committing his mother to a mental institution, to becoming a commentary on Hollywood’s recycling of actors, to Tab’s relationship with God…Despite all those stories and themes, the film never truly delves deep into Tab himself. His inner turmoil is touched upon but never really scrutinized. I’m sure there were some dark, dark demons with which he had to deal. The entire film is about torn identity, but this notion is not thoroughly explored.
The same applies to Tab’s relationship with his mother, or him aspiring to be like his brother – and consequently dealing with Walt’s death in Vietnam (“I really looked up to him so much,” is about as deep as this film ventures.) I wish the film focused on one or two of those potentially jaw-dropping and heart-shredding aspects of Tad’s life, instead of piling them all at once. That said, it does make for a fascinating “best of” kind of story, akin to flipping through Tab’s album, with some little footnotes and flourishes here and there.
The documentary is chockfull of anecdotes, from how Tab got his fake name and his early struggles as an actor (his mother’s reaction to Tab’s first big film: “You were lousy!”), to his ascension to the upper echelons of the Hollywood elite. (After a publicity event, Natalie Wood would go out the back door and see Dennis Hopper, while Tab would go see Tony Perkins). Yet the film never truly transcends the pitfalls of a biography. It sometimes feels and looks like a PBS special, with its talking heads, archival footage and an overarching theme – that of acceptance and “being who you are” – that’s highly commendable, but lacking the substance of groundbreaking films that dealt with similar subjects (see: “The Celluloid Closet,” “Paris Is Burning,” “How to Survive a Plague,” “The Times of Harvey Milk,” “Stonewall Uprising,” “Vito,” and the harrowing “Paragraph 175”). That said, those previously unaware of Hunter’s life and career should enjoy – though perhaps not LOVE – the film as much as the cinefiles among us. A bit dry in places, it does tell a good story…with 10-15 minutes that could have been left on the chopping room floor.
Hollywood icons, such as John Waters, Robert Wagner and George Takei, all contribute curious-to-fascinating tidbits (Takei, laughing: “In every picture, [Tab] managed to take his shirt off! […] He was the embodiment of youthful American masculinity.”). But the highlight and the centerpiece is, of course, Hunter himself – a droll, nostalgic, intelligent and passionate man, whose indelible career has been tarnished by the secret he’s been harboring most of his life. “It’s been difficult for me my whole life to talk about that side of me,“ he says. “I was always told: If there’s something bad, push it from your mind. So I never confronted those things, even though [they] were there, and [they] were very powerful.”
Amongst other memorable snippets, my favorite is: “Girls were very attracted to me and it made me extremely uncomfortable.” It’s good to see Tab let loose. His by turns wistful, witty and laid-back nature gives us hope – false as it may be – that times of such bigotry will soon be left entirely in the past.
“Tab Hunter Confidential” is now available on iTunes with exclusive bonus features and also on Amazon Instant, Google Play, Vudu and more. A DVD release is planned for later this summer.
