[Lisa Ben (Lesbian) pseud. di Edythe Eyde], 1947. “Film Review: Children of Loneliness”. Vice Versa, June 1947, vol. 1, n. 1., pp. 9-
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FILM REVIEW
(“Children of Loneliness”)
It was with great anticipation that I went to see “Children of Loneliness,” based, according to newspaper advertisements, upon “Well of Loneliness,” that most admirable novel penned by Radclyffe Hall. The only resemblance between book and film was the last name of the main feminine character, “Gordon.” The story, unfortunately, in no way resembled the book upon which it was purportedly based, and the acting was so poor as to make the picture practically unsitthroughable, though your reporter remained to view it twice because of the unusual nature of the film.
Despite the gaudy pictures outside the theatre displaying scantily-clad girls in amorous poses, the story concerned effeminate men as well as lesbians. Those in the audience who hoped to view scenes of lesbian love were sorely disappointed. There was not the slightest demonstration of affection between two women displayed upon the screen, aside from a brief flash of one girl with her hand upon the shoulder of another, a casual gesture indeed.
Scenes of she-men were far more prevalent, however, with brief flashes of the fellows in poses which, while quite within the bounds of decency, were unmistakably effeminate.
An interesting film sequence is laid inside a cafe frequented by these “Children of Loneliness.” Difference in photographic quality and seemingly unrehearsed actions of the couples would seem to indicate that the pictures were taken in a genuine rendezvous for such people, and later inserted into the film. Two by two, men with men and women with women, they sat at tables, entertained by a female impersonator who rather resembled a caricature of Marlene Dietrich.
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Prior to the story, a “scientific” preface to the film is delivered on the screen, newsreel fashion, by a doctor and social worker, in an attempt to lend dignity and prestige to the film. If this is the type of social worker to which our society is exposed, then Heaven help our civilization! The references to homosexuality as a “weakness” and an “evil” are an insult andan abomination to any clear-thinking and right-minded person, whether normal or a member of what is so aptly referred to as the “third sex.”
“Let this picture be shown to every adult, so that he (or she) will know how to combat such abnormal love and will not be dragged into the depths of degradation” is the moral that the doctor preaches. Ah, self-styled judges, who smugly carve the standards for society! If only you would not condemn them as freaks, as weaklings, tragedies of nature, or worse, despise, scorn, or laugh at them. If only the third sex could be recognized and accepted as equally as “honorable” as their smug and uncomprehending fellows who dare to pass judgment upon them!
*********************
The story concerns a young girl, Eleanor Gordon by
name, who consults a psychiatrist in regard to her evi-
dent dislike for men, the result of a horrible child-
hood experience with a bully who waylaid and mistreated
her. Bobby Allen, another girl who works in the same
office, Eleanor confides, has offered her love and pro-
tection. Of course the psychiatrist warns Eleanor
against this “barren and shallow imitation” of love and
advises her to seek the companionship of some nice
young man.
Much to Bobby’s discomfiture, Eleanor finds a
friend in Dave, a young and promising lawyer introduced
to her by Eleanor’s and Bobby’s employer, Mr. Grant.
Bobby’s advances toward Eleanor, who is attempting to
follow her psychiatrist’s advice and lead a normal love
life, later causes Eleanor to dispense with Bobby’s
services in the office.
Having work to finish over the weekend, Eleanor
and Dave are invited to Mr. Grant’s palatial estate, to
combine business with pleasure. Thus, Mr. Grant’s
daughter, Judith, is brought into the picture. Judith
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is hopelessly in love with Paul Van Tyne, young artist, who obviously would not be able to return Judith’s love in the manner approved by society, although Judith does not seem to perceive this.
Dave and Eleanor meet him, and Judith, Dave and the young artist persuade Eleanor to pose for a per- trait. Eleanor and Faul, the sensitive young artist, especially discover a strange affinity for each other, after Bobby Allen, Eleanor’s erstwhile girl friend, forces an entrance into Paul’s apartment during a por- trait sitting, demands to see Eleanor, and Paul very tactfully invents an excuse for his model.
“Why did you do that?” asks Eleanor.
where the
“Won’t you come to dinner with me”, Paul suggests, “and I will explain. There’s a little cafe dinners are all right, and the diners……well, you’ve never seen anything like them before”.
Eleanor ob-
And so they adjourn to the odd cafe. serves the couples about her. “What sort of people are these?” she enquires. The background music ceases and everything is quiet as Paul answers, “These are the Children of Loneliness, Nature’s tragic mistakes, try- ing to forget…….
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Relations between Eleanor and Dave have become strained, due to Dave’s misunderstanding of Eleanor’s Paul has broken re- seemingly cold attitude at times.
lations with Judith altogether, refusing to explain. Dave and Eleanor are brought together again, however, when Bobby Allen, demanding her old job back, creates a hysterical scene in the office with Eleanor, and at- Dave intervenes just tempts to throw acid in her face. in time, accidentally spilling the acid onto Bobby, who screaming into the street and is killed by a speeding automobile. Dave is also slightly sprinkled with acid. Eleanor’s tender ministrations to Dave re- kindle their romance. Vanquished Bobby’s death shriek provides a background for their first kiss, love” triumphs.
runs
as “true
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Meanwhile, Dave’s efforts to bring artist Paul in-
to the limelight have created a tragedy. Paul’s first
works, on exhibition, have been acclaimed by the coun-
try’s greatest art critic as being the work of a woman
assuming a masculine name. (Paul Van Tyne did not at-
tend his own art exhibition.) Oversensitive Paul, be-
lieving that the world now knows what he is, decides
to live openly in his true character rather than to
continue subterfuge. Obsessed with this thought, he
goes to the other extreme, drinking heavily at the cafe
rendezvous, and consorting with laddies even more neuro-
tic and unhappy than himself.
Paul’s despair culminates when arriving home in-
toxicated after a drag party, his feminine costume
neatly packaged beneath his arm, he is met by his
valet:
“Did you have a good time, sir?”
“No, it was–disgusting”, Paul replies thickly.
“That’s too bad, sir. I thought you’d enjoy your-
self”.
“Do you enjoy yourself?” Paul turns and faces his
valet.
“Oh, yes. You see, I have a girl, sir. We go out
together on my nights off. We hope soon to be married”.
And then, in what your reporter considers to be
one of the few really poignant and natural scenes in
the entire film, Paul looks enviously at his servant:
“You can have a girl. You can be married. You
can–have–children….” He reaches into his pocket
and hands the valet some money. “Here, take the night
off. Enjoy yourself”.
Judith, because she still loves Paul, persuades
Eleanor and Dave to help her search for him. Since
Paul did not answer when Judith called at his apart-
ment, Eleanor suggests the cafe-rendezvous, where Paul
had once taken her. Dave and Judith bewilderdly con-
template their surroundings. Not finding Paul there,
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“`text
they proceed to his apartment. Receiving no answer,
they enter and find that Paul has committed suicide. A
close-up of Paul’s dead hand clutching futilely at the
flimsy feminine costume is flashed on the screen. “Oh,
why didn’t he tell me? Why didn’t he tell me?” moans
the heartbroken Judith, in abject anguish.
And here the story ends, with a flashback to the
dead hand lying pallid among the lacy scraps of femi-
nine adornment.
The doctor once again confronts us on the screen.
“If, by showing this picture, one person has received
benefit thereby, if one person has been reclaimed…..”
“Children of Loneliness” could have been made a
poignant, tender story of various loves. Instead, it
is a vicious piece of propaganda. Homosexuals are
shown in a most unfavourable light, and in the cafe
scenes are depicted as a depraved, fiendish and drunken
lot. The few close-up scenes of effeminate men in the
cafe were met by wisecracks and snickers by quite a few
in the audience. And so it is that most of us who are
accustomed to see a man and a woman look longingly at”
each other, are wont to laugh because any other combi-
nation seems new, and therefore grotesque and odd.
Of course, there are degrading examples of this,
just as there are degrading examples of behavior in
so-called “normal” love. But wouldn’t these people on
the whole be less neurotic if society recognized them
rather than despising them or laughing at them; if con-
vention did not force them to live a life of deceit and
subterfuge, to seem to be what they are not? Who are
we to say that homosexual love can not be as strong, as
honorable, as respectable, and as clean and fine as
heterosexual?
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