# 1931 Warner Bros movie portrayal of a gay character in "Manhattan Parade" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 8, 2012, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1931-warner-bros-movie-portrayal-of-a-gay-character-in-manhattan-parade/612162 "2012-02-08T04:31:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![D-bear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@D-bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D-bear)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2012, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1931-warner-bros-movie-portrayal-of-a-gay-character-in-manhattan-parade/612162/41 "2012-02-12T18:16:06Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > Are there any examples of characters who were that flamboyant, and then turned out to have a wife or something? > > Regards, > Shodan Well there is always [Lyle the effeminate heterosexual.](http://www.hulu.com/watch/280016/saturday-night-live-lyle-billup) Only half kidding here. It was unusual enough to have someone so very stereotypically effeminate be straight that Dana Carvey was able to create a recurring character on SNL in the 90’s… Just saying… ---
**Author:** ![Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kolak_of_twilo/32/73_2.png) [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolak_of_Twilo)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2012, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1931-warner-bros-movie-portrayal-of-a-gay-character-in-manhattan-parade/612162/42 "2012-02-12T19:54:55Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > I can’t access the clip at work–who is playing him? There was a cadre of great nellies in the early ‘30s–Franklin Pangborn, Tyler Brooke, Erik Rhodes, Eric Blore, Grady Sutton, Ernest Truex, Tyrell Davis. All of them superb at “going to Maryland” in a way that just got in under the censors’ binoculars. The credits say Bobby Watson is the actor in question. And boy does he camp it up. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2012, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1931-warner-bros-movie-portrayal-of-a-gay-character-in-manhattan-parade/612162/43 "2012-02-12T20:02:09Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > How could he miss it? I can’t believe that people in 1931 were so naive that they didn’t know what homosexuality was, or when movies were using stereotyping to signal “this character is as gay as green on Thursdays”. See, I don’t have any problem believing that. As recently as the 1970s, Paul Linde was making obvious homosexual jokes on television and it was expected that the audience at home wouldn’t get it. And I know several people who, when looking back, were obviously playing into the flaming stereotype, but my grandparents would swear he wasn’t gay. Heck, my late grandfather couldn’t accept that his son was gay even after he told him: he still kept on talking about him finding a woman–and this was before he started having mental problems. I think there is a large portion of the population that, until recently, was completely in the dark about homosexuality. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2012, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1931-warner-bros-movie-portrayal-of-a-gay-character-in-manhattan-parade/612162/44 "2012-02-12T20:03:37Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > There is nothing at all in the show implying [Klinger] is crossdressing for sexual reasons, just a section 8 attempt. Perhaps not sexual reasons, but he is shown to actually enjoy dressing in that manner over time. ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2012, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1931-warner-bros-movie-portrayal-of-a-gay-character-in-manhattan-parade/612162/45 "2012-02-12T20:25:56Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > I think there is a large portion of the population that, until recently, was completely in the dark about homosexuality. My father was under the impression that a body builder could not be gay, I mean look at him he spends hours in the gym! You can’t get more hetero than body building. I about laughed my ass off. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2012, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1931-warner-bros-movie-portrayal-of-a-gay-character-in-manhattan-parade/612162/46 "2012-02-13T15:15:01Z")
Just saw another interesting bit, in the 1934 Warner Brothers movie _I’ve Got Your Number_ (\*February \*1934, pre-Code!). Pat O’Brien tells Allen Jenkins to get a date to bring along with him and Joan Blondell, and Allen says, “No dames for me–I’m a _man’s_ man!” At which Pat gives a limp-wristed pose and goes, “_Wooo!_” ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2012, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1931-warner-bros-movie-portrayal-of-a-gay-character-in-manhattan-parade/612162/47 "2012-02-13T15:45:19Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > How could he miss it? I can’t believe that people in 1931 were so naive that they didn’t know what homosexuality was, or when movies were using stereotyping to signal “this character is as gay as green on Thursdays”. Presentism. n. The belief that people in the past _thought_ just like people in the present. Yes, most people in the 30s didn’t know what homosexuality was. Outside of a few big cities (and even then, it was usually underground), most people didn’t even know it existed. You never met any gay people (at least, none that would admit it) and no one talked about them. People would have paid no attention to things that today we would consider obvious signs. It was considered absolutely shocking when the Kinsey Report said 10% of men had homosexual sex; if people knew about it at all, they would have probably put the number as less than 1%. Most of the “pansy” stereotypes in the 30s were, to 80% of the audience, just amusing characters. Their sexuality would never be even considered. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2012, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1931-warner-bros-movie-portrayal-of-a-gay-character-in-manhattan-parade/612162/48 "2012-02-13T16:35:35Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Most of the “pansy” stereotypes in the 30s were, to 80% of the audience, just amusing characters. Their sexuality would never be even considered. Which is probably how Liberace was able to fly under the gaydar for so long. ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2012, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1931-warner-bros-movie-portrayal-of-a-gay-character-in-manhattan-parade/612162/49 "2012-02-13T17:04:15Z")
QUOTE=Bill Door;14752403]It’s gotta be at least a mile from 20th to 42nd street. That’d never work. [/QUOTE] He means 1920s! :dubious: BTW, to the person who refered to Klinger as transgendered, the appropriate term is transvestite. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2012, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1931-warner-bros-movie-portrayal-of-a-gay-character-in-manhattan-parade/612162/50 "2012-02-13T17:07:13Z")
> [@etv78](#): > > > [@Bill\_Door](#): > > > > It’s gotta be at least a mile from 20th to 42nd street. That’d never work. > > He means 1920s! :dubious: . Woosh, or maybe in this thread I should say swish. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1931-warner-bros-movie-portrayal-of-a-gay-character-in-manhattan-parade/612162.md?page=2)