Tab Hunter Confidential

Tab Hunter Confidential is a 2015 American documentary film focusing on the American actor, singer, and author Tab Hunter. It is inspired by his autobiography of the same name. The film was produced by Allan Glaser and directed by Jeffrey Schwarz.

Tab Hunter Confidential
Directed byJeffrey Schwarz
Produced byAllan Glaser
StarringTab Hunter
Music byMichael Cudahy
CinematographyNancy Schreiber
Edited byJeffrey Schwarz
Production
company
Distributed byThe Film Collaborative
Release date
March 15, 2015
Running time
90 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

The film features extensive interviews with Hunter, as well as contemporaries and associates, including John Waters, Clint Eastwood, Debbie Reynolds, and more.

Background

In 2005, Hunter's autobiography, Tab Hunter Confidential: The Making of a Movie Star (2005), co-written with Eddie Muller, became a New York Times best-seller, and again topped the charts when it was released in paperback in 2007, as well as in 2015,[1] following the release of the documentary. The book served as Hunter's first person account of his rise to Hollywood heartthrob status in the 1950s, as well as his personal struggle with revealing his sexuality over the course of his career.

Acknowledging he was gay in the book, the tone set a new precedent for discussion of Hollywood's golden era.

Following Hunter's participation in Jeffrey Schwarz's documentary I Am Divine[2] (about famed Baltimore drag queen Divine, with whom Hunter had appeared in several motion pictures), producer Allan Glaser approached Schwarz about the potential of adapting the Confidential book into a feature-length documentary.

Filming began in 2011 conducting a series of new interviews with Hunter and associates in Los Angeles, New York, Paris and Santa Barbara., as well as culling archival footage of figures from Hollywood's past discussing the star. Filming was completed in 2015.

Release

Tab Hunter Confidential premiered at South by Southwest (SXSW) in 2015,[3] and played over 100 film festivals and independent screenings.[4]

The film was also given a theatrical release in October 2015, premiering in New York at The Village East and in Los Angeles at the Nuart Theater, playing theatrically in over 50 cities.[5][6][7]

Participants

Archive footage

Reception and awards

Receiving favorable reviews from critics, Tab Hunter Confidential has been praised for its portrait not only of Hunter, but of Hollywood during the actor's heyday. Vanity Fair called it “A savvy, rollicking, eye-popping film. Brave for its candor and enlightening for the social context it provides,”[8] while IndieWire posited that the film was “fun and gossipy in the way that great documentaries about Hollywood often are, but it also speaks to a deeper truth about identity and perseverance and the large divide between one's personal and professional life.”[9]

The film has been nominated and won a multitude of awards, including the Best Documentary at the California Independent Film Festival,[10] the Audience and Festival Awards for Best Documentary at the FilmOut San Diego Film Festival,[11] Best Feature at the Louisville LGBT Film Festival, and the Audience Award for Best Documentary at the Miami Gay and Lesbian Film Festival. Tab Hunter Confidential was also long listed for consideration for Best Documentary for the 2015 Academy Awards.[12]

In January 2016, Tab Hunter Confidential was nominated for "Outstanding Documentary" by the GLAAD Media Awards.[13]

References
  1. "Best Sellers". The New York Times. June 28, 2015.
  2. "I Am Divine • A New Documentary by Jeffrey Schwarz". Retrieved 12 January 2016.
  3. Scott Feinberg (13 March 2015). "Tab Hunter Opens Up About Life As a Closeted Gay Star During Hollywood's Golden Age". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 12 January 2016.
  4. Super User. "Tab Hunter Confidential - Screenings". Archived from the original on 20 December 2015. Retrieved 12 January 2016.
  5. Andrew Pardiac. "Tab Hunter hosts Q&A at documentary premiere - Sedona Red Rock News - Sedona News, Jobs, Things to Do". Retrieved 12 January 2016.
  6. "'Tab Hunter Confidential': happy to be forgotten". Joe's View. Retrieved 12 January 2016.
  7. "Tab Hunter tells life story in new documentary 'Tab Hunter Confidential' - Washington Times". The Washington Times. Retrieved 12 January 2016.
  8. David Friend. "Tab Hunter Confidental: [sic] In An Explosive New Documentary, the Actor Tells All - Vanity Fair". Vanity Fair. Retrieved 12 January 2016.
  9. Drew Taylor (18 March 2015). "SXSW Review: Riveting And Insightful Documentary 'Tab Hun - The Playlist". The Playlist. Retrieved 12 January 2016.
  10. "caiff". caiff. Retrieved 12 January 2016.
  11. "FilmOut 2015 Awards have been announced". San Diego Gay and Lesbian News. Retrieved 12 January 2016.
  12. "124 DOCUMENTARY FEATURES SUBMITTED FOR 2015 OSCAR RACE". Oscars.org - Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Retrieved 12 January 2016.
  13. https://deadline.com/2016/01/glaad-media-awards-nominees-list-empire-carol-danish-girl-grandma-1201691143/

Further reading
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