After The French Connection and The Exorcist, William Friedkin needed something big. Something bold. Something daring. And when someone brought him the novel Cruising he found a property that more than fit the bill. Unfortuantely, it also ended up being a quagmire of political controversy and ambiguous plot lines that modern audiences are still trying to figure out.

Rob teachers Ray about the origins of the movie Cruising, including the original novel; what made William Friedkin decide to set his adaptaion within the world of 1980s BDSM gay clubs; how Friedkin's commitment to authenticity resulted in such graphic scenes that he was forced to leave chunk of the movie on the cutting room floor; the severe backlash this movie faced from gay rights advocates across the country who; James Franco's take on the whole thing; and how this movie, despite all its issues, continues to fascinate audiences as they ask themselves: is Cruising deliberately provocative and intricate, or just terrible?

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TEAM

Ray Hebel

Robert W. Schneider

Mark Schroeder

Billy Recce

Daniel Schwartzberg

Gabe Crawford

Natalie DeSavia

ARTICLES

EPISODE CLIPS

Homosexuality in Film - 1931

Harry Rose - Frankfurter Sandwiches

Mike Wallace The Homosexuals 1967

Victim (1961) Trailer #1 | Movieclips Classic Trailers

Clip: ALL IN THE FAMILY - 2/9/1971 - "Judging Books by Covers"

Cruising (1980) Official Trailer #1 - Al Pacino Movie HD - YouTube

'Cruising' Movie Demonstrations in SF 1980

Cruising (1980) movie review - Sneak Previews with Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel

The Making Of Cruising (1980) - William Friedkin Documentary

ADDITIONAL MUSIC & SOUND EFFECTS

"Happy Bee" and "Eighties Action"

• Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

• Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0

• http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Additional Sound Effects from Final Cut Pro, iLife, and Logic Pro

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