The Midnight Review

If you’ve spent any time on the internet in the last few years, you’ve probably seen this hilarious video clip floating around at least once.

It’s one of those viral clips I have shared every time I’ve stumbled across it on social media because the perfect timing always brings a laugh. Tonight while scrolling Instagram, it popped up again and I realized I’ve never once thought to find the source of the clip. So, here we are!

Coming out in 1969, the film is called The Gay Deceivers and it’s about two best friends, Elliot (Larry Casey) and Danny (Kevin Coughlin) who pretend to be in a gay relationship to dodge the draft.

The draft officer, however, isn’t sure about their story so Elliot and Danny rent a lavishly decorated cottage together and swear off women to sell their relationship. Both men struggle with this, because Danny is in a committed relationship with his girlfriend Karen (Brooke Bundy) and Elliot is a regular playboy with a rotating group of women in his life.

Obviously, this movie is a product of its time with lots of outdated slurs (“f*g”) and a general attitude of homophobia from many of the characters. With that said, the boys’ landlord, Malcolm (Michael Greer) is a very flamboyantly queer character, and the two men actually seem fairly open minded about his lifestyle, partner Craig (Sebastian Brook), and their friends.

Malcolm and Craig throw a costume party and naturally invite the neighborhood’s newest couple. The party scene is a very fun glimpse of queer culture in the late 1960s, which is rare to see onscreen. Malcolm, I think, really adds complexity to a character who could have been a very flat cliche. His acting is intentionally overdramatic, but his character is well written and a huge staple of the movie.

There is an uncomfortable moment or two where Elliot tries to sleep with a drag queen and hurls some nasty comments her way later, leading to a huge fight, but ultimately I think the movie does a good job portraying the LGBT+ community as positive and Elliot as a bit ignorant.

Of course, Danny’s family and girlfriend eventually find out about the nature of this new living arrangement and assume the roommates really are gay, which adds a whole new level of complexity to their lives. It’s easy to pretend you’re something you’re not when you think about getting out of dying in Vietnam, but a little harder when you realize the prejudice you’re up against as someone who appears to be gay in the 1960s.

I won’t spoil the ending, but it was a fun little twist I should have seen coming. As a product of its time, The Gay Deceivers gets a 7/10 from me.

The entire movie is available to stream for free on Tubi and on YouTube!