Tab Hunter Confidential

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source: Tab Hunter Confidential

Are you seriously looking for the ultimate, Hollywood-celebrity "Coming Out" documentary? Well - Believe me when I tell ya - "Tab Hunter: Confidential" is a true-life, tell-all tale that's not likely to disappoint. Born Arthur Andrew Kelm in New York City (1931) - Tab Hunter (with his boyish good looks and sweet-as-apple-pie smile) was an almost immediate "heart-throb" sensation when (in 1950) he was first cast as Frank O'Brien in "The Lawless". Through 100s of stills, excellent archival footage, and interviews, not only with Tab, himself (84 at the time), but also with those who worked around him, as well - This slick, informative, and very entertaining bio-documentary (impressively directed by Jeffrey Schwarz) is, without question, a sure-fire winner - Indeed - No ifs, ands, or buts about it.

This new film held the audience spellbound at the 2015 Cleveland International Film Festival. It was especially effective having the actual subject serve as narrator. Hunter's narration was very honest, truthful and insightful. His voice was sonorous, statements rich in humor and warmth, and his attitude toward himself rather laid back. The photography and direction was of a high level with editing that kept the pacing alive and energized. Besides looking at the main subject, the film also revealed a candid slice of the film industry of the 50s-- qualities still with us in 2015 (the film's release year). Hunter had more of a varied career than one might normally think--he played a variety of parts (particularly some stark TV dramas) and kept a cool attitude throughout. The film also reveals the actor's relationship with his mother and his rich past time with horses. All in all, a very engaging biopic.

Documentary about Tab Hunter narrated by him. It shows how he became a star and highlights various movies and TV shows he did. Also during the feature they cut to other actors who relate what they think of Hunter. It also deals with his being secretly gay. Hunter is quite honest about everything and laid-back with some very funny moments. It also gets into his ex boyfriends--particularly Anthony Perkins. A thoroughly fascinating documentary. There's also a book with the same title which goes a little more in depth.

The real reason i rather enjoyed this biopic was simple. This was a guy who is just a decent man. Extremely talented...had no idea he was a figure skater or horseman. I never saw him as a incredibly handsome man...guess he isn't my type, but i really enjoyed listening to his comments. For once, someone who is down to earth and not outlandish or known for antics and acting up. Just a decent human being with his faults, but also obvious virtues. Its worth watching....not too many like this anymore. I really miss real, insightful and honest people on TV anymore.

Greetings again from the darkness. "Made it, Ma. Top of the world!" That line was famously bellowed by James Cagney in the 1949 film WHITE HEAT, and it reasonably could have been shouted behind closed doors, a few years later, by Tab Hunter. Of course, that wouldn't have been the only thing Mr. Hunter was keeping behind those doors. In his 2005 autobiography, he came out publicly as a gay man. Director Jeffrey Schwarz takes that book, and puts a very forthcoming Mr. Hunter in front of the camera, to deliver a fascinating, entertaining and educational glimpse at what it was like to be a movie and musical superstar at a time when being a gay man was not just a social taboo, but actually considered a mental illness. Normally, "talking head" documentaries quickly become tiresome, but now in his 80's, Mr. Hunter remains an engaging and delightful man, and he is so sincere and upfront in telling his stories, that we couldn't possibly turn away. In addition, director Schwarz drops in interviews from those who were there. These include: Debbie Reynolds, Connie Stevens, Robert Wagner (filling in his for his deceased wife Natalie Wood), John Waters, George Takei, and Robert Osborne. Each recall moments from real life, with the studio publicity romances (Reynolds, Stevens, Wood) providing the touch of melancholy that brings focus to the matter at hand. Another entertaining touch added by Schwarz is his use of actual dialogue snippets from Hunter's films to deliver punch to a point – sometimes comedic, sometimes more serious. Never succumbing to the career retrospective approach, the film does offer significant film clips, photographs and recollections of Hunter's unique career that found him #1 at the Box Office, as well as #1 on the Pop Music Charts (his recording of "Young Love" knocked Elvis off the top of the charts). The film could also serve as a historical documenting of the Hollywood Studio system, as Hunter's success with Warner Brothers was never to be duplicated once he gained his contractual release (through buyout). We do go through the career re-birth brought about by Hunter's work in the John Waters offbeat classic POLYSTER, where the former matinée idol finds himself making out on screen with Divine, the 300 pound transvestite who was a fixture in Waters' films. Surprisingly, it's Hunter's fearless approach to the material that makes it click. But beyond the Hollywood insight, the film is most effectively the story of a man who, because of his era, had to be one person in public and another behind the closed doors. Hunter describes this as "being rewarded for pretending to be someone you aren't". He speaks frankly about his relationship with Anthony Perkins, as well as a couple of other serious relationships. We also learn about his childhood, when he had an abusive father and was close to his older brother, who later died in Vietnam. Hunter speaks of being "lost as a kid". Beyond the Hollywood years, it's fascinating to hear Hunter speak of his time on the Dinner Theatre circuit, where he put up with the travel and drudgery so that he could pay the bills and care for his sick mother. We also learn that in addition to his staggering good looks, his on screen appeal, and his musical talent, Hunter was also a world class figure skater and competitive equestrian horse jumper. Yep, Tab Hunter is pretty much the guy we would all despise … if he just wasn't so darned nice and likable!

This is a great documentary. It is not a boring account of the numbers of movies he made or records he sold or a fan girl rant about the greatness of Hollywood and its possibly handsomest leading man. This is a very true story of someone who was down, then up, then down again and back up. He did not let himself become part of the Hollywood problem that had to be kept secret. He broke away and did Polyester and Lust in the Dust after Hollywood had thrown him into the scrap heap of old pretty but wrinkled toys. His ice skating and love of horses and other scenes show that he was a real person, not just management's flavor of the month. Hooray for Tab Hunter. We need many more like him.

Kudos to director Allan Glaser for expanding this powerful bio-film to include facts about Mr. Hunter's personal life struggles and not focusing entirely on just his Hollywood film career. The result is an entertaining and emotionally touching film about a man who is much deeper than one might assume. His strength of character shines through in his candid discussions about being a heartthrob for teenage girls while living a secret life as a gay man during the 1950s. For the first time Mr. Hunter talks about the father he never knew, his mother's mental illness and his faith in God and the church even after the church seemingly rejected him because of his openness and honesty. Tab Hunter is a survivor and this is one Hollywood story with a happy ending.