Tab Hunter Confidential

Jeffrey Schwarz's 2015 documentary rests on Tab Hunter's own account of himself as one of the most recognised young Hollywood stars of the fifties. Hunter was the ideal American boy the studios manufactured: blond, athletic, buried in fan mail. He was also gay and had to hide it. In 1955 a scandal magazine ran his arrest at a party years earlier on its cover, a story fed to it by his own agency in place of another star it wanted to protect. His career did not end there, but from then on Hunter lived under a standing threat. The film shows how the studio system built its performers and spent them when it suited. Hunter tells his own story this openly for the first time; the documentary follows his memoir. Who it's for: viewers curious about classic Hollywood history and queer film history. Who it's not for: anyone wanting critical analysis of the films of the era; this is a life story.