Film Forum

(2015, Jeffrey Schwarz) Born in New York City, Art Gelien was re-christened “Tab Hunter” by the same agent who came up with “Rock,” “Chad,” and “Troy.” By his second film he was co-starring with Linda Darnell, and then… 50s dreamboat super-stardom. In this new documentary, Tab, now in his early 80s and still incredibly handsome, is allowed to be frank, articulate, and charmingly unassuming, as he looks back on his years as teen heartthrob, painfully closeted gay man, his love affairs with a world figure-skating star and with actor Tony Perkins, his life-long love of horses; along with talking heads (from co-stars to a fan who won a date with him in the 50s) and an avalanche of personal and publicity photos, fan mag features (including a Confidential article that nearly outed him prematurely), and clips from his movies, everything from Damn Yankees to Ride the Wild Surf. Following the screening, Tab will be interviewed by film historian Foster Hirsch and will then sign copies of his best-selling book Tab Hunter Confidential (co-written with Eddie Muller) in our lobby (copies of the book available for sale tonight at our concession). DCP courtesy of The Film Collaborative. Special thanks to Allan Glaser, Jeffrey Winter.

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