FilmOut San Diego had their 17th Annual LGBT Film Festival this past weekend. Opening night was full of excitement for the documentary Tab Hunter Confidential. The film has received accolades at several film festivals worldwide so the anticipation was not surprising. The story follows Hunter’s career and how he navigated through the politics of Hollywood as a closeted actor. Unlike some other documentaries, in this one the subject himself narrates the film.
Tab Hunter was also presented a Lifetime Achievement Award. He greeted the audience and told them how excited he was to be back in San Diego. In the past he frequented Del Mar to attend horse shows and visit friends. An audience member presented him with a gift that was sent by Lana Turner. Hunter was then asked to discuss what prompted him to write the book, Tab Hunter Confidential: The Making of a Movie Star.
He and the film’s producer, Allan Glaser, had a comical back and forth explaining the full story. Hunter pointed at Glaser when the question was asked, “Allan said, ‘You know, I hear that someone is going to be doing a book on you and I think you should do the book’ and I thought – ‘Oh please I could never do that’ ” and then Hunter handed the microphone to Glaser. Glaser described a reluctant Hunter who thought no one would want to read about him but Glaser assured him that he thought a lot of people would and then he handed the microphone back to Hunter while the audience burst out in laughter. “I said, alright, I’ll do it. Get it from the horse’s mouth and not from some horse’s ass after I’m dead and gone,” said Hunter.
FilmOut’s next screening will be the directors cut of Studio 54 July 15 at Landmark Hillcrest. Filmoutsandiego.com
For more information about Tab Hunter, his movie and his book: http://www.tabhunterconfidential.com
At the Timken Museum you can view The Private World of Vermeer which showcases Johannes Vermeer’s Woman in Blue Reading a Letter until mid-September. This is the first time the painting has been in San Diego and is on loan from the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. One can feel like a voyeur, as the painting appears to capture a young woman at a vulnerable moment. We can only speculate the content of the letter.
This painting is one of thirty-six known paintings by Vermeer in the entire world. It’s believed that he produced about fifty paintings over twenty years but the others were destroyed. Vermeer’s paintings have often been described as “stilled lives.” June 8 at 10 a.m. there will be a lecture given by Professor Ann Jensen Adams of UC Santa Barbara. The lecture will examine Vermeer’s Woman in Blue Reading a Letter in relation to contemporaneous concerns about the passage of time, and its measurement. As always, the museum and lecture are free. http://www.timkenmuseum.org/
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