"The Celluloid Closet" is a smart and captivating documentary focusing on the roles of gays and lesbians in film over the past 100 years. It starts and ends by showing a fuzzy clip from 1895 by Thomas Edison. The clip shows two men dancing, while a third is playing the violin. The couple hold each other lovingly, giving the audience a moment of astonishing, instant intimacy. It's no wonder producer-directors Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman seized on it to frame this striking documentary.

Based on the late Vito Russo's book of the same name, the documentary is a first-rate work of cinema criticism, centering on the dismal representation of one specific group in movies. It traces the ways, despite cultural disapproval for many years, gay im ages, ideas and innuendoes have slipped into the medium of filmmaking, as well as writing.

The viewer is told that in the beginning, gays were used as comic relief to ease the hard times of the main characters. At this time, moviegoers were introduced to the "sissy" - a sexless, fussy type who was always generalized as an interior decorator or costume designer. This was soon followed by the powerfully aggressive spectacle of the great Marlene Dietrich in top hat and tails in Josef von Sterberg's "Morocco" (1930). A famous lesbian writer, who speaks in the documentary, comments, "when a woman dresses like a man, no one laughs." She's right, because in the middle of this century, the government told Hollywood to stop being so flamboyant and to tone down "Nature's mistake." And that they did. In 1947, "Crossfire" was made. The movie was originally supposed to focus on a gay character. Instead, Hollywood turned this character into an anti-Semite.

During this time, Hollywood still had its gay characters, but they were not there for comic relief; instead, they were portrayed as victimizers and killed off in the end. Example: "Rebecca" (1940). The maid, a big, butch-looking woman, obsesses over the woman she cares for, going through her underwear drawers, etc. In the end, the house burns and the maid gets it! Also, Sirley MacLaine talks about how she and Audrey Hepburn were told to downplay the lesbian theme in their film "The Children's Hour." "We did the picture wrong," she said, looking back.

Don't fret, for "The Celluloid Closet" is not a preachy documentary crying out for the sake of gays and lesbians. Instead, the film tells us there are simple, straight-looking movies, like "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes," but watching half-naked men tumble around in a gym paying no attention to Jane Russell gives layers of implication and subtexts, in which you may see a possible gay theme involved.

In the 1960s, gays were given a sort of reprieve in the end of films. "Boys In the Band" took a look at the life of a group of friends. In the end, they all survived, a milestone. But, once again, gays came back to the movies in more than obvious ways, but still for comic relief (check out Antonio Fargas' character in "Car Wash"). There were a few exceptions, like "The Hunger," a lesbian-vampire movie, with Susan Sarandon and Catherine Deneuve going for full-on pleasure, voluntarily, and not in a drunken state. Sarandon says making this movie did not bother her, but it would men. She says it is because men are "strong and unfeeling. They've got their guns out, but couldn't get their dicks out."

The list of talking heads include Hollywood actors as well as strong, gay figureheads like Tom Hanks, Sarandon, Armistead Maupin, Whoopi Goldberg, Tony Curtis (explaining the bath scene between him and Sir Laurence Olivier in "Spartacus"), Quentin Crisp, Jan Oxenberg, Paul Rudnick, and Harvey Fierstein.

"The Celluloid Closet" is narrated by Lily Tomlin; Russo's book was adapted by "Tales of the City" author Maupin, who offers some of the film's tastiest quotes. Sarandon does as well, noting the importance of the film "encouraging you to be the protagoni st in your own life." "The Celluloid Closet" is a great film documenting the movement of gays in film and perfect to see during this Gay Pride Month. It undoubtedly will serve many viewers in the same way as Sarandon's quote.