Tab Hunter Confidential

Now-octogenarian actor Tab Hunter narrates this documentary portrait of his career as a young Hollywood movie star and pop singer who led a double life: playing the boy next door for the cameras and hiding his homosexuality from the public. Hunter rose from B-movie roles to heartthrob romantic lead at Warner Bros., where he became one of their top moneymakers, and dutifully took young actresses on public dates covered by the press. Directed by Jeffrey Schwarz, this straightforward documentary covers Hunter's life and career as his star eventually fell, he worked himself into a heart attack on the dinner theater circuit, and he received a late-career revival starring in John Waters's cult film Polyester opposite the cross-dressing Divine ("What do I have to lose?" he figured). Tab Hunter Confidential features copious film clips, and interviews with contemporaries such as Debbie Reynolds, Robert Wagner, and Connie Stevens, as well as Hollywood historians Robert Osborne, Rex Reed, and Rona Barrett. It's most interesting in presenting the realities of life under contract in the old studio system and examines the underground culture of gay stars living under the threat of scandal from gossip and tabloid magazines. Hunter came out of the closet a decade ago and he shares his experiences of living that life as a gay man (including relationships with Anthony Perkins and champion figure skater Ronnie Robertson), while also acknowledging the personal strain on his sense of self (and self-worth) of pretending to be someone he wasn't. Featuring bonus interviews, this is an interesting personal portrait of a Hollywood star who ultimately earned his happy ending. Recommended. (S. Axmaker)