Paint your Band Wagon: style, space and sexuality

Abstract

Despite the queer reputations of it director, Vincente Minnelli, and its production corps, MGM's Freed Unit, The Band Wagon (1953) has been neglected as a queer text. Although it may appear largely heteronormative when compared to musicals directed by Minnelli that have previously been claimed as queer, such as Yolanda and the Thief (1945) and The Pirate (1948), The Band Wagon refers to a way of life in the theatre world of New York City that was foundational for Minnelli and many of the workers in the Freed Unit. Using archival materials related to the film's production, this essay explores the way the film evolved in script form with special attention to a couple of key sequences that reference common queer practices, both sexual and social. The visual world of the film is also explored to point out Minnelli's citations of famous gay New York artists. Drawing on these observations, The Band Wagon functioned as a type of virtual tourism that hailed queer spectators (especially those who had served in the armed forces) as well as the film's makers, enabling a form of travel to a previous time when queer production was valued more highly than during the film's release when the Freed Unit was being slowly shuttered as the public taste for musicals diminished.