Of all the visitors, filmmakers and dignitaries scheduled to appear during the SIFF festival, it's quite likely the one that gets me most excited is Hollywood icon Tab Hunter. At one point he was considered a studio golden boy, appearing in big budget musical productions like Damn Yankees and seeing his shirtless image plastered on posters around the globe while also having a number one single with the release of 'Young Love' in 1957. But by the 1960s the worm had turned, the days of the 'Studio System' on their way out, leading to the actor being outed by paparazzi and in many ways ending what had been a successful career as leading man and romantic lead.
He worked off and on for the next 20 years appearing mostly on television and in a series of lower budgeted B-movies, never again rising to the same iconic heights of his youth. It was meeting and working with legendary gonzo filmmaker John Waters on the 1980 underground classic Polyester that ultimately brought Hunter back into the limelight, however; the film giving him a first opportunity to truly be himself in front of the camera like no production before ever had. In 2005 he penned the eye-opening memoir Tab Hunter Confidential, the autobiography a beautifully well-written and intimately raw account of his life and times in Hollywood working as a closeted actor.
It took a little convincing, but celebrated director Jeffrey Schwarz (Vito, I Am Divine) was able to convince the actor that now was the time for a documentary based on his memoir. Sharing the title of the autobiography, the film, playing as a part of SIFF, is a revelation, digging even deeper into Hunter's story while also sharing fascinating interviews - both archival and new - with notable filmmakers and celebrities including Clint Eastwood, Debbie Reynolds, Connie Stevens, George Takei, Noah Wyle, Rock Hudson, John Waters and celebrated Turner Classic Movies host Robert Osborne. It's magnificent, Schwarz composing a fascinating historical journey that's almost impossible not to be mesmerized by.
A week before his scheduled arrival at the film festival, I had a chance to speak with Hunter via phone. Here are some of the highlights from that conversation:
