The Celluloid Closet (book)

The Celluloid Closet: Homosexuality in the Movies is a non-fiction book by film historian and LGBT activist Vito Russo, first published in 1981 by Harper & Row. The book examines the history of depictions of homosexuality in film, particularly in Hollywood films, from queer coded to overt portrayals. A revised edition of the book was published in 1987, with 80 additional pages.

The book was released after two books of the same subject Parker Tyler's 1972 book Screening the Sexes and Richard Dyer's 1977 Gays and Film, even though Russo complained at the time of the release that no gay writer had produced any meaningful criticism of homosexuality in the movies.

The Celluloid Closet book was prefigured by a live lecture/film clip presentation of the same name, which Russo first presented in 1972 and would go on to deliver at colleges, universities, and small cinemas. After Russo's death in 1990, The Celluloid Closet book was adapted into a 1995 documentary film of the same name directed by Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman.

Reception
Demian of the Seattle Gay News wrote that, "Vito Russo brings to his book the same wealth of political and social history that he used in creating his lecture and film show", and concluded: "The Celluloid Closet is a great book to browse through. The writing is direct, clear, and entertaining. The book is another piece of history reclaimed. Vito Russo has created an exciting volume out his great love of cinema and out of his gay pride."