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after an office party and finds Albert naked in the shower not with Ned, but with a female model. Stella moves out of their home with the baby and threatens a divorce. Albert tries to apologize numerous times and gives one final try when Stella is showing a property to a client. When she doesn't accept him again, he drives away. She changes her mind, but before she can say anything, he crashes his motorcycle into a tree. She runs over, full of tears, but he is not seriously hurt.
427:, "Despite the initial liberal façade with which it presents the central couple's homosexuality, the script remains problematic in its attitudes to homosexuality and heterosexuality, both of which can be seen as unsatisfactory elements in the characters' relationships ... Ultimately, the 'difference' of the story looks like an attempt to be all things (sexually, as it were) to all people, and as such likely to please very few."
40:
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is ultimately just as negative about gay sexuality." Janet Maslin's original review elaborates: "The movie's use of homosexuality is indeed exploitative, insensitive, and offensive in a variety of ways. Even worse, it is unconvincing ... Albert's homosexuality is nothing but a gimmick, something for
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and enjoy it. From then on, they sleep in the same bed and begin acting like a heterosexual married couple. Stella becomes pregnant and eventually tells
Phyllis, who has been distraught about how infrequently she sees Stella. Phyllis becomes suicidal, so Stella and Albert break into her apartment and
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is as rotten a film as it is. This cheap bit of exploitation insults more than it instructs by combining a pointless and underdeveloped plot with an unending selection of homosexual stereotypes I thought were long since consigned to the trash heap ... Particularly offensive is the unbelievable — and
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Later the baby is born and they move into a new house. Albert begins a job as an apprentice fashion designer and Stella puts her job on hold to raise the baby. Stella becomes jealous that Albert may be having a homosexual affair with his boss, Ned. She sneaks into Albert's workplace late one evening
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as another example of the gay films of the late 1970s which presented stereotyped homosexuals. "It often seems that the wider the commercial audience appeal is meant to be, the more objectionable are the gay characters and relationships portrayed. The superficially 'liberal' approach of a film such
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The next night, Stella has a date with Chris. Only when the two of them kiss does Albert realize Stella is a lesbian. Chris spends the night. In the middle of the night, Phyllis, another lover of Stella, storms into the house and finds Stella in bed with Chris. Stella apologizes to
Phyllis and they
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wrote that "until the sitcom formulations take over at the end, 'A Different Story' derives its humor and its warmth from carefully observed, and very well and sympathetically enacted characters, operating in a milieu which is also carefully but not always sympathetically observed." Gary Arnold of
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in one of her properties and she offers Albert to spend the night at her house on the couch. The next day, she goes to work, expecting Albert to move out, but instead Albert cleans her cluttered house and cooks a fantastic dinner. Without verbally acknowledging it, they agree that Albert can stay
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called it "a trifle with redeeming personality appeal and a genuinely affectionate temperament. As the supposedly disparate lovers, Perry King and Meg Foster make an overwhelmingly attractive and compatible couple, and their sexual rapport is enhanced by Paul Aaron's attentive, straightforward
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lauded Meg Foster's "aggressive vitality" but ultimately found the movie seriously flawed: "Mr. Aaron's ineptitude knows no bounds, especially when it comes to blasting an insufferable score, ending scenes at uninteresting moments, and making the film's chronology completely obscure."
275:. Though they continue their separate homosexual relationships, Stella and Albert find that they enjoy spending more time with each other than anyone else. Stella's parents visit one day and come under the impression that she and Albert are dating.
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gave the film two stars out of four and called it "patronizing," because the film "pretends to like its characters' sexual preferences, but really it snickers at them." Arthur D. Murphy of
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called it "a first class production whose only — but serious — flaw is a Henry Olek script that begins with brilliant cleverness but dissolves by fadeout into formula banality."
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as a "glossily persuasive film which presents its 'real' gays as neurotics or gangsters, and offers us so many clichés about role reversal, marriage and pregnancy that it makes
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Critical reception varied from mixed to negative, with a general consensus that the forced and formulaic ending countered whatever appeal existed in the first half of the film.
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undocumented — contention that homosexuality is some sort of adolescent aberration that a drunken roll in the hay will cure." Scott Meek wrote in
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find her with a gun. She threatens to kill Stella and fires, but the gun is not loaded. Phyllis bursts into tears.
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250:, Sills. When Sills finds another chauffeur/lover, Albert is forced onto the streets of Los Angeles. Stella is a
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do not break off their relationship. In the meantime, Albert has found a new lover, Roger, that he met at the
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longer and perform domestic duties while Stella continues working. Albert also gets a part-time job as a
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Siskel, Gene (July 10, 1978). "'A Different Story' may be worth telling—but this just isn't the way".
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groups protested the stereotyped depiction of homosexuals in the film and their ability to convert to
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The lavender screen: the gay and lesbian films: their stars, makers, characters, and critics
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Murphy, Arthur D. (April 19, 1978). "Film
Reviews: A Different Story".
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on July 25, 2006. Scorpion
Releasing issued a Blu-ray edition in 2018.
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in 1985. When its rights shifted to Mar Vista
Productions, it made its
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Alpert, Bill (June 23, 1978). "A Different Story: Not so
Different".
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Arnold, Gary (June 21, 1978). "A Love Story With a
Different Twist".
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Champlin, Charles (May 10, 1978). "A Different Tale of Gay Love".
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One day, immigration agents arrive asking for Albert, who is an
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714:. Journal #10, Summer 1980. p.43. Accessed December 9, 2009.
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List of lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender-related films
744:. Secaucus, N.J: Carol Pub. Group; 1993. Chapter 24.
416:, Bill Alpert wrote that "it's a real surprise that
640:Meek, Scott (September 1979). "A Different Story".
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443:look like an intelligent study of divorce."
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547:"'A Different Story': Caught in Switches"
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21:A Different Story (Deborah Blando album)
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254:who knows Sills and Albert as repeated
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481:the screenplay to coax him out of."
210:is a 1978 American film directed by
852:Films scored by David Michael Frank
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489:During its initial ownership by
334:Barbara Collentine as Mrs. Cooke
832:1970s LGBTQ-related drama films
545:Maslin, Janet (June 14, 1978).
467:, a journal of gay rights and
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847:Films directed by Paul Aaron
812:1970s English-language films
807:American LGBTQ-related films
725:"Trinity Home Entertainment"
685:"Bill Schoell, gay activist"
555:. C20. Accessed May 9, 2019.
493:, the movie was released on
683:Bill Samuels (2009-02-03).
410:direction." Writing in the
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630:. Vol. 5, Issue 12, p. 13.
511:Trinity Home Entertainment
503:Embassy Home Entertainment
258:clients. She finds Albert
226:, it tells the story of a
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817:Bisexuality-related films
643:The Monthly Film Bulletin
497:multiple times, first by
424:The Monthly Film Bulletin
150:American Cinema Releasing
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837:Films set in Los Angeles
797:1978 LGBTQ-related films
246:and lover for a wealthy
842:Embassy Pictures films
461:Gay Activists Alliance
163:May 10, 1978
827:Lesbian-related films
687:. Jatgab.blogspot.com
666:June 7, 2011, at the
340:Doug Higgins as Roger
147:AVCO Embassy Pictures
857:1970s American films
802:American drama films
501:in 1979, later from
313:as Albert Walreavens
19:For the albums, see
661:Time Out Film Guide
612:The Washington Post
431:Time Out Film Guide
406:The Washington Post
343:Lisa James as Chris
337:Guerin Barry as Ned
25:Deadeye Dick (band)
710:2009-05-23 at the
570:. Section 2, p. 7.
552:The New York Times
440:An Unmarried Woman
372:The New York Times
822:Gay-related films
767:A Different Story
756:A Different Story
597:Los Angeles Times
478:A Different Story
473:A Different Story
447:Gay rights groups
435:A Different Story
418:A Different Story
399:Los Angeles Times
252:real estate agent
207:A Different Story
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105:Philip H. Lathrop
45:A Different Story
33:A Different Story
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600:. Part IV, p. 1.
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331:as Mr. Cooke
329:Richard Bull
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179:Running time
156:Release date
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650:(548): 195.
378:Gene Siskel
323:Peter Donat
224:Los Angeles
183:108 minutes
123:David Frank
95:Peter Donat
74:Alan Belkin
71:Produced by
53:Directed by
47:film poster
787:1978 films
781:Categories
691:2013-12-04
529:References
485:Home media
453:gay rights
319:as Phyllis
311:Perry King
305:Meg Foster
288:first time
220:Perry King
216:Meg Foster
212:Paul Aaron
167:1978-05-10
130:Production
87:Perry King
83:Meg Foster
66:Henry Olek
63:Written by
57:Paul Aaron
670:entry on
469:socialism
354:Reception
260:squatting
244:chauffeur
222:. Set in
111:Edited by
16:1978 film
708:Archived
705:Gay Left
664:Archived
517:See also
465:Gay Left
433:derides
325:as Sills
196:Language
119:Music by
79:Starring
582:Variety
396:of the
389:Variety
380:of the
284:Belgium
248:pianist
232:lesbian
228:gay man
199:English
188:Country
165: (
132:company
256:rental
615:. B5.
585:. 26.
451:Some
282:from
273:baths
265:valet
761:IMDb
299:Cast
238:Plot
218:and
23:and
770:at
759:at
507:DVD
495:VHS
476:as
369:of
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536:^
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27:.
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