THE GROUP (1966)

Candice Bergen, in her screen debut, plays a lesbian in Sidney Lumet’s 1966 adaptation of Mary McCarthy’s 1963 bestselling novel “The Group.”

THE GROUP begins as eight female friends graduate from college in 1933. Of them, Lakey (Bergen in her screen debut) leaves her school chums behind with the cushion of her family’s wealth and her art history degree to explore life in France. The rest of the group stay home, many of them marry or pursue new relationships, but life doesn’t necessarily take them in the direction they’d hoped.

When WWII breaks out in 1939, and the majority of the film has finished, Lakey returns home with a fairly masculine Baroness in tow and her friends realize that she’s a lesbian. The group gossips later after leaving Lakey, and one of them labels her as “disgusting,” which results in Kay (who was closest to Lakey in college) turning on them for their privilege and ignoring the war. There is also a subtextual element of Jealousy here, also touched on later in the film, hinting that Kay and Lakey may have been more than friends.

Interestingly, despite what generally happened with queer depictions in Hollywood films of the time, Lakey is depicted throughout the film as a stylish and poised, unapologetic lesbian. Her sexuality doesn’t cause her shame, she doesn’t die at the end of the film, and she isn’t blackmailed for being homosexual (all common themes at the time) – though, she does lose a close friend.

The hold of Hays Code censorship had largely lost its grip over Hollywood at this point, and “tasteful” depictions of homosexuality had been allowed since 1961. THE GROUP was given a seal of approval by the MPAA, but stamped with a “THIS PICTURE IS RECOMMENDED FOR ADULTS” warning on promotional material. Later in 1966 more changes would be made at the MPAA and a new ratings system would eventually be developed that would end the Hays Code in 1968.

THE GROUP

1966. USA.

Director: Sidney Lumet

Screenplay: Sidney Buchman

Starring: Candice Bergen, Joan Hackett, Elizabeth Hartman, Shirley Knight, Joanna Pettet, Mary-Robin Redd, Jessica Walter & Kathleen Widdoes

THE GROUP is available for rent/purchase on AppleTV & YouTube.