Hollywood Montrose: MANNEQUIN’s Gay Hero

I watched MANNEQUIN a lot as a kid. But while a lot of it faded away (at one point I was working in Philly next to the department store from the film but didn’t realize it for months), some of it remains firmly imprinted on my brain. Firstly, Starship’s “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now”—because that song’s the tits and it was used in the movie (the official music video includes clips from the 1987 film and some of the plot is re-enacted by bandmates Mickey Thomas and Grace Slick)

Also in that music video? Meshach Taylor, reprising his iconic role of Hollywood Montrose from MANNEQUIN. Hollywood was a flamboyantly gay black man, which was (is) an archetype that major studios loved using starting in the late ‘80s. But Hollywood wasn’t the typical swishy comic relief, and the video retrospective from Matt Baume below shows what set this fabulous fixture fiercely apart from the more ignominious examples of the trope.

Baume terrifically recaps the plot of MANNEQUIN (and its sequel, MANNEQUIN: ON THE MOVE), which was a kind of remake of A TOUCH OF VENUS - but honestly no one cares about that film except that Ava Gardner is in it. The writer/video essayist revels in the absurd joy of the popcorn romance between a man and his…mannequin, while also expertly distilling how Hollywood was given actual personality and levels of depth that avoided Queer roles even in prestige dramas. There’s also a great aside about Cynthia, this famous mannequin from the 1930s that I am now incredibly obsessed over. Check out the video and please support Matt Baume’s Patreon if you are able. (He has even more information about Cynthia and her (in)famous creator on there)