The Ox-Bow Incident, Walter Van Tilburg Clark's powerful novel of the American West written in the late 1930s in the shadow of Nazism, has a gay subtext that may be of interest to book group members along with the gay backstory of the film version. The leader of the lynch mob berates his young son as a "sissy" for refusing to participate in the wrongful hangings of the three innocents. The young actor William Eythe was cast as the son in the 1943 film version, which starred Henry Fonda and Harry Morgan.
According to the IMDB database, Eythe was gay though he was linked to several actresses before forming a long relationship with another young screen actor, Lon McAllister. Eythe died at the young age of 38 in 1957 of acute hepatitis. He also suffered from depression and alcoholism: possible consequences of living a mostly closeted life in Hollywood? By the way, Eythe merits several pages of index entries in one of the book group's titles: William Mann's Behind the Screens.
According to the IMDB database, Eythe was gay though he was linked to several actresses before forming a long relationship with another young screen actor, Lon McAllister. Eythe died at the young age of 38 in 1957 of acute hepatitis. He also suffered from depression and alcoholism: possible consequences of living a mostly closeted life in Hollywood? By the way, Eythe merits several pages of index entries in one of the book group's titles: William Mann's Behind the Screens.
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