Taglines: Not just another boy meets girl story.
A Different Story movie storyline. Episodic look at an unlikely couple trying to make it in L.A. during the late 1970s. He’s Albert, an illegal alien from Belgium, serving as chauffeur and lover to a string of powerful men. She’s Stella, a real estate agent with several women lovers.
When he’s out of a job, she temporarily takes him in. He becomes her cook and housekeeper, time passes, and they marry so he won’t be deported. Later, after a boozy birthday celebration with him, she finds herself pregnant. They try to be a family, love grows, and she puts her career on hold as his career, as a fashion designer, takes off. Can this gay couple stay true to each other, and what happens when their hormones call?
A Different Story is a 1978 American film directed by Paul Aaron and starring Meg Foster, Perry King, Valerie Curtin, Peter Donat, Richard Bull, Barbara Collentine, Guerin Barry, Doug Higgins, Lisa James, Burke Byrnes, Linda Carpenter and Richard Altman. Set in Los Angeles, it tells the story of a gay man (Perry King) and a lesbian (Meg Foster) who become temporary housemates but end up falling in love with each other.
Some gay rights groups protested the stereotyped depiction of homosexuals in the film and their ability to convert to heterosexuality. Gay Activists Alliance circulated a letter speaking out against the film. Gay Left, a journal of gay rights and socialism, criticized A Different Story 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 as A Different Story is ultimately just as negative about gay sexuality.” Janet Maslin’s original review elaborates: “The movie’s use of [Albert and Stella’s] 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 the screenplay to coax him out of.”
A Different Story (1978)
Directed by: Paul Aaron
Starring: Meg Foster, Perry King, Valerie Curtin, Peter Donat, Richard Bull, Barbara Collentine, Guerin Barry, Doug Higgins, Lisa James, Burke Byrnes, Linda Carpenter, Richard Altman
Screenplay by: Henry Olek
Production Design by: Moray Foutz, William Green
Cinematography by: Philip H. Lathrop
Film Editing by: Lynn McCallon
Costume Design by: Robert De Mora
Set Decoration by: Lee Poll
Music by: David Michael Frank, Robert Wahler
MPAA Rating: None.
Distributed by: AVCO Embassy Pictures, American Cinema Releasing
Release Date: May 10, 1978
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