In Passing Strangers, a closeted gay teenager (Robert Adams) finds love, community and a political awakening when he decides to answer a personal ad from an older, jaded man (Robert Carnagey). One of cinema's first coming out stories, Passing Strangers is a romantic portrait of gay liberation-era San Francisco that still resonates today. Robert Adams returns in Forbidden Letters as Larry, a man trying to pass time on the day his older lover Richard (Richard Locke) is set to be released from prison. Unable to clear his head through casual sex, he reads through his letters to Richard - letters he could never send out of fear that his outing would lead to a harsher sentence. As Richard's release draws nearer, the question remains: will the spark still be there when he gets out?
Man in baths
Passing Strangers tells the story of two gay men in San Francisco who meet via a newspaper ad and fall in love. Robert is an 18 year-old high school senior who is the object of affection for Tom. Tom’s curly locks and luscious good looks seem to make him irresistible to all — as he spends his time cruising Polk Street, going to the baths and the bars — but when Robert responds to his personal ad in the gay paper, Tom finds himself falling in love.
