Some of My Best Friends Are...

{{About|the 1971 film|the 2001 TV series|Some of My Best Friends}}

{{Infobox film

| name = Some of My Best Friends Are...

| image = Some of My Best Friends Are... FilmPoster.jpeg

| caption =

| director = Mervyn Nelson

| producer = John Lauricella
Martin Richards

| writer = Mervyn Nelson

| starring = Fannie Flagg
Rue McClanahan
Candy Darling

| music = Gordon Rose

| cinematography = Tony Mitchell

| editing = Richard Cadenas
Angelo Ross

| distributor = American International Pictures

| released = {{Film date|1971|10|27}}

| runtime = 110 minutes

| country = United States

| language = English

| budget =

| gross =

}}

Some of My Best Friends Are... is a 1971 drama film written and directed by Mervyn Nelson and starring Fannie Flagg, Rue McClanahan, and Candy Darling.

Premise

On Christmas Eve 1971, in Manhattan's Greenwich Village, a group of gay men and lesbians meet at the mob-owned Blue Jay Bar to talk about their lives and relationships.

Cast

Fannie Flagg as Helen/Mildred
Rue McClanahan as Lita Joyce
Candy Darling as Karen/Harry
David Drew as Howard
Tom Bade as Tanny
Jim Enzel as Gable
Jeff David as Leo
Nick De Noia as Phil
Clifton Steere as Gertie
James Murdock (credited as David Baker) as Clint
Paul Blake as Kenny
Carleton Carpenter as Miss Untouchable
Robert Christian as Eric
Dick O'Neill as Tim
Gary Campbell as Terry
Gil Gerard as Scott
Lou Steele as Barrett
Uva Harden as Michel
Ben Yaffe as Marvin
Gary Sandy as Jim
Peg Murray as Terry's mother
Sylvia Syms as Sadie

Reception

Vincent Canby, in an unfavorable review, called the movie "a second-rate spin-off from 'The Boys in the Band,'" with "hammy performances and a sentimental screenplay that sounds as if it had just been let out after 30 years in a closet"

:When most of the characters in a movie are as full of dopey sentiments, as well as of self-hatred and of self-exploitation, as the movie that contains them, it's almost impossible to differentiate between an intentional second-rateness and serious moviemaking of no great quality. It's impossible, that is, until it becomes obvious that Mervyn Nelson, who both wrote the screenplay and directed the film, shares with his characters not only a large amount of boozy self-pity, but also the sort of romanticism that permits characters to define themselves—without irony—in the clichés of old-fashioned Hollywood soap opera. **** Better performances might possibly have given some life to such lines and situations, but under Mr. Nelson's solemn direction, they sound like parodies of real emotions.{{cite news|last=Canby|first=Vincent|title=One night in a Gay Bar|date=October 28, 1971|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1971/10/28/archives/screen-one-night-in-a-gay-bar.html|work=The New York Times|access-date=2 April 2023}}