This week’s mystery movie has been the 1970 film “The Boys in the Band,” with Kenneth Nelson, Frederick Combs, Cliff Gorman, Laurence Luckinbill, Keith Prentice, Peter White, Reuben Greene, Robert La Tourneaux and Leonard Frey. Written and produced by Mart Crowley, photographed by Arthur J. Ornitz, production design by John Robert Lloyd, costumes by W. Robert La Vine, set decorations by Phil Smith, editing by Carl Lerner and Gerald Greenberg, directed by William Friedkin.
“The Boys in the Band” is available on DVD from Amazon.
Writing in the New York Times (March 18, 1970), Vincent Canby said:
“The Boys in the Band” is a well made play, a little too well made, too mechanical to be especially interesting. Not as obvious, perhaps, is the fact that many conventions of contemporary stage direction (so evident in both the play and the film), as well as the mannerisms of a certain kind of fake‐elegant, American homosexual, are patterned after fashions set 30 or 40 years ago on the Broadway stage.
Thus one can understand why William Friedkin, the director, has transferred the play’s consciously archaic theatricality so faithfully to the screen—with the original Off Broadway cast, and almost every line of bitchy, fake‐elegant dialogue, intact. Friedkin, who directed the very pleasant “The Night They Raided Minsky’s” and the extremely intelligent film adaptation of Pinter’s “The Birthday Party,” was not hired to improve “The Boys in the Band,” but to preserve it.
Clive Barnes’ original 1968 review of the Off-Broadway play is here.
For Monday, we have a mystery gent.
This mystery gent, alas, remains unidentified. Several members of the Brain Trust thought he was Michael Blodgett, but I’m afraid not.
For Tuesday, we have a mystery gent.
Update: This is Reuben Greene.
Brain Trust roll call: Howard Mandelbaum, Jenny M., B.J. Merholz and Megan Gledhill identified Monday’s mystery gent as the same actor. Unfortunately, even though he has lines and solo screen time, he isn’t listed anywhere. I think you’re right, and I’ll give you credit but I will defer the final decision until people identify the mystery movie.
For Wednesday, we have a mystery gent.
Update: This is Robert La Tourneaux.
For Thursday, we have this mystery gent …
Update: This is Cliff Gorman.
… and this mystery gent.
Update: This is Peter White.
Brain Trust roll call: Roget-L.A. (mystery movie and Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s mystery guests), Howard Mandelbaum (mystery movie and Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s mystery guests, and he withdraws his guess on Monday’s mystery guest), Mary Mallory (mystery movie and Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s mystery guests) and E. Yarber (mystery movie and Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s mystery guests).
For Friday, we have the rest of the mystery cast.
Update: This is Leonard Frey.
Update: This is Laurence Luckinbill.
Update: This is Keith Prentice.
Update: This is Kenneth Nelson and Frederick Combs.
Brain Trust roll call: “Megan Gledhill” (mystery movie and Wednesday’s and Thursday’s mystery guests), Mary Mallory (Thursday’s mystery guests), Mike Hawks (mystery movie and Wednesday’s mystery gent and Thursday’s mystery gent with the rose), Gary (mystery movie), B.J. Merholz (Thursday’s mystery gent with the rose), Patrick (mystery movie and Thursday’s mystery gent with the rose), Howard Mandelbaum (Thursday’s mystery guests), E. Yarber (right movie/wrong actors) and L.C. (mystery movie).
ladailymirror.com 
Michael Blodgett.
LikeLike
Michael Blodgett
LikeLike
Michael Blodgett?
LikeLike
Andrew Jordt Robinson
LikeLike
An interesting guess. But I don’t think so.
LikeLike
Michael Blodgett, novelist and actor, famed for his “Groovy” live beach TV show of the late Sixties. He was the last husband of Merdeith Baxter Birney.
LikeLike
Michael Dorn today.
LikeLike
Alas, I’m afraid not.
LikeLike
Another guess: Al Freeman, Jr.
LikeLike
An interesting guess, but alas, I’m afraid not.
LikeLike
Lloyd Haynes.
LikeLike
Alas, I’m afraid not.
LikeLike
Tuesday: Reuben Greene | Wednesday: Robert La Tourneaux | Mystery movie: The Boys in the Band (1970)
LikeLike
FORTUNE AND MENS EYES 1971.
LikeLike
Alas, I’m afraid not. Right era, though.
LikeLike
Tuesday: Reuben Greene in THE BOYS IN THE BAND
Wednesday: Robert La Tourneaux
(Monday’s grease monkey is not Michael Blodgett, but rather an unknowable New York-based extra).
LikeLike
THE BOYS IN THE BAND. Cliff Gorman yesterday and Robert La Tourneaux today.
LikeLike
Oops Reuben Greene Tuesday.
LikeLike
Wed looks like Jeff Conaway, but he didn’t make many films.
LikeLike
Alas, I’m afraid not.
LikeLike
Could Monday’s be Marjoe Gortner?
LikeLike
Now there is a name I haven’t heard in a long, long time. And alas, I’m afraid not.
LikeLike
Just saw Marjoe in MST3K’s version of STARCRASH, which streams on Pluto TV and Shout TV. What a turkey!
LikeLike
Dazed and Confused 1993
Monday – Cole Hauser
Tuesday – not sure (I found another image of this actor – not in this movie, but images for the char. he played in this movie don’t hook up to me – still searching: dazed and confused)
Wednesday – Sasha Jenson
LikeLike
An interesting guess. But alas, I’m afraid not.
LikeLike
Ha! I was wa-a-a-y off.
Anyway….Thurs & Friday are the “Ah-ha” days as usual. This was fun. Thanks.
Boys in the Band 1970
M – don’t know
T – Reuben Greene
W – Robert LaTourneaux (also on Friday)
Th – Cliff Gorman / Peter White
F – Leonard Frey / Laurence Luckinbill / Keith Prentice / Kenneth Nelson & Frederick Combs
LikeLike
Wednesday is Robert La Tourneaux in The Boys in the Band. His next project was Roger Corman’s last (at least for a long time), Von Richthofen and Brown, so there’s a peculiar career arc in going straight from early William Friedkin to late Corman. That would make Tuesday Rueben Greene, another relatively obscure actor, though I recently watched him in Elaine May’s Mikey and Nicky.
LikeLike
Hi, Larry…It’s your friend Suzanne Stone of “Jeopardy!” I am on vacation, using my cousin’s Megan Gledhill’s computer. Glad to know I can participate (no need to correct the name). The latest mystery men are from 1970’s “The Boys In The Band” with Cliff Gorman (with rose), Peter White and as the cowboy hustler Robert la Tourneaux.
LikeLike
Cliff Gorman and Peter White.
LikeLike
BOYS IN THE BAND. Wednesday Robert La Tourneaux, today Cliff Gorman.
LikeLike
with the flower in the mouth and the hustler this is Boys in the Band.
LikeLike
Cliff Gorman chewing up the scenery.
LikeLike
Cliff Gorman as one of The Boys in the Band from 1970.
LikeLike
Bring on The Boys! Today: Leonard Frey and Peter White.
LikeLike
Sorry. Cliff Gorman.
LikeLike
The sweaty young man looks like Jay Thomas.
LikeLike
Today we have Kenneth Nelson and Laurence Luckinbill. Interesting that this week most of the cast, aside from Luckinbill, are NY stage performers (from the original play) without many screen credits, so unless you remembered the movie you’d have little to work on with guesses.
LikeLike
The Boys in the Band (1970)
LikeLike
Leonard Frey, Laurence Luckenbill, Keith Prentice, and Kenneth Nelson.
LikeLike
Leonard Frey; Laurence Luckinbill; Keith Prentice; Frederick Combs, Kenneth Nelson.
LikeLike
Looks like Cliff Gorman in The Boys In The Band.
LikeLike
Today #1 Leonard Frey, #2 Laurence Luckinbill, #4 Kenneth Nelson.
LikeLike
Better late than never! It’s “The Boys in the Band” (1970).
LikeLike
This is getting complicated. Thursday #1 is Cliff Gorman. Nelson is on the left in the bottom picture today. Leonard Frey is the top image Friday. Keith Prentice is one up from the bottom, and like many stage actors of the time daylighted in soaps, turning up on the final weeks of Dark Shadows when a lot of the established characters were offscreen making the DS features. Luckinbill is Friday pic #2, in the glasses. That must be Peter White in Thursday #2, then, and Frederick Combs with Nelson. Or maybe not. At least I didn’t try to guess who Monday was.
LikeLike