What’s It About
Ben (Redd Foxx) loses his wife, Beatrice (Pearl Bailey), to his own brother, so he takes a bus to Los Angeles to seek consolation from his son, Norman (Michael Warren). Instead of comfort, he finds himself shocked to learn that Norman is gay and shares his apartment with the flamboyant Garson (Dennis Dugan). Ben and Norman have a spat, the son walks out, and the homophobic old man is left to spend the night with Garson — who tries his best to win over and cheer up Ben.
Why It’s Gone
It’s about a homophobic man finding out his son is gay. This was funny in the seventies but now most people can’t watch it without cringing. There are lots of other non-P.C. things in this film that Redd Foxx does and once again, it was funny in 1976 because that was what he was known for. Most movies from that time period are going to rely on the same “unacceptable by today’s standard” format and unless it’s highly sought-after, it will never see the light of day. As for ownership, Norman… Is That You? can be rented on various streaming services or purchased as a digital-only copy.