A couple of weeks ago I blogged about the second episode of British Film Forever, a seven-part retrospective of British cinema that has been running on BBC2 in the UK.

The fourth episode of this series was shown on Saturday night, and once again gay-themed films were included as a prominent and integrated part of the program (although, disappointingly, lesbian themes were once again completely ignored). Subtitled ‘Corsets, Cleavage and Country Houses’, this episode took a look at British costume dramas and the various ways in which they have reflected the past.

Ismail Merchant and James Ivory’s lavish adaptations of the novels of gay author E. M. Forster, such as A Room With A View and Howards End, have proved to be some of the most popular British costume dramas. But when the Merchant-Ivory team adapted Forster’s one gay-themed novel, Maurice, for the big screen in 1987, the results weren’t quite so financially successful.

Check out a trailer for the film here:

As it's Thursday, we present to you another installment of Six Degrees of Gay Separation, the time-sink that asks you to connect two gay actors via other gay actors or actors playing gay characters.

Last week's Italian Stallion edition asked you to connect Mario Cantone to Steven Spinella, which several enterprising readers were able to do in just a few steps. The charming (and former Avatar-of-the-Week-winning) Brandon68 won by noting that both actors guested on the series Ed. Granted, they weren't in the same episode (which would have been fabulous), but they technically were on the same show. Again, this is all in fun, so we won't be too restrictive with the rules. So while actually sharing screen time or appearing in the same episode would be a best-case scenario, this is totally legit.

Fellow Avatar superstar kcholt68 (what's with the 68s? was it a particularly fertile year?) played the Mouse Hunt trump card, so I am officially removing Mouse Hunt from the game. No more. Mouse Hunt has become the wire hangers of this game -- curse you, Gore Verbinski! CURRRSE YOUUUUUUU!

Anyway, this week's challenge asks you to connect two guys named Alan: posthumously-outed Welsh actor Sir Alan Bates and bisexual (and still living, at last check) actor Alan Cumming. Have fun! Oh -- the headline refers to a fabulous made-for-TV movie from the 70's starring Anthony Perkins. If you haven't seen it, it's worth tracking down.

Alan Cumming

Alan Bates

Legendary British actor Alan Bates passed away in 2003, but a new biography reveals a side of the sex symbol that may surprise many of his fans: he was bisexual. Bates -- perhaps best known here in the States for his recent work in the ensemble drama Gosford Park -- was a leading man in the UK from the fifties through the nineties, starring in such classics as Georgy Girl, An Unmarried Woman, Women in Love, King of Hearts, The Shout, Brittania Hospital, Far from the Maddening Crowd, and dozens more.

Due both to his rugged looks and his penchant for doffing his wardrobe onscreen, Bates was also quite the sex symbol, and was named one of Playgirl's "Sexiest Men Alive" in his day. And according to the detailed personal history recorded in Otherwise Engaged: The Life Of Alan Bates by Donald Spoto, Bates' active romantic life included men more often than it did women.

Said playwright Alan Bennett of the charismatic actor:

"He was an incorrigible romantic ... He was always in love, or on the edge of love, and it was always with the one who was going to be the love of his life ... No matter that he had told you exactly the same thing about somebody else six months earlier and six months before that ... Status, gender or familiarity didn't matter - always, this was going to be the real thing."

Bates reportedly dated both men and women throughout his career, although from Spoto's research, Bates' treatment of his female companions seemed indicative of a man who was unwilling to admit to being homosexual. As one passage puts it: "Oh, he's back with women again, is he?" said the director Peter Wood. "Really, he is so tedious!"

Whether he was simply bisexual or a gay man trying desperately to escape his sexuality (which was a criminal offense for the first 30 years of his life, after all), Bates was an unabashedly free-spirited man, given to flights of romantic fancy and of course breaking many hearts along the way.

For those unfamiliar with Bates's work (or those who want a refresher), here's a clip of Bates in the legendary nude wrestling scene (with Oliver Reed) from 1969's Women in Love (kind of NSFW, unless you work in a clothing-optional office):