Episode 36: Jack Deveau's FIRE ISLAND FEVER (1979)

Cruising the Movies

Somewhere between RASHOMON and a telenovela, Jack Deveau’s FIRE ISLAND FEVER does what many of us wish we could at this time of year: launch from mid-winter chills to summertime splendor. Featuring a supporting cast of New York gay entertainment grand dames, FIRE ISLAND FEVER takes us to the scandals of Cherry Grove, as well as the men who came to the seaside village to find themselves. Our story not only follows the travails of tumultuous couple and beach house renters Ron and Rick, but also the temporary lovers they take up out of spite along the way—as well as a third roommate who may or may not have had an acid-induced romantic experience with a portrait he imagined into being.

While maybe not one of Hand In Hand’s best-known features, FIRE ISLAND FEVER offers a comedic and engrossing glimpse at a true gay getaway. (And, at the very least, it’s worth comparing the bustling, zeitgeist-y, cliquish portrayal of Fire Island that Deveau provides in this film to the outdoorsy, nearly pastoral depiction Wakefield Poole offered just a few years prior!) In this episode, we discuss this film’s place within Hand In Hand’s trilogy tribute to Fire Island, consider the obscure film knowledge and campy wordplay peppered in throughout, and wonder whether the movie’s truly mind-boggling amount of plot also covered up for some performance fatigue. We also appreciate AAB staple and genuine thespian Garry Hunt, theorize about the film’s confusing marketing campaign, and remember another classic director’s Fire Island series.