LGBTQ+ Cinema, Ballets Russes, and Queer Biography in Herbert Ross’s Nijinsky, 1980

LGBT film Nijinsky

Photograph

Ross, Herbert’s Nijinsky, 1980, is a Paramount Pictures biographical film centered on Vaslav Nijinsky’s later career, marriage to Romola de Pulsky, and relationship with Ballets Russes impresario Sergei Diaghilev. The film belongs to LGBTQ+ cinema and dance-history representation, illustrating how a major commercial release staged male homosexual desire within the language of prestige biography, ballet performance, and early twentieth-century European modernism. AFI notes that director Herbert Ross emphasized Nijinsky’s intense relationships with Romola de Pulsky and Sergei Diaghilev, and Time Out described the film as “the first major studio film to centre on a male homosexual relationship” without moralistic treatment.

The archive consists of twelve color printed lobby-card images for Nijinsky, issued for theatrical display and measuring approximately 9 x 11.25 inches each. The images include stills of George de la Peña as Nijinsky in theatrical performance and ballet scenes, as well as tender or intimate moments involving Leslie Browne as Romola de Pulsky. The French captions and Paramount distribution language place the set within the film’s French-language or international exhibition campaign; each image carries the film title, Paramount Pictures copyright notice in French, and Paramount logo, reading in part: “Un film Paramount Distribué par Cinema International Corporation / Tous droits de reproduction, de diffusion et de vente strictement réservés.” The imagery emphasizes dance, theatrical costume, emotional strain, and romantic tension rather than action narrative, reflecting the film’s focus on Nijinsky’s artistic identity and private relationships.

The set is significant as LGBTQ+ film publicity for a mainstream historical drama that brought a male same-sex relationship into the commercial visual field of early 1980s movie exhibition. Its value also lies in the intersection of queer biography and dance history: Nijinsky’s association with Diaghilev and the Ballets Russes made his life central to modernist performance culture, while the film’s lobby imagery shows how Paramount marketed that story through elegance, spectacle, and emotional intimacy. Light handling wear; printed titles, captions, and Paramount marks remain clear; images retain strong color; overall very good. Substantial LGBTQ+ film publicity archive documenting the international presentation of queer-coded ballet biography in early 1980s studio cinema.

Item #20226

Price: $450.00