The Fall of '55

The Fall of '55 (2006) is a Documentary film about the Boise homosexuality scandal, a witch-hunt targeted at homosexuals in 1955 that resulted in a number of arrests and prison terms ranging anywhere from six months to life in prison.

The Fall of '55
DVD cover showing the title of the film along with a portion of a vintage postcard showing the Idaho State Capitol building and the words Greetings from Boise, Idaho, capital of the potato state.
DVD cover
Directed bySeth Randal
Written bySeth Randal
Produced byLouise Luster (Executive producer)
Seth Randal
Narrated byClaudia Weathermon
CinematographyCraig Franson
Jay Krajic
Brian Nelson
Edited byJenessa Carson
Music byRandall Coryell
Production
company
Entendre Pictures
Distributed byFrameline
Release date
  • June 10, 2006 (2006-06-10)
Running time
82 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
BudgetUS$40,000—50,000[1]

The scandal began October 31, 1955 when a number of prominent Boise men were persecuted for alleged homosexual acts. The film covers the same subject matter as John Gerassi's book The Boys of Boise (1966), although Seth Randal, the film's writer, director, and producer, says he completed five years of independent research on the topic.

Some accounts of the incident claim that nearly 1,000 boys were seduced by a "ring" of men. A 1955 TIME magazine article said "Boiseans were shocked to learn that their city had sheltered a widespread homosexual underworld that involved some of Boise's most prominent men and had preyed on hundreds of teen-age boys for the past decade".[2]

The film is narrated by former Boise television anchor Claudia Weathermon. The film premiered on 10 June 2006 at Newfest in New York City, at the Idaho International Film Festival at Boise's Egyptian Theater on 30 September 2006, and at the Spokane International Film Festival on 4 February 2007.

Notes
  1. "The Evening Class".
  2. "Idaho Underworld". Time magazine. 1955-12-12. Archived from the original on December 22, 2007. Retrieved 2009-05-02.
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