A Secret Love

This documentary tells the tale of Pat and Terry, a lesbian couple of more than 60 years. During World War II Terry played baseball in the All American Girl’s Professional Baseball League, the AAGPBL, made famous in the Penny Marshall movie “A League of Their Own.” Terry met Pat while playing ball, and the rest, they say, is history.

The film begins with Pat and Terry as an elderly couple. The women then shared how they grew up, how they met and fell in love. After the war they moved from Candada to Chicago. They both worked for an interior design firm for more than twenty years. They lived in a walk-up apartment for twenty years, and then shared a home for twenty more years. Now the house they live in is too much for them to maintain. Family members meet with them to decide a plan for the future.

The movie travels back in time, showing what it was like for the two women in the 1940s and 50s, a time when it was against the law to be gay. There are wonderful photographs, archival film footage, and love letters between the couple.

Incidentally, the song “A Secret Love” plays at the beginning of the film, which is quite fitting for this love story. I've also posted a cover of the song performed by the late George Michael.

Now streaming on Netflix, three stars.