Questions ( may contain spoilers)

I haven't seen this movie for a few years, and some of the details have gotten a bit hazy for me. There have been a few references on this site that the middle aged businessman played by Gary Merrill, is either a recovering alcoholic, or a closet homosexual, or both. I remember a scene of the younger man, who is represented as gay, going into a bar and seeing an all male clientele, and apparently not having the confidence to approach anyone there. Not long after, he makes a seemingly innoccuous approach to Gary Merrill, who gets mad and tells him to go away, clearly irked by what he sees as a homosexual come-on.

I may be totally confused about what happens, and not understanding the references other posters have made, so I need some help here. Could it be that the younger gay man is an alcoholic, and that's why he left the bar, and approached a man in the subway, because he felt it was too risky to be in the barroom atmosphere? Does anyone see the Gary Merrill character as a closeted gay man, and the reason he's annoyed by the younger man approaching him is because he doesn't want to admit his true orientation? Or was the younger man the closet gay man, who left the bar because it made him uncomfortable to be in a more obviously gay atmosphere?

The thing that stands out for me the most about that character is that he seemed really lonely and desperate, and was portrayed as being very vulnerable. That of course made him even more of a target for the two thugs that were harassing everyone on the train.

And when he crossed the bridge, the phantoms came to meet him