The Queen
Si Litvinorp Vineyard Films, MDH Enterprises (1968)
Documentary, Queer Themes/Interest
In Collection
#500
7*
Seen ItYes
(6/28/2016 Home)
IMDB   7.3
68 mins USA / English
DVD-R 
Jim Dine Himself - Jury Member
Jack Doroshow Flawless Sabrina
Bruce Jay Friedman Himself - Jury Member
Bernard Giquel Interviewer
Rachel Harlow Harlow
Jill Krementz Herself
Jerry Leiber Himself - Jury Member
Mary Ellen Mark Herself
Mario Montez Himself
George Plimpton Himself
Larry Rivers Himself
Edie Sedgwick Herself
Terry Southern Himself
Andy Warhol Himself
Dorian Corey Himself
Jackie Curtis Himself
Crystal LaBeija Himself
Director/Choreographer
Frank Simon
Producer Lewis M. Allen
Si Litvinoff
Cinematography Robert Elfstrom
Frank Simon
Kenneth Van Sickle
Joseph Zysman


Jack is 24, sometimes he's a drag queen named Sabrina. In 1967, as Sabrina, he's the mistress of ceremonies at a national drag queen contest in New York City. The camera goes behind the scenes, recording the rehearsals leading up to the contest, the conversations in the dressing room (about draft boards, sexual identity and sex-change operations, and being a drag queen), and the jealousies that emerge before and after the competition. Jack introduces us to Richard, a young man who becomes Jack's protégé. As Miss Harlow, Richard enters the contest. One of his principal competitors is Miss Crystal, who's from Manhattan. Who will win the crown?
Edition Details
No. of Discs/Tapes 1
Personal Details
Purchase Date 6/24/2016
Location Personal Library
Owner Deitz
Store Bonanza - CJs_Cinema_Archives - Charles Marion
Purchase Price $15.00
Condition Good
Links +8 Review: QueerGuru "the 1968 classic Drag film lovingly restored" (Roger Walker-Dack June 28th, 2019)
+ Review: New York Times
The Queen Official Site
The Queen at Core for Movies
TheMovieDb.org
IMDB
References
Lists ‡ Rotten Tomatoes: 200 Best LGBT Movies of All Time
IMDb Voters <500
QueerGuru Rating 8
Rotten Critics Rating % (2021) 96
Rotten Best Queer #1-200 (2021) 46

Notes
This movie is a documentary of a 1967 Drag Queen contest held in New York City at Town Hall two years before Stonewall -- Drag queens were, and still are, important to gay culture -- These contests were among the few "out" gay events of the era -- Drag queens were leaders in the gay liberation movements that developed in the 60s and later.
In 2016-17, The Museum of the City Of New York included a clip from this film in their exhibition "Gay Gotham: Art & Underground Culture in New York".