PRIDE GUIDE 199†

GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE

The Queen and Split: buried treasure, bitchy queens

The Queen

directed by Frank Simon Split

directed by Andrew Weeks and Ellen Fisher Turk

at the Cleveland Cinematheque by Charlton Harper

Bitchy queens are bitchy queens, no matter the decade, or film, they are trapped in.

That's what comes through loudest after seeing Frank Simon's 1967 documentary The Queen, a look at an actual drag pageant that took place at New York City's Town Hall in 1967.

But once past the attitude and shade that are an inevitable part of any queen's arsenal, the film acts as a slice of pre-Stonewall life, giving younger lesbians and gays a valuable history lesson that won't be found in books.

Jack Doroshaw, also known in the film as Sabrina, "the masterful mistress of ceremonies," was a promoter of the Nationals Academy, a series of drag contests held across the U.S. throughout the late 1950s and into the '60s. The culminating contest, the AllAmerican Camp Beauty Pageant, was held at Town Hall and featured pop celebrity judges like Andy Warhol, Larry Rivers, George Plimpton and Terry Southern. The winner was Miss Philadelphia, a 19 yearold named Harlow whose win was tainted by the volcanic bitch fest brought on by a disgruntled runner-up, Crystal, Miss Man-

hattan.

The Queen looks and sounds like home movies, pro and con. The contestants are generally relaxed and candid. We get a generous dose of behind-the-scenes queens, both preparing for the contest and in quiet moments where we hear a bit about their private lives. Nothing new here really. The stories of pre-Stonewall gay life are still the same stories that many face in post-Stonewall America: accepting families, condemning families; struggles with the military; the trials of being different in an America still waiting to be sexually liberated. What's so interesting about The Queen is that there was a gay life before Stonewall, a fact easily forgotten in this self-conscious Decade of the Queer.

The Queen serves a dual purpose in the Cinematheque's presentation, both as history lesson and as prelude to Split: William to Chrysis, Portrait of a Drag Queen.

For those not in the know, International Chrysis was a seminal figure in the 1970's New York underground scene. He was friend and fellow party-er with the Warhol gang and confidant and supposed mistress to Salvador Dali. With his loud, extravagant public life, Chrysis gave New Yorkers their first real taste of the luxurious life of drag.

Producer Ellen Fisher Turk takes us beyond the earth-bound Queen and fleshes out a detailed picture of an illusionist's life. Snippets that read like "Chrysis: The Teen Years," (his first introduction to drag and a glimpse of him in The Queen), are filtered through interviews and reminisces with friends and fellow performers who try to

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JUNE 18 25, 1994 NEW YORK CITY (212) 633-9494

capture the pain and drive of this queer pioneer.

Where The Queen's real strength is in its candid honesty, Split is more the typical documentary, and therefore more fulfilling. Turk's subject is a natural for the camera. Flashback footage, including lots of photos of a gorgeous, completely believable Chrysis and the glittering stars who were drawn to him, is balanced with interviews held before his death in 1990. What we learn is that Chrysis was Chrysis 100 percent of the time, always mugging and "on" for any audience, whether it was pedestrians on the street or imaginary audiences that would only meet him through film. The entire world was a potential audience and Chrysis was its star.

Being Chrysis was what finally killed Chrysis and Turk's film makes that clear, gently and sadly, but firmly. Chrysis never undertook a sex change (we're told by a couple of friends that in bed, Chrysis was actually a butch man with an enormous dick that he prized as much as his sculpted breasts), but in his drive to be the Queen of New York with the largest breasts around, he unknowingly planted the seeds for his own death. Chrysis subjected himself to wax injections and, later, silicon, contributing factors to the cancer that took his life.

Friends comment on the drive and obsession that took him to this extreme, yet no moralizing is made. No warnings to young queens about the danger of pride. Just simple fact from friends who miss their Chrysis.

We also get a vivid picture of 1970's New York and the glittering circus that was

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Studio 54. Thankfully, no moralizing here either. Unlike the post-Reagan years, where even the slightest aberration from the norm is cause for scrutiny and fear, Split matter-of-factly embraces the drugs and sex and racing speed that characterized not only Chrysis' life, but just about everyone else's. What results is not only a portrait in drag, but a look at what might be fatuously called "our times." Split is a modern morality tale, one that quietly reminds us of the pitfalls of obsession and glamour, while also painting an exotic picture in bold colors that makes our

drab gray lives a little brighter.

During this com-

International Chrysis

ing month of celebration and pride, take a few minutes to see The Queen and Split. Not only are they buried gay history, they anchor our lives as well.

KENN DUNCAN

Show times for the double feature of The Queen and Split are Thursday, June 2 at 9:30 pm. and Friday, June 3 at 7:30 pm. for more information, call the Cinematheque at 421-7450.

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