Before Drag Race, There Was ‘The Queen’

First released in 1968, Frank Simon’s The Queen is an historic documentary about a drag pageant/beauty contest which took place in New York City in 1967. The film has rarely been screened since, but has now been fully restored by Kino Lorber and is currently streaming at Kino Now, Kino Lorber’s streaming platform. The film is also streaming on Amazon, Google Play, Vudu, and Fandango Now. The Queen will be released on DVD  June 2.

Produced two years before the Stonewall riots, when homosexuality and dressing in drag were still illegal in New York State, The Queen recalls a courageous group of gay men who weren’t afraid to be themselves at a time when they could have been thrown in jail for doing so. Shot mainly with hand-held cameras and featuring minimal narration, the film packs a lot of information into its 66-minute running time.

As the film opens, viewers are introduced to a young man named Jack. He produces drag pageants all over the country, not only serving as producer but as choreographer and host. Jack appears onstage as Sabrina, a character he describes as a “bar mitzvah mother.” Almost from the beginning, Jack/Sabrina is forced to deal with the anti-LGBTQ prejudices that were the social norm of the era, facing difficulties such as finding a hotel that will take all of his drag contestants.

Once inside their hotel rooms, the contestants talk about some of the issues they face in their day-to-day lives such as whether or not their families accept them, the possibility of gender reassignment surgery, and the draft—the Vietnam War was underway at the time. Two contestants recall being rejected by the draft for being gay. One character admits that she wrote to the president saying that she wished to serve so that she could help to protect the country.

Related article: ‘The Queen’ Has Been Restored 

“They couldn’t help me in the army as of yet, but maybe one day, they’ll see things right, and I will be able to get in,” she says.

As the film continues, Jack/Sabrina works with the contestants, rehearsing routines they’ll be performing in the pageant. A bit of tension crops up when a young contestant, who’s introduced as Richard but performs under the name Harlow, throws a diva fit when her platinum blonde wig goes missing. Always in control, Sabrina and her assistants tend to the matter.

Harlow is a younger contestant. She has sparked some resentment among older contestants because she hasn’t paid her dues, winning the first contest she had ever competed in. The other contestants had to work their way up the ladder. Harlow particularly incurs the ire of Crystal, a black queen who feels that she is more beautiful and more talented than Harlow.

Though the film doesn’t explicitly address the racial disparities in the queer community, there is an implication that, as a black performer in a white run pageant, Crystal felt that she didn’t stand a chance of winning. When Harlow is announced as the winner, Crystal storms off the stage in front of the audience.

A few years after the events seen in The Queen, Crystal would form the House of La Beija, a drag house which was established in response to the racial prejudice in the New York ballroom scene. The House Of La Beija was featured in Paris Is Burning, Jennie Livingston’s classic 1990 documentary about the black ballroom scene in New York.

Today, The Queen is a fascinating look back at another era. The performers seen in the film were willing to take risks. The police could very well have raided the event and carted them all off to jail, and they knew it.Yet, they stood their ground. They were courageous people who laid the groundwork for the popular and respected drag culture which exists today. These queens should not be forgotten.

Photo courtesy of ‘The Queen’