Outrageous! **** (1977, Craig Russell, Hollis McLaren, Richert Easley) – Classic Movie Review 10,270

Toronto-born drag queen/ female impersonator Craig Russell is hilarious and touching as a female impersonator gay hairdresser who keeps house with a pregnant schizophrenic (Hollis McLaren), in director Richard Benner’s warm, funny and revealing 1977 Canadian comedy drama Outrageous!

Hollis McLaren is good as Liza Connors but Russell is stupendous both in drag doing his movie icon impersonations and out as Robin Turner, and he was rewarded with the best actor award at the Berlin Film Festival.

It sounds unlikely but it is a heartwarming show. It is also written by Richard Benner, based on Making It, a short story by writer Margaret Gibson from her 1976 collection The Butterfly Ward. Russell and Gibson were roommates in real life. Liza Connors is a fictionalised version of Gibson.

Sequel in 1987: Too Outrageous!

Also in the cast are Richert Easley, Allan Moyle, David McIlwraith, Gerry Salsberg, Andrée Pelletier and Helen Shaver.

It is also significant as one of the first gay-themed films to receive a widespread cinema release in North America.

© Derek Winnert 2020 Classic Movie Review 10,270

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Drag queens at the 2012 Sydney Mardi Gras.