Outrageous! (1977)

A story about a female impersonator who rooms with a pregnant schizophrenic.

Director:

Richard Benner

Writers:

Richard Benner, Margaret Gibson Gilboord (based on a story from "Butterfly Ward")

Stars:

Craig Russell, Hollis McLaren, Richert Easley

3 wins & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Craig Russell	...	Robin Turner
Hollis McLaren	...	Liza Connors
Richert Easley	...	Perry
Allan Moyle	...	Martin
David McIlwraith	...	Bob
Gerry Salsberg	...	Jason
Andrée Pelletier	...	Anne
Helen Shaver	...	Jo
Martha Gibson	...	Nurse Carr
Helen Hughes	...	Mrs. Connors
Jonah Royston	...	Dr. Beddoes
Richard Moffatt	...	Stewart
David Woito	...	Hustler
Rusty Ryan	...	Jimmy
Trevor Bryan	...	Miss Montego Bay

Storyline

Robin Turner is a gay hairdresser. He hates his job. He loves old movies and will do his customers' hair in the style of an iconic movie star if they'll let him, and even if they don't. At his apartment, he is harboring his medically diagnosed schizophrenic friend, Liza Connors, who can no longer stand being institutionalized. After Liza convinces Robin to attend a drag ball dressed as Tallulah Bankhead, Robin begins to feel liberated. On Liza's further urging, Robin accepts a local club's offer to work as a female impersonator, he doing his own singing unlike most drag queens. As he progresses with his female impersonation work to great aplomb, he takes a shot at making it big in New York City. The money will have to come in since despite medical warnings to her not to do it, Liza has become pregnant (not Robin's baby), she deciding to have and keep the baby.

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Plot Keywords:

hairdresser | gay | apartment | drag queen | gay hairdresser | 

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Genres:

Comedy

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

Canada

Language:

English

Release Date:

31 July 1977 (USA)

Also Known As:

Ausgeflippt

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

CAD 165,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Film Consortium of Canada, Canadian Film Development Corporation (CFDC)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Did You Know?

Quotes

Liza Connors: Liza's brain runs round and round; Liza's head is full of sounds. Liza's the one born dead; Liza's the one without any head.

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Connections

References Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953)

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Soundtracks

"Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend"
(1953) (uncredited)
Music by Jule Styne
Lyrics by Leo Robin
Sung by Craig Russell imitating Carol Channing, Marlene Dietrich, Ethel Merman,
Ella Fitzgerald, Pearl Bailey and Bette Midler

User Reviews

quite a document

At first I reacted against the sentimentality of the madness-as-nonconformism theme, which is really mostly down to Hollis McLaren; as Craig Russell's heavily medicated roommate, she gets more than a little familiar when she expresses her downturns with hushed gibberish or staring through her fingers. But in between episodes she really gets to articulate the bill of outsiders' rights, and Russell is right there with her. No comparable clichés in this film's depiction of the Toronto gay scene, a diverse yet claustrophobic enclave that places transvestites on the bottom of a depressingly rigid hierarchy - an economic threat to closeted hairdressers, stealth patriarchs to the second-wave dykes. At a time when cinematic queerness was synonymous with effete self-loathing, this sympathetic and detailed depiction of a complex, vital skid-row subculture was decades ahead of its time, and has real time-capsule value today. All of which to say is that they're far from just marking time between Russell's impersonations, which are definitive even if he did steal them from Mae West herself. Put the two together and you've got a film that synthesizes social engagement and entertainment value with almost unprecedented verve.