The Cockettes (2002)

Directors:

Billy Weber
David Weissman

Genre:

Documentary

Tagline:

1969 ... San Francisco ... Sexual Anarchy

Plot:

Documentary about the gender-bending San Francisco performance group who became a pop culture phenomenon in the early 1970s.

Plot Keywords:

Troupe | Gay Interest | Drag Queen | Drugs | 1970s

Awards:

4 wins & 4 nominations

Cast

Larry Brinkin	...	Himself
Peggy Cass	...	Herself (archive footage)
Pristine Condition	...	Himself (archive footage)
Jackie Curtis	...	Herself (archive footage)
Candy Darling	...	Himself (archive footage)
Dusty Dawn	...	Herself
Divine	...	Himself (archive footage)
Anton Dunnigan	...	Himself
Ahmet Ertegun	...	Himself (archive footage)
John Flowers	...	Himself
Allen Ginsberg	...	Himself (archive footage)
Goldie Glitters	...	Himself
The Grateful Dead	...	Themselves (archive footage)
Ann Harris	...	Herself
Fayette Hauser	...	Herself
Hibiscus	...	Himself (archive footage)
Jilala	...	Himself
Michael Kalmen	...	Himself
Richard Koldewyn	...	Himself
Angela Lansbury	...	Herself (archive footage)
Taylor Mead	...	Himself (archive footage)
Sylvia Miles	...	Herself
Peter Mintun	...	Himself
Milton Miron	...	Himself
Rumi Missabu	...	Himself
Richard Nixon	...	Himself (archive footage)
Tricia Nixon	...	Herself (archive footage)
Marshall Olds	...	Himself
Maureen Orth	...	Herself
Anthony Perkins	...	Himself (archive footage)
Ronald Reagan	...	Himself (archive footage)
Kreemah Ritz	...	Himself
John Rothermel	...	Himself
Sylvester	...	Himself
Pamela Tent-Carpenter	...	Herself
Gore Vidal	...	Himself (archive footage)
John Waters	...	Himself
Errol Wetson	...	Himself
Holly Woodlawn	...	Himself

MPAA:

Rated R for nudity, sexual content, drug references and some language.

Runtime:

100 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Grandelusion

Trivia:

On the Weekend of 22 December 2002, the movie grossed $75.00 (by contrast, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) took in $62,007,000).

Quotes:

John Waters: Well, the Cockettes were basically complete sexual anarchy
[smiles]
John Waters: which is always a good thing.

Movie Connections:

References Singapore Sue (1932)

Soundtrack:

Divine Gunn

As shimmery and funny as it is informative!

I saw the film The Cockettes after a long, seemingly endless stream of disappointing documentaries. It was such a great pleasure to finally see these filmmakers take a veritable goldmine of fascinating material and do it justice. While including enough supplemental material to keep the interest moving, this film really sticks to its guns and offers a satisfying glimpse at the rise and fall of The Cockettes.

I was also really impressed with the quality of archive footage that appears in the film. At first, I had to lean into my screen and ask myself if these were re-enactments. Really, truly stunning.

I think the best measure of this film is the sense of loss one feels when the credits roll~ a mourning that one wasn't there to experience the subject firsthand and be in on the party. But what a wonderful hour and 40 minutes!