Release CalendarTop 250 MoviesMost Popular MoviesBrowse Movies by GenreTop Box OfficeShowtimes & TicketsMovie NewsIndia Movie Spotlight
    What's on TV & StreamingTop 250 TV ShowsMost Popular TV ShowsBrowse TV Shows by GenreTV News
    What to WatchLatest TrailersIMDb OriginalsIMDb PicksIMDb Podcasts
    OscarsABFFPride MonthOutfest OutfrontsSTARmeter AwardsAwards CentralFestival CentralAll Events
    Born TodayMost Popular CelebsMost Popular CelebsCelebrity News
    Help CenterContributor ZonePolls
For Industry Professionals
  • All
  • Titles
  • TV Episodes
  • Celebs
  • Companies
  • Keywords
  • Advanced Search
Watchlist
Sign In
Sign In
New Customer? Create account
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
IMDbPro

The Queen

  • 1968
  • Not Rated
  • 1h 8m
IMDb RATING
7.3/10
1.3K
YOUR RATING
Jack Doroshow in The Queen (1968)
Official Remastered Trailer
Play trailer1:44
1 Video
15 Photos
Documentary

The behind the scenes of a national drag queen contest in New York City, including the rehearsals leading up to the contest, the conversations in the dressing room and the jealousies that em... Read allThe behind the scenes of a national drag queen contest in New York City, including the rehearsals leading up to the contest, the conversations in the dressing room and the jealousies that emerge before and after the competition.The behind the scenes of a national drag queen contest in New York City, including the rehearsals leading up to the contest, the conversations in the dressing room and the jealousies that emerge before and after the competition.

  • Director
    • Frank Simon
  • Stars
    • Bernard Giquel
    • Jack Doroshow
    • Jim Dine
  • See production, box office & company info
  • IMDb RATING
    7.3/10
    1.3K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Frank Simon
    • Stars
      • Bernard Giquel
      • Jack Doroshow
      • Jim Dine
    • 10User reviews
    • 17Critic reviews
    • 78Metascore
  • See more at IMDbPro
  • Videos1

    The Queen
    Trailer 1:44
    Watch The Queen

    Photos15

    The Queen (1968)
    The Queen (1968)
    The Queen (1968)
    The Queen (1968)
    The Queen (1968)
    The Queen (1968)
    Crystal LaBeija in The Queen (1968)
    Crystal LaBeija in The Queen (1968)
    Jack Doroshow in The Queen (1968)
    The Queen (1968)
    The Queen (1968)
    Jack Doroshow in The Queen (1968)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Bernard Giquel
    • Self - Interviewer
    Jack Doroshow
    • Self - Narrator…
    Jim Dine
    • Self - Jury Member
    Rachel Harlow
    • Self - Harlow
    • (as Richard Finnochio)
    Bruce Jay Friedman
    • Self - Jury Member
    Jill Krementz
    • Self
    Jerry Leiber
    Jerry Leiber
    • Self - Jury Member
    Mary Ellen Mark
    Mary Ellen Mark
    • Self
    Mario Montez
    • Self
    George Plimpton
    George Plimpton
    • Self
    Larry Rivers
    • Self
    Edie Sedgwick
    Edie Sedgwick
    • Self
    Terry Southern
    • Self
    Andy Warhol
    Andy Warhol
    • Self
    Dorian Corey
    Dorian Corey
    • Self - Contestant
    Jackie Curtis
    Jackie Curtis
    • Self
    Crystal LaBeija
    • Self - Contestant
    International Chrysis
    • Self - Dancer
    • Director
      • Frank Simon
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    More like this

    Paris Is Burning
    8.1
    Paris Is Burning
    The Celluloid Closet
    7.8
    The Celluloid Closet
    I Am Divine
    7.5
    I Am Divine
    Queens at Heart
    7.2
    Queens at Heart
    The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson
    7.2
    The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson
    Disclosure
    8.2
    Disclosure
    Trixie Mattel: Moving Parts
    7.3
    Trixie Mattel: Moving Parts
    Pink Narcissus
    6.6
    Pink Narcissus
    The Boys in the Band
    7.6
    The Boys in the Band
    The Boulet Brothers' Halfway to Halloween TV Special
    5.6
    The Boulet Brothers' Halfway to Halloween TV Special
    Tongues Untied
    7.1
    Tongues Untied
    Pink Flamingos
    6.0
    Pink Flamingos

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Jack Doroshow, who portrays Flawless Sabrina, made a personal appearance some years ago at a screening of this movie which took place at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts Library at Lincoln Center. In addition to the film, there was some soundless film footage presented of an after party which took place immediately after the contest, that footage which may have come from the personal collection of Flawless Sabrina. This footage shows that the NYPD "raided" the after party presumably because men dressing as women in those days was still illegal. Arrogantly and with no seemingly plausible reason, the police officers walked through the party requiring numerous attendees to show their identification, such harassing actions which could have arguably led up to the Stonewall rebellion of 1969.
    • Quotes

      Self - Flawless Sabrina: I go up to this queen and I say, "What's your name?" The queen says, "Monique." And you say, "That's marvelous, darling, but what was your name before?" And the queen will look at you straight in the eye and say, "There was no before."

    • Connections
      Featured in God Save the Queens (1995)
    • Soundtracks
      Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend
      (1949) (uncredited)

      Music by Jule Styne

      Lyrics by Leo Robin

      Performed by Mario Montez

    User reviews10

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    Gender-bender contenders
    I've seen references to this film which incorrectly identify it as 'The Queens', plural, apparently referring to the participants as a bunch of "queens". The film's correct title is 'The Queen', singular, and I do mean singular. This is not a drag ball, in the style of 'Paris Is Burning' and other such affairs: this is a drag beauty pageant, with contestants vying in the knowledge that only one can be crowned: hence that title.

    'The Queen' was bankrolled(?) by the late Lewis M Allen, elsewhere a Wall Street financier and Broadway producer, but you wouldn't know it from watching this movie. This is a no-budget documentary, and the cheapness and shoddiness of the production values make the subject matter look even cheaper and shoddier than necessary. I'm frankly surprised that this movie got made at ALL in the 1960s, and even more surprised that it received a general (not underground) release in 1968. Credit for the film's distribution -- spasmodic as it was -- goes to Grove Press, a publishing house notorious for issuing high-quality editions of 'Fanny Hill', 'Harriet Marwood, Governess' and other erotica of the past.

    Beauty pageants in general don't much interest me, as I tend to find them demeaning ... and that goes regardless of the contenders' genders. In this movie, the sequence (sequins?) which I found most bizarre didn't involve cross-dressing at all. This was when one of the contestants, still in male attire, speaks to the interviewer in an epicene voice which falls precisely between the male and female registers. Then, suddenly, he bursts into song ... still in that same twilight register. Even more oddly, the song he's singing is 'Honey Bun', from 'South Pacific'. This is ostensibly a song performed by a macho sailor bragging about his curvaceous girlfriend, but -- as staged in 'South Pacific' -- it's actually a song written for a woman in male drag, singing about a man in female drag. I wonder if the singer in this movie intended those layers of gender-bending.

    Any transvestites in the audience for this movie will probably glean some comfort from the fact that the cross-dressers shown here are (mostly) very ordinary-looking men -- overweight, balding -- with no special entree to feminine beauty nor daintiness. Any big hairy bloke who wants to look pretty has as good a chance as most of the males in this film.

    For those of us not into beauty pageants, drag or otherwise, this film's major significance is historical. Among the people we see here is Richard Finnochio, now forgotten but once deeply notorious. Finnochio was the proprietor of a San Francisco nightclub which openly advertised drag acts, but which also booked stand-up comedians who were too edgy or raw to be able to get bookings elsewhere. Lenny Bruce honed his early act at Finocchio's.

    Also seen here is an effeminate Latino boy named Mario Montez. I had assumed that this was a stage name, playing on MARIA Montez, a 'camp' actress who has a large gay following. I was wrong; according to the very minimal press kit for 'The Queen', that was his real name. Nice to know that something in this movie is genuine. (UPDATE: I was wrong twice; after posting this review, I received reliable information that Mario Montez was born Rene Rivera, and he did indeed name himself for Maria Motez.)

    Towards the end of the film, there is some slight genuine suspense as we wait to see which of these would-be's will be crowned the queen. I shan't offer a rating for 'The Queen': it certainly does deserve one, but I'm probably not qualified to rate it objectively. Maybe this film broke some ground in 1968, but it has long since been eclipsed by far more outrageous sexual fare. Possibly that's a good thing. To anyone who thinks I disrespect the subject matter or the people depicted in this film: please note that I managed to get through this entire review without resorting to cheap wisecracks like "What a drag!"
    helpful•6
    14
    • F Gwynplaine MacIntyre
    • May 22, 2007

    Top picks

    Sign in to rate and Watchlist for personalized recommendations
    Sign in

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • June 17, 1968 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • La reina
    • Filming locations
      • Town Hall - 123 West 43rd Street, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA(performance venue)
    • Production companies
      • Evergreen Film
      • Grove Press
      • Si Litvinoff Film Production
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $47,818
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $7,173
      • Jun 30, 2019
    • Gross worldwide
      • $47,818
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 8 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Mono
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.33 : 1

    Related news

    Contribute to this page

    Suggest an edit or add missing content
    Jack Doroshow in The Queen (1968)
    Top Gap
    By what name was The Queen (1968) officially released in India in English?
    Answer
    • See more gaps
    • Learn more about contributing
    Edit page

    More to explore

    Recently viewed

    Please enable browser cookies to use this feature. Learn more.
    Get the IMDb App
    Sign in for more accessSign in for more access
    • Get the IMDb App
    • Help
    • Site Index
    • IMDbPro
    • Box Office Mojo
    • IMDb Developer
    • Press Room
    • Advertising
    • Jobs
    • Conditions of Use
    • Privacy Policy
    • Your Ads Privacy Choices
    IMDb, an Amazon company

    © 1990-2023 by IMDb.com, Inc.