Drag in Cinema: More Films From the ’90s
Set the Wayback Machine! Today Drag in Cinema looks at some films from the ‘90s that we haven’t covered.
High Heels, 1991
High Heels is a Spanish melodrama film written and directed by Pedro Almodóvar and starring Marisa Paredes, Victoria Abril and Miguel Bosé. A man who was romantically involved with both of the leading ladies in the film is murdered. Miquel Bosé plays the investigating magistrate, Judge Domínguez but he also appears disguised as a female impersonator named Letal and as a man named Hugo. We did say it’s a melodrama. The film was Almodóvar’s ninth and it achieved critical acclaim as well as attracting an audience of over 1.5 million people by the end of 1991. Casting the film was especially hard as the actor who played the judge had to be convincing in drag and as a judge and present a different look as Hugo. Spanish new wave pop star Miguel Bosé filled the bill and the rest is film history. Bosé performs as Letal in the clip below.
Mixed Nuts, 1994
Christian Clavier as Katia in the French original.
Mixed Nuts is an American Christmas comedy film directed by Nora Ephron, based on the 1982 French comedy, Le Père Noël est une ordure. (Santa Claus Is a Stinker.) In the original film Christian Clavier plays a transvestite named Katia. In the American remake Liev Schreiber stars as Chris, a trans woman. The film stars Steve Martin, Madeline Kahn, Rita Wilson, Gary Shandling, and Adam Sandler, among others. With that kind of cast and Liev Schreiber in drag, not to mention a script based on a French comedy, you know the film is a fast paced farce. It received critical acclaim but bombed at the box office. Here is the scene that features Liev and Steve Martin dancing.
I Shot Andy Warhol, 1996
In 1968 a radical feminist woman named Valerie Solanas sought her 15 minutes of fame by shooting pop artist Andy Warhol. Solanas was a fringe member of Warhol’s Factory scene and the author of a manifesto that promoted the idea of a world without men. While Solanas decried Warhol’s art as depictions of depravity she wanted him to produce a play she had written titled Up Your Ass. Her repeated attempts to get his backing for a production led Warhol to ignore her calls. That caused her to believe he was going to steal the play and cut her out. Other paranoid delusions also influenced her actions. On June 3, 1968 she entered Warhol’s office and shot him and an art gallery owner he was meeting with. Warhol was forced to wear a special corset to keep his organs in place until he died in 1987.
Stephen Dorff (L.) as Candy Darling. Candy Darling on the right.
In 1996 I Shot Andy Warhol was released. The film is about the life of Valerie Solanas and what led to her violent attack on Warhol. The film stars Lili Taylor as Valerie, Jared Harris as Andy Warhol, and Martha Plimpton as Valerie’s friend Stevie. Stephen Dorff plays Warhol superstar Candy Darling. John Cale of The Velvet Underground wrote the film’s score. In addition to Dorff’s drag role Jamie Harrold appears as Warhol superstar Jackie Curtis.
Boondock Saints, 1999
FBI agent in disguise.
The Boondock Saints is an action film starring Sean Patrick Flanery and Norman Reedus as fraternal twins Connor and Murphy MacManus, who become vigilantes after killing two members of the Russian Mafia in self defense. They then set out to rid Boston of crime and evil by any means necessary. Their war on crime gets the attention of FBI Special Agent Paul Smecker, portrayed by Willem Defoe, who initially feels he should arrest them but changes his mind and decides to work with them on their crusade against criminals. Learning that the brothers are planning to kill the leaders of a crime family — not knowing that it is a trap —Smecker infiltrates the mob meeting by disguising himself as a woman, and kills a number of the mob soldiers. Why the drag disguise? Smecker is a gay man who makes his decision to help the brothers after getting drunk at a gay bar. Or, maybe the director wanted to have Defoe dress up? Who’s to say? If you like action vigilante flicks with a helping of drag The Boondock Saints may be your cup of tea.
That’s our look at drag in ‘90s movies. See you next month!
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Category: Transgender Fun & Entertainment
About the Author (Author Profile)
Angela Gardner is a founding member of The Renaissance Transgender Assoc., Inc., former editor of its newsletter and magazine, Transgender Community News. She was the Diva of Dish for TGF in the late 1990s and Editor of LadyLike magazine until its untimely demise. She has appeared in film and television shows portraying TG characters, as well as representing Renaissance on numerous talk shows.Subscribe
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