Outrageous!

Trailer—Outrageous!

source: Outrageous!

Outrageous!

Like others, over the years, I have watched and re-watched this delightful confection of a movie which possesses the rare combination of feeling almost like an indie/documentary/hand-held camera opus while also being very well made. Like art (or good wine) it wears/ages well, presenting a multi-level array of elements including a fun retro look at the gay/bar/fashion/hair scene of the '70's, the "easy to meet people", fun-loving, and not-yet-cynical attitude regarding social life and relationships, promiscuity as no big deal, and the message of self-love and self-acceptance over conformity. Craig Russell is perfect as the hairdresser looking for that "more" within himself and in life. He and his little coterie of friends create a warm, familiar, and almost cozy sense of affiliation/friendship despite the campy and sometimes abrasive repartee. This movie has a lot of heart and I "heartily" recommend it.

Boy, this thing really took me back. I remember when it came out in 1977. It was a curiosity, a conversation-starter. The gay culture it portrayed had not yet really burst into the larger popular culture. The whole drag queen/lip sync thing was a novelty. Who knew that in ten years a large portion of this cohort would be dead? I sure didn't. It seemed like the beginning of something. This film has technical problems out the wazoo, and a very cheezy, almost pornographic sensibility. And the young woman who plays the mental patient is unbelievably annoying. But Craig Russell makes up for all the film's shortcomings. His drag act is hackneyed.by today's standards, and a bit too much of it is showcased in the movie, but his character work is endearing.

Robin Turner (Craig Russell) is a female impersonator living with a schizophrenic woman (Hollis McLaren). She gets pregnant (she's not sure who the father is). They live in Toronto but he finds out he can make it big in NYC...but can he leave her alone? Great comedy/drama made on next to no budget. Most of it landed on the shoulders of Russell who was a female impersonator in real life. In the movie you see him do Bette Davis, Barbra Streisand, Mae West, Carol Channing, Marlene Dietrich, Ethel Merman, Bette Midler and Judy Garland! He's great as all of them. This film was a huge hit playing for over a year at most art house cinemas. Dated but fascinating.

I've seen this film more than 10 years ago and am thinking about it regularly. For me it is one of this films about what it means to be a human being and how precious every individual is. Like Dodes'ka-den from Kurosawa.

The acting was superb. A sleeper film if I ever saw one, more people should see it. It needs to be re-released and published for sale.

I saw this on YouTube 6/8/2019 and found it a very enjoyable film that even made me laugh at times. Craig Russell is the lead "drag queen" in the movie. Russell was a man possessing an obvious, albeit eccentric, talent. His female impersonations in "Outrageous" come across as cinematic versions of Al Hirschfeld prints. Hollis McLaren effectively portrays furloughed mental patient Lisa. I was even surprised to hear some memorable lines in the scripted dialog. Russell deserves the praise he received for all those spot-on caricatures of Bette Davis, Joan Crawford, Carol Channing and many others. But Robin Turner may be his best "impersonation" of them all. I came away very much believing his portrayal of an interesting, likable human being possessed of considerable complexity. A strange, low-budget, high quality movie. Glad I found it.

["If a caterpillar was afraid of wings it would never become a butterfly, and people would say, 'Look, there's a worm on the tree....' But they'd never seen it spinning colors into the air......"] I first saw "Outrageous" 22 years ago, (this will sound strange) I was so moved by it's greatness and at the time didn't have a VCR that I recorded it with a hand held tape recorder-audio-and that was how I 'watched' the movie for years til I got it on video. That is how incredibly touching, and GREAT this movie was and is! In it's unique way it almost reaches out and literally touches your heart if you let it. (And maybe even teach you a thing or two about life, love, people, and most important, FRIENDS!!)