Quentin Crisp

Quentin Crisp was a writer, raconteur, social rebel, and "professional being". He was nearly 91 when he died of heart failure in 1999, and his death powerfully affected those who loved him. In this portrait, Tim Fountain (Crisp's biographer, and author of the play RESIDENT ALIEN) interviews friends and family of Crisp, to learn something of the significance of his death, and the "enigma of his life".

A collection of interviews recorded for the making of the 1995 documentary "The Celluloid Closet," on the subject of LGBT representation in film history.

March 1999. Tim Fountain and Bette Bourne meet Quentin Crisp in his famously filthy New York apartment for one of his very last interviews before his sudden death in England a few months later during Tim and Bette's production of Resident Alien, a play based on Quentin's life and writing at the Bush Theatre, London.

Gay guru and fading icon Malcolm wants to escape from Homo Heights town, which is ruled by drag queen and leader of gay mafia Maria Callous.

3.2/10

A black comedy version of the classic tale.

6.9/10

This documentary highlights the historical contexts that gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender individuals have occupied in cinema history, and shows the evolution of the entertainment industry's role in shaping perceptions of LGBT figures. The issues addressed include secrecy – which initially defined homosexuality – as well as the demonization of the homosexual community with the advent of AIDS, and finally the shift toward acceptance and positivity in the modern era.

7.8/10
9.6%

Three New York drag queens on their way to Hollywood for a beauty pageant get stranded in a small Midwestern town for the entire weekend when their car breaks down. While waiting for parts for their Cadillac convertible, the flamboyant trio shows the local homophobic rednecks that appearing different doesn't mean they don't have humanity in common.

6.6/10
4.1%

The colleagues, collaborators, and former lovers of a recently deceased theater personality gather together for an impromptu memorial service in this drama featuring the final full-length feature performance of actor Quentin Crisp. Heartfelt pathos blends with over-the-top comedy when the driving force behind a controversial theater group dies. Frank David Niles was the heart and soul of the "In Your Face" theater company, and now his friends and colleagues are determined to give him a proper send off. In addition to marking Crisp's final full-length feature performance, Red Ribbins also marks the return to the big screen for former The Devil in Miss Jones star Georgina Spelvin.

2.8/10

Compilation. Tells the story of Nelson Sullivan who was the unofficial video documentary filmmaker of the late 1980s downtown New York nightlife and LGBTQ+ community, with extensive archival segments directed by Sullivan himself.

Diva filmmaker June Lang's documentary of her and Mr. Quentin Crisp having lunch at her apartment.

Two competing lawyers join forces to sue a prestigious law firm for AIDS discrimination. As their unlikely friendship develops their courage overcomes the prejudice and corruption of their powerful adversaries.

7.7/10
8%

England, 1600. Queen Elizabeth I promises Orlando, a young nobleman obsessed with poetry, that she will grant him land and fortune if he agrees to satisfy a very particular request…

7.2/10
8.4%

At age 73, writer and melancholy master of the bon mot, Quentin Crisp (1908-1999), became an Englishman in New York. Rossiter's camera follows Crisp about the streets of Manhattan, where Crisp seems very much at home, wearing eye shadow, appearing on a makeshift stage, making and repeating wry observations, talking to John Hurt (who played Crisp in the autobiographical TV movie, "The Naked Civil Servant"), and dining with friends. Others who know Crisp comment on him, on his life as an openly gay man with an effeminate manner, and on his place in the history of gays' social struggle. The portrait that emerges is of one wit and of suffering.

6.9/10

Oscar Wilde’s famous and eloquent defence of love – made while he was being cross-examined at the trial that led to his incarceration and death – is strikingly illustrated, word by word, with Mapplethorpe-like imagery.

5.6/10

Sting is Doctor Frankenstein in this remake of the old classic film Bride of Frankenstein. After years of research, the doctor finally succeeds in creating the perfect woman, who gets the name "Eva".

5.4/10
2.5%

This TV documentary was made for the UK BBC TV "Arena" strand in 1981, and shows some of the colourful residents of and people connected with the New York Chelsea Hotel. Some highlights include Andy Warhol and William Burroughs having dinner; Quentin Crisp pontificating in a blue rinse hairdo on his balcony and Nico forgetting what she is talking about halfway through a dour rendition of "Chelsea Girls". A number of lesser-known characters also appear, linked together by a tour guide walking around the building and some sub-Shining sequences of a child cycling round the landings on a rickety tricycle. (IMDb)

7.1/10

In this witty monologue, Quentin Crisp advises and opines about personal style (with a few digressions).

8.6/10

The classic Shakespeare play in a way you've never seen.

7/10

Story of the life of Quentin Crisp, an Englishman who was brave enough to live his life according to his own style even in the hostile days of WW2.

7.9/10

A girl takes her camera along to a rocky beach, but quickly becomes fascinated with a far stranger mechanical contraption that she finds there.

The first half of Ann Wolff's BFI-funded short sees the eponymous captain (played by O'Connor) enacting the bizarre actions of the verse, chewing his beard, bouncing through a window and "frowning at a passing ceiling". In the second half, a curious interplay involving a carrot unfolds at a railway station.

4.3/10