"Bathing suit competition is the toughest. It's right down to the nitty-gritty. No feather, nothin', just them." Shot over five days in the lead-up to the Miss All-American Camp Beauty Pageant of 1967, The Queen eavesdrops on a cadre of female impersonators as they primp, preen, sing showtunes, and turn New York upside down in search of the right wig. The pageant was promoted as a "satirical happening" and "psychedelic rewrite of Hellzapoppin'" mounted and hosted by Jack Doroshow, who held court as Flawless Sabrina. ("I'm 24 years old, but in drag I come across like 110, and I do this whole bar mitzvah mother thing.") A priceless snapshot of a pre-Stonewall underground of drag queens, gay men, trans women, and performers (including Mario Montez, muse to Jack Smith and Andy Warhol) coming together and kvetching and kvelling for the camera as if their lives depended on it, The Queen remains an endlessly quotable documentary and wellspring of fashion advice. (Kyle Westphal, Chicago Film Society) 35mm from Elizabeth Purchell