Andrea James

Queens at Heart restoration

queens at heart restoration before and after

Film historian Jenni Olson discovered a badly-damaged film print of a 1967 documentary that showed pre-Stonewall Manhattan ball culture. It is some of the only color footage ever found, and no negative was ever discovered. In 2009 the Outfest Legacy Project in partnership with the UCLA Film & Television Archive did a full restoration of this historically important document.

queens at heart still
Still from Queens at Heart

Joanne Herman donated major major funds to make this happen. I will always be grateful to her for her leadership!

The film was part of an exploitative double bill called She Man, a “forced feminization” story about a soldier (played by drag performer Leslie Marlowe) blackmailed into making a gender transition against his will.

she man movie poster double bill with queens at heart
Original poster for She Man / Queens at Heart

From the poster:

A searching look into the lives of four men who live and dress like women…

QUEENS AT HEART

Can medical science help them? See it all! Uncut!

Re-release poster for She Man / Queens at Heart

From the poster:

Plus an exciting venture into the twilight world…

QUEENS AT HEART

A searching look into the lives of men who yearn to be women

Learn more about the Outfest/UCLA Legacy Project here:

https://www.cinema.ucla.edu/collections/outfest-ucla-legacy-project

2011 screening details:

https://www.cinema.ucla.edu/events/2011-03-06/highlighting-outfest-legacy-project-three-films-0

Queens at Heart via Wikipedia:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queens_at_Heart