Craig Russell celebrated his drag career in the 1977 film Outrageous! The sequel, Too Outrageous!, found his alter ego, Robin, in a bad place. Homophobic agents, treacherous lovers and the AIDS epidemic sucked the joy out of him. His best friend Liza, played by Hollis McLaren, provides emotional support but has demons of her own. The screenplay allowed Russell to recreate his stage act and rage against his tormentors. It’s an angry, often unpleasant, film. But it captures a turning point in drag history.

Let’s start with a spoiler filled recap. (You can read my recap of the first film here.)

Act One: Opportunity

Scene One: Drag Club
(Robin performs his drag act for a small audience.)
ROBIN (Craig Russell): I’m tired of singing the same songs in the same clubs.
LIZA (His best friend): My writing career stalled. How about I write a story about you?
ROBIN: Fine by me.
GOOD AGENT (A gay man in a cowboy hat): The story sold to a magazine! Now a huge crowd is coming to see your drag show!

Scene Two: Bigger Drag Club
(Robin performs his drag act for a big audience.)
BAD AGENT (A woman in a power suit): Fabulous! Sensational! If you pass for heterosexual, I’ll get you booked on the talk show circuit.
ROBIN: How am I supposed to do that?
BAD AGENT: Stop telling gay jokes. Pretend you’re dating your writer friend.   
ROBIN: Well, if worked for Liberace…  

Act Two: Romance

Scene Three: Gay Romance
BAD AGENT: Stop flirting with male talk show hosts! We need you family friendly.
ROBIN: Boring.
GAY LOVE INTEREST: You’re a drag queen? That’s incredible.
ROBIN: I could use a backup dancer.
GAY LOVE INTEREST: Sold.
(Montage of them performing on stage, and hooking up off stage.)

Scene Four: Straight Romance
STRAIGHT LOVE INTEREST: You’re a writer? That’s incredible. But why do you take so many pills?
LIZA: They keep me stable. I suffer from…
STRAIGHT LOVE INTEREST: Whoa little lady. Let me mansplain here. Pills are bad.
(The jerk throws out her pills. Liza has a panic attack and falls down a flight of stairs.)

Scene Five: More Gay Romance
BAD AGENT: I hired that hustler to shag you. Not dance with you.
ROBIN: He’s not a hustler. He loves me.
GAY LOVE INTEREST: I’m totally a hustler. I thought with a stage career I could go legit. I guess it’s back to the street corners. (Storms off.)
BAD AGENT: Forget him. Once you’re a big star you can buy all the friends you want.

Act Three: Retirement

Scene Six: Big Theater
GOOD AGENT: My boyfriend’s dying of AIDS. I can’t join you on the tour.
ROBIN: Don’t worry. This will be my last show.
(Robin goes on stage in his civilian clothes.)
BAD AGENT: Why aren’t you in costume?
ROBIN (Sings): I’M THROUGH PRETENDING TO BE SOMEONE ELSE. FROM NOW ON I’M GONNA BE ME.
AUDIENCE: This isn’t La Cage Aux Folles!
BAD AGENT: We’re done. (Storms off.)
LIZA: I recovered from the fall! And I loved your act!
ROBIN: I’m glad somebody did.

THE END

Is That All There Is?

Craig Russell passed away in 1990. He’d served as Mae West’s secretary, a hairdresser, a small town drag performer and, finally, an international drag star. That was harder to pull off in the days before Drag Race and social media. Russell was known for his imitations of female celebrities (some, unfortunately, in blackface). Now drag queens craft their own personas and brands. Impersonation skills are saved for RuPaul’s Snatch Game.

Too Outrageous is not a good film. Russell’s clearly unwell and the filmmaking is amateurish. But I’m glad to have seen it. It preserves an underappreciated time in queer history.

You can find more of my reviews on The Avocado, Letterboxd and Serializd. My podcast, Rainbow Colored Glasses, can be found here.