By Laurie Sheril

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Part XIV: Drag, Guns and Violence in the mid-70s

As the 70s rolled on, it became more apparent that drag (or any form of crossdressing) was not a matter for just comedies or spy movies.

1973ís "Triple Echo" is based on a story by H.E. Bates. It concerns a young man who deserts the British army during WWII. Hiding out at his sisterís rural home, he masquerades as a woman to be near the woman he loves, played by Glenda Jackson. Pretending to be her sister, all is going well until a very gruff Army Sgt. (played in his usual, fine, gruff manner by Oliver Reed) comes snooping about in search of the deserter only to discover the pretty new sister! The sergeant takes a liking to her and eventually asks her out to a dance at the army base. Because "Cathy" wants to "go out and have some fun" she agrees to go to the dance with the less-than-couth sergeant. "Cathy" borrows a dress, shoes and stockings from her "sister" (funny they didnít look like they were the same size), gets in full make-up and goes to the danceÖÖwhat happens after that you will have to find out for yourself.

Two films from 1974 combined violence and drag: "Thunderbolt and Lightfoot" was an unusual Clint Eastwood vehicle that concerns breaking into a vault to retrieve money, with the help of his buddies Jeff Bridges and George Kennedy. In one scene, co-star Bridges gets into drag to distract a guard. Wearing a long blonde wig, super-short mini-dress, pantyhose and white heeled-sandals, Bridges gets the guardís attention with a sexual come-on, while the others do their dirty work. Even after this initial drag scene, Bridges finds himself in partial drag for a good portion of the last half of the film.

"Freebie and the Bean" was a top grossing film of 1974. Starring Alan Arkin and James Caan (neither of which appear in drag, thank goodness), it concerns a couple of goofy San Francisco detectives working the beat on homicide and racketeering, Near the end of the picture we see a young, thin, blonde woman coming-on to bad-guy Jack Kruschen. They end up at the Super Bowl where Caan confronts the young woman in the ladies restroom only to find out that "she" is a male assassin in drag. Played by professional female impersonator Christopher Morley (in his first film role), he proves to be a match for Caan in the loo, letting go with a few kick-boxing techniques (complete with heels, of course) until the hero prevails and he is left bloody and battered in a bathroom stall.

Though Morleyís voice was dubbed, he was completely convincing as a woman (except for a tell-tale Adamís apple). Also, there was some foreshadowing, as earlier on in the film he was seen as a young man in a bath tub, though most viewers would not equate that character with the sexy blonde lady. (Morley was later to be seen in such films "Bachelor Party" (with Tom Hanks) and numerous TV shows in the 70s.

The late 70s brought even more drag to the screenÖand weíll cover that next time.