Resident Alien
1990At age 73, writer and melancholy master of the bon mot, Quentin Crisp (1908-1999), became an Englishman in New York. Nossiter'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.
Acted in
Quentin Crisp
as Self
Peter Walker
as The Bum
Gilbert Stafford
as Man on Street
Gus Rogerson
as Street Performer
Michaela Murphy
as Street Performer
John Sex
as Self
Felicity Mason
as Dinner Hostess / Writer
Fran Lebowitz
as Writer
Guy Kettelhack
as Writer
John Hurt
as Actor
Richard Seiburth
as Professor
Hunter Madson
as Writer
Sting
as Singer
Michael Musto
as Gossip Columnist
Sally Jessy Raphael
as Talk Show Host (archive footage)
Shi Ringer
as Gay Activist
Tom Steele
as Publisher
Al Goldstein
as Pornographer
Paul Morrissey
as Self
Lenny Dean
as Cabaret Performer
Robert Patrick
as Playwright
Penny Arcade
as Performance Artist
Patrick Angus
as Painter
Paul Bridgewater
as Gallery Owner
Orshi Drozdick
as Sculptor
Emile de Antonio
as Filmmaker
David McDermott
as Painter
Peter McGough
as Painter
Trey Spiegel
as Painters' Friend
Franco the Great
as Painter
Holly Woodlawn
as Performer / Actor
Vincent Hanlon
as Self