SCARECROW IN A GARDEN OF CUCUMBERS

SCARECROW IN A GARDEN OF CUCUMBERS is no ordinary ‘fish’ out of water story. Warhol superstar (and eternal trans icon) Holly Woodlawn plays a true blue Kansas girl who gets off the bus in New York City with ambition but finds herself in an urban fantasy where cursing nuns drive taxis and Chelsea Hotel bellboys wear gas masks. Robert J. Kaplan’s long-lost midnight movie musical extravaganza is full of Old Hollywood callouts while running stylistically closer to the underground cinema of Robert Downey Sr. and William Klein and featuring musical numbers that are a mix of Broadway kitsch and Sesame Street. Woodlawn as the central lead is unsurprisingly charismatic, carrying the film in its musical numbers and even donning male drag. Fellow Warhol Superstar Tally Brown is also unforgettably ferocious in a supporting role.

Never released on home video, unseen since its original 1972 release and once thought to be entirely lost, this loving star-vehicle for a trans actor from 50 years in the past has recently been restored by the Academy Film Archive and is ready to finally find the cult audience it's long deserved.