BEHIND EVERY GOOD MAN (1967)

In the 1967 short film BEHIND EVERY GOOD MAN, gay director Nikolai Ursin shows a day in the life of an unnamed Black transgender woman as she shops, walks the streets of Los Angeles, flirts with men, and later listens to pop music while getting ready for a date.

What makes this film unique is that we are given a glimpse, from a positive perspective, of a Black trans woman in 1960s Los Angeles. Up until this film was created there were few (if any) positive representations of transgender people in mainstream film - even independent film offered very little.

The director/cinematographer for BEHIND EVERY GOOD MAN is Nikolai Ursin. Ursin graduated film school in 1971 from UCLA. After graduation he created a number of film projects with his partner, Norman Yonemoto. Later, Ursin pursued cinematography, as well as producing, in the burgeoning gay adult film industry.

This film was preserved, and made available, by the UCLA Film & Television Archive and is a part of Outfest’s UCLA Legacy Project - You can view the full film on YouTube, Vimeo, as well as Archive.org

BEHIND EVERY GOOD MAN
1967. USA.

Director: Nikolai Ursin