Queen of the Deuce

Queen of the Deuce is a documentary and animated historical film about Chelly Wilson. The story follows her journey from escaping the Holocaust in Greece to becoming a successful businesswoman in New York City. During the 1970s, she built a wealthy empire of adult cinemas on 42nd Street, an area known as The Deuce. The film explores her complex personal identity as a Jewish woman who celebrated Christmas and lived as a lesbian despite having married men. Using audio recordings and archive footage, the narrative focuses on her rise to power and her role as a family matriarch.

The film was directed by Valerie Kontakos, who also served as a producer and co-writer alongside Christos Asteriou and Despina Pavlaki. It features Chelly Wilson appearing as herself through both current and archived footage. This production was a collaboration between Greece and Canada, supported by the Canada Media Fund, Greenwich Entertainment, the Documentary Channel, and the MEDIA sub-programme of Creative Europe. With a runtime of 75 minutes, the movie has a rating of 6.9/10 on IMDb based on 281 votes.