Vintage press photo by UIP / United Artists, no. 90/13A. Photo: Lorey Sebastian. Gene Hackman, Dianne Wiest and Calista Flockhart in The Birdcage (Mike Nichols, 1996).
The American comedy The Birdcage (Mike Nichols, 1996) is the American remake of the French-Italian film La Cage aux folles/Birds of a Feather) (Édouard Molinaro, 1978) which was based on actor-playwright Jean Poiret's play 'La Cage Aux Folles' (1973). Director Mike Nichols teamed up with his former partner/screenwriter Elaine May for the first time in many years and for the first time together in films to create this sophisticated, remake of the phenomenally popular French musical farce. The film stars Robin Williams, Gene Hackman, Nathan Lane, and Dianne Wiest. Dan Futterman, Calista Flockhart - pre-Ally McBeal, Hank Azaria, and Christine Baranski appear in supporting roles.
Jean Poiret's original play 'La Cage aux Folles' ran for almost 1,800 performances, from 1973 to 1978, at the Théâtre du Palais-Royal in Paris. The French film version, La Cage aux folles/Birds of a Feather( Édouard Molinaro, 1978) starring Ugo Tognazzi and Michel Serrault, was also a considerable commercial success. It became one of the highest-grossing foreign-language films released in the United States of all time. It won the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film and was nominated for three Oscars: Best Director (Molinaro), Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Costume Design. Michel Serrault won the César Award for Best Actor. The film was followed by two sequels: La Cage aux Folles II (1980), also directed by Molinaro, and La Cage aux folles 3 - 'Elles' se marient (1985), directed by Georges Lautner. The 1983 Broadway musical 'La Cage aux Folles' based on the play and the film, was also successful. In 1996, an American remake titled The Birdcage was released and relocated to South Beach. It was the first time Mike Nichols and Elaine May, who helped define improvisational comedy in the 1950s, worked together on a film. The stars were Robin Williams and Nathan Lane.
Val (Dan Futterman) and Barbara (Calista Flockhart) are engaged to be married. For a long time, they have wanted to avoid their parents' meeting but now it really has to happen. However, this does not seem very simple. Val's father Armand (Robin Williams) owns a gay nightclub called The Birdcage in South Miami Beach. His long-time lover, Albert (Nathan Lane), stars there as Starina. Barbara's father (Gene Hackman) is an ultra-conservative senator from the Republican Party and co-founder of the Committee for Moral Order. The Senator and family descend upon South Beach to meet Val, his father and "mother." Role-play is set in motion to avoid a negative reaction from Barbara's moralistic parents. What ensues is comic chaos. Three songs written by Stephen Sondheim were adapted and arranged for the film by composer Jonathan Tunick. Albert's first song (as Starina) is 'Can That Boy Foxtrot,' cut from Sondheim's Follies. 'Little Dream' was written specifically for the film, and ultimately used during Albert's rehearsal with the gum-chewing dancer. While Armand and Katharine dance in her office, they sing 'Love Is in the Air', cut from A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. In addition to the Sondheim songs, Tunick utilized dance-style music such as Donna Summer's 'She Works Hard for the Money' and 'We Are Family', along with Gloria Estefan and Miami Sound Machine's 'Conga'.
TheBirdcage (1998) grossed $18,275,828 in its opening weekend, topping the box office. It remained at No. 1 for the next three weeks. The film received positive reviews upon its release. Roger Ebert in the Chicago Sun-Times: "What makes Mike Nichols' version more than just a retread is good casting in the key roles, and a wicked screenplay by Elaine May, who keeps the original story but adds little zingers here and there ('Live on Fisher Island and get buried in Palm Beach - that way you'll get the best of Florida!')." Derek Armstrong at AllMovie: "Mike Nichols' The Birdcage is a funny, slapstick, but ultimately slight farce, notable as a forerunner in the movement to make gay characters mainstream and profitable at the box office. It succeeded big time, winning a broad audience and raking in close to $125 million. It's rare that another actor gets to upstage Robin Williams, but Nathan Lane does so wonderfully, playing an ungracefully ageing drag queen who performs at the Miami nightclub owned by Williams, his subdued life partner." The Birdcage was nominated for, among others, an Academy Award for art direction and Golden Globes for best comedy and best comedy actor (Nathan Lane). In addition, the film actually won American Comedy Awards for the funniest lead actor (Lane) and most humorous supporting actress (Dianne Wiest) and a Screen Actors Guild Award for all actors' acting.
Source: Roger Ebert (Roger Ebert.com), Derek Armstrong (AllMovie), Sandra Brennan (AllMovie), Wikipedia (Dutch and English) and IMDb.
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