La Cage aux Folles (film)



La Cage aux Folles is a 1978 Franco-Italian comedy film and the first film adaptation of Jean Poiret's 1973 play of the same name. It is co-written and directed by Édouard Molinaro and stars Ugo Tognazzi and Michel Serrault.

Plot
Like the play, the film tells the story of a gay couple – Renato Baldi (Ugo Tognazzi), the manager of a Saint-Tropez nightclub featuring drag entertainment, and Albin Mougeotte (Michel Serrault), his star attraction – and the madness that ensues when Renato's son, Laurent (Rémi Laurent), brings home his fiancée, Andrea (Luisa Maneri), and her ultra-conservative parents (Carmen Scarpitta and Michel Galabru) to meet them.

Cast

 * Ugo Tognazzi as Renato Baldi
 * Pierre Mondy as voice of Renato (French release)
 * Michel Serrault as Albin Mougeotte/'Zaza Napoli'
 * Oreste Lionello as voice of Albin (Italian release)
 * Claire Maurier as Simone Deblon
 * Rémi Laurent as Laurent Baldi
 * Carmen Scarpitta as Louise Charrier
 * Benny Luke as Jacob
 * Luisa Maneri as Andrea Charrier
 * Michel Galabru as Simon Charrier

Box office
, La Cage aux Folles has remained the No. 10. foreign film released in the United States of America.

Critical response
The film received critical acclaim. On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a 100% rating based on 18 reviews, with an average rating of 7.8/10.

Sequels
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.

Musical adaptation
A 1983 Broadway musical of the same name based on the play and the film was also successful.

American remake
In 1996, an American remake titled The Birdcage, directed by Mike Nichols and written by Elaine May, was released, relocated to South Beach, Miami, and stars Robin Williams and Nathan Lane.

Adam and Yves
La Cage aux Folles caught the attention of television producer Danny Arnold, who in 1979 pitched the concept of a weekly series about a gay couple similar to the one in the film to ABC. His planned title was Adam and Yves, a play on both Adam and Eve and a slogan used by some anti-gay groups. After months in development, Arnold realized that the concept was unsustainable as a weekly series, which led to the show getting dropped.