The Birdcage Page #10

Synopsis: Armand Goldman owns a popular drag nightclub in South Miami Beach. His long-time lover, Albert, stars there as Starina. "Their" son Val (actually Armand's by his one heterosexual fling, twenty years before) comes home to announce his engagement to Barbara Keeley, daughter of Kevin Keeley, US Senator, and co-founder of the Committee for Moral Order. The Senator and family descend upon South Beach to meet Val, his father and "mother." What ensues is comic chaos.
Genre: Comedy
Director(s): Mike Nichols
Production: MGM Home Entertainment
  Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 6 wins & 25 nominations.
 
IMDB:
7.0
Metacritic:
72
Rotten Tomatoes:
79%
R
Year:
1996
117 min
10,769 Views


whatever your name is,

I hope this doesn't influence your vote.

Senator Keeley!

Oh, no.

Did you get him?

No, I would have

if you hadn't said his name.

I wanted to make him turn.

Those vultures.

Another television van just arrived.

And a car. It says 'Florida Eagle.'

Oh, that's just print news.

It'll have a great headline:

'Senator Jackson and His Women;

Senator Keeley and His Men'

It's perfectly innocent.

You came to meet the parents

of the boy Barbara wants to marry.

Louise, people in this country

don't care about details.

All they trust are headlines.

But what do they have? It's their word

against yours that you're even here.

Yes, but at some point,

I'll have to leave.

People will notice

if I'm never seen again.

Another television crew.

And they're going into the club!

Wouldn't you know it?

The one night I don't perform.

Can I get anyone some soup?

No.

Daddy, I'm sorry.

I know.

Senator?

Another shot for you?

I don't really drink.

Yeah, but...

now is the time to pretend.

Give me some candy, Louise.

Couldn't the Keeleys slip out

at the end of the show?

No, they're waiting for that.

They'd be recognized.

Not necessarily.

A big hand for our girls.

As we come to the end of our show,

you are family, too, so sing along.

# We are family

# I got all my sisters with me

# We are family

# Get up, everybody, and sing

Will they keep waiting?

They have to. There's no story

if they don't get him coming out.

# Get up, everybody, and sing

# We are family

# I got all my sisters with me

# We are family

# Get up, everybody, and sing

# We are family

Work it. Sell it.

Own it. Go, girlfriend.

Come on.

# We are family

# We are family

I've never danced with a man before.

There's always a first time.

Perdóname.

No one will dance with me.

It's this dress.

I knew white would make me look fat.

What about me?

I'm as pretty as these other guys.

Dance?

Not you.

Barbara.

Don't go. I don't want to be

the only girl not dancing.

Just head for the door.

We'll be out of here soon.

Care to dance, baby?

Meet me in 20 minutes

at the corner of El Dorado and Palm.

Lady, not for a million dollars.

Bob Dole is gorgeous!

Which one is the mother?

I just don't know.

Mazel tov.

As a sign of your union,

you may kiss the bride.

I'm sorry.

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Elaine May

Elaine Iva May (née Berlin; born April 21, 1932) is an American screenwriter, film director, actress, and comedienne. She made her initial impact in the 1950s from her improvisational comedy routines with Mike Nichols, performing as Nichols and May. After her duo with Nichols ended, May subsequently developed a career as a director and screenwriter. Her screenwriting has been twice nominated for the Academy Award, for Heaven Can Wait (1978) and the Nichols-directed Primary Colors (1998). May is celebrated for the string of films she directed in the 1970s: her 1971 black comedy A New Leaf, in which she also starred; her 1972 dark romantic comedy The Heartbreak Kid; and her 1976 gritty drama Mikey and Nicky, starring John Cassavetes and Peter Falk. In 1996, she reunited with Nichols to write the screenplay for The Birdcage, directed by Nichols. After studying acting with theater coach Maria Ouspenskaya in Los Angeles, she moved to Chicago in 1955 and became a founding member of the Compass Players, an improvisational theater group. May began working alongside Nichols, who was also in the group, and together they began writing and performing their own comedy sketches, which were enormously popular. In 1957 they both quit the group to form their own stage act, Nichols and May, in New York. Jack Rollins, who produced most of Woody Allen's films, said their act was "so startling, so new, as fresh as could be. I was stunned by how really good they were."They performed nightly to mostly sold-out shows, in addition to making TV appearances and radio broadcasts. In their comedy act, they created satirical clichés and character types which made fun of the new intellectual, cultural, and social order that was just emerging at the time. In doing so, she was instrumental in removing the stereotype of women being unable to succeed at live comedy. Together, they became an inspiration to many younger comedians, including Lily Tomlin and Steve Martin. After four years, at the height of their fame, they decided to discontinue their act. May became a screenwriter and playwright, along with acting and directing. Their relatively brief time together as comedy stars led New York talk show host Dick Cavett to call their act "one of the comic meteors in the sky." Gerald Nachman noted that "Nichols and May are perhaps the most ardently missed of all the satirical comedians of their era." more…

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