To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything!
Julie Newmar is a
1995 American comedy film, starring
Wesley Snipes,
Patrick Swayze, and
John Leguizamo as three New York
drag queens who embark on a road trip. The film's
title refers to a
totemic autographed photo of
Julie
Newmar that the trio carries with them on their journey.
Plot
After
entering a local "drag queen of the year"
contest in New York
City
, Noxeema Jackson (Wesley
Snipes) and Vida Boheme (Patrick
Swayze) win a trip to Hollywood
to take part in an even bigger, national drag queen
contest. Before they depart, Vida persuades Noxeema to take
along the inexperienced 'drag princess' Chi-Chi Rodriguez (
John Leguizamo) as their protégé (the duo
initially refer to Chi-Chi simply as a "boy in a dress" rather than
as a fully-fledged drag queen).
To do this, they trade in their airplane
tickets for cash and buy a stylish but old Cadillac convertible with money given to them by
John Jacob (Robin Williams) and the
three of them set off for Los Angeles
by car.
While on the road they are pulled over by the
homophobic and
racist
Sheriff Dollard (
Chris Penn), who tries
to force himself onto Vida. He discovers Vida is not female and, in
the commotion, Dollard falls backwards and is knocked unconscious.
The trio think he is dead, and they hurry off and leave him behind.
While recovering from the incident at a rest stop, their car breaks
down. A young man, Bobby Ray (
Jason
London), from the nearby small town of Snydersville happens by
and gives them a ride, where they take refuge in a bed &
breakfast owned by Carol Ann (
Stockard
Channing) and her abusive car repairman husband, Virgil
(
Arliss Howard).
The drag queens become stranded in the town for the weekend as they
wait for the replacement spare part for their car to arrive. Whilst
there, they are confronted by the town's small-mindedness, though
none of it centers on their gender as everyone believes them to be
female. Chi-Chi is harassed by a group of roughnecks, but is saved
by Bobby Ray. The drag queens are ecstatic to find vintage fashions
from the 1960s in the town's clothing store, and give the town's
female residents (and themselves) a make-over.
Following their make-over, the group are disrespected by the same
roughnecks that attempted to attack Chi-Chi. Fed up, Noxeema
handles the situation in a typically New York manner and teaches
their ringleader a lesson in manners. Vida, Noxeema, and Chi-Chi do
what they can to be positive and they set out to improve the lives
of the townspeople, including offering assistance in organizing the
annual "Strawberry Social" event.
Meanwhile, Sheriff Dollard is ridiculed by his colleagues, who
believe he was beat up by a girl. He goes in search of the drag
queens and makes a list of places to look (entitled "Places for
Homos"), which reads:
Vida, meanwhile, becomes acutely aware of Carol Ann's abuse at the
hands of her husband Virgil and, shortly thereafter, the three
queens overhear Virgil giving Carol Ann another beating. Vida
decides to intervene and beats up Virgil before throwing him out of
the house. The next day Virgil runs into Sheriff Dollard at a bar
and the two realize that the newcomers to town are the same people
Dollard has been searching for. They head back to Snydersville and
Dollard insists the townspeople turn over the drag queens.
However, the townspeople, who now realize the true gender of their
new friends, begin to protect them. One by one they step up and
confront Dollard, each one claiming to be a drag queen, a la
Spartacus. Dollard is
humiliated and flees. The Strawberry Social commences with
everybody dressed in vibrant red outfits for the party. Shortly
after, Carol Ann repairs their car and the three queens are finally
able to leave Snydersville, though they are now slightly saddened
to leave behind their new friends. They eventually make it to Los
Angeles where Chi-Chi, after having received many tips from Vida
and Noxeema during their ordeal, wins the title of Drag Queen of
the Year. Fittingly, the crown is presented by
Julie Newmar herself.
Cast
Other Cameo Appearances
Awards
Swayze and Leguizamo earned
Golden
Globe Award nominations for "Best Actor" and "Best Supporting
Actor in a Motion Picture - Comedy/Musical" respectively.
On the set
Miss Understood
The opening and closing scenes were filmed in New York City
featuring dozens of New York's local drag performers and
underground stars in small roles or as featured extras. Included in
the mix were
RuPaul,
Joey Arias,
Lady Bunny,
Miss Understood,
Candis Cayne,
Flotilla DeBarge, Clinton Leupp a.k.a.
Miss Coco Peru, and
Quentin Crisp. The three stars had previously
spent some time in the local drag scene while researching their
roles. The ending scene of the movie, the anticipated Miss Drag
Queen USA contest, was filmed at The John S.
Phipps Estate in
Old Westbury,
New York
, now colloquially known as Old Westbury
Gardens. Much of the rest of the film was shot in
Loma
, Nebraska
, as well as
nearby Lincoln
and Omaha
.
Robin Williams also has a cameo early
in the film as the queens' friend
John Jacob Jingleheimer
Schmidt. Julie Newmar, an iconic figure to the main characters,
also makes a cameo appearance as does supermodel
Naomi Campbell, although it is not clear
whether the latter is playing herself or not.
Soundtrack
- I Am the Body Beautiful - Salt-N-Pepa
- Free Yourself - Chaka Khan
- Turn It Out - Labelle
- Who Taught You How - Crystal
Waters
- She's a Lady - Tom Jones
- Brick House - The Commodores
- Nobody's Home - Monifah
- Do What You Wanna Do - Charisse
Arrington
- Girls Just Want to Have
Fun [Single Edit Version] - Cyndi
Lauper
- Over the Rainbow - Patti
LaBelle
- To Wong Foo Suite - Rachel
Portman
DVD
A DVD release is available with several
deleted scenes.
See also
External links
Wikis
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