Just in time for Pride, Shout Factory releases four classic queer titles on Blu-ray. The films represent a wide variety of genres, from a romantic comedy and a Tennessee Williams drama to a splashy musical and a drag extravaganza.
Beeban Kidron's "To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar" attracted attention upon its initial release in 1995 due to the casting of straight macho men Patrick Swayze and Wesley Snipes as gay men in drag. Though the film received mixed reviews, it was a moderate success at the box office, pleasing the crowds who came out to see it.
It's the story of Vida (Swayze), Noxeema (Snipes) and Chi Chi (John Leguizamo), three New York drag queens who embark on a road trip to Hollywood, where they plan to compete in the Drag Queen of America pageant. Along the way their car breaks down, and they find themselves stranded in Snydersville, a rundown hicktown in the middle of nowhere. During their two-day stay in the town, they bond with many of the townspeople, involving themselves in people's problems. Vida, for example, comes to the aid of battered wife Carol Ann (Stockard Channing), while Noxeema befriends lonely widow Clara (Alice Drummond). The girls also provide a number of the local ladies with makeovers.
The film's opening scene, set at a New York City drag pageant, is great fun and includes cameos from many of the city's biggest drag legends, such as Coco Peru, Candis Cayne, Hedda Lettuce and The Lady Bunny. Quentin Crisp and San Francisco's very own legend Jose Sarria are briefly glimpsed as pageant judges, while superstar RuPaul has a small role as the winner of the previous year's pageant. There's also an amusing post-pageant cameo from Robin Williams.
The film includes a bizarre subplot featuring Chris Penn as a homophobic sheriff who's looking for the three heroines. Though he's presented as an idiotic half-wit meant to provide comic relief, his constant anti-gay remarks are not in the least bit funny. In one particularly offensive scene, the sheriff sits at a bar, rambling about all the things he thinks gay people do. It's hard to believe gay viewers would find his tirade amusing.
But for the most part, "To Wong Foo" is an enjoyable mixture of comedy and drama. The three leads look fabulous, though it's never explained why they remain in drag after they exit the stage. But you have to hand it to the guys: they really dived into their characters, playing their glamorous roles with gusto. While not a great film, "To Wong Foo" is a good one, with the exception of the scenes involving the Penn character. Shout Factory's Blu-ray release includes a making-of documentary, interviews with auteur Kidron, gay screenwriter Douglas Beane, and John Leguizamo.
Paul Rudnick's "Jeffrey" (1995) is a most unusual romantic comedy. It's about AIDS. Steven Weber stars as the title character, a gay man in New York who swears off sex out of fear of the disease. As soon as he takes his vow of celibacy, he meets his soulmate, the HIV-positive Steve (Michael T. Weiss). Their on-again, off-again flirtation forms the core of the story, which offers insightful commentary about life during the epidemic while also being screamingly funny. Several fantasy sequences let viewers into Jeffrey's head. The funniest of these sees Jeffrey's straight-laced parents trying to involve him in phone sex!
1968's "Boom!," written by the great gay playwright Tennessee Williams based on his play "The Milk Train Doesn't Stop Here Anymore," is a bizarre opus starring 36-year-old Elizabeth Taylor as a 60ish character, and 43-year-old Richard Burton as a character meant to be played by a man in his early 20s. Openly gay actor-playwright Noel Coward offers support as a man known as The Witch of Capri. The role was originally offered to Katharine Hepburn, who declined. So Coward is actually playing a female role. The story doesn't make too much sense. Super-rich Taylor, dying of an unnamed disease, is visited on her private island by struggling poet Burton, for vague reasons.
Though "Boom!" doesn't offer much of a story, it's a wild campfest featuring lots of hammy overacting and Taylor's outrageous outfits. Shout Factory's BluRay includes a commentary track by filmmaker John Waters, who counts "Boom!" among his favorite films.
Finally, Shout Factory offers the notorious bomb of a musical "Can't Stop the Music," a highly fictionalized retelling of the formation of the Village People, the disco-era supergroup named after Greenwich Village, New York's popular gay neighborhood. Group members presented themselves as symbols of gay masculinity.
So how bad is the film? Actually, not bad at all. It's just a silly, plotless tale of a young man (Steve Guttenberg) trying to make it as a music producer with the help of his roommate (Valerie Perrine). Though the band is given little screentime, the songs are good and the musical numbers splashy. Guttenberg and Perrine play off each other well, delivering their fast-talking lines with tongues firmly planted in cheek.
The film includes a supporting performance by a pre-transitioned Caitlyn Jenner, when she was still known as Bruce. If we only knew. Unfortunately, "Can't Stop the Music" harmed the careers of producer Allan Carr ("Grease") and Perrine. More's the pity. Shout Factory's BluRay includes an extensive interview with Village Person Randy Jones. Happy Pride!