La Cage aux Folles

Ugo Tognazzi and Michel Serrault star as Renato and Albin, a middle-aged gay couple and co-owners of a nightclub, the titular Cage aux Folles, where hysterically effeminate Albin stars as drag act Zaza. The long-suffering Renato once briefly enjoyed a heterosexual relationship and has a 20-year-old son, Laurent. When the latter turns up one day and announces he is to marry the daughter of the deputy leader of the Moral Order party, Renato is initially appalled. However, he comes round and reluctantly agrees to a meeting with the girl’s parents, in which he will pose as a high-ranking diplomat, rid the apartment of all its queenly trappings and try to persuade Albin to lie low. The final 20 minutes of the movie, in which this charade of austerity and propriety falls entirely to pieces, are among the most aisle-rollingly uproarious ever committed to celluloid.