To Wong Foo Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar (1995)

Three drag queens travel cross-country until their car breaks down, leaving them stranded in a small town.

Director:

Beeban Kidron

Writer:

Douglas Carter Beane

Stars:

Wesley Snipes, Patrick Swayze, John Leguizamo

Nominated for 2 Golden Globes. Another 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Wesley Snipes	...	Noxeema
Patrick Swayze	...	Vida
John Leguizamo	...	Chi-Chi
Stockard Channing	...	Carol Ann
Blythe Danner	...	Beatrice
Arliss Howard	...	Virgil
Jason London	...	Bobby Ray
Chris Penn	...	Sheriff Dollard
Melinda Dillon	...	Merna
Beth Grant	...	Loretta
Alice Drummond	...	Clara
Marceline Hugot	...	Katina
Jennifer Milmore	...	Bobby Lee
Jamie Harrold	...	Billy Budd
Mike Hodge	...	Jimmy Joe

Storyline

After jointly winning a local drag queen pageant in New York City, Noxeema Jackson and Vida Boheme win the right and are given the round trip airfare to compete in the Drag Queen of America pageant in Hollywood, California. Noxeema sees herself as the next Dorothy Dandridge, who bucked the trend of most black American movie actresses of her time by never playing the slave house maid. Vida's style reflects her past of growing up in upper class suburban Pennsylvania. One of their fellow New York contestants, Chi-Chi Rodriguez, is a straight-talking but naive and inexperienced drag queen. Seeing that Chi-Chi needs some drag queen confidence (despite her bravada), Vida and a reluctant Noxeema decide to cash in their plane tickets and buy an older model Cadillac convertible and drive to Hollywood with Chi-Chi. Their drive takes them through much of the country where alternate lifestyles are less tolerated than they may be in New York or Los Angeles. The three have an extended stay in small...

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Plot Keywords:

drag | drag queen | small town | cadillac | wigs | 

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Taglines:

Attitude is everything.

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Genres:

Comedy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for subject matter involving men living in drag, a brief scene of spousal abuse and some language

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English French Italian

Release Date:

8 September 1995 (USA)

Also Known As:

To Wong Foo

Filming Locations:

Webster Hall, 125 E 11th St, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Gross:

$36,475,691 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures, Amblin Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

109 min

Sound Mix:

DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Opened in the #1 spot the weekend it opened, with approx $4M.

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Goofs

Although the evening weather is so chilly that that the characters' breath can be seen whenever they talk, no one is wearing a coat and Vita puts the top down on their convertible.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Vida Boheme: Ready or not, here comes mama!

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Crazy Credits

Noah Kidron Style .... Best Baby (Noah was born to director Beeban Kidron on the last day of filming).

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Connections

References Hit Parade of 1943 (1943)

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Soundtracks

"Turn It Out"
Written by Shep Pettibone, Steve Feldman
Performed by LaBelle (Patti LaBelle, Nona Hendryx and Sarah Dash)
Patti LaBelle appears courtesy of MCA Records, Inc.

User Reviews

Loads of Fun

Oh this movie is a lot of fun. Light, frothy, sparkling, shiny fun, fun, fun. So surprising to see such macho actors turn into attractive women---although, to me, in a lot of scenes with that short haired bob wig, Patrick looked like Jack Lemmon's character in Some Like it Hot. The plot of this film is very unrealistic and the town that they land in is something more out of the 1700's than the 20th century, but it is a funny film and also teaches us about tolerance and acceptance for and to others. I laughed so many times at this movie. It is a great comedy and wonderful entertainment. I highly recommend it. Some of these reviewers here who slammed this film really don't see or get the point in reviewing this movie looking for deeper meanings and criticisms all over the place. It is a light, funny comedy. It delivers and it is wonderful.