Forever Fabulous (1999)

Director:

Werner Molinsky

Writer:

Werner Molinsky (writer)

Genre:

Drama | Comedy

Plot:

Beauty queen road trip about mother and daughter pageant pros going back home to Texas for a shot a redemption. |

Plot Keywords:

Contestant | Beauty Pageant | Satire | Independent Film

Cast

Jean Smart	...	Loreli Daly
Jennifer Elise Cox	...	Corinne Daly
Emily Procter	...	Tiffany Dawl
Jack Plotnick	...	Adam
Mink Stole	...	Miss Vi Ambrose
Jorja Fox	...	Liz Guild
Robert Wagner	...	Lyle Devereaux Green
Jan Cobler	...	PTA Mother / Ned's Bartender
Bridgit Dengel	...	PTA Mother
Francesca Hilton	...	PTA Mother
Karen Moline	...	PTA Mother
Smith Wordes	...	PTA Mom
Cyril O'Reilly	...	Cop
Gene Mercer	...	Ned
Yardenna Hurvitz	...	Ned's Waitress

Also Known As:

Tiara Tango (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

105 min | USA:88 min (Final Cut)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Company:

Filbert Steps Productions

Trivia:

Jennifer Elise Cox didn't receive a salary for recording the film's voice-over narration.

Goofs:

Continuity: As Corinne inquires as to the identity of her father, Loreli raises her right arm and points at her daughter. It then cuts to a closer shot where Loreli's pointing with her left hand.

Quotes:

Liz Guild: My mother hated pageants. She always said, "Now Liz, why do you want to surround yourself with vain women? Find another crowd to hang out with." Now I work in a prison.

Movie Connections:

References Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)

Soundtrack:

The High Cost of Low Living

A potential cult classic in dire need of an official release

Loreli Daly is an aging beauty queen who can't let go of the past... which still haunts her. Her daughter Corinne is now grown (and a beauty queen herself), and the pair embark on a road trip back to Texas -- with Tiffany and Liz, Corinne's childhood friends, and Loreli's boyfriend Lyle in tow -- so Loreli can oversee another beauty pageant. Not surprisingly, the road back to Texas is a bumpy one...

Several slightly different cuts of "Forever Fabulous" have been circulating deep underground for many years, and it's not hard to understand why -- this little black comedy has got cult movie written ALL over it. With its intentionally campy narration, dialogue and performances, endearingly tacky characters, quotable one-liners, candy colored production design, numerous references and homages to old Hollywood, and a cameo from b-movie legend Mink Stole, the movie's entertaining, lovable and has a high re-watchability factor. The film has its share of flaws too (most notably, a shift in tone as Loreli's un-shocking darkest secret is revealed), but the pros far outweigh the cons, and the performances from the entire cast are stellar.

Unfortunately, outside of the underground and a brief stint on the film festival circuit, it's barely been seen. The airplay rights for the movie were sold to LMN in 2001 (sadly, they cropped the picture for TV), but it seems the network barely aired it before locking it away in the vaults. Many years have passed, and still the film remains utterly obscure. I'd love to see it on DVD with commentaries and deleted/alternate scenes (the version originally screened at the Austin Film Festival ran nearly 20 minutes longer than the versions in circulation), but it doesn't look like that's EVER gonna happen. At the very least, it would be great if they'd resurrect the film for airings on Logo -- at least on that network, it might reach an audience who'll appreciate the film as the wickedly campy trashterpiece that it is.