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La Cage aux Folles 3: The Wedding

La Cage aux Folles 3: The Wedding (French: La cage aux folles III: «Elles» se marient; Italian: Il Vizietto III) is a 1985 French-Italian comedy directed by Georges Lautner and the third and final film in the La Cage aux Folles series, following Édouard Molinaro's 1978 original and its 1980 sequel.1 • 2 • 3 Michel Serrault and Ugo Tognazzi reprise their roles as the couple Albin, the drag performer known as Zaza Napoli, and Renato Baldi, who face an inheritance condition that requires Albin to marry and father a child.4

Key factDetail
Original titleLa cage aux folles III: «Elles» se marient; Italian title Il Vizietto III1 • 2
DirectorGeorges Lautner4
Release20 November 1985 in France, distributed by Warner Columbia4
Runtime1h 27m (other listings give 85 to 92 minutes)5
Lead castMichel Serrault (Albin Mougeotte / Zaza Napoli), Ugo Tognazzi (Renato Baldi), Michel Galabru (Charrier), Stéphane Audran (Matrimonia), Benny Luke (Jacob), Antonella Interlenghi (Cindy)4
MusicEnnio Morricone6
English release© 1986 TriStar Pictures for the English subtitles and dubbed soundtrack; rated PG-137

Spoilers

Plot

The story begins with the St-Tropez drag nightclub La Cage aux Folles in financial difficulty, even though travesty revues remain fashionable. Renato, who manages the club, worries about its accounts, while his partner Albin, known on stage as Zaza Napoli, wants to hear nothing of it.8 News then arrives that Albin's wealthy elderly aunt has died and left him her entire estate, including a large sum of money that could refill the club's coffers.1

The bequest carries a condition: Albin must be married and a father within eighteen months of the will being opened, or the fortune passes to his cousin Mortimer.8 • 1 To push his companion to act, Renato pretends that he has become heterosexual.1 Albin approaches Matrimonia, a marriage broker, presenting himself as a conservative family man in search of a bride, and the couple eventually finds a surrogate mother in Cindy, a young woman for whom the marriage would be a form of salvation.9 • 1 Part of the action takes place in Scotland, where Albin struggles to hide his true nature.8

Production and credits

Georges Lautner directed the film and co-wrote the screenplay with Michel Audiard, Christine Carère, Marcello Danon, Gérard Lamballe, and Philippe Nicaud, with Audiard also writing the dialogue; the characters come from Jean Poiret's 1973 play.6 • 10 Ennio Morricone composed the music, Luciano Tovoli was the director of photography, and Mario Garbuglia designed the sets.6 • 4 The production companies were Columbia Films and Da.Ma. Produzione, with Marcello Danon as producer.5 • 11

The supporting cast includes Saverio Vallone as Mortimer, Gianluca Favilla as Dulac, and Umberto Raho as Kennedy, alongside Pier Francesco Aiello, Flora Carabella, and Cesare Nizzica.6

Release and reception

The film opened in France on 20 November 1985.4 TriStar Pictures released the English-subtitled and dubbed version in 1986, and the film carries a PG-13 rating in the United States.7 It remains available digitally: it can be streamed on fuboTV and bought or rented on Apple TV, Amazon Video, and Fandango at Home.12

Reception has been modest. On IMDb the film holds a user rating of 4.7 out of 10 from about 1,000 votes.13 A 1986 review in the San Francisco gay paper Sentinel USA judged that by the third film the characters were "like dear friends who overstay their visit."14 The film's opening credits include excerpts from the two previous installments, as its predecessor's had.13

Place in the series

The 1978 original, directed by Édouard Molinaro, was the most successful foreign film released in the United States to that point in time and led to two film sequels, released in 1980 and 1985, as well as the 1996 Hollywood remake The Birdcage and a long-running Broadway musical.3 The Wedding departs from the in-laws plot of the first film for an inheritance farce, and it is the installment in which the couple's relationship is tested by a demand that Albin marry and father a child.8

References

  1. La Cage aux folles III: 'Elles' se marient, AlloCiné
  2. Cage aux Folles 3 – "Elles" se marient, La, Düsseldorf emuseum
  3. Queer Images: A History of Gay and Lesbian Film in America, Harry M. Benshoff and Sean Griffin
  4. La Cage aux folles 3, L'Officiel des spectacles
  5. La Cage aux Folles 3: The Wedding, Apple TV
  6. LA CAGE AUX FOLLES 3, Cinéma Français
  7. LA CAGE AUX FOLLES 3: THE WEDDING, Sony Pictures Entertainment
  8. La cage aux folles 3 – «Elles» se marient, Télé Star
  9. La Cage aux Folles 3: The Wedding (1985), NetflixMovies.com
  10. La Cage aux Folles 3: The Wedding (1985) full cast & crew, IMDb
  11. La Cage aux Folles 3: the wedding, ACMI collection
  12. La Cage aux Folles 3 streaming: where to watch online?, JustWatch
  13. La cage aux folles III: 'Elles' se marient (1985), IMDb
  14. Sentinel USA, February 28, 1986, Berkeley Library digital collection

Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026

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