Podcast 95: Priscilla Queen of the Desert

The 3 Guys Podcast

Recorded on 1/5/2023

She’s back… Looking as gorgeous and outrageous as ever in a brand new frock. In this podcast we review The Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Desert starring Terence Stamp, Hugo Weaving, Guy Pearce, Bill Hunter and directed by Stephan Elliott. WARNING: There will be SPOILERS!

The 3 Guys Rating

2.7/5

Notes From The Show

  • Quick Synopsis

  • Released: August 10, 1994

    Directed By:
    Stephan Elliott

    Screenplay By: Stephan Elliott

    Stars:  Terence Stamp, Hugo Weaving, Guy Pearce, Bill Hunter and a bunch of other actors.

    Plot:
     Two drag performers and a transgender woman travel across the desert to perform their unique style of cabaret.

    Taglines:  She’s back… Looking as gorgeous and outrageous as ever in a brand new frock.

    How did this movie do?
    Budget: $2 Million
    Box Office: $30 Million

  • Awards

    • Won an Academy Award for Best Costume Design
  • Casting

    • David Bowie, John Cleese, Tim Curry, Tony Curtis and John Hurt were all considered to play Bernadette.

    • For Tick, they wanted Rupert Everett or Colin Firth

    • For Adam they wanted Jason Donovan. Donovan would go on to play Tick in the West End musical adaptation of the film.
  • Trivia

    • Due to a heavy filming schedule, lots of filming was done while the entire crew was on the road. But because the bus was such a small set, there was no room for the crew. As such in many scenes, they are actually in shot, hiding under clothes and other props.

    • According to Terence Stamp, he had gotten into character by imagining himself as a beautiful woman. But Stephan Elliott told Brian J. Breheny to make Stamp look as bad as possible. Stamp never watches his dailies so he had no idea how he looked until the premiere and was shocked. Breheny apologized to Stamp at the premiere.

    • The American film To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar (1995), which was released over a year later, has a very similar plot, which led to accusations that it was just a blatant rip-off of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert.

    • The famous thong (jandal/flip-flop) dress, which helped win the movie an Academy Award, cost only $7.

    • Julia Cortez (Bob’s Asian bride he was tricked into marrying, Cynthia) provided her own cat suit costume complete with the strategically placed zipper for the scene in the bar after the Shake Your Groove Thing number.

    • As of 2020, this is the most recent contemporary-set film (i.e. non-period, non-fantasy, non-sci-fi) to win the Academy Award for Best Costume Design.

    • According to director Stephan Elliott, he took the three leads out in drag prior to the beginning of filming. None of them was recognized: Guy Pearce took the opportunity to be outrageously rude, Terence Stamp eventually forgot he was in drag and started hitting on girls, and Hugo Weaving got super-drunk and lay under a table for hours, tapping his finger in time to the music. This last detail was incorporated into the film in the hotel room scene.

    • According to director Stephan Elliott, when they were ready to shoot the scene when Felicia (Guy Pearce) stands on the roof of the bus in a silver gown there was no wind at first. Then suddenly a great wind came up for only 45 minutes, thus allowing the scene to be shot.

    • According to director Stephan Elliott, he got the idea for the film while seeing a plume of feathers break from a drag queen’s headdress during Sydney’s Mardi Gras parade and go tumbling down a deserted street like a tumbleweed in a Sergio Leone western.

    • The drag-queen in the barber’s chair during the closing credits, is actually costume designer Tim Chappel.

    • Most of the crew can be seen in the movie at some point.

    • Back when this film was released, certain Hollywood actors and producers still clung to the belief that playing a gay character on-screen would be basically committing “career suicide”. However, all three of the lead actors proved this wrong by going on to greater success in mainstream Hollywood blockbusters.

    • The opening and closing scenes were both filmed on the same day.

    • Priscilla, the bus, was one of the Opening Ceremony Parade entries at the Summer Olympics in Sydney, complete with giant silver shoe on top. The American network showing the event cut around that entry although it can be seen in the background.

    • The town of Broken Hill is where the characters first encounter rural homophobia, and at the time, had that reputation in real life as well. After the popularity of this film, however, it established its own annual drag festival, including a parade that passes by the characters’ hotel.

    • In reference to Trumpet’s nickname, a Monte Carlo is a sweet biscuit manufactured by Arnott’s Biscuits in Australia. It consists of two honey-and-coconut biscuits joined by a layer of vanilla cream and raspberry jam.

    • In the video store is a poster for Frauds (1993), also directed by Stephan Elliott and also starring Hugo Weaving.

Released: August 10, 1994

Directed By:
Stephan Elliott

Screenplay By: Stephan Elliott

Stars:  Terence Stamp, Hugo Weaving, Guy Pearce, Bill Hunter and a bunch of other actors.

Plot:
 Two drag performers and a transgender woman travel across the desert to perform their unique style of cabaret.

Taglines:  She’s back… Looking as gorgeous and outrageous as ever in a brand new frock.

How did this movie do?
Budget: $2 Million
Box Office: $30 Million

  • Won an Academy Award for Best Costume Design
  • David Bowie, John Cleese, Tim Curry, Tony Curtis and John Hurt were all considered to play Bernadette.

  • For Tick, they wanted Rupert Everett or Colin Firth

  • For Adam they wanted Jason Donovan. Donovan would go on to play Tick in the West End musical adaptation of the film.
  • Due to a heavy filming schedule, lots of filming was done while the entire crew was on the road. But because the bus was such a small set, there was no room for the crew. As such in many scenes, they are actually in shot, hiding under clothes and other props.

  • According to Terence Stamp, he had gotten into character by imagining himself as a beautiful woman. But Stephan Elliott told Brian J. Breheny to make Stamp look as bad as possible. Stamp never watches his dailies so he had no idea how he looked until the premiere and was shocked. Breheny apologized to Stamp at the premiere.

  • The American film To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar (1995), which was released over a year later, has a very similar plot, which led to accusations that it was just a blatant rip-off of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert.

  • The famous thong (jandal/flip-flop) dress, which helped win the movie an Academy Award, cost only $7.

  • Julia Cortez (Bob’s Asian bride he was tricked into marrying, Cynthia) provided her own cat suit costume complete with the strategically placed zipper for the scene in the bar after the Shake Your Groove Thing number.

  • As of 2020, this is the most recent contemporary-set film (i.e. non-period, non-fantasy, non-sci-fi) to win the Academy Award for Best Costume Design.

  • According to director Stephan Elliott, he took the three leads out in drag prior to the beginning of filming. None of them was recognized: Guy Pearce took the opportunity to be outrageously rude, Terence Stamp eventually forgot he was in drag and started hitting on girls, and Hugo Weaving got super-drunk and lay under a table for hours, tapping his finger in time to the music. This last detail was incorporated into the film in the hotel room scene.

  • According to director Stephan Elliott, when they were ready to shoot the scene when Felicia (Guy Pearce) stands on the roof of the bus in a silver gown there was no wind at first. Then suddenly a great wind came up for only 45 minutes, thus allowing the scene to be shot.

  • According to director Stephan Elliott, he got the idea for the film while seeing a plume of feathers break from a drag queen’s headdress during Sydney’s Mardi Gras parade and go tumbling down a deserted street like a tumbleweed in a Sergio Leone western.

  • The drag-queen in the barber’s chair during the closing credits, is actually costume designer Tim Chappel.

  • Most of the crew can be seen in the movie at some point.

  • Back when this film was released, certain Hollywood actors and producers still clung to the belief that playing a gay character on-screen would be basically committing “career suicide”. However, all three of the lead actors proved this wrong by going on to greater success in mainstream Hollywood blockbusters.

  • The opening and closing scenes were both filmed on the same day.

  • Priscilla, the bus, was one of the Opening Ceremony Parade entries at the Summer Olympics in Sydney, complete with giant silver shoe on top. The American network showing the event cut around that entry although it can be seen in the background.

  • The town of Broken Hill is where the characters first encounter rural homophobia, and at the time, had that reputation in real life as well. After the popularity of this film, however, it established its own annual drag festival, including a parade that passes by the characters’ hotel.

  • In reference to Trumpet’s nickname, a Monte Carlo is a sweet biscuit manufactured by Arnott’s Biscuits in Australia. It consists of two honey-and-coconut biscuits joined by a layer of vanilla cream and raspberry jam.

  • In the video store is a poster for Frauds (1993), also directed by Stephan Elliott and also starring Hugo Weaving.

About The Movie From IMDB

The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert | August 10, 1994 (United States) 7.5

Photos


See all photos >>

Videos


See all videos >>

Cast

...
Tick
...
Adam
...
Bernadette
...
Logowoman
...
Bartender
...
Shirley
...
Miner
...
Piano Player
...
Petrol Station Attendant
...
Young Adam
...
Ma
...
Pa
...
Aboriginal Man
...
Robert 'Bob' Spart
...
Cynthia Campos
...
Young Ralph
...
Ralph's Sister
...
Ralph's Father

See full cast >>

Countries: AustraliaLanguages: English, Filipino

Note: All images are property of their respected owners and used for editorial purposes.

The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert | August 10, 1994 (United States) Summary:
Countries: AustraliaLanguages: English, Filipino

Quotes

Bernadette: [to Shirley] Now listen here, you mullet. Why don't you just light your tampon, and blow your box apart? Because it's the only bang you're ever gonna get, sweetheart!


Bernadette: [to Felicia] That's just what this country needs: a cock in a frock on a rock.


Bernadette: No, I'll join this conversation on the proviso that we stop bitching about people, talking about wigs, dresses, bust sizes, penises, drugs, night clubs, and bloody Abba!

Tick: Doesn't give us much to talk about then, does it?


Felicia: [singing] A desert holiday, let's pack the drag away. You take the lunch and tea, I'll take the ecstasy. Fuck off you silly queer, I'm getting out of here. A desert holiday, hip hip hip hip hooray!


Felicia: Oh, for goodness sakes, get down off that crucifix. Someone needs the wood.


Felicia: Do you know why this microphone has such a long cord?

Man In Crowd: Why?

Felicia: So it's easily retrieved after I've shoved it up your ass.


Tick: [to Felicia] Is it true when you were born the doctor turned around and slapped your mother?


Benji: [about his Dad] Does he have a boyfriend at the moment?

Felicia: No, no he doesn't.

Benji: Neither does Mum. She used to have a girlfriend, but she got over her.

Benji: [Benji pauses, then turns and looks at Felicia] You want to come play in my room? I've got Lego.


Bernadette: [to Felicia] I've said it before, and I'll say it again: "No more fucking ABBA!"


Felicia: [to Tick, when the Spencer's see all three and then take off] Oh, for goodness sakes, look at yourself, Mitz. How many times do I have to tell you? Green is not your color!

[laughs hysterically]


Bernadette: Stop flexing your muscles, you big pile of budgie turd. I'm sure your mates will be much more impressed if you just go back to the pub and fuck a couple of pigs on the bar.

Bob: Bernadette, please.

Frank: *Bernadette?* Well I'll be darned. The whole circus is in town. Well I suppose you wanna fuck too do you? Come on Bernadette, come and fuck me. That's it. Come on. Come and fuck me. Come on. Fuck me.

[Bernadette knees Frank in the groin]

Bernadette: There, now you're fucked!


Bernadette: What a nice dog. What's it's name?

Bob: Herpes. If she's good, she'll heal.


Bernadette: [to Tick] Don't "Darling", me, Darling. Look at you. You've got a face like a cat's arse.


Tick: [Tick and Bernadette are discussing what it would be like to have children] What happens if they turn out like Adam?

Bernadette: You stuff 'em back in and ask for a refund.


Mitzi: [to Felicia] You know, there are two things I don't like about you, Felicia... your face. So how 'bout shutting both of them?


Bernadette: [to Felicia] It's funny. We all sit around mindlessly slagging off that vile stink-hole of a city. But in its own strange way, it takes care of us. I don't know if that ugly wall of suburbia's been put there to stop them getting in, or us getting out. Come on. Don't let it drag you down. Let it toughen you up. I can only fight because I've learnt to. Being a man one day and a woman the next isn't an easy thing to do.


Bernadette: [to Bob] Believe me, Bob, these days gentlemen are an endangered species. Unlike bloody drag queens who just keep breeding like rabbits.


Felicia: [in sweet voice] Mummy, maybe a trip to the outback will help me get over this little... phase I'm going through. And you never know, I might meet some lovely country girl.

[in tough voice]

Felicia: I hereby christen this budget Barbie camper... Priscilla. Queen of the Desert!

[smashes champagne bottle against bus]

Bernadette: That's gotta be the understatement of the century.


Felicia: [to Tick] Do you think I'm going to let you walk away with all the attention? No chance, come on girls. Let's go shopping.


Bernadette: Oh. Uh, gather around girls, uh, let me show you a trick. You, um, drink the Gin...

[guzzles the entire contents]

Bernadette: Aaah! Uh, fill the bottle up with water and then put it back in the fridge.

Mitzi: Va-t'en vous. What about the scotch?

Bernadette: Aha! That's where the complimentary tea bags come in handy.


Felicia: [to the video shop worker] Umm... , do you have "The Texas Chainsaw Mascara"?


Bernadette: We've only recently discovered that young Anthony here, bats for both teams.

Mitzi: I do not!

Felicia: Oh, so we're straight?

Mitzi: No.

Felicia: Oh, we're not. So we're a donut puncher, after all?

Mitzi: No.

Felicia: Then what the hell are we?

Mitzi: I don't fuckin' know.


Mitzi: [about Trumpet] , You know, I never heard him play.

Bernadette: Play? He didn't *play*, dear. Trumpet didn't have a single musical bone in his body. No, Trumpet had an unusually large foreskin. So large, in fact, that he could wrap the entire thing around a Monte Carlo biscuit.


Bernadette: [after Felicia tells Bernadette about her ABBA story] What are you telling me? This is an ABBA turd?


Felicia: Oh, you can't do that with a ping-pong ball!

Bernadette: Do you wanna bet?


Felicia: I mean who is the fish that runs this bloody hotel in the middle of nowhere, anyway? Your mother?

Tick: No, my wife.

Felicia: Ooh, don't tell me you've got an ex-boyfriend tucked away out here somewhere.

Tick: No, my wife! I'm married.

[the bus brakes screech and glass shatters]

Tick: Oh, fuck!


Bernadette: [to Tick about Felicia] One more push, I'm gonna to smack his face so hard he'll have to stick his toothbrush up his arse to clean his teeth!


Doctor: Mr. Belrose?

Tick: Yes?

Doctor: Congratulations. It's a boy.


Felicia: There goes the transsexual, last seen heading south. We called her Bernie, but her real name was...

Tick: Adam?


Bernadette: Tony, Adam. This is Mr. and Mrs. Spencer.

Tick: Hello.

Felicia: Hello.

[the car drives off leaving them stranded]

Felicia: No, wait. Stop! Shit!.


Aboriginal Man: So... You actually make money by dressing up like a woman?

Tick: Oh, sure. You can make a fine living in a pair of heels.


Cynthia: [to Bob] I no like you anyway. You got little ding-a-ling.


[to Tick and Bernadette, as he is cooking sausages]

Felicia: How do you like your little boys, girls?


Felicia: [to Tick and Bernadette] The only life I saw for the last million miles were the hypnotized bunnies. Most of them are now wedged in the tires.


Mitzi: [to Felicia] Bernice has left her cake out in the rain!


Felicia: [to Tick and Bernadette] I met these Swedish tourists called... Lars, Lars and Lars.


Tick: [to Felicia] Night, John Boy.


Cynthia: Refreshments! Lemonade here - I make!

Bob: That's very nice, darling. Please... go back inside.

Cynthia: Lemonade here - I make! Lemonade for guests.

Bob: No, darling, please.

Cynthia: [snarls viciously and curses in an Asian language] I make chockrit cracker!


Bob: If you don't mind me asking, what kind of cabaret act do you do?

Felicia: We dress up in women's clothes and parade around mouthing the words to other people's songs.


Mitzi: [as Felicia starts painting over the graffiti on their bus, which is stranded in the middle of nowhere] Purple?

Felicia: It's not *purple*, it's *lavender*. Whaddaya think?

Mitzi: It's nice... in a hideous sort of a way.

Mitzi: [to Bernadette, who has started walking off] Where are *you* going?

Bernadette: If you think I'm going to sit around watching Picasso take on the public transit system, you've got another thing coming. I'll be back with the cavalry in a couple of hours.


Felicia: [to Tick and Bernadette] So anyway, back to me.


Mitzi: [to Felicia and Bernadette] Oh, get back in your kennels, both of you.


Felicia: [to Tick] Mowing those lawns must have been murder on your heels, though.


Mitzi: [to Felicia and Bernadette] What fun. Baby bottles of booze.


Mitzi: [to Felicia and Bernadette] Tack-a-rama!


[after their bus breaks down in the middle of the outback]

Tick: What's happening?

Felicia: Um, I don't know.

Bernadette: Oh, my God! Oh, Felicia. Where the Fuckawei?


Tick: What do you assume I do? Lie?

Marion: Assumption, my dear Mitz, is the mother of all fuck-ups.


Felicia: [after showing him the bus he had bought for their trip] Ta-da! What do you think?

Tick: When do we have to return it to the school?


Felicia: This old man he played two. He played knick-knack with my poo!


Felicia: [to Tick] This is getting too weird. You, and a *woman*? What did she used do for kicks? Put a bucket on your head and swing off the handle?


[last lines]

Tick: No that's enough. Oh, my tits are falling down.

[explosions]

Tick: Jesus! Thank you! Thank you, it's good to be home!


Tick: Well, listen to this one. After we did the ABBA show, Kevin had one of those liposuction penis enlargements.

Felicia: He didn't?

Tick: Yep. Do you know what they do? They siphon all the fat out of your love handles, and actually inject it into your wing-wang.

Felicia: Ugh! Yucky! I suppose it gives a whole new meaning to "cracking a fat", though, doesn't it?

[laughs]


Felicia: Well, girls, what can I say? Here's to a secret very well kept.

Bernadette: Shame it's not gonna stay that way, isn't it?


Bernadette: [to the Bartender] Hello. Could I please have a Stoli and tonic, a Bloody Mary and a lime daiquiri, please?

Shirley: Well! Look what the cat dragged in! What have we got here, eh? A couple of showgirls, have we? Where did you ladies come in from? Uranus?

Bernadette: [to the Bartender] Could I please have a Stoli...

Shirley: No! Ya can't have! Ya can't have nothing! We've got nothing here for people like you! Nothin'!


Shirley: Shit! All I can see is female impersonators.


Bernadette: [to Tick] Oh, that's a novel idea. Let's stuff ourselves to death. Imagine the headlines: "Whales Beach Themselves In The Outback". "Mystery Bum Sticks Dead In Drag".


Bernadette: [to Tick] You got us into this, Anthony Belrose. And I suggest you start thinking about how to get us back, or I don't fancy your chances of ever trying being a husband again.


Tick: [to Felicia and Bernadette] I think we just crashed a party.


Cynthia: Me perform for you. Me sing!

Bob: No, Cynthia, you no perform. They perform, not you.

[Cynthia shouts viciously in an Asian language]


Felicia: Who taught you to waltz?

Tick: My wife.

Felicia: Oh, how sweet.


Bob: [waking up from a drunken state of unconsciousness] Hello.

Cynthia: Hello!

Bob: Who are you?

Cynthia: I your wife!

Bob: Guess I'll be going home then.

Cynthia: No! You no going! I coming to. I your wife! See?

[shows him a marriage certificate]

Cynthia: I your wife!


Tick: [to Felicia and Bernadette] Aren't we fabulous?


Bernadette: [dryly, eying the huge landscape murals in their hotel room] Subtle.

Mitzi: Oh, tack-a-rama! Who the hell does all the *painting* around here?

Bernadette: Someone with no arms or right foot, by the look of things.


Felicia: How long have we been on the road?

Bernadette: Four and a half hours.


Felicia: [to Bernadette] Come on, Bernice. It's so funny you'll laugh so hard your lashes will curl all by themselves.


Marion: [to Tick] Morals are a choice, and he'll decide his own when he's good and bloody well ready.


Tick: [to Bernadette] I've um... been asked to do a show out of town.


Bernadette: [to Tick] You've got to be fucking joking!


Bernadette: How long is the run?

Tick: Four weeks. Equity minimum, two shows a night, accommodation included.


Felicia: [to Tick, about Bernadette] Hey, can you confirm a rumor for me? Is it true that her real name is Ralph?


Bernadette: [to Felicia] At least the bump on your head is bigger than your prick!


Uncle Barrie: [to young Adam] Uncle Barrie's penie-pie is caught in the drain. Get mummy! Get mummy!


Felicia: [to Tick] Congratulations, Missy, my darling, you did it. One lap of the Broken Hill main drag, in drag. That'll teach you to take on the Fairmont Boys School snap champion!


Felicia: [to Bernadette] You fucking idiot! Oh!

[groans]

Felicia: Oh, fuck! Oh! Fuckin'... Oh! Fuck! Get off me, you fuckin'... Oh! Fuck!


Bernadette: [to Tick] Take the shortcut.


Tick: [to Bernadette] Look, you're not helping, here. Just eat your hormones.


Cynthia: Me perform for you. Me dance too.

Bob: My wife used to be in the, uh... entertainment business.

Cynthia: Yeah. You perform here?


Bob: [to Tick, Bernadette, Felicia and Cynthia] Well! A real life "Les Girls" show. Right, this calls for a celebration.


Felicia: [to Frank and the boys] Who wants to see my map of Tasmania?


Tick: [to Felicia] You stupid bloody idiot! Drugs, for Christ's sake! Well, three cheers for you! I hope you're bloody well happy now! You bloody fuck wit!


Bob: [to Bernadette] Well, I can't go back to Coober Pedy for a while. I'm not the most popular bloke in the world back there anymore.


Bob: [knocks] Can I come in?

Bernadette: Now, there's a gentleman. Of course you can, Bob.


Felicia: [after Tick passes out] Come on, snap out of it. You'll be fine. Come on, love.

Tick: [coming to] Oh...

Bob: That's it, mate. You scared us all for a minute.

Felicia: Just had to have that extra bit of attention, didn't you? Nice one, lovey. Nice one.


[First Lines]

[Tick is hit in back of head with beer can, falls]

Felicia: Are you Okay?...

[Felicia grabs mic]

Felicia: Oh that was fucking charming, you gutless pack of dickheads.


Mitzi: Come on girls, off your snatches. Rehearsal time.


Felicia: [to Tick] You haven't got any kids stashed away out there as well have you?


Felicia: [to Tick and Bernadette] So... All dolled up and nowhere to go.


Tick: [to Felicia] What sort of bent-childhood... did you have, Adam Whitely?


Felicia: [to Bernadette] Sorry... Ralph.


Bernadette: [to Felicia] Do tell us your hilarious joke.


Felicia: [to Tick] Oh! Oh, Mitzi! It's gabardine! I haven't seen gabardine for years!


Tick: [to Bob] Well, are we bunny-hopping all the way to Alice?


Man In Crowd: More! More!

Benji: We want more!

Marion: Yes, magnificent. Bravo!

Benji: More! We want more!


Felicia: Oh, you can't do that with a ping pong ball!


Cynthia: You want good wife? You be good husband.


Marion: [to Felicia] Stop wearing out that mirror!


Bernadette: [to Felicia and Tick] Ladies, start your engines!


Felicia: See ya, Ralph!

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