In Saint-Tropez, France on the sunny French Riveria, Albin (Michel Serrault) and Renato (Ugo Tognazzi) have been lovers for over 20 years. They own the La Cage aux Folles (Birds of a Feather), a scandalous nightclub where transvestites perform. Albin, under his stage name Zaza, is the star attraction. One evening, Renato's 19-year-old son Laurent (Remy Laurent) returns home from college after studying in Paris where he tells his father that he is engaged to Andrea (Lusia Maneri) the daughter of Monsieur Charrier (Michel Galabru) a conservative government official who is the secretary of the Union of Moral Order. Andrea has lied to her parents that Renato, Laurent's father, is the cultural attache for the Italian ambassador and that his mother is a housewife. When the local news headlines announce that the elderly president of the Union of Moral Order has died of a sudden heart attack while having sex with a 13-year-old French-African prostitute, Charrier worries about his own reputation when reporters hound him to and from his office and his home. His wife (Carmen Scarpitta) convinces him that Andrea's marriage to such a reputable family will raise him above the scandal. Laurent invites Andrea and her parents to his home in Saint-Tropez to meet his family. He gets Renato to change the flamboyant decor of their apartment, making more conservative looking... getting rid of all of the provocative paintings and nude male statues. During this, Renato visits Laurent's mother Simone (Claire Maurier), a film actress whom he has not seen since she seduced him 20 years ago. He asks her to make an appearance to play-act at the dinner tonight for their son's sake. She accepts the offer, but on the condition that they rekindle their brief tryst. Renato refuses but Simone tries to seduce him, just like she did 20 years earlier. Albin, who accompanied Renato to Simone's house, walks in on them and runs out upset. Renato runs after him, but when he arrives back at their apartment, Albin has moved out. Renato finds Albin at a local train station seated on a bench waiting for the train to arrive to take him away. During a long talk between them, Renato convinces Albin that he loves him only. That evening, Renato and Laurent want the effeminate Albin to lay low until the end of the dinner party for their sake as not to bring on any awkwardness. Albin is none to pleased about being left out, but agrees to do so. At 6:00pm the guests arrive. Renato and Laurent try to make Monsieur and Madame Charrier comfortable with small talk, while Andrea, who already knows the truth about Laurent's family, plays along. Simone phones where she tells Laurent that she is delayed by traffic while driving from her house to the dinner party. While Laurent and Renato try to delay the dinner for a little while longer, Albin arrives, dressed up as a woman in his Zaza custom and pretends to be Laurent's mother, while both Renato and Laurent react very nervous. Laurent sneaks out to try to head off his real mother. Dinner proceeds where Charrier thinks things are very odd when Jacob (Benny Luke), the butler, is acting very strangely, laughing at Albin in his drag getup and shrieking when a champagne cork flies through the air. Charrier tells his wife that he suspects that Jacob might be gay. Things get even more hilarious when during the dinner, Albin's wig is knocked askew, and he tries to re-arrange but without any success. Then finally Simone shows up and with the game up, Albin finally takes off his wig and admits the truth to Charrier about himself, Renato and their family and that they own the La cage aux folles drag nightclub that is downstairs from the apartment. Just then, the transvestites from the nightclub enter the apartment to congratulate Renato and Albin on their 20th anniversary. Charrier is beside himself. He tries to leave, but sees that reporters have followed him from Paris and blocked the back doors of the building and nightclub. Wanting to spare the humiliation from their future in-laws, Albin and Renato dress up Charrier in drag at the nightclub so that he, Madame Charrier and Andrea can leave without being photographed by the reporters now swarming the nightclub looking for them. In the final scene sometime later, Laurent and Andrea get married. At the ceremony, Albin is jealous that Simone is also in attendance and sitting next to Andrea's parents. Renato assures Albin that everything will be good between them and the two of them hold hands.
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