Saturday, May 04, 2024
One of my all-time favorite movies, released in 1994, is “The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert.” I’ve often enjoyed watching this great comedy because it’s tender and thoughtful and has some excellent performances. Besides, its costumes and cinematography are phenomenal.
The story follows two drag queens and a transsexual who buy a run-down old bus, paint it, and name it “Priscilla.” The three performers set out on a road trip across the Australian Outback in their colorful bus. They’re forced to deal with bus breakdowns and other travel interruptions while also performing for enthusiastic crowds and homophobic locals.
This movie is fun to watch and uniquely grabs more attention by successfully creating a “bus character.” I’m always amazed by how Priscilla transforms into a lead “actor” and becomes equally real to all the others in the movie.
Priscilla was anything but a drag!
In the film, the bus is famously painted bright pink. However, the filmmakers could afford only one bus, so they painted half of it pink and left the other side silver, allowing them to shoot out of sequence.
In reality, Priscilla was a 1976 Japanese model Hino RC320 that was leased to the film’s production company for the shoot in September and October 1993. Afterward, the bus was hired out occasionally, but before long Priscilla vanished without a trace.
Recently, Priscilla was rediscovered. Crucially, some old pink paint hadn’t been removed from a hinge, which made news by enabling an accurate identification of the real Priscilla. It’s been a long and cloudy search for the actual bus because copies were made to support a stage musical and other versions of the story. In the end, old pink paint scrapings were what convinced everyone they’d found the original Priscilla.
And now, she’ll live again!
Dear Friends: Do steam the fabulous comedy, laugh aloud, and love that bus. Diana
Diana's Morning Blog 