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Privates on Parade
1h 53m
Directed by Michael Blakemore • 1983 • United Kingdom
Starring John Cleese, Denis Quilley, Patrick Pearson
This gloriously gay adaptation of the play by Peter Nichols centers on the exploits of SADUSEA (it’s pronounced “sad you see”)—the Song and Dance Unit, Southeast Asia, a theatrical troupe stationed in the Malayan jungle during the 1940s to entertain the British troops there. Farce and melodrama mingle as the sensibilities of pompous, militaristic Major Giles Flack (the great John Cleese) and Acting Captain Terri Dennis (Denis Quilley), a campy drag performer who impersonates Carmen Miranda and Marlene Dietrich, clash in the waning days of the British Empire.