Female Trouble (1974)

Director:

John Waters

Writer:

John Waters (writer)

Release Date:

28 March 1984 (France)

Genre:

Comedy | Crime | Horror

Tagline:

Nice girls don't wear cha-cha heels.

Plot:

A spoiled schoolgirl runs away from home, gets pregnant while hitchhiking, and ends up as a fashion model for a pair of beauticians who like to photograph women committing crimes.

Plot Keywords:

Christmas | Cha Cha | Hitchhiking | Electric Chair | Trampoline

Cast

Divine	...	Dawn Davenport / Earl Peterson
David Lochary	...	Donald Dasher
Mary Vivian Pearce	...	Donna Dasher
Mink Stole	...	Taffy Davenport
Edith Massey	...	Ida Nelson
Cookie Mueller	...	Concetta
Susan Walsh	...	Chicklette
Michael Potter	...	Gator
Ed Peranio	...	Wink
Paul Swift	...	Butterfly
George Figgs	...	Dribbles
Susan Lowe	...	Vikki
George Hulse	...	Mr. Weinberger
Margie Skidmore	...	School snitch
Berenica Cipcus	...	Mean girl

Also Known As:

Rotten Mind, Rotten Face (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated NC-17 for explicit sexuality and nudity.

Runtime:

89 min | USA:92 min (16 mm version) | USA:97 min (original length)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Chace Surround (2001 re-release) | Mono

Certification:

Australia:R | Canada:18+ (Quebec) | Canada:18A | France:-16 | USA:NC-17 (1999) | USA:X (original rating) | UK:18

Filming Locations:

Baltimore, Maryland, USA

Company:

Dreamland

Trivia:

Dawn Davenport's stage performance is based upon an act performed by Divine at San Francisco's Palace Theatre. Divine would wheel a shopping cart full of mackerel on stage and hurl them into the audience while claiming responsibility for various high-profile crimes.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Dawn returns home from hospital with the Dashers and unwraps the birdcage containing Aunt Ida, Donald instructs her to, 'Cut off the hand that threw the acid!' Dawn then chops off Ida's left hand. Ida, however, threw the acid with her right hand.

Quotes:

Dawn Davenport: I'd like to set fire to this dump!
Concetta: Just 'cause we're pretty everybody's jealous!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in This Filthy World (2006)

Soundtrack:

Merry, Merry, Merry, Merry Xmas

The world of the heterosexual is a sick and boring life.

I am at a complete loss to understand why this film was not nominated for an Oscar for costuming, makeup and set decoration. It had the most outrageous costuming that I have ever seen. The sets were so hideous that they made me nauseous. The makeup was beyond belief.

That was the good things about the film that featured an outrageous star in Divine, a transvestite that played Dawn Davenport. He was so over the top that I couldn't take my eyes off the screen.

This is the first John Waters (Hairspray, Pecker) film that I have seen. He is definitely on the cutting edge in outrageous humor, horror, and satire.

This film on the outrageous cult of celebrity is no more outrageous than the current obsession in the media with Paris Hilton.

If you haven't seen a John Waters film, check out the Sundance Channel for this one.