Female Trouble (1974)

Director:

John Waters

Writer:

John Waters (written by)

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 | Prostitution

Cast

Divine	...	Dawn Davenport / Earl Peterson
David Lochary	...	Donald Dasher
Mary Vivian Pearce	...	Donna Dasher
Mink Stole	...	Taffy Davenport
Edith Massey	...	Aunt Ida
Cookie Mueller	...	Concetta
Susan Walsh	...	Chicklette
Michael Potter	...	Gater
Ed Peranio	...	Wink
Paul Swift	...	Butterfly
George Figgs	...	Dribbles
Susan Lowe	...	Vikki
George Hulse	...	Teacher
Margie Skidmore	...	School Snitch
Berenica Cipcus	...	Mean Girl
Betty Woods	...	Dawn's Mother
Roland Hertz	...	Dawn's Father
Ramsey McClean	...	Baby
Henry Bederski	...	Drunk
Hilary Taylor	...	Taffy as a Child
Cindy Chosky	...	Stripper
Laurel Douglas	...	Telephone Company Girl
Mark Lazarus	...	Priest
Anne Figgs	...	Gater's Girlfriend
Sally Albaugh	...	Sally
Lynn Russo	...	Girl Who Won't Pay
Bob Willis	...	Doctor
Valerie Stafford	...	Nurse
Bob Adams	...	Ernie
Channing Wilroy	...	Prosecutor
Al Strapelli	...	Judge
Seymour Avigdor	...	Defense Lawyer
Christine Mason	...	Bailiff (as Chris Mason)
Mumme	...	Bailiff
Pat Moran	...	Bitch Prisoner
Marina Melin	...	Cheryll
Elizabeth Coffey	...	Earnestine
George Stover	...	Chaplin
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Cowboy Foulke	...	Spectator at Strip Club in Beginning (uncredited)
Mimi Lochary	...	Juror (uncredited)

Directed by
John Waters

Writing credits
John Waters		(written by)

Produced by
John Waters	....	producer
Jochen Breitenstein	....	line producer (uncredited)
Jimmy Hutzler	....	associate producer (uncredited)
James McKenzie	....	associate producer (uncredited)
Leroy Morais	....	line producer (uncredited)

Cinematography by
John Waters		(filmed by)

Film Editing by
Charles Roggero
John Waters

Production Design by
Vincent Peranio		(uncredited)

Art Direction by
Vincent Peranio		(uncredited)

Costume Design by
Van Smith

Makeup Department
David Lochary	....	hair stylist
Christine Mason	....	hair stylist (as Chris Mason)
Van Smith	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Pat Moran	....	production chief

Art Department
Vincent Peranio	....	sets

Sound Department
Robert Maier	....	sound (as Bob Maier)

Special Effects by
Ed Peranio	....	special effects

Camera and Electrical Department
David Insley	....	assistant camera (as Dave Insley)
David Insley	....	lighting (as Dave Insley)
Elaine Jankonus	....	still photographer
Bruce Moore	....	still photographer
Mink Stole	....	still photographer

Other crew
Randy Burman	....	title designer
Delores Delux	....	assistant title designer (as Dolores Deluxe)
Alan Rose	....	title designer
Steve Yeager	....	production assistant
Sally Albaugh	....	double: Divine (uncredited)
Pete Garey	....	production advisor (uncredited)

Thanks
Charles Watson	....	dedicatee

Production Companies

• Dreamland

Distributors

• Saliva Films (1974) (USA) (theatrical)
• Danton Films (1975) (Canada) (theatrical)
• Wizard Video (1982) (USA) (VHS)
• Palace Video (1982) (UK) (VHS)
• Continental Video (198?) (USA) (VHS)
• Cinema Group (video)
• Continental Home Vídeo (2005) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Fine Line Features
• New Line Cinema
• New Line Home Video (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• VEC (1980s) (Canada) (video)

Other Companies

• Cinemen  production assistance
• Foto-Kem  color
• Pentagram  music publishing
• Quality Film Labs  technical assistance

Also Known As:

MPAA:

Rated NC-17 for explicit sexuality and nudity (1999)

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) (No. 36827) | USA:X (original rating) | UK:18 | New Zealand:R18 | Argentina:18

Filming Locations:

Baltimore, Maryland, USA

Company:

Dreamland

Trivia:

Although released in 1974 the copyright date at the end of the credits is MCMXCIX or 1999.

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:

Gator:Hey Taffy, baby, come suck your daddy's dick.
Taffy:I wouldn't suck your lousy dick if I was suffocating and there was oxygen in your balls!

Movie Connections:

Featured in Indie Sex: Taboos (2001) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Underwater

9/10

God bless John Waters. He's made some of the best, crudest feel-good movies, and this is one of his crowning achievements. It's amazing how his film, ugly-looking and full of lipstick-smeared freaks, can feel positive and upbeat; while he's mocking everything in sight, he doesn't stand back and protect himself with irony or winks -- he jumps right in there, and that involvement, that energy, is easy to see and feel. It's amazing that he can feature masturbation with needle-nose pliers, beating a child with a chair, a game of "car accident," and Divine literally screwing himself and not have it be off-putting.

The very idea that Waters uses a fat transvestite with a beehive hairdo to illustrate his scorn for school shows he's not so interested in subtlety. And Divine is awesome, as always, his prissy, gravely scream -- a freak you want on your side. This is one of Waters' best satirical attempts -- there are digs at hippies and Hare Krishnas, and two scenes in particular are very prophetic: the gay encouraging, and the killing for art. Waters even mocks his own shameless exhibitionism in the testimony of the Dashers. 9/10