Desperate Living (1977)

A rich housewife enlists her maid's help to murder her husband; they go on the lam and end up in Mortville, a homeless community built into a garbage dump.

Director:

John Waters

Writer:

John Waters

Stars:

Liz Renay, Mink Stole, Susan Lowe

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Liz Renay	...	Muffy St. Jacques
Mink Stole	...	Peggy Gravel
Susan Lowe	...	Mole McHenry
Edith Massey	...	Queen Carlotta
Mary Vivian Pearce	...	Princess Coo-Coo
Jean Hill	...	Grizelda Brown
Brook Yeaton	...	Bosley Jr. (as Brook Blake)
Karen Gerwig	...	Beth
Jay Allan	...	Kid
Al Strapelli	...	Doctor Evans
George Stover	...	Bosley Gravel
Turkey Joe	...	Motorcycle Cop
Willie Brooks	...	Pieman
James Yeaton	...	Dead Bum
Ed Peranio	...	Lieutenant Wilson

Storyline

A rich housewife murders her husband with the help of her overweight maid, and the two go on the run, ending up in Mortville, a town providing refuge for criminals. They shack up with a lesbian ex-wrestler and her murderess lover, before running into the tyrannical Queen Carlotta, ruler of Mortville...

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Plot Keywords:

queen | maid | murder | shack | lesbian | 

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Taglines:

It isn't very pretty.....

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Genres:

Comedy | Crime | Fantasy | Horror

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

27 May 1977 (USA)

Also Known As:

Mortville

Filming Locations:

Baltimore, Maryland, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$65,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Charm City Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The large breasts that are thrust at Peggy Gravel through a pair of glory holes are those of Liz Renay.

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Goofs

When Mole first meets Peggy and Grizelda she tells them that there are no toilets in Mortville, but at the lesbian bar there are toilets, where Peggy is harassed by the 'bathroom pervert'.

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Quotes

Peggy Gravel: Go home to your mother! Doesn't she ever watch you? Tell her this isn't some communist daycare center! Tell your mother I hate her! Tell your mother I hate you!

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Crazy Credits

Desperate Living's opening credits appear beside an overhead shot of a formal table setting, in which a maid serves a cooked rat as the main course, which is salted and eaten.

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Connections

Referenced in Rick & Steve the Happiest Gay Couple in All the World (1999)

User Reviews

Unforgettable freak show from the puke-loving pope of pop culture

"Desperate Living" and "Female Trouble" are Waters' best films, fully realized trash epics with great characters, gorgeous production design and an unapologetic affection for trailer trash values.

The story is simple. Peggy Gravel (Mink Stole), a neurotic suburban snob, flees to Mortville, the town where criminals live scot-free, after her obese maid, Grizelda Brown (Jean Hill), sits on and squashes her sermonizing husband, Bosley Gravel (the great George Stover). The women share a bed in Mortville under the roof of a disgusting hovel run by Mole McHenry (Susan Lowe), a snot-dispensing, pre-op transsexual with impeccable table manners and a luscious lesbian lover Muffy St. Jacques (Liz Renay). But the living arrangements prove less than harmonious and the entire place is trashed when the women offer refuge to Princess Coo-Coo (Mary Vivian Pearce), the downtrodden offspring of the domineering, boy-crazy Queen of Mortville (Edith Massey), who objects to her daughter's hippy-fied lifestyle. Complications ensue once the sycophantic Peggy worms her way into the Queen's chamber (and confidence) and a groundswell of support for a revolution intensifies.

The set-up of "Desperate Living" is pure magic. The idea of there being a town where miscreants can live scot-free is brilliant, as is Waters' enthusiastic take on the entire thing. The tone is that of a fairytale painted with snot and mucus and every detail is consistent in its intention to make you want to puke. The sight of Mary Vivean Pearce doing the town with rabies is a green, grotesque delight, as is the scene in which Mole's new penis is severed, then roughly sewn back on.

This is an unforgettable freak show from the puke-loving pope of popular culture.

You'd be a misfit to miss it.