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...

---

Plot Keywords:

queen | maid | murder | shack | lesbian | 

---

Taglines:

It isn't very pretty.....

---

Genres:

Comedy | Crime | Fantasy | Horror

---

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

Divine was intended to play the role of Mole McHenry (played by Susan Lowe), but he was in a play for which he had a long-term contract, making him unavailable. David Lochary was also intended to act in the film, but he bled to death after falling on a glass while under the influence of PCP.

---

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'.

---

Quotes

Princess Coo-Coo: Oh Herbert, we're safe now. I'm sorry I had to drag you all that way, but those silly nudists wanted to BURY you! Oh I love you too, my darling- Mother can't hurt us now. We'll get married tonight. You don't look so well, I hope you perk up for our honeymoon!

---

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.

---

Connections

Referenced in In Bad Taste (2000)

User Reviews

Metaphysical Format Reduces Power of Waters's Attack on American Value

After rich housewife Peggy Gravel (Mink Stole) accidentally murders her husband and runs away with her overweight black maid Grizelda Brown (Jean Hill) to Mortville, a community of outcasts and criminals ruled by Queen Carlotta (Edith Massey), Desperate Living starts losing the power of John Waters's greatest merit--attack on the norm of the American value. For a Waters film, the more fictitious and metaphysical its format is, the less effective the outcome of his attack is; that's why realistic (for Waters) Female Trouble is intense but fairytale-ish Desperate Living is not. Freaky actors screaming and doing nonsense are amusing to watch, but, needless to say, missing irreplaceable Divine is a significant disadvantage for early Waters.