Pink Flamingos (1972)

Notorious Baltimore criminal and underground figure Divine goes up against a sleazy married couple who make a passionate attempt to humiliate her and seize her tabloid-given title as "The Filthiest Person Alive".

Director:

John Waters

Writer:

John Waters

Stars:

Divine, David Lochary, Mary Vivian Pearce

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Divine	...	Divine / Babs Johnson
David Lochary	...	Raymond Marble
Mary Vivian Pearce	...	Cotton
Mink Stole	...	Connie Marble
Danny Mills	...	Crackers
Edith Massey	...	Edie
Channing Wilroy	...	Channing
Cookie Mueller	...	Cookie
Paul Swift	...	The Egg Man
Susan Walsh	...	Suzie
Linda Olgeirson	...	Linda
Pat Moran	...	Patty Hitler (Party Guest In Nazi Uniform)
Jack Walsh	...	Party Guest
Bob Skidmore	...	Delivery Boy
Pat Lefaiver	...	First Lesbian (as Pat LeFaiver)

Storyline

Sleaze queen Divine lives in a caravan with her mad hippie son Crackers and her 250-pound mother Mama Edie, trying to rest quietly on their laurels as 'the filthiest people alive'. But competition is brewing in the form of Connie and Raymond Marble, who sell heroin to schoolchildren and kidnap and impregnate female hitchhikers, selling the babies to lesbian couples. Finally, they challenge Divine directly, and battle commences...

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Plot Keywords:

black comedy | controversy | anal gaping | scatological humor | cult director | 

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Taglines:

An exercise in poor taste.

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Genres:

Comedy | Crime

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated NC-17 for a wide range of perversions in explicit detail

Did You Know?

Trivia

In the film MIDNIGHT MOVIES, John Waters says in part "I was high when I wrote this film. I was NOT high when I made it."

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Goofs

When Cookie makes her phone call to the Marbles, there is a clear shadow of the crew as someone on the set moves around.

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Quotes

Connie Marble: Oh, I love you Raymond. I love you more than anything in this whole world. I love you more than my own filthiness, more than my own hair color. Oh God, I love you more than the sound of bones breaking, the sound of death rattle - even more than the sound of my own shit do I love you, Raymond.
Raymond Marble: And I, Connie, also love you more than anything that I could ever imagine: more than my hair color, more than the sound of babies crying, of dogs dying - even more than the thought of original sind itself....

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Crazy Credits

For Sadie, Katie, and Les- February 1972 (The Manson Family members Susan Atkins, Patricia Krenwinkel and Leslie Van Houten. February 1972 was the month when the California State Supreme Court abolished the death penalty in California (it was later reinstated), reducing the sentences of the convicted Manson Family members to life imprisonment.)

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Alternate Versions

Because of this film's off-color, explicit nature, it has been edited for content many times all over the world. The Canadian censors recently reinstated five of the seven scenes that were originally edited in that country. The United Kingdom has never seen the complete version of the film. A town on Long Island, New York banned the film altogether. The Japanese laserdisc version contains a blur superimposed over all displays of pubic hair. Prints also exist that were censored by the Maryland Censor Board.

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Connections

Referenced in Freeway (1996)

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Soundtracks

Pink Champagne
by Joseph Liggins
Performed by The Tyrones
Courtesy of Mercury Records
By Arrangement with PolyGram Film and TV Licensing

User Reviews

Outrageously Sick, Disgusting and Grotesque… But Also Funny

The filthiest person alive, Divine, is using the codename Babs Johnson and living in a trailer in the woods with her retarded mother Eddie (Edith Massey), who loves eggs; her mad hippie son Crackers (Danny Mills); and her mate Cotton (Mary Vivian Pearce). The envious couple Connie (Mink Stole) and Raymond Marble (David Lochary), who abduct and impregnate female hitchhikers to sell their babies to gay and lesbian couples, using the money to invest in heroin and sell in schools, hire Cookie (Cookie Mueller) to have sex with Crackers and spy Divine to compete for the title of "the filthiest people alive". When the competition begins, Connie and Raymond Marble learn why Divine has this title.

The underground "Pink Flamingos" is outrageously sick, disgusting and grotesque… but also funny. John Waters' intention is certainly to shock the audiences and is certainly very well succeeded. The bizarre characters present some of the most scatological and gross scenes I have ever seen, like Divine chewing excrement of dog, or Crackers "singing" with his anus, and there is no limit for the sick mind of John Waters. The viewer has to have empty stomach to see the whole movie. In the Extras of the DVD, John Waters presents deleted scenes, inclusive with the fate of Cookie. The trailer used to promote the film in 1972 is hilarious, since it does not show any scene, but people being interviewed about the movie. My vote is five.

Title (Brazil): "Pink Flamingos"

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

October 1979 (West Germany)

Also Known As:

John Waters' Pink Flamingos

Filming Locations:

Maryland, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$10,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Dreamland

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min 106 min (re-release) 104 min (re-release) 108 min (re-release) 108 min (re-release)

Sound Mix:

Dolby (1997 re-release) Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1