A Dirty Shame (2004)

An uptight, middle-aged, repressed woman turns into a sex addict after getting hit on the head, and she then falls into an underground subculture of sex addicts in suburban Baltimore.

Director:

John Waters

Writer:

John Waters

Stars:

Tracey Ullman, Chris Isaak, Selma Blair

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Tracey Ullman	...	Sylvia
Johnny Knoxville	...	Ray Ray
Selma Blair	...	Caprice
Chris Isaak	...	Vaughn
Suzanne Shepherd	...	Big Ethel
Mink Stole	...	Marge The Neuter
Patricia Hearst	...	Paige
Jackie Hoffman	...	Dora
Nick Noble	...	Weird Paperboy (as Nicholas E.I. Noble)
Lucy Newman-Williams	...	Neuter Yuppie Woman
Scott Morgan	...	Neuter Yuppie Man
Wes Johnson	...	Fat Fuck Frank
David A. Dunham	...	Mama Bear
David Moretti	...	Papa Bear (as Dave Moretti)
Jeffrey Auerbach	...	Baby Bear

Storyline

Middle-aged, sexually repressed Sylvia Stickles is the subject of this John Water's film, set in North Baltimore. She refuses to have sex with her husband, Vaughn Stickles, and keeps her overly-endowed daughter, Caprice, locked in her room, while she serves home detention for moral depravity charges. Sylvia, together with her mother Big Ethel, lead a group calling themselves "neuters" that promotes decency on Harford Road. When Sylvia is accidentally hit on the head by a lawnmower hanging out of a passing pick-up truck, however, her sexual behavior is changed completely from prude to prostitute. She meets the sex addicted sexual healer Ray Ray Perkins, becoming his twelfth apostle of sex in a journey of pleasure and orgasm.

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Plot Keywords:

lust | prostitute | go go dancer | male pubic hair | nudist | 

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Taglines:

Threatening the very limits of common decency.

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Genres:

Comedy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated NC-17 for pervasive sexual content

Did You Know?

Trivia

Suzanne Shepherd first read the script while on a train to Baltimore. After discovering the film's content, she became quite upset and did not want to do the film. It was only after meeting John Waters that she agreed to play Big Ethel.

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Goofs

Before running out of gas, the car is turned off and in park but is still driving.

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Quotes

Ray-Ray: One day we're going to discover a brand new sex act, one that's never been performed before. And we hope you'll be with us on that day of carnal rapture.

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Alternate Versions

The "R" rated version is heavily censored and removes all profanities and nudity.

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Connections

Featured in All the Dirt on 'A Dirty Shame' (2005)

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Soundtracks

(Baby Let Me) Bang Your Box
Performed by Doug Clark and the Hot Nuts
Written by Sid Wyche and Teddy McRae
Courtesy of Prime Entertainment Group, Inc.

User Reviews

"Discover the oyster!"

Tracey Ullman does some priceless double-takes in this John Waters comedy, playing uptight wife and mother in a Baltimore suburb who gets a rap on the noggin and becomes a sex addict. A shabby-looking enterprise with scrappy editing, this would seem amateurish even for a first-time director, but Waters certainly doesn't seem to mind. As a filmmaker, he is gleefully puckish, with a heightened sense of the ridiculous, and as usual he gets his cast to ride right along on his coattails. Selma Blair is Ullman's daughter, who has "mutilated her mammaries"; Chris Isaak is Tracey's husband who also gets a knock on the head and dreams of musclemen posing; Johnny Knoxville is a sex guru/auto mechanic; Suzanne Shepherd is Ullman's mother, Big Ethel, who runs the Park and Pay. Relatively short film isn't compact (the final reel is just a lot of hamming and running around) but the first-half has some laugh-out-loud moments and the whole picture benefits from Ullman's work--she's a stitch. **1/2 from ****

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

24 September 2004 (USA)

Also Known As:

A Dirty Shame

Filming Locations:

Maryland, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$15,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$29,384, 19 September 2004

Gross USA:

$1,339,668

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$1,914,166

Company Credits

Production Co:

Fine Line Features, This Is That Productions, Killer Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

89 min 84 min (R-rated)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1