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Desperate Living
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Desperate Living | |
|---|---|
 DVD cover |
|
| Directed by | John Waters |
| Produced by | John Waters |
| Written by | John Waters |
| Starring | Liz Renay Mink Stole Susan Lowe |
| Music by | Chris Lobingier Allen Yarus |
| Cinematography | Thomas Loizeaux John Waters |
| Editing by | Charles Roggero |
| Distributed by | Saliva Films |
| Release date(s) | May 27, 1977 |
| Running time | 90 mins |
| Country |  United States |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
Desperate Living is a 1977 film by Baltimore, Maryland, USA filmmaker John Waters starring Liz Renay, Edith Massey, Mink Stole, Jean Hill, Mary Vivian Pearce, and Susan Lowe.
Contents |
After murdering her husband, uptight suburbanite Peggy Gravel (Mink Stole) and her heavyset maid Grizelda (Jean Hill) escape to the filthy fairytale land/shantytown of Mortville, which is ruled by the evil Queen Carlotta (Edith Massey) and her developmentally disabled daughter Princess Coo-Coo (Mary Vivian Pearce).
Peggy and Grizelda become friends with self-hating lesbian Mole McHenry (Susan Lowe) & her lover Muffy St. Jacques (Liz Renay) and get involved with revolutionary activities, which culminate in the overthrow of the wicked queen.
- Liz Renay as Muffy St. Jacques
- Mink Stole as Peggy Gravel
- Susan Lowe as Mole McHenry
- Edith Massey as Queen Carlotta
- Mary Vivian Pearce as Princess Coo-Coo
- Jean Hill as Grizelda Brown
- Brook Yeaton as Bosley, Jr.
- Karen Gerwig as Beth
- Jay Allan as Kid
- Al Strapelli as Dr. Evans
- George Stover as Bosley Gravel
- Turkey Joe as Motorcycle Cop
- Ed Peranio as Lieutenant Wilson
This is the only feature film John Waters made without Divine prior to the actor's death in 1988. Divine was touring as a live performer and couldn't fit Desperate Living into his schedule. This was also Waters' first film without David Lochary, who bled to death after accidentally cutting himself whilst on PCP just before production.
Due to his Pink Flamingos infamy, Waters began to attract actors from outside his circle of friends. Liz Renay was a convicted felon and author of My Face for the World to See, her still-in-print autobiography (referenced in Waters' previous film Female Trouble). Casting Renay presaged his later use of other crime-related celebrities like Patty Hearst and Traci Lords.
The musician and band Marilyn Manson include a tribute to John Waters's Desperate Living in their 1994 album, Portrait of an American Family. The last track on the album has a recording of Mink Stole's character, Peggy Gravel, shouting at children playing baseball (having just broken her window).
The line is spoken as follows:
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!
The sound of a ringing telephone is then heard on a loop before, at the very end of the track, a message from the Marilyn Manson Family Intervention Hotline answering machine is heard, specifically a mother asking for her son's name to be removed from the band's mailing list.
Hag in a Black Leather Jacket • Roman Candles • Eat Your Makeup • Mondo Trasho • The Diane Linkletter Story • Multiple Maniacs • Pink Flamingos • Female Trouble • Desperate Living • Polyester • Hairspray • Cry-Baby • Serial Mom • Pecker • Cecil B. DeMented • A Dirty Shame
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