Desperate Living
Encyclopedia
Desperate Living is a 1977 American crime
comedy
fantasy
horror film
directed, produced, written, and photographed by Baltimore, Maryland filmmaker John Waters
starring Liz Renay
, Jean Hill, Mink Stole
, Edith Massey
, and Mary Vivian Pearce
.
), a neurotic
, delusional, suburban housewife, and her overweight maid, Grizelda Brown (Jean Hill), go on the lam after Grizelda smothers Peggy's husband, Bosley (George Stover), to death. The two are arrested by a cross-dressing policeman (Turkey Joe) who gives them an ultimatum: go to jail or be exiled to Mortville, a filthy shantytown ruled by the evil Queen Carlotta (Edith Massey
) and her treasonous daughter, Princess Coo-Coo (Mary Vivian Pearce
).
Peggy and Grizelda choose Mortville, but still engage in lesbian prison sex. They become associates of self-hating lesbian wrestler
Mole McHenry (Susan Lowe
), who wants a sex change
to please her lover, Muffy St. Jacques (Liz Renay
). Most of Mortville's social outcasts - criminals, nudists, and sexual deviants - conspire to overthrow Queen Carlotta, who banishes her daughter, Coo-Coo, after she elopes with a garbage collector (George Figgs
), who is later shot to death by the guards. Coo-Coo hides in Peggy and Grizelda's house with her dead lover. When Peggy betrays Coo-Coo to the Queen's guards, Grizelda fights them, and dies when the house collapses on her. Peggy, however, joins the queen in terrorizing her subjects, even infecting them (and Princess Coo-Coo) with rabies
.
Eventually, Mortville's denizens, led by Mole, overthrow Queen Carlotta and execute Peggy by shooting a gun up her anus
. To celebrate their freedom, the townsfolk roast Carlotta on a spit and serve her, pig-like, on a platter with an apple in her mouth.
, 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 Waters' later use of other crime-related celebrities like Patty Hearst
and Traci Lords
in his films.
, the film was heavily censored, dubbed, and retitled Nuovo Punk Story (which translates to "New Punk Story"), intended to capitalise on the rising popularity of the punk movement in the country. Desperate Living was rejected for a UK cinema release by the BBFC in 1977. It was finally released on video in 1990 after the eyeball-gouging scene was trimmed by four seconds.
Crime film
Crime films are films which focus on the lives of criminals. The stylistic approach to a crime film varies from realistic portrayals of real-life criminal figures, to the far-fetched evil doings of imaginary arch-villains. Criminal acts are almost always glorified in these movies.- Plays and films...
comedy
Comedy film
Comedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. They are designed to elicit laughter from the audience. Comedies are mostly light-hearted dramas and are made to amuse and entertain the audiences...
fantasy
Fantasy film
Fantasy films are films with fantastic themes, usually involving magic, supernatural events, make-believe creatures, or exotic fantasy worlds. The genre is considered to be distinct from science fiction film and horror film, although the genres do overlap...
horror film
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
directed, produced, written, and photographed by Baltimore, Maryland filmmaker John Waters
John Waters (filmmaker)
John Samuel Waters, Jr. is an American filmmaker, actor, stand-up comedian, writer, journalist, visual artist, and art collector, who rose to fame in the early 1970s for his transgressive cult films...
starring Liz Renay
Liz Renay
Liz Renay, née Pearl Elizabeth Dobbins was an American author, actress and convicted felon, who appeared in John Waters' film Desperate Living ....
, Jean Hill, Mink Stole
Mink Stole
Nancy Paine Stoll better known by the stage name Mink Stole, is an American actress from Baltimore, Maryland. She began her career working for director John Waters, having appeared in all of his feature films to date...
, Edith Massey
Edith Massey
Edith Massey was an American actress and singer. Massey was best known for her appearances in a series of movies by director John Waters...
, and Mary Vivian Pearce
Mary Vivian Pearce
Mary Vivian Pearce is an American actress. She has worked primarily in the films of John Waters.Pearce is the childhood best friend of John Waters and has appeared as an actress in all of his films. Because of her work with Waters, she is considered one of the Dreamlanders, Waters' ensemble of...
.
Plot
Peggy Gravel (Mink StoleMink Stole
Nancy Paine Stoll better known by the stage name Mink Stole, is an American actress from Baltimore, Maryland. She began her career working for director John Waters, having appeared in all of his feature films to date...
), a neurotic
Neurosis
Neurosis is a class of functional mental disorders involving distress but neither delusions nor hallucinations, whereby behavior is not outside socially acceptable norms. It is also known as psychoneurosis or neurotic disorder, and thus those suffering from it are said to be neurotic...
, delusional, suburban housewife, and her overweight maid, Grizelda Brown (Jean Hill), go on the lam after Grizelda smothers Peggy's husband, Bosley (George Stover), to death. The two are arrested by a cross-dressing policeman (Turkey Joe) who gives them an ultimatum: go to jail or be exiled to Mortville, a filthy shantytown ruled by the evil Queen Carlotta (Edith Massey
Edith Massey
Edith Massey was an American actress and singer. Massey was best known for her appearances in a series of movies by director John Waters...
) and her treasonous daughter, Princess Coo-Coo (Mary Vivian Pearce
Mary Vivian Pearce
Mary Vivian Pearce is an American actress. She has worked primarily in the films of John Waters.Pearce is the childhood best friend of John Waters and has appeared as an actress in all of his films. Because of her work with Waters, she is considered one of the Dreamlanders, Waters' ensemble of...
).
Peggy and Grizelda choose Mortville, but still engage in lesbian prison sex. They become associates of self-hating lesbian wrestler
Wrestling
Wrestling is a form of grappling type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. A wrestling bout is a physical competition, between two competitors or sparring partners, who attempt to gain and maintain a superior position...
Mole McHenry (Susan Lowe
Susan Lowe
Susan Lowe is an American actress and artist who has appeared primarily in the works of John Waters for most of her career...
), who wants a sex change
Sex change
Sex change is a term often used for gender reassignment therapy, that is, all medical procedures transgendered people can have, or specifically to sexual reassignment surgery, which usually refers to genitalia surgery only...
to please her lover, Muffy St. Jacques (Liz Renay
Liz Renay
Liz Renay, née Pearl Elizabeth Dobbins was an American author, actress and convicted felon, who appeared in John Waters' film Desperate Living ....
). Most of Mortville's social outcasts - criminals, nudists, and sexual deviants - conspire to overthrow Queen Carlotta, who banishes her daughter, Coo-Coo, after she elopes with a garbage collector (George Figgs
George Figgs
George Figgs is an American actor and projectionist. He began his career portrayingcharacters in the early films of John Waters. Because of his work with Waters, he is considered one of the Dreamlanders, Waters' ensemble of regular cast and crew members.Figgs is a film historian interested in...
), who is later shot to death by the guards. Coo-Coo hides in Peggy and Grizelda's house with her dead lover. When Peggy betrays Coo-Coo to the Queen's guards, Grizelda fights them, and dies when the house collapses on her. Peggy, however, joins the queen in terrorizing her subjects, even infecting them (and Princess Coo-Coo) with rabies
Rabies
Rabies is a viral disease that causes acute encephalitis in warm-blooded animals. It is zoonotic , most commonly by a bite from an infected animal. For a human, rabies is almost invariably fatal if post-exposure prophylaxis is not administered prior to the onset of severe symptoms...
.
Eventually, Mortville's denizens, led by Mole, overthrow Queen Carlotta and execute Peggy by shooting a gun up her anus
Anus
The anus is an opening at the opposite end of an animal's digestive tract from the mouth. Its function is to control the expulsion of feces, unwanted semi-solid matter produced during digestion, which, depending on the type of animal, may be one or more of: matter which the animal cannot digest,...
. To celebrate their freedom, the townsfolk roast Carlotta on a spit and serve her, pig-like, on a platter with an apple in her mouth.
Cast
- Mink StoleMink StoleNancy Paine Stoll better known by the stage name Mink Stole, is an American actress from Baltimore, Maryland. She began her career working for director John Waters, having appeared in all of his feature films to date...
as Peggy Gravel - Jean Hill as Grizelda Brown
- Edith MasseyEdith MasseyEdith Massey was an American actress and singer. Massey was best known for her appearances in a series of movies by director John Waters...
as Queen Carlotta - Mary Vivian PearceMary Vivian PearceMary Vivian Pearce is an American actress. She has worked primarily in the films of John Waters.Pearce is the childhood best friend of John Waters and has appeared as an actress in all of his films. Because of her work with Waters, she is considered one of the Dreamlanders, Waters' ensemble of...
as Princess Coo-Coo - Liz RenayLiz RenayLiz Renay, née Pearl Elizabeth Dobbins was an American author, actress and convicted felon, who appeared in John Waters' film Desperate Living ....
as Muffy St. Jacques - Susan LoweSusan LoweSusan Lowe is an American actress and artist who has appeared primarily in the works of John Waters for most of her career...
as Mole McHenry - George Stover as Bosley Gravel
- Turkey Joe as Sheriff Shitface
- Cookie MuellerCookie MuellerDorothy Karen "Cookie" Mueller was an underground American actress, writer and Dreamlander, who starred in many of filmmaker John Waters' early films, including Multiple Maniacs,...
as Flipper - Channing WilroyChanning WilroyChanning Wilroy is an American film actor who has appeared in seven films by John Waters. His first film role was the character Channing, the manservant in the film Pink Flamingos...
as Lt. Wilson - Ed Peranio as Lt. Williams
- Paul SwiftPaul SwiftPaul Swift was an American film actor.-Career:Between 1970 and 1977 he appeared in roles in four of the early feature films directed by John Waters. He additionally appeared as himself in two documentary films....
as Mr. Paul - George FiggsGeorge FiggsGeorge Figgs is an American actor and projectionist. He began his career portrayingcharacters in the early films of John Waters. Because of his work with Waters, he is considered one of the Dreamlanders, Waters' ensemble of regular cast and crew members.Figgs is a film historian interested in...
as Herbert - Al Strapelli as Dr. Evans
- Brook Blake as Bosley Gravel, Jr.
- Karen Gerwig as Beth Gravel
Production
This is the only feature film 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 LocharyDavid Lochary
David Crawford Lochary was one of the regular "Dreamlander" actors in early films of the controversial "trash" film director John Waters. He starred in such films as Pink Flamingos, Female Trouble, and Multiple Maniacs, in which he typically played exotically-dressed, sophisticated perverts...
, who bled to death after accidentally cutting himself whilst on PCP
Phencyclidine
Phencyclidine , commonly initialized as PCP and known colloquially as angel dust, is a recreational dissociative drug...
just before production.
Due to his Pink Flamingos
Pink Flamingos
Pink Flamingos is a 1972 transgressive black comedy film written, produced, composed, shot, edited, and directed by John Waters. When the film was initially released, it caused a huge degree of controversy and thus became one of the most notorious cult films ever made. It made an underground star...
infamy, Waters began to attract actors from outside his circle of friends. Liz Renay
Liz Renay
Liz Renay, née Pearl Elizabeth Dobbins was an American author, actress and convicted felon, who appeared in John Waters' film Desperate Living ....
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
Female Trouble
Female Trouble is a 1974 dark comedy film co-composed, filmed, co-edited, written, produced, and directed by John Waters starring Divine, David Lochary, Mary Vivian Pearce, Mink Stole, Edith Massey, Michael Potter, Cookie Mueller, and Susan Walsh....
). Casting Renay presaged Waters' later use of other crime-related celebrities like Patty Hearst
Patty Hearst
Patricia Campbell Hearst , now known as Patricia Campbell Hearst Shaw, is an American newspaper heiress, socialite, actress, kidnap victim, and convicted bank robber....
and Traci Lords
Traci Lords
Traci Lords , also known as Traci Elizabeth Lords and Tracy Lords, is an American film actress, producer, film director, writer and singer...
in his films.
Release
In ItalyItaly
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, the film was heavily censored, dubbed, and retitled Nuovo Punk Story (which translates to "New Punk Story"), intended to capitalise on the rising popularity of the punk movement in the country. Desperate Living was rejected for a UK cinema release by the BBFC in 1977. It was finally released on video in 1990 after the eyeball-gouging scene was trimmed by four seconds.
Tributes
- The musician and band Marilyn MansonMarilyn Manson (band)Marilyn Manson is an American metal band from Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Formed in 1989 by Brian Warner and Scott Putesky, the group was originally named Marilyn Manson & the Spooky Kids with their uniquely theatrical performances gathering a local cult following in the early '90s. This attention...
include a tribute to Desperate Living on their 1994 album, Portrait of an American FamilyPortrait of an American FamilyPortrait of an American Family is the debut full-length studio album by American rock band Marilyn Manson. It was released on July 19, 1994 in the US through Nothing and Interscope Records. It was produced by the band's frontman and Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails...
. The last track on the album has a recording of Mink StoleMink StoleNancy Paine Stoll better known by the stage name Mink Stole, is an American actress from Baltimore, Maryland. She began her career working for director John Waters, having appeared in all of his feature films to date...
'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
CommunismCommunism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
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.
- The musical Miss SaigonMiss SaigonMiss Saigon is a musical by Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil, with lyrics by Boublil and Richard Maltby, Jr.. It is based on Giacomo Puccini's opera Madame Butterfly, and similarly tells the tragic tale of a doomed romance involving an Asian woman abandoned by her American lover...
features a musical scene with the first words being "Coo-Coo Princess". - Horse the BandHORSE the bandHorse the Band is a band from Lake Forest, California who are best known for their 8-bit Nintendo-influenced sound combined with metalcore. Frontman Nathan Winneke once described their sound as "Nintendocore".-Biography:...
's 2009 album was titled Desperate Living after the film. - Japanese director Tomoaki Hosoyama's early pink film Lesbian HaremLesbian Haremis a 1987 Japanese pink film directed by Tomoaki Hosoyama.-Synopsis:Two lesbian lovers escape the city to commit a lovers-suicide deep in the forest. There they are captured by the queen of a lesbian colony who uses the two lovers for her own sex games...
(1987) is an homageHomageHomage is a show or demonstration of respect or dedication to someone or something, sometimes by simple declaration but often by some more oblique reference, artistic or poetic....
to Desperate Living.