John Waters Collection #2: Polyester/ Desperate Living
by John Waters
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DVD details
Actor: David Samson, Divine, Edith Massey, Mary Garlington, Tab HunterDirector: John Waters
Brand: New Line Home Video
Producer: John Waters
Writer: John Waters
Producer: David Spencer
Producer: James McKenzie
Producer: Robert Maier
Producer: Robert Shaye
Producer: Sara Risher
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0; English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Full Screen, Letterboxed, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 177 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2001-09-04
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: New Line Home Video
Product features:
- Actors: Divine, Tab Hunter, Edith Massey, David Samson, Mary Garlington.
- Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Full Screen, Letterboxed, Widescreen, NTSC.
- Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0).
- Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only
- Run Time: 177 minutes. Rated R.
DVD Reviews of John Waters Collection #2: Polyester/ Desperate Living
DVD Review: fine and filthy feast for John Waters fans
Summary: 4 Stars
This two DVD set of John Waters films gives us Polyester coupled with Desperate Living. The packaging is good and the artwork reflects a good deal of thought as to how to attract viewers with a silly spoof of family and love stories in Polyester and a rather "different" (ahem) movie that is salvaged by great acting in Desperate Living.
In Polyester, we first watch a brief introduction by a "scientist." He tells us that we're about to watch a movie in odorama; and he shows moviegoers how to scratch and sniff the odorama card when the corresponding numbers light up in the corner of the screen. (Yes, you DO get an odorama card.) We then see the Fishpaw household. Francine (played by Divine) tries hard to keep her family together. That ain't easy: Francine's husband Elmer (David Samson) is fooling around with his secretary (Mink Stole); her pregnant and unwed teenage daughter is running around with junkies (look for Stiv Bators as Bo-Bo Belsinger); and her son loves women's feet so much that he routinely stomps on them and winds up in jail!
The pressure on Francine is worsened by her cruel mother. Francine's only friend is her former, mildly mentally handicapped maid Cuddles (Edith Massey) who is suddenly rich now that she's inherited a huge sum of money. Francine's world crumbles almost all together when her husband Elmer leaves her; and that's when the action speeds up even more! Francine meets Todd Tomorrow (Tab Hunter), a handsome man who's clearly interested in her. Can this be the start of a new life for Francine?
Of course, the plot can go in many different directions. Francine eventually becomes alcoholic because of her pain--will she combat her drinking problem? How far can Cuddles go to help Francine? Will Elmer really leave Francine for good? Will Francine's daughter go off with Bo-Bo? What about Francine's son? Will Todd turn out to be the right man after all for Francine? Watch the movie and find out!
The cinematography is good when the camera is filming an aerial view of the Baltimore suburb where The Fishpaws live; and the choreography works well in crowd scenes like Cuddle's debutante party. In addition, the DVD contains a director's commentary.
As for Desperate Living, the action starts in the Gravel household. Peggy Gravel has just returned from a psychiatric hospital and her husband seems to think it's going to be all right even though she's still crazy like a fox! Bosley Gravel (George Stover), Peggy's husband, wants to give her a medication injection. However, when Peggy fantasizes that Bosley is trying to kill her, their very obese maid Grizelda Brown (Jean Hill) accidentally kills Bosley by sitting on him.
They know they're in hot water for having murdered Bosley--ands Peggy and Grizelda flee in Peggy's car. After an unusual (ahem) scene in which a cop lets them get away, they know that they can only go to Mortville where murderesses are tolerated without being punished under the law.
And what a dump Mortville is! Full of trash, poor people and ugly shanties, Peggy and Grizelda don't like it. They stay, however, to avoid the law. They soon rent a room from Mole McHenry (Susan Lowe) and her female lover Muffy St. Jacques (Liz Renay). They also discover that Mortville suffers under the reign of wicked Queen Carlotta (Edith Massey), who delights in torturing people and making them walk backwards one day or be murdered on the spot.
Does Mortville work out for Peggy and Grizelda? Will Muffy or Mole make a pass at either Peggy or Grizelda? Will Queen Carlotta remain unchallenged? Watch the movie and find out!
The DVD has a commentary by John Waters; but that's really it for the DVD extras. Desperate Living isn't my kind of flick--the "sets" look like they were taken from a city dump-and they probably were! The acting redeems the movie to some degree.
John Waters fans will rejoice at this two DVD set. Desperate Living lets you see what John Waters did before he attempted to go mainstream; and Polyester is the first film John Waters directed when he did begin to go mainstream. I highly recommend this for fans of movies directed by John Waters; and people who like movies that are off the beaten path will love these two films as well.
Five stars for Polyester + three stars for Desperate Living = four stars for this DVD set.
Description of John Waters Collection #2: Polyester/ Desperate Living
Director John Waters broke new boundaries of bad taste with his hilariously trashy tale of suburban misadventure Polyester. His favorite leading lady, transvestite Divine, plays Francine Fishpaw, a dissatisfied suburban housefrau who longs for a little romance in her life because her husband and children drive her crazy. Salvation arrives in the form of Tod Tomorrow (Tab Hunter), a drive-in owner who sweeps Francine off her feet (a mean task, given Divine's girth). But he's not all he's cracked up to be.
Everyone in Desperate Living's Mortville has some horrible secret to hide. The mentally unstable Peggy Gravel (Mink Stole, in a superb display of overacting) and her 300-pound-plus maid Grizelda must take it on the lam after Grizelda smothers Peggy's husband under her elephantine buttocks. They find themselves in Mortville, a shanty fiefdom ruled by the grotesque Queen Carlotta (the incomparable Edith Massey). The evil queen delights in tormenting her subjects, but Peggy and Grizelda soon team up with a pair of lesbian outcasts, and a rebellion is in the air. Notable for the absence of Waters regular Divine, this movie pushes the rest of the cast to their over-the-top best. Nasty, shabby, gross, and hilarious, this is John Waters at his best.
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