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While he might be best known to mainstream audiences for comedies like "Hairspray" and "Cry-Baby," director John Waters got his start with a series of envelope-pushing films in the ’70s.
Though "Pink Flamingos" is the most famous of his early works, due to its notoriously shocking scenes, the best film out of Waters’ early shock films is "Female Trouble."
Produced after the success of "Flamingos," "Female Trouble" shows Waters at his subversive best, and is still one of the funniest films from Baltimore’s infamous "Prince of Puke."
"Female Trouble" tells the life story of criminal Dawn Davenport (Divine), beginning with her days as a high school delinquent with only one thing on her mind: getting a pair of cha-cha heels for Christmas.
After her parents deny this request by buying her another plain pair of shoes (as her father hilariously exclaims, "Nice girls don’t wear cha-cha heels!"), Dawn throws a fit, resulting in her running away from home.
Out on her own, Dawn becomes pregnant and then tries taking various small jobs to make ends meet, but eventually must turn to a life of crime.
Eventually, Dawn ends up becoming a client at the Lipstick Beauty Salon – an establishment so elite, women have to audition to be considered for beauty services.
While there, she courts, and eventually marries, the salon’s top stylist, a man named Gator (Michael Potter) who lives with his morbidly obese aunt Ida (Edith Massey).
Ida, who is almost always seen in a disgustingly revealing skin-tight leather catsuit, wishes Gator would live up to his destiny as a stylist and become a homosexual.
She is even more disgusted by his wedding to Dawn, despite the fact she has gained the attention of the Lipstick Beauty Salon’s eccentric owners, Donald and Donna Dasher (David Lochary and Mary Vivian Pierce).
They explain they want to photograph Dawn while she is in various criminal activities to help find the link between crime and beauty.
Dawn doesn’t realize the Dashers are not considering her best interests, and once they start giving her "liquid eyeliner" injections, she soon travels down a path of destruction that leads directly to the electric chair.
That summary barely touches upon fully explaining the colorful characters and outrageous situations on display in "Female Trouble."
While it doesn’t push the envelope as hard as "Pink Flamingos," there’s still plenty of lurid material that will make even the most open-minded audiences stare at the screen gap-jawed, not sure if they should laugh or look away as soon as possible.
At the same time, the script is better than anything else Waters produced in the ’70s and still contains some of the funniest bits of dialogue he’s ever penned.
Another highlight of "Female Trouble" is getting to see Waters’ old Dreamland players, who were sort of like Baltimore’s answer to The Factory.
While they all might not be the best actors, the cast all must’ve understood the intentionally campy style that Waters was going for, because they all nail it perfectly.
One cast highlight is Mink Stole asDawn’s bratty daughter Taffy.
Stole has always been my favorite member of the Dreamland cast, and she’s at the top of her game in "Female Trouble."
It’s certainly not for everyone, but if there is anyone who enjoys subversive cinema and isn’t familiar with "Female Trouble," they better get out and rent it as soon as possible.
Grade: A
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