John Waters’ Pink Flamingos

Writer / Director: John Waters
Release Date: 17 March 1972
Re-Release Date: 11 April 1997
Rated NC-17

 

Cast:

Divine as Divine / Babs Johnson
David Lochary as Raymond Marble
Mary Vivian Pearce as Cotton
Mink Stole as Connie Marble
Danny Mills as Crackers
Edith Massey as Edie
Channing Wilroy as Channing
Cookie Mueller as Cookie
Paul Swift as The Egg Man

 

Notorious Baltimore criminal and underground figure Divine goes up against Connie & Raymond Marble, a sleazy married couple who make a passionate attempt to humiliate her and seize her tabloid-given title as “The Filthiest Person Alive”.

Trivia:

Filming only took place on weekends; John Waters raised money during the week.

The dog feces in the infamous final scene are real. According to director John Waters, the dog was fed steak for three days beforehand.

According to director John Waters, the film’s budget was so tight, that he could not afford “A” and “B” reels. The work print was in effect the master copy.

During filming, Divine was arrested for stealing, and in his defense said that he was a method actor playing a criminal.

John Waters has stated that the only scene in the film he regrets is the ‘felatio’ scene, which was awkward to film because the two cast members were friends. He also feels it is the most ‘dated’ part of the film; Deep Throat (1972) had just been released and this scene was Waters’ critique on the rise of ‘porno chic.’

A chicken actually died while filming the sex scene in the shed between Crackers and Cookie. One of the deleted scenes that was restored in 1997 actually involved cooking the dead chicken for dinner.

 

 

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