User reviews

Although John Waters is best known for "Pink Flamingos", his two best films are "Female Trouble" and "Desperate Living". Why? Well, as far as "Female Trouble" is concerned, it is the film that invented Dawn Davenport (Divine), one of the trashiest white schoolgirl tramps ever to strut her stuff in a pair of cha-cha heels. Dawn's amazing life is documented in this film and it's a cracker from beginning to end. You will laugh, you will cry, you will vomit and you will die as you behold the deliciously disgraceful antics of the indefatigable queen of crime and sleaze.

All the delightful Waters regulars (the achingly gorgeous Edith Massey, the fantastically filthy David Lochary, the marvellous Mink Stole and the putrid Ms. Mary Vivian Pearce) are paraded about like proud circus exhibits as Waters' weaves a rags to bitches story of one woman's rise from the suburbs of Baltimore to her fall in a city without pity.

Certainly this was one of the first films to explore the issue of criminals becoming celebrities. Dawn Davenport's ascent to the ceiling of crime is hilarious and perceptive and Waters clearly knew where all this was going. For mine, Waters lost his zing after "Desperate Living" when his movies got softer and his characters started turning up on TV shows like "Wally George", "Jerry Springer" and the earlier "Oprah" eps. What was fresh when Waters started doing it felt redundant when he kept doing it into the eighties and nineties.

Divine is, was and always will be a legend, and I consider myself fortunate that I once spent half an hour chatting with the great man and actor. Vincent Peranio's production design is spectacularly obnoxious and Van Smith's costumes, as always, are knitted from the threads of trash heaven.

Waters does not put a foot wrong and ends proceedings on a surprisingly emotional note.

I am at a complete loss to understand why this film was not nominated for an Oscar for costuming, makeup and set decoration. It had the most outrageous costuming that I have ever seen. The sets were so hideous that they made me nauseous. The makeup was beyond belief.

That was the good things about the film that featured an outrageous star in Divine, a transvestite that played Dawn Davenport. He was so over the top that I couldn't take my eyes off the screen.

This is the first John Waters (Hairspray, Pecker) film that I have seen. He is definitely on the cutting edge in outrageous humor, horror, and satire.

This film on the outrageous cult of celebrity is no more outrageous than the current obsession in the media with Paris Hilton.

If you haven't seen a John Waters film, check out the Sundance Channel for this one.

This film is my favorite of all time! All of the great elements of John Waters' films mesh together perfectly in this hilarious romp that operates around the theme of 'crime is beauty.' All of the classic John Waters' actors are here, and most of them give their best performances. John Waters has said that this film is the 'ultimate Divine vehicle', and he's right. Her look literally changes every ten minutes as she mutates from a teenage hair hopper with an attitude to an unwed, abusive mother, to crime fashion model to death row inmate. Divine also has a small male role as the father of her own illegitimate child. Edith Massey, my personal favorite actress, gives her funniest and best realized performance as Aunt Ida, the bitter, veangful fag hag who lives next door. This is not the most accesible of Waters' films, and truthfully, this probably isn't the one to start with if you're not yet a fan (I would recommend Polyester or Hairspray in that case), but if you want to see an early work thats not quite as gross as the others, check it out! Waters himself says that this is his favorite of his underground films.

"Female Trouble" is one of John Water's best movies, probably the best of his pre-respectable (read: pre-"Hairspray") flicks. Posessing a much more strong (and bizarre) plotline than the also brilliant "Pink Flamingos", "Female Trouble" documents the exploits of Dawn Davenport, a horrible juvenial delinquent turned criminal played by the unbeatable Divine.

This was Water's last film to features his entire original ensemble of actors (Divine, David Lochary, Mink Stole, Mary Vivian Pierce, and Edith Massey) and each has a memorable and hilarious role. Stole steals the show as Dawn's "retarded" 14 year old daughter, but Edith Massey is also great as Aunt Ida, who constantly urges her nephew Gator to turn gay ("The world of the heterosexual is a sick and boring life!").

The scene where Dawn hits Ida on the head with a fish is worth the whole price of admission. Recommended!!!

Devine was certainly no stranger to trash films when John Waters assembled the cast of this Baltimore gem, and it shows. Devine is gregarious, derisive at times, a stunning fem fatale who nearly steals the show as both Dawn Davenport, and her alter-ego, Earl, who staggers and lurches his way into our hearts. This film is one of the few times Devine did male drag, and he pulls it off with astonishing effect. Mink Stole is priceless as Taffy, Dawn's long suffering daughter, and of course who could forget Edith Massey as the torturous Aunt Ida and Dawn's nemesis. Almost as brilliant are the performances of Mary-Vivian Pearce and David Lochary, the demented couple who, after interviewing her to become a client in their Le' Lipstick beauty salon, befriend Dawn and encourage her into a fetid and ribald modeling career. Yes, it's shameless, destined for ruin, utterly unbelievable, and I loved every minute of it. Water's dialog is vehement, abominable, and not to be equaled. It's a shame that he hasn't been able to find replacement versions of Devine and Massey. It was the unorthodoxy of his whole approach to film in the 1970s that endeared thousands and made Devine a gay household name. I hope one day he can return to his roots and get down to building more fine trash.

God bless John Waters. He's made some of the best, crudest feel-good movies, and this is one of his crowning achievements. It's amazing how his film, ugly-looking and full of lipstick-smeared freaks, can feel positive and upbeat; while he's mocking everything in sight, he doesn't stand back and protect himself with irony or winks -- he jumps right in there, and that involvement, that energy, is easy to see and feel. It's amazing that he can feature masturbation with needle-nose pliers, beating a child with a chair, a game of "car accident," and Divine literally screwing himself and not have it be off-putting.

The very idea that Waters uses a fat transvestite with a beehive hairdo to illustrate his scorn for school shows he's not so interested in subtlety. And Divine is awesome, as always, his prissy, gravely scream -- a freak you want on your side. This is one of Waters' best satirical attempts -- there are digs at hippies and Hare Krishnas, and two scenes in particular are very prophetic: the gay encouraging, and the killing for art. Waters even mocks his own shameless exhibitionism in the testimony of the Dashers. 9/10

This really isn't a movie for everyone, but over the years I have been introduced to John Waters movies and they re my guilty pleasure! Before John Waters became mainstream, he made a whole series of art-house movies like this using grotesque characters and ridiculous story lines, but somehow they worked. I guess you gotta be a little weird and twisted in the head to enjoy them!!!! He should not be dismissed as a Director who's out to shock you for the sake of it, he's showing you a slice of life that most of us have no real knowledge about. Of course, all the characters are larger than life (in more ways than one!!!). I enjoy his style of movie making - it may be quite amateur in his early days, but you can see that his skill improves with each movie. I'm not ashamed to say that I enjoy a lot of his work!! Mark my words, this movie is certainly NOT for everybody!!! Make sure you know what you are letting yourself in for before you watch it!!!! It's pretty gross in places!! It's so tasteless it's good!!!!

Female Trouble marks the last time the Waters' Dreamland crew works together. Divine plays two characters Dawn Davenport and Earl. This has to be Divine's finest hour in acting. Waters' subject matter and themes presented in this film still hold true to this day. This is my favorite John Waters film. He balances the humor and gross out set pieces perfectly. They compliment each other instead of overpowering one another. John Waters obsession with serial killers and their ilk is strongly represented here.

Female Trouble was shot on 16mm , in color and has been shown in several different running times.

Highly recommended.

A+

I watched the 97 minute version. This and Pink Flamingos was lent to me by a friend of mine, and they are my first and only exposure to Waters, other than his guest appearance in an episode of The Simpsons and his role in Seed of Chucky. Well, I'm not a fan. I would have to say that this is the better of the two. Instead of being one long excuse to shock and put the nastiest things they could think of onto the screen(this may have the same amount, but in a much lesser range), this has genuine plot and even sort of a point... crime as beauty(seemingly related to Charles Manson and his "family"), and the pursuit of the latter. Well, yeah, it's *strange*... remember who we're dealing with. The substance does help this considerably(a little absurd stuff is better than absolutely nothing). There are a couple of funny lines(such as the one in my summary), if on the whole, I didn't find this humorous(the "don't want eggs" bit was amusing), only offensive. Not a lot of it is in the language, it's largely visual and in the occurrences. Divine is yet again wearing excessive make-up, and again there are characters with odd names wearing weird clothes and hair being obnoxious and not necessarily credible. While the dialog is not as repetitive, and doesn't feel as improvised and "ok, guys, we only have time for one take so keep going if you flub a line" as in the earlier movie, it's not impressive. Performances are decent, same for the FX. This has a little good music. The technical aspects remain underwhelming. There is a moderate measure of sex and full frontal nudity of both genders in this. I recommend this to those who enjoy John's work, or find what I describe here to be appealing. 6/10

I will never be the same after watching this movie, it was gross, vulgar, tasteless, ostentatious and not very funny. If you have ever had to step around a puddle of vomit in front of a beer joint, you will be familiar with this movie.

Funnily enough, around the time that Divine sits in the crib with the pile of dead fish I started thinking about the words of the Bomb Squad's Hank Shocklee - "If they want noise, let's give them NOISE!" Yes, friends, Waters is the queer Public Enemy, tying identity to culture, cranking the most alienating elements of same to 11, and losing great chunks of his own demographic in the spectacular, chaotic process. This was made right off the midnight-movie success of "Pink Flamingos", and presumably this facilitated a budget, and presumably this led to the extra notch of competence that keeps the movie barreling forward from beginning to end - there's even an original theme song, plus thirty glorious seconds of Nervous Norvus singing "H-I-P". In most underground movies a scene featuring the lead actor, in two roles, raping himself for two full minutes - and THEN taking off his pants - would be the climax, not the inciting incident! And Edith "Flav" Massey yelling "NO I don't want any god damn eggs!" is an even better inversion than the new Bond's martini line. A triumphant cinematic masterpiece.

The major reason why John Waters has emerged as one of the most distinctive American filmmakers with his early cheap and trashy flicks in the 70s and why people still watch them as cult classics is that they brutally expose, with amplification, the hideous reality of the U.S. suburb under its beautiful surface. One of his early masterpieces, Female Trouble, presents such suburbia stigmas as dysfunctional family, rape, teenage pregnancy, and domestic violence, in a straightforward and realistic (for Waters) story.

Waters photographs and edits by himself; his frequent technique (up to this work) of introducing a scene with a CU of an object then zooming out looks amateurish but works well in the context. The leading actor/actress, miraculous drag queen Divine's trampoline performance before the catastrophe is just unforgettable.

I'm a student of film, I've seen well over 1,000 70s films and many of Waters' films, so I get why this is loved. But let's be honest, moving past the cult features of the movie, it's really awful in just about every way. This may have played well when I was a 20 year old in my college suite, but for anyone else, this movie borders on unwatchable. Of course it's depraved, etc. that's the whole point of all these movies. 40+ years ago it may have been shocking, in 2017 it's just silly.

This is John Waters at his zenith. In ten minutes time this film has more hilarious, outrageous humor than most other underground, drive in films do in their entirety. Like with PINK FLAMINGOES it deserves accolades for it's sheer tasteless audacity. It is consistently funny, unrelentingly perverse, obnoxious, and ugly. Just like you would expect. It also has Waters film trademark of having the actors shout their lines instead of saying them.

This is much more of a solid satire than many may originally presume. In some ways it was way ahead of it's time. It keenly shows the cult of celebrity and the desperation some have to obtain it. How skewered the famous and infamous have become and our over emphasis on beauty. It also shows how the media exploits the desperate and causes the distorted image.

Above all though this is really Divine's vehicle. She (he) steals every scene she is in. Even just watching her do modeling poses or dancing on a bar top is hilarious. She also writes and performs the opening song and even plays a male character that has sex with her female character (very well edited). There's also one inglorious moment where you even see the close up of his genitals.

For those with the right mentality this is pure entertainment. It's also has a perverse brilliance that has lost non of it's edge of potency.

8 out of 10

John Waters fans usually acknowledge "Desperate Living" as John Waters' true masterpiece of filmmaking. Just one problem with that film: no Divine! Sure, "Desperate Living" is a great film, but Divine is just someone that goes hand-in-hand with Waters (like Joe Dallesandro with Paul Morrissey). Even though "Female Trouble" is lesser known than "Desperate Living" or "Pink Flamingos", it is better than those two films put together! John Waters' first film with an actual coherent script and plotline, Divine gives the performance of her career as Dawn Davenport, the juvenile delinquent turned full-time criminal. All of the best Waters alumni are here (only missing later star Jean Hill) and are their best: David Lochary as Donald Dasher, Mary Vivian Pearce as Donna Dasher, Mink Stole as Taffy, Cookie Mueller and Susan Walsh as Dawn's sleazy cohorts, Susan Lowe as a bitchy secretary, and last but definitely not least, Edith Massey as bizarro Aunt Ida! Anyone even remotely interested in why Waters is world-reknowned as the Prince of Puke should start here; it's not too mainstream for Waters fanatics and not TOO bizarre for the mainstream crowd who love him for "Hairspray" and "Pecker". "Female Trouble" features Waters' best writing to date (50% of the lines are instant classics), best costume design, best set design, and best gimmick (Divine raping "himself"!). Even though this is the pinnacle of John Waters' career, it is still pretty hard to find on video. A re-release is in the works for sometime this year to coincide with Waters' new movie "Cecil B. Demented", followed by a welcome video release. This new version will include enhanced video and audio quality and plenty of long-lost scenes!!! A European cut is available from Castle Video, featuring much of the lost footage promised for this year's re-release!

Female Trouble is John Waters' follow up to his breakthrough hit Pink Flamingos and anyone that saw that movie will know exactly what to expect. With this film, Waters delivers yet more bad taste and trashiness; although it's slightly higher quality than the earlier film was and the plot has some extra depth. I think a viewer's opinion on John Waters will largely depend on what exactly they want from movies and thus this is not a film for everyone...and it didn't do much for me. The lead character is Dawn Davenport, a spoilt schoolgirl that wants a pair of cha-cha heels from her parents for Christmas. She doesn't get what she wants, so the brat decides to run away from home, ends up having an illegitimate child and gets involved with a couple of photographers that like to photograph women during acts of crime because that, apparently, is sexy. Davenport eventually makes something of a name for herself; but her fame comes at a price and she ends up on the run from the cops.

This film does have more depth than Pink Flamingos; but it's still all about style. No matter what you think of the film itself, you have to take your hat off to Waters for the style of the film, which is completely bizarre and unique. The set design and costumes are completely over the top and this compliments the absurd and disgusting humour well. It's obvious that this film was made on a very low budget; and Waters clearly couldn't afford any good actors. The film does benefit from the presence of Divine, however; the trashy transvestite who delivers another unforgettable performance as Waters' leading 'lady'. The film takes a turn for the surreal on several occasions and Waters adds in plenty of social satire; some of which works (but most of which doesn't go anywhere). The film doesn't pull any punches, and although it is less disgusting than the earlier effort; there's still plenty to make the audience vomit. The structure of the film holds it together well until the ending and Waters does at least tell a story. Anyone that enjoys this sort of stuff will no doubt be in heaven with this trash-fest...but I doubt I'll ever see it again.

Well, my curiosity got the better of me; I caved and watched another Waters film, and this time, not alone. I watched this movie with Karl (the roommate) and Chad (the cinephile we mention on the podcast constantly), and I dare say all of us enjoyed this (as much as one 'enjoys' a Waters movie- the first time through it's more an experience than anything else). I would actually go so far as to say that this film was a bit tamer than "Desperate Living", even though "Female Troubles" is rated NC-17 (it would be an easy 'R' by today's standards). This was also the first movie I watched with Waters' muse, Divine, the large and loud transvestite that starred in seven of Waters' features. While I wouldn't say that any of the movies I've seen from Waters are cinematic masterpieces, they are undoubtedly works of John Waters, and they couldn't be confused with films from any other director. Say what you want about the way Waters' films might look cheap and unpolished, they still have more of a voice than ninety percent of the comedy films that come out today. I can guarantee that I'll remember small details from this film for far longer than I remember anything at all about this year's "Tag". His films might not look amazing, but they shout truths and opinions at you until you throw your hands up and relent.

Absolutely the grossest movie I've ever seen all done without gore which I have to give John Waters some credit for. It has been a long time since I saw this movie but some scenes will probably be with me for life. My first sense that this might not be the movie for me is when I noticed I was the only female in the theater. I had to bail about 20 minutes from the end. My ex-husband watched the rest without me. Anyway not recommended for women or most men. It might be of use for preventing pregnancy with teen girls.

Of all events that had the greatest impact on changing my view of the cultural world, this film had the greatest impact. Relatively square throughout my high school and college years, I came upon this film around 25 and immediately thought and wondered who these people were! Who made films like this?! Who were these actors? I was fascinated to learn that a whole subset of cultural creators existed that I knew nothing about, and so my journey into John Waters, Andy Warhol, Russ Meyer and many more began and has never ended - all thanks to seeing this amazing film for the first time. True story, folks.

I'm quite sure if I had saw this trash movie on my teenage years, I'll put it as low rate, if before turn off the TV, now with mature brain it sounds an Art movie developed to provoke a reaction from the usual heterosexual status at seventies, however Waters made a grotesque picture using those hidden character as Divine, a drag Queen, that arose in the scenario in many places in the world, the storyline is absolute rubbish on purpose to impact the viewers, many critics turn down their noses for that, however the picture became Cult through the time, not for all taste of course, nevertheless is impossible disregard the Waters's talent, he made something weird really, with nasty characters, dysfunctional family, introducing stereotyped gay character, one the most impressive certainly was Auntie Ida (Edith Massy) suggesting Gater to have a homosexual relationship, simply amusing, apart all lewd lines the picture is watchable, Waters dared make it, these people really exist, a true achievement!!!

Resume:

First watch: 2020 / How many: 1 / Source: DVD / Rating: 7.5

Maybe this prefetched shows like Jerry Springer or videos of grotesque acts on YouTube, or maybe it spoke to the counterculture or marginalized people in its satire of suburbia, I don't know ... but it just wasn't for me. The film has only one gear during its all-out assault on conformity, with Waters probably delighting his fans and causing discomfort to his detractors, but for me, the awful, screaming characters and shock moments got boring pretty quickly.