When people ask me what my favorite John Waters movie is, I have to place a tie between "Mondo Trasho" and "Female Trouble". Even though "Mondo Trasho" contains hardly any dialogue, it has that certain Waters touch that makes it a classic in my book. Divine, Mary Vivian Pearce, and David Lochary are the real stars of the show, but Mink Stole does a nice job as a topless tapdancer in an insane asylum. Divine looks gorgeous, as usual, and that little jiggle while walking down the Baltimore sidestreets in her gold lame pantsuit is undeniably sexy. Mary Vivian Pearce has her biggest role in her entire Waters career and resembles a trashy photocopy of Jean Harlow. David Lochary uses his lack of dialogue to an advantage by using outlandish facial expressions and matter-of-fact physical mannerisms. His expression of mixed surprise and disgust when Divine discovers him operating on Mary Vivian is hilarious! While there isn't a lot of great acting involved (save for the three aforementioned and Bernica Cipcus as the hillbilly nurse), the soundtrack is the real reason to watch the movie. If you don't love the movie as much as other Waters movies, just pop it into the VCR and listen for the music while cleaning up house, working with photo albums, God knows what else. Culled from Waters' personal album collection (and a few from his friends and parents, I'm sure), the music spans from rock and roll to opera, from jazz to acid rock. Of course, all of the music is illegally used with no regard for copyrights, which shows Waters' got some balls! But that sadly means that the possibility of this movie getting re-released is nil. It would cost a bloody fortune to buy the rights to music from Elvis Presley, Judy Garland, Frank Sinatra, Janis Joplin, Little Richard, Chuck Berry, and the hundreds of other artists featured here! But this should please all Waters fanatics and despite its lack of trademark Waters dialogue, it is wonderfully sleazy and appealing throughout.
Review of Mondo Trasho
