https://wiki.sarg.dev/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Desperate_LivingDesperate Living - Revision history2026-06-07T22:01:16ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.44.2https://wiki.sarg.dev/index.php?title=Desperate_Living&diff=760095&oldid=prev199.27.175.35: Added the category, New Line Cinema films to the categories section of the article.2025-07-24T20:00:30Z<p>Added the category, New Line Cinema films to the categories section of the article.</p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{short description|1977 film by John Waters}}<br />
{{for|the Horse the Band album|Desperate Living (album)}}<br />
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}<br />
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2019}}<br />
{{Infobox film<br />
| name = Desperate Living<br />
| image = Desperate-living-poster.jpg<br />
| alt = <br />
| caption = Theatrical release poster<br />
| director = [[John Waters]]<br />
| writer = John Waters<br />
| producer = John Waters<br />
| starring = {{Plainlist|<br />
* [[Liz Renay]]<br />
* [[Mink Stole]]<br />
* [[Susan Lowe]]<br />
* [[Edith Massey (actress)|Edith Massey]]<br />
* [[Mary Vivian Pearce]]<br />
* [[Jean Hill (actress)|Jean Hill]]<br />
}}<br />
| cinematography = {{Plainlist|<br />
* Thomas Loizeaux<br />
* John Waters<br />
}}<br />
| editing = Charles Roggero<br />
| music = Chris Lobingier<br />
| studio = [[Dreamlanders|Dreamland]]<br />
| distributor = [[New Line Cinema]]<br />
| released = {{Film date|1977|5|27}}<br />
| runtime = 90 minutes<!--Theatrical runtime: 90:39--><ref>{{cite web|title=''Desperate Living'' (18) (!)|url=http://www.bbfc.co.uk/releases/desperate-living-1990|publisher=[[British Board of Film Classification]]|date=September 7, 1990|access-date=January 28, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305015951/http://www.bbfc.co.uk/releases/desperate-living-1990|archive-date=March 5, 2016}}</ref><br />
| country = United States<br />
| language = English<br />
| budget = $65,000<br />
}}<br />
'''''Desperate Living''''' is a 1977 American [[black comedy]] film directed, produced, and written by [[John Waters]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.allrovi.com/movies/movie/desperate-living-v13410|website=[[AllMovie]]|title=Desperate Living (1977)|last=Firsching|first=Robert|access-date=September 27, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110809075209/http://www.allrovi.com/movies/movie/desperate-living-v13410|archive-date=August 9, 2011}}</ref> The film stars [[Liz Renay]], [[Mink Stole]], [[Susan Lowe]], [[Edith Massey (actress)|Edith Massey]], [[Mary Vivian Pearce]], and [[Jean Hill (actress)|Jean Hill]].<br />
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It is the third installment of what Waters has labeled the "Trash Trilogy", which also includes ''[[Pink Flamingos]]'' (1972) and ''[[Female Trouble]]'' (1974), and the only one to not feature [[Divine (performer)|Divine]].{{sfn|Levy|2015|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=uwnSBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA282 282]}} The film generated a [[cult following]] around Renay, who appeared in at least two dozen other films.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://variety.com/2007/film/news/renay-was-a-cult-film-favorite-1117958264/|magazine=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|title=Renay was a cult film favorite|access-date=July 4, 2020|date=January 29, 2007}}</ref><br />
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Following the murder of her husband, a suburban housewife and her maid agree to be exiled to Mortville, a [[shanty town|shantytown]] ruled by a tyrannical [[queen regnant]].<br />
<br />
==Plot==<br />
[[Neurosis|Neurotic]] and delusional [[suburb]]an housewife Peggy Gravel and her overweight maid, Grizelda Brown, go on the lam after Grizelda smothers Peggy's husband Bosley to death. A cross-dressing policeman arrests the pair and gives them an ultimatum: go to jail or be exiled to Mortville, a filthy [[shantytown]] ruled by the evil Queen Carlotta and her [[treason]]ous daughter, Princess Coo-Coo.<br />
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Peggy and Grizelda choose Mortville, and engage in [[Women in prison film|lesbian prison sex]]. They become associates of self-hating lesbian [[Wrestling|wrestler]] Mole McHenry, who wants a [[Sex reassignment surgery|sex change]] to please her lover, Muffy St. Jacques. After confiscating a lottery ticket from Peggy, Mole wins the [[Maryland Lottery]] and uses the money to obtain [[gender reassignment surgery]] at [[Johns Hopkins Hospital]]. However, Muffy is repulsed by Mole's [[phalloplasty]] and insists he cut it off, so Mole gives himself a [[penectomy]].<br />
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Most of Mortville's social outcasts—criminals, [[Nudism|nudists]], and sexual deviants—conspire to overthrow Queen Carlotta, who banishes Coo-Coo after she elopes with a garbage collector named Herbert, whom Queen Carlotta's guards later shoot to death. Coo-Coo hides in Peggy and Grizelda's house with her dead lover. When Peggy betrays Coo-Coo to the Queen's guards, Grizelda fights them and dies when the house collapses on her. Peggy, however, joins the queen in terrorizing her subjects, even infecting them (and Princess Coo-Coo) with [[rabies]].<br />
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Eventually, Mortville's denizens, led by Mole, overthrow Queen Carlotta and execute Peggy by shooting a gun up her anus. To celebrate their freedom, the townsfolk roast Carlotta on a spit and serve her, pig-like, on a platter with an apple in her mouth.<br />
<br />
==Cast==<br />
{{Cast listing|<br />
* [[Liz Renay]] as Muffy St. Jacques<br />
* [[Mink Stole]] as Peggy Gravel<br />
* [[Susan Lowe]] as Mole McHenry<br />
* [[Edith Massey (actress)|Edith Massey]] as Queen Carlotta<br />
* [[Mary Vivian Pearce]] as Princess Coo-Coo<br />
* [[Jean Hill (actress)|Jean Hill]] as Grizelda Brown<br />
* Brook Blake as Bosley Gravel Jr.<br />
* Karen Gerwig as Beth Gravel<br />
* Al Strapelli as Dr. Evans<br />
* George Stover as Bosley Gravel<br />
* Turkey Joe as Sheriff Shitface<br />
* [[Ed Peranio]] as Lieutenant Williams<br />
* [[Channing Wilroy]] as Lieutenant Wilson<br />
* [[Paul Swift]] as Mr. Paul<br />
* [[George Figgs]] as Herbert<br />
* Marina Melin as Shina<br />
* [[Cookie Mueller]] as Flipper<br />
* Sharon Niesp as Shotsie<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Production==<br />
[[File:John Waters by David Shankbone.jpg|thumb|[[John Waters (filmmaker)|John Waters]]]]<br />
[[Art director]] [[Vincent Peranio]] built the exterior sets for Mortville on a 26-acre farm in [[Hampstead, Maryland]], owned by Waters' friend, [[Peter Koper]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Griffin|first=Chloe|title=Edgewise: A Picture of Cookie Mueller|title-link=Edgewise (book)|year=2014|publisher=b_books|isbn=978-3-942214-20-9|page=98}}</ref> The exterior sets were largely constructed of [[plywood]] and rubbish Peranio and Waters had collected from around Baltimore.{{sfn|Waters|1981|p=167}} Production manager [[Robert Maier]] recalled the challenges of shooting without adequate facilities, how the cast and crew overwhelmed the farm's septic system, how heavy rains nearly washed away the set, and how "charmed" Waters seemed through it all.{{sfn|Maier|2011|pp=116–122}}<br />
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The Mortville interiors were filmed in a 5000-sq-ft, second-story loft in a rented warehouse located in [[Fells Point, Baltimore]]. The space was unheated, noisy, and poorly suited for film production according to Maier.{{sfn|Maier|2011|pp=106–108}}<br />
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''Desperate Living'' was edited for 10 weeks in the basement of [[Film editor|editor]] Charles Roggero's home. It was Waters' first film with original music, by Chris Lobingier and Allen Yanus, to provide a "cheesy ''[[Doctor Zhivago (film)|Doctor Zhivago]]''-type score".{{sfn|Waters|1981|p=173}}<br />
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===Casting===<br />
''Desperate Living'' is the only feature film Waters made without Divine prior to the actor's death in 1988. Divine had to reluctantly back away from the film because he was committed to appearing in ''[[Women Behind Bars#1976 revival|Women Behind Bars]]''. [[Susan Lowe]], who had appeared in small or supporting roles in Waters' previous films, was chosen to take over for the role of Mole McHenry. This was also Waters' first film without [[David Lochary]], because of Lochary's addiction to drugs. Waters said, "The reason that David wasn't in ''Desperate Living'' is because of [[Phencyclidine|PCP]]. That's all that's to it. I know that's why he wasn't in the film, and he knows it, too."{{sfn|Levy|2015|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=uwnSBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA298 298]}} Lochary died a few weeks after the film's release, when he injured himself while under the influence of the drug.<ref>{{cite book |first=Dana |last=Heller |title=Hairspray |publisher=[[Wiley-Blackwell]] |location=Malden, Massachusetts |year=2011 |isbn=978-1-4051-9162-3 |page=17}}</ref><br />
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Waters had received a copy of Liz Renay's autobiography ''My Face for the World to See'' and wanted to offer her a role in the film. He went to see Renay in a [[burlesque]] show in Boston, then traveled to Los Angeles to offer her the role of Muffy St. Jacques. He offered her only a brief outline of the story, withholding some of the more graphic details for fear that she might refuse the role. Renay accepted the offer and flew to [[Baltimore]] for three weeks of shooting (which was, reportedly, all that the production could afford to pay Renay for her services).{{sfn|Waters|1981|p=162}}<br />
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==Release==<br />
{{More citations needed section|date=June 2025}}<br />
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As with Waters' previous films, the premiere was held in the auditorium of the [[University of Baltimore]]. A brief controversy arose when lesbian groups attacked the film for its depiction of lesbianism, and for taking the title of a defunct lesbian magazine.{{citation needed|date=June 2025}}<br />
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[[New Line Cinema]] blew the film up from [[16 mm film|16]] to [[35mm movie film|35 mm]] and opened it at [[Midnight movie|midnight]] in [[Manhattan]], though the original poster (featuring a cooked rat on a plate) was rejected by ''[[The New York Times]]'' to run, forcing a new poster to be created three days before the opening.{{citation needed|date=June 2025}} The new poster featured Liz Renay in a screaming pose, fashioned from a production still.<br />
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Critics from ''[[Good Housekeeping]]'' walked out of the film after 10 minutes.{{Citation needed|date=January 2022}} Otherwise, ''[[Playboy]]'' enjoyed the film, stating it had to be "seen to be believed". David Chute of ''[[The Phoenix (newspaper)|The Boston Phoenix]]'' said of the film: "In ''Desperate Living'', Waters comes close to creating a work of true trash art."{{Citation needed|date=January 2022}} <br />
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On the [[review aggregator]] website [[Rotten Tomatoes]], the film holds an approval rating of 70% based on 10 reviews, with an average rating of 5.9/10.<ref>{{rotten-tomatoes|desperate_living|Desperate Living}}</ref><br />
<br />
==References==<br />
{{Reflist}}<br />
<br />
===Bibliography===<br />
{{Refbegin}}<br />
* {{cite book|last=Levy|first=Emanuel|author-link=Emanuel Levy|year=2015|title=Gay Directors, Gay Films?|location=New York|publisher=[[Columbia University Press]]|isbn=978-0-231-15277-8}}<br />
* {{cite book|last=Maier|first=Robert|author-link=Robert Maier|title=Low Budget Hell: Making Underground Movies with John Waters|publisher=Full Page Publishing|year=2011|isbn=978-0-9837708-0-0}}<br />
* {{cite book|last=Waters|first=John|author-link=John Waters|url=https://archive.org/details/shockvaluetastef0000john|title=Shock Value: A Tasteful Book About Bad Taste|location=New York|publisher=[[Dell Publishing|Delta]]|year=1981|isbn=978-0-440-55067-9|url-access=registration}}<br />
{{Refend}}<br />
<br />
==External links==<br />
{{wikiquote}}<br />
* {{IMDb title}}<br />
* {{Rotten Tomatoes|2=Desperate Living}}<br />
* {{AFI film}}<br />
* {{TCMDb title}}<br />
<br />
{{John Waters}}<br />
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Desperate Living}}<br />
[[Category:1977 films]]<br />
[[Category:1977 black comedy films]]<br />
[[Category:1977 crime films]]<br />
[[Category:1977 independent films]]<br />
[[Category:1977 LGBTQ-related films]]<br />
[[Category:1970s American films]]<br />
[[Category:1970s crime comedy films]]<br />
[[Category:1970s English-language films]]<br />
[[Category:1970s satirical films]]<br />
[[Category:American black comedy films]]<br />
[[Category:American crime comedy films]]<br />
[[Category:American independent films]]<br />
[[Category:American LGBTQ-related films]]<br />
[[Category:American satirical films]]<br />
[[Category:English-language black comedy films]]<br />
[[Category:English-language crime comedy films]]<br />
[[Category:English-language independent films]]<br />
[[Category:Films about cannibalism]]<br />
[[Category:Films about female bisexuality]]<br />
[[Category:Films about incest]]<br />
[[Category:Films about mother–daughter relationships]]<br />
[[Category:Films about queens]]<br />
[[Category:Films about rebellions]]<br />
[[Category:Films about trans men]]<br />
[[Category:Films about rabies]]<br />
[[Category:Films directed by John Waters]]<br />
[[Category:Films produced by John Waters]]<br />
[[Category:Films set in Baltimore]]<br />
[[Category:Films shot in Baltimore]]<br />
[[Category:Films with screenplays by John Waters]]<br />
[[Category:Lesbian-related films]]<br />
[[Category:LGBTQ-related black comedy films]]<br />
[[Category:LGBTQ-related satirical films]]<br />
[[Category:LGBTQ-related crime comedy films]]<br />
[[Category:New Line Cinema films]]</div>199.27.175.35