John Waters gives the 50s and 60s Hollywood soap opera 'women's pictures' a good kick up the dirtbox with his scattergun film-making in POLYESTER.
Divine stars the put-upon heroine, for the first time playing a character not based on his own persona.
Where did it go wrong for suburban housewife Francine Fishpaw? Neglected by her husband Elmer who runs the local sex cinema and is sleeping with his secretary, and ignored by her two children Lu-Lu who go-go dances everywhere and Dexter who is secretly the rampaging Baltimore Footstomper.
Even her mother and the family dog hate her; her only friend is her former maid Cuddles who has recently inherited a lot of money and dreams of becoming a debutante.
Francine turns to alcohol but that's when her super-sensitive nose sniffs out sexy hunk Todd Tomorrow who swears undying love... is happiness calling for Francine?
Shelf or charity shop? I think POLYESTER can happily live in the DVD plastic storage box but I always forget how enjoyable it is - even if my 40 year-old Oderama card has long since lost it's whiff. Divine is great as Francine with her Liz Taylor hair, purring voice and outraged dignity; he really was a great comedic actor. The real revelation is Tab Hunter, the first real Hollywood star Waters ever cast who is an absolute riot as the manager of an Arthouse cinema that screens Marguerite Duras triple-bills, he even gets to sing the title song, one of three in the film co-written by Deborah Harry. For Waters fans, there is the joy of spotting his 'Dreamland rep' - Mink Stole is sexy secretary Sandra with her Bo Derek corn-rows, Cookie Mueller and Susan Lowe as victims of the Baltimore Footstomper, Mary Vivian Pearce as a manic nun, Jean Hill as a revenge-seeking preacher after having been whacked in the arse by a broom, and of course, Edith Massey as Cuddles, dreaming of her debutante ball and "batchelor cotillions". Sadly these were the last appearances from Edith and Cookie who both died during the 1980s.
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