Mondo Trasho
Encyclopedia
Mondo film
A mondo film is an exploitation documentary film, sometimes resembling a pseudo-documentary, usually depicting sensational topics, scenes, and situations...
black comedy film
Black comedy
A black comedy, or dark comedy, is a comic work that employs black humor or gallows humor. The definition of black humor is problematic; it has been argued that it corresponds to the earlier concept of gallows humor; and that, as humor has been defined since Freud as a comedic act that anesthetizes...
by Baltimore, Maryland filmmaker John Waters
John Waters (filmmaker)
John Samuel Waters, Jr. is an American filmmaker, actor, stand-up comedian, writer, journalist, visual artist, and art collector, who rose to fame in the early 1970s for his transgressive cult films...
starring Divine, Mary Vivian Pearce
Mary Vivian Pearce
Mary Vivian Pearce is an American actress. She has worked primarily in the films of John Waters.Pearce is the childhood best friend of John Waters and has appeared as an actress in all of his films. Because of her work with Waters, she is considered one of the Dreamlanders, Waters' ensemble of...
, David Lochary
David Lochary
David Crawford Lochary was one of the regular "Dreamlander" actors in early films of the controversial "trash" film director John Waters. He starred in such films as Pink Flamingos, Female Trouble, and Multiple Maniacs, in which he typically played exotically-dressed, sophisticated perverts...
and Mink Stole
Mink Stole
Nancy Paine Stoll better known by the stage name Mink Stole, is an American actress from Baltimore, Maryland. She began her career working for director John Waters, having appeared in all of his feature films to date...
. It contains very little dialogue, the story being told mostly through musical cues.
Plot
After an introductory sequence during which chickens are beheaded on a chopping block, the main action begins. Platinum blond bombshell Mary Vivian PearceMary Vivian Pearce
Mary Vivian Pearce is an American actress. She has worked primarily in the films of John Waters.Pearce is the childhood best friend of John Waters and has appeared as an actress in all of his films. Because of her work with Waters, she is considered one of the Dreamlanders, Waters' ensemble of...
begins her day by riding the bus and reading Kenneth Anger
Kenneth Anger
Kenneth Anger is an American underground experimental filmmaker, occasional actor and author...
's Hollywood Babylon
Hollywood Babylon
Hollywood Babylon is a book by avant-garde filmmaker Kenneth Anger which details the sordid scandals of many famous and infamous Hollywood denizens from the 1900s to the 1950s. First published in the US in 1965, it was banned ten days later and would not be republished until 1975...
.
Bombshell is later seduced by Danny Mills, a hippie
Hippie
The hippie subculture was originally a youth movement that arose in the United States during the mid-1960s and spread to other countries around the world. The etymology of the term 'hippie' is from hipster, and was initially used to describe beatniks who had moved into San Francisco's...
degenerate "shrimper" (foot fetish
Foot Fetish
Foot Fetish is the first solo studio album by the Jackyl's lead singer, Jesse James Dupree.- Track listing :All songs written by Jesse James Dupree except where noted.# "Mainline" – 3:25 # "First Taste of Freedom" – 3:53...
ist), who starts molesting her feet while she fantasizes about being Cinderella
Cinderella
"Cinderella; or, The Little Glass Slipper" is a folk tale embodying a myth-element of unjust oppression/triumphant reward. Thousands of variants are known throughout the world. The title character is a young woman living in unfortunate circumstances that are suddenly changed to remarkable fortune...
. She is then hit by a car driven by Divine, a portly blonde who was trying to pick up an attractive hitchhiker whom she imagines naked. Divine places her in the car and drives distractedly around Baltimore experiencing bizarre situations, such as repeated visits by the Mother Mary (Margie Skidmore) - during which Divine exclaims, "Oh Mary ... teach me to be Divine". Divine finally takes the unconscious Bombshell to Dr. Coathanger (David Lochary
David Lochary
David Crawford Lochary was one of the regular "Dreamlander" actors in early films of the controversial "trash" film director John Waters. He starred in such films as Pink Flamingos, Female Trouble, and Multiple Maniacs, in which he typically played exotically-dressed, sophisticated perverts...
), who amputates
Amputation
Amputation is the removal of a body extremity by trauma, prolonged constriction, or surgery. As a surgical measure, it is used to control pain or a disease process in the affected limb, such as malignancy or gangrene. In some cases, it is carried out on individuals as a preventative surgery for...
her feet and replaces them with bird-like monster feet which she can tap together to transport herself around Baltimore.
Cast
- Mary Vivian PearceMary Vivian PearceMary Vivian Pearce is an American actress. She has worked primarily in the films of John Waters.Pearce is the childhood best friend of John Waters and has appeared as an actress in all of his films. Because of her work with Waters, she is considered one of the Dreamlanders, Waters' ensemble of...
as The Bombshell / Cinderella - Divine as Divine / Greaser in Alley
- David LocharyDavid LocharyDavid Crawford Lochary was one of the regular "Dreamlander" actors in early films of the controversial "trash" film director John Waters. He starred in such films as Pink Flamingos, Female Trouble, and Multiple Maniacs, in which he typically played exotically-dressed, sophisticated perverts...
as Asylum Inmate / Dr. Coathanger / Voice of Snob #2 - Mink StoleMink StoleNancy Paine Stoll better known by the stage name Mink Stole, is an American actress from Baltimore, Maryland. She began her career working for director John Waters, having appeared in all of his feature films to date...
as Homeless Woman / Asylum Inmate / Snob #1 - Danny Mills as The Hippie Foot Fetishist / Prince Charming
- Bob Skidmore as Asylum Personnel / Policeman
- Margie Skidmore as Shocked Mother in Park / The Virgin Mary
- Berenica Cipcus as Evil Stepsister #1 / Asylum Inmate / Dr. Coathanger's Nurse
- Chris Atkinson
- Lizzy Temple Black as The Virgin Mary's Assistant
- Mark Isherwood as The HitchhikerHitchhikingHitchhiking is a means of transportation that is gained by asking people, usually strangers, for a ride in their automobile or other road vehicle to travel a distance that may either be short or long...
- George FiggsGeorge FiggsGeorge Figgs is an American actor and projectionist. He began his career portrayingcharacters in the early films of John Waters. Because of his work with Waters, he is considered one of the Dreamlanders, Waters' ensemble of regular cast and crew members.Figgs is a film historian interested in...
as Asylum Inmate / Man in Waiting Room - Susan LoweSusan LoweSusan Lowe is an American actress and artist who has appeared primarily in the works of John Waters for most of her career...
as Asylum Inmate - Marina Melin as Asylum Inmate
- Rick Morrow as News Photographer
- Mimi Lochary as Snob #2
- John Leisenring as The Shrimper / Prince Charming / Asylum Inmate
- Pat Moran as Dr. Coathanger's secretary
- Bob Walsh as Shocked Laundromat Patron
- Susan WalshSusan WalshSusan Walsh was an American actress. She worked primarily in the films of John Waters. Because of her work with Waters, she is considered one of the Dreamlanders, Waters' ensemble of regular cast and crew members.-Biography:...
(uncredited) as Shocked Laundromat Patron - John WatersJohn Waters (filmmaker)John Samuel Waters, Jr. is an American filmmaker, actor, stand-up comedian, writer, journalist, visual artist, and art collector, who rose to fame in the early 1970s for his transgressive cult films...
as Reporter (voice) - Patricia Waters as Little Girl
- Tricia Waters as Little Girl
Production
Depending on versions of the story; either Waters or the whole crew (except Divine) was either arrested or nearly arrested during production for illegally shooting a scene involving a nude hitchhikerHitchhiking
Hitchhiking is a means of transportation that is gained by asking people, usually strangers, for a ride in their automobile or other road vehicle to travel a distance that may either be short or long...
on the campus of Johns Hopkins University
Johns Hopkins University
The Johns Hopkins University, commonly referred to as Johns Hopkins, JHU, or simply Hopkins, is a private research university based in Baltimore, Maryland, United States...
.
Title
The film's title refers to a series of semi-related quasi-documentary filmDocumentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
s that were popular during the 1960s: Mondo Cane
Mondo cane
Mondo cane is a documentary written and directed by Italian filmmakers Paolo Cavara, Franco Prosperi and Gualtiero Jacopetti. The film consists of a series of travelogue vignettes that provide glimpses into cultural practices around the world with the intention to shock or surprise Western film...
, Mondo Freudo, Mondo Bizarro
Mondo Bizarro
Mondo Bizarro is the twelfth studio album by the American punk band the Ramones, released in 1992 . It featured their new bassist, Christopher Joseph Ward , who replaced departed member Dee Dee Ramone. Mondo Bizarro was the group’s first studio album in three years...
, etc. The title also pays tribute to Mondo Topless
Mondo Topless
Mondo Topless is a 1966 pseudo documentary directed by Russ Meyer, featuring Babette Bardot and Lorna Maitland among others. It was Meyer's first color film following a string of black & white "roughie nudies", including Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! While a straightforward sexploitation film, the...
, a film by one of Waters' favorite directors, Russ Meyer
Russ Meyer
Russell Albion "Russ" Meyer was a U.S. motion picture director, producer, screenwriter, cinematographer, editor, actor and photographer....
.
Music
Waters, in a 2008 interview, stated that the songs used in the film were taken right out of his own record collection. Waters says he did not pay the proper licensing feesMusic licensing
Music licensing is the licensed use of copyrighted music. Music licensing is intended to ensure that the creators of musical works get paid for their work. A purchaser of recorded music owns the media on which the music is stored, not the music itself...
to use these songs because he could not afford to. It is because of this, Waters says, that Mondo Trasho remains unreleased, as the still unsecured music rights would be too prohibitively expensive to clear.
Reception
Mondo Trasho currently holds a 50% 'Fresh' rating on Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
.
Waters himself has stated that he does not care for this movie, and claims it should have been a short-film instead of a feature.