Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
Sonny Bono | ... | Franklin von Tussle | |
Ruth Brown | ... | Motormouth Maybelle | |
Divine | ... | Edna Turnblad / Arvin Hodgepile | |
Debbie Harry | ... | Velma Von Tussle | |
Ricki Lake | ... | Tracy Turnblad | |
Jerry Stiller | ... | Wilbur Turnblad | |
Vitamin C | ... | Amber von Tussle (as Colleen Fitzpatrick) | |
Michael St. Gerard | ... | Link Larkin | |
Leslie Ann Powers | ... | Penny Pingleton | |
Clayton Prince | ... | Seaweed | |
Mink Stole | ... | Tammy | |
Shawn Thompson | ... | Corny Collins | |
Ric Ocasek | ... | Beatnik Cat (special apperances) | |
Pia Zadora | ... | Beatnik Chick | |
Jo Ann Havrilla | ... | Prudence Pingleton (as Joann Havrilla) |
'Pleasantly Plump' teenager Tracy Turnblad achieves her dream of becoming a regular on the Corny Collins Dance Show. Now a teen hero, she starts using her fame to speak out for the causes she believes in, most of all integration. In doing so, she earns the wrath of the show's former star, Amber Von Tussle, as well as Amber's manipulative, pro-segregation parents. The rivalry comes to a head as Amber and Tracy vie for the title of Miss Auto Show 1963. Written by Jean-Marc Rocher <rocher@fiberbit.net>
Ricki Lake plays Tracy Turnblad, a short, chubby teen with big hair who loves to dance in "Hairspray," a 1988 John Waters film starring Divine, Deborah Harry, Sonny Bono, Ruth Brown, Jerry Stiller, and Mink Stole. "Hairspray" has now been immortalized on Broadway as an enormous, energetic, fabulously entertaining musical which kept the conceit of a man playing Tracy's mother, again with great success.
"Hairspray" is highly exaggerated in parts, which makes it extra funny, and Waters captures '60s Baltimore beautifully. Corny Collins, who is the Baltimore Dick Clark, would like nothing better than to integrate his television show, but blacks are only permitted to dance one night a week. The van Tussles are for segregation - that would be Sonny Bono, running for office, his wife Harry (on stage the former Miss Baltimore Crabs, in the film Miss Soft Crab). Harry's hairstyles are fantastic - HUGE - her last hairdo is in the form of an enormous loving cup.
When Tracy's friend Penny takes up with the son of an outspoken black woman, Motormouth Mabel (Ruth Brown), her hysterical mother has her kidnapped and put in the hands of a psychiatrist (Divine as a man) who tries to torture her to stop liking black men. It's so outrageous it's funny, and that's where Waters shows his talent. When Tracy gets a contract modeling for a plus-sized woman's shop, the owner's live ad on Corny's show begins, "Tubby, tubby, 2 x 4, can't get through the kitchen door." It's this madcap treatment that keeps any of this from being remotely offensive.
All the performances are delightful, and there's a nice turn by Pia Zadora as a black-haired beatnik chick.
"Hairspray" has a lot of warmth that emanates from Tracy and the Turnblad family, and the mood stays upbeat throughout the entire film as the characters dance through life, Tracy with an overlay of blonde hair over her dark flip. Great music, great fun. "Hairspray" in any version is wonderful.