Hairspray DVD

Hairspray
Forever interested in the kitsch built into past eras, director John Waters chooses the TV dance show craze of the early '60s for his playful focus in Hairspray. Ricki Lake plays Tracy Turnblad, just one of several alliteratively named characters coming of age in 1962 Baltimore, where "The Corny Collins Show" is the most popular American Bandstand-type program, watched by hundreds of young dreamers each day after school. Being chosen to dance on it is the ultimate status symbol and every young girl's dream, and Tracy improbably wins a featured spot when she infiltrates a dance contest and makes a better impression than her favored rival, the catty Amber von Tussle (Colleen Fitzpatrick). Always able to have fun, even when she's being mocked by the jealous popular girls, Tracy wins the affections of Amber's boyfriend and soon begins leading a movement to integrate the dance show, which has previously featured blacks only in a once-weekly theme night. She is arrested following a demonstration at a local theme park owned by Amber's father (Sonny Bono), who subscribes to the same theory of race relations as "The Corny Collins Show." Tracy's adventures are also filtered through her loving but eccentric parents (Divine and Jerry Stiller) and involve a humorous cultural clash with pot-smoking beatniks (Ric Ocasek and Pia Zadora). ~ Derek Armstrong, All Movie Guide

Cast Ricki Lake as Tracy Turnblad Michael St. Gerard as Link Larkin Divine as Edna Turnblad Colleen Fitzpatrick as Amber von Tussle Sonny Bono as Franklin von Tussle Ruth Brown as Motormouth Maybell Deborah Harry as Velma Von Tussle Leslie Ann Powers as Penny Pingleton Clayton Prince as Seaweed Jerry Stiller as Wilbur Turnblad Mink Stole as Tammy Shawn Thompson as Corny Collins Ric Ocasek as Beatnik Cat

Crew Vincent Peranio - Art Director Pat Moran - Casting Mary Colquhoun - Casting Edward Love - Choreography Stanley F. Buchthal - Co-producer John Waters - Co-producer Rachel Talalay - Co-producer Van Smith - Costume Designer John Waters - Director Janice Hampton - Editor Sara Risher - Executive Producer Robert Shaye - Executive Producer Robert Maier - Line Producer Kenny Vance - Composer (Music Score) Bonnie Greenberg - Musical Direction/Supervision Rachel Sweet - Songwriter George Weiss - Songwriter Alonzo B. Willis - Songwriter Andy Williams - Songwriter Ike Turner - Songwriter Kathie Venetoulis - Songwriter Otis Hayes - Songwriter Jerry Dallman - Songwriter Milton Grant - Songwriter Ray Bryant - Songwriter Hugo and Luigi - Songwriter Curtis Mayfield - Songwriter Anthony Battaglia - Songwriter Willa Bassen - Songwriter Toussaint McCall - Songwriter Eddie Morrison - Songwriter Barbary Lynn Ozen - Songwriter Verlie Rice - Songwriter Aaron Collins - Songwriter Van Smith - Makeup David Insley - Cinematographer Robert Shaye - Producer Sara Risher - Producer Rachel Talalay - Producer Robert Maier - Producer Rick Angelella - Sound/Sound Designer John Waters - Screen Story John Waters - Screenwriter Ned Washington - Featured Music Dimitri Tiomkin - Featured Music

Hairspray
Given his fondness for unrestrained envelope pushing, including one of the most graphic films ever to receive wide release (1973's Pink Flamingos), Hairspray seems like a real departure for John Waters, in content if not sensibility. Even with its PG rating and overarching cheeriness, it's still not for everyone -- and Waters wouldn't have it any other way. Future talk show mainstay Ricki Lake has Waters to thank for her breakthrough into popular awareness, and has rewarded him with several collaborations even after achieving large-scale success. In her first prominent role, she embodies the grinning damn-it-all mentality of her director, achieving fantasy-level acceptance despite her ample proportions. In empowering several disenfranchised groups, including fat girls (Lake), drag queens (Divine, in his last film appearance), and African-Americans (segregated on a popular music show in the film), Waters gleefully snubs his nose at the natural order of things, preferring to imagine a world where their ascension would be unfettered by prejudice. The cast seems to be having a terrific time, even if the material is sometimes too giddy for its own good. Fans of glorious kitsch -- the only audience Waters is concerned with impressing -- will no doubt consider Hairspray a fond favorite. Others may find it more of a whimsical curiosity than an effective social satire, but one gets the impression that the iconoclast style-over-substance director might agree with them, too. ~ Derek Armstrong, All Movie Guide
 

Deborah Harry: Independent Spirit Award, Best Supporting Actress (nominated) Divine: Independent Spirit Award, Best Supporting Actor (nominated) John Waters: Independent Spirit Award, Best Director (nominated) John Waters: Independent Spirit Award, Best Screenplay (nominated) Ricki Lake: Independent Spirit Award, Best Actress (nominated)

Independent Spirit Award, Best Picture (nominated)

General Specifications: Language Options: English Subtitle Options: English Sound Processing: DD5.1: Dolby Digital w/ sub-woofer channel DDS: Dolby Digital Surround Additional Features: cc Widescreen version of the film Original theatrical trailer Ricki Lake joins John Waters for commentary DVD Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1: Theatre Wide-Screen MPAA Rating: PG DVD Discs Included: 1 DVD Sides: 1 DVD DVD Region Code: 1 Content Length: 92 min   DVD Chapters: Side #1 -- 1. Main Titles [3:29] 2. Cookin' With Corny Collins [5:48] 3. All About Amber [4:51] 4. The Record Hop [8:59] 5. In the Spotlight [8:45] 6. A Star Is Born [4:09] 7. A Hair Don't [4:24] 8. Dodge Ball Romance [2:05] 9. Hefty Hideaway Girl [2:59] 10. Motormouth Mabel's [4:35] 11. "Integration Now" [5:13] 12. Black Baltimore [9:02] 13. Tilted Acres [5:05] 14. Race Riot! [1:42] 15. Film at Eleven [3:27] 16. Pickets and Pontiacs [6:15] 17. Free as a Bird [2:55] 18. The Bug [2:21] 19. End Credits [5:29]