Pink Flamingos (1972)

Pink Flamingos is a 1972 American transgressive black comedy exploitation film written, produced, scored, shot, edited, narrated, and directed by John Waters. When the film was initially released, it caused a huge degree of controversy due to the wide range of perverse acts performed in explicit detail. It has since become one of the most notorious films ever made and made an underground star of the flamboyant drag queen actor Divine. The film co-stars David Lochary, Mary Vivian Pearce, Mink Stole, Danny Mills, Cookie Mueller, and Edith Massey.

Produced on a budget of only $10,000, it was mostly shot on weekends in Phoenix, Maryland, a suburb of Baltimore. After screenings at universities across the U.S. including Harvard College in 1973, the film was distributed theatrically by Saliva Films, and later by New Line Cinema and became a nationally known film.

Since its release it has had a rather devoted cult following and is one of Waters' most iconic films. In 1997, for the 25th anniversary of the 1972 premiere, the film was re-released. The new version featured an improved stereo soundtrack (which, unlike the original, was made available to the general public, on compact disc), and after the end of the original film, the new version contained a brief video commentary by Waters, plus a few scenes cut from the original release. The re-release was rated NC-17 by the Motion Picture Association of America; this edition was later released on DVD.

Like The Rocky Horror Picture Show, when shown in a theater it is usually at 11 PM or later.

The film came in at #29 on the list of 50 Films to See Before You Die on a show in the United Kingdom.

Empire listed it as the 31st-greatest independent film ever made.

Synopsis

Underground criminal Divine lives under the pseudonym "Babs Johnson" with her mentally ill, egg-loving mother Edie, delinquent son Crackers, and traveling companion Cotton. They all live together in a pink trailer on the outskirts of Phoenix, Maryland, in front of which can be found a pair of eponymous plastic pink flamingos. After learning that Divine has been named "the filthiest person alive" by a tabloid paper, jealous rivals Connie and Raymond Marble set out to destroy her career but come undone in the process.

Actors