freakboy on film: MONDO TRASHO (1969)

                            written & directed by John Waters 

I've been a fan of John Waters since I first saw his 1988 crossover hit HAIRSPRAY and I then devoured any film of his I could.  From MULTIPLE MANIACS to A DIRTY SHAME, I have seen all of his officially released cinematic creations.  A few years ago, thanks to a probably illegal upload on You Tube, I saw his short film THE DIANE LINKLETTER STORY.  Now, once again thanks to You Tube, I experienced John Waters' first feature-length film! 

MONDO TRASHO is a tale of a young woman ("The Bombshell" played by Mary Vivian Pearce) having a truly strange day.  She is stalked by a foot fetishist, hit by a car driven by Divine (looking more glam than serial killer), thrown into a mental hospital and finally receives a new pair of feet from a doctor with debatable credentials.  The crazy scenarios could be described  as a mash-up of Cinderella and The Wizard of OZ, with reverse echoes of future John Waters films. 

Divine imagines what a hitchhiker looks like naked, which is why she hits The Bombshell with her car. Sylvia imagines various people in their all-together in A DIRTY SHAME.  The Virgin Mary plays a part in the plot of MONDO TRASHO and She returns, in a different form, in PECKER.  Then there is several music cues we would hear in later films.  (SIDE NOTE: There was even a couple of Perry Como songs used in MONDO TRASHO, which put a wicked grin on my face.) 

There is a lot to take in and enjoy, but here are my three favorite moments in MONDO TRASHO...

1.). The Virgin Mary (Margie Skidmore) appears in the laundromat.  Divine prays to Mary to make her Divine and to heal The Bombshell.  I love the idea of a religious experience occurring in a dingy laundromat.  

2.). The asylum.  Only in a John Waters film does a mental hospital send men in white to round-up random potential lunatics with a large butterfly net.  Divine and the unconscious Bombshell experience a crazed burlesque show (performed by Mink Stole) and another appearance of Mary while incarcerated in the asylum.  I love it when the inmates are freed to run wild in the streets. 

3.  A visit to Dr. Coathanger (David Lochary).  First, a doctor with such a name is awesome and second, his nurse (Berenica Cipcus) is horror perfection as she enters the waiting room wearing a bloodied uniform, knife in hand.  The scene culminates in a bizarre foot transplant operation and a shoot-out, just like a real visit to the doctor's office nowadays.  I love the truly surreal nature of the operation and its results. 

Now I must mention the opening scene.  A masked executioner, standing in a muddy area, kills a few chickens.  Much like the infamous chicken scene in PINK FLAMINGOES, this is very real.  While that scene was a part of the plot, the executioner scene in MONDO TRASHO seems detached from the rest of the film, making it seem pointlessly cruel.  Yet, once again, John Waters reveals my hypocritical side.  I don't enjoy it when an animal is killed in a film, especially as a joke, but I still enjoyed MONDO TRASHO, even after this uncomfortable beginning.  As John Waters pointed out in an interview on the PINK FLAMINGOES DVD, he eats chicken and knows it didn't land on his plate from a heart attack.  I can't argue with that logic, so I overlook his animal atrocities.

Anyhoo...if you are a John Waters fan, and haven't experienced MONDO TRASHO, I recommend searching for this early film.  If you are not a John Waters fan, or just a casual one, I recommend avoiding MONDO TRASHO like the Snobs avoided The Bombshell at the end. 

Now I must wait for questionably legal copies of other early John Waters films to be uploaded toYou Tube. 

Thank you for reading or listening to my half-blind words. 

Freak Out, 

JLH 

P.S. I'll be reviewing the cinematic musical version of HAIRSPRAY in June for 🎵THE THIRD BROADWAY BOUND BLOGATHON🎵, hosted by Taking Up Room!

https://takinguproom.wordpress.com/2020/05/05/the-third-broadway-bound-blogathon-is-one-month-away/ 

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My books & blogs... http://thejlhcollective.blogspot.com/2018/03/the-collective.html