Pet Shop Boys & Divine - I´ve Got Plans (Involving You 2 Shoot Your Shot)

The John Waters Advent Calendar

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Dorney Park 40, 20, 2 years ago

Former traditional American amusement park "Dorney Park" is nicely shown in this 1968 scene from "Where Angels Go, Trouble Follows"

The Pennsylvanian Park opened in 1864, over a hundred years before this footage was taken.

Exactly twenty years later, John Waters used the park as background for his original version of "Hairspray". Titled "Tilted Acres" for the movie, they rebuild the big clown-face and tried to conjure a certain sixties feeling. Waters definately saw the above film.

Instead of funseeking nuns, Waters gave us Debbie Harry and Sonny Bono as a racist white-trash couple, the late Divine in one of his rare male roles and a Bergmann-esque vomit-scene in a kiddie-carroussel.
See it somewhere in this clip - which actually reminded me how good the first "Hairspray" really is!


Another twenty years later and Dorney Park is owned by corporate-chain "Cedar Fair". The park is not a gem but there are still many of the classic old rides left (The Whip, Monster, etc.) This is how it looks today.

Female Trouble

Crime is beauty: Female Trouble Directed by John Waters, 1975

Divine (Harris Glenn Milstead, 1945-1988) is just unbelievable! His portrait of a troubled girl from juvenile delinquent to crime celebrity has to be seen to be believed.

And, yes: It basically invented punk-fashion and defined our twisted infatuation with criminals as celebrities. The dialogue and one-liners are classic!

I dare say that "Female Trouble" is up there with the best American films of all time. It is also one of the funniest!