BOOTLEG FILES 831: “Mondo Trasho” (1969 underground comedy directed by John Waters).
LAST SEEN: On Archive.org.
AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: As a VHS title.
REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: Music rights clearance costs are too high.
CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: Not likely.
It is difficult to appreciate “Mondo Trasho” today because the 1969 work was the first attempt at feature-length filmmaking and it pales in comparison to the classic works that he would be churning out during the 1970s. Even Waters has been harsh on his film, claiming in interviews that it was overlong – “It’s got 20 minutes of good footage in it” he said about the 90-minute work – and complaining that his black-and-white cinematography was overexposed.
To be frank, the criticism is justified. After making several wonderfully deranged short films that were never seen outside of his hometown of Baltimore, Waters had hoped to progress to wider audiences with a more ambitious film. But working with only a $2,100 budget that was financed by his parents, the 23-year-old filmmaker could only create his production using 16mm silent black-and-white film.
While there was no reason that Water could not have created a mini-masterpiece under such challenging circumstances, there were two things working against him. First, Waters is obviously borrowing from the prevailing styles of 60s-era underground directors – “Mondo Trasho” recalls the works of Kenneth Anger (a flash of his “Hollywood Babylon” book cover can be seen), Jack Smith, Andy Warhol and the Kuchars. But what it lacks is a style unique to John Waters. There are segments of giddy vulgarity, but they feel dumb and not funny. When there are moments with Divine experiencing a low-rent version of the Virgin Mary in a launderette or Mink Stole tap dancing topless in a mental hospital, Waters is trying to be shocking but presents his warped humor in a clumsy and dull manner.
And the big stumbling block with “Mondo Trasho” is the fact it is a mostly silent film. Except for a few brief voiceovers on the soundtrack, it is a mostly dialogue-free endeavor that is framed within a skein of classical and pop music cue lifted from Waters’ record collection. But Waters’ attempts at comic irony via music rarely work – when leading lady Mary Vivian Pearce has an encounter with foot fetishist John Leisenring in a park, Waters puts Frank Sinatra’s “Strangers in the Night” and Thurston Harris’ “Little Bitty Pretty One” on the soundtrack – and neither tune establishes an amusing environment for the perverse romp between the actors. Of course, Waters’ films from the 70s are among the most quotable comedies of all time – having a creative artist with a gift for inspired dialogue work in silence is a lose-lose situation.
The plot of “Mondo Trasho” isn’t especially hilarious. After an irrelevant opening sne where a hooded man dressed like a medieval executioner decapitates chickens – some sources claim Waters didn’t shoot that grisly segment – the film follows platinum blonde Pearce as she takes a bus to a park. After her encounter with a foot fetishist, she is hit by a driver who is distracted by a nude male hitchhiker. The driver is Divine, and in this film the zaftig cross-dresser is very much a work in progress with a relatively mild presence that is far removed from the outrageous genius of “Pink Flamingos” and “Female Trouble.”
The remainder of the film has Divine dragging Pearce’s body around through unlikely adventures that culminate with an operation by Dr. Coathanger (David Lochary) who amputates Pearce’s feet and replaces them with weird chicken-like claws that can transport her anywhere in Baltimore if she gives them a Dorothy-in-ruby slippers-style tapping.
“Mondo Trasho” generated a blip of publicity when Waters and his crew ran into trouble with the Baltimore police in shooting the nude hitchhiker sight gag on the campus of Johns Hopkins – the charges were later dropped. Waters managed to secure some screenings for “Mondo Trasho” and a few reviews in prestige publications including Variety. Even the notorious Pauline Kael was aware of the film – in her New Yorker review of “Fellini Satyricon,” she referred to the over-indulgent Italian production as “Fellini’s ‘Mondo Trasho’” – however, she never reviewed the Waters film.
But audiences weren’t enthusiastic. Waters would observe his next film “Multiple Maniacs” was better received, and he theorized having a sound film full of his off-kilter dialogue was more appealing than the dialogue-absent “Mondo Trasho.”
“Mondo Trasho” would receive a VHS video release in 1987, but Waters ran into a major regarding the soundtrack. In his early features, Waters did not license the music used on his soundtracks. Waters would arrange for the music rights to be cleared on “Pink Flamingos,” but for years “Mondo Trasho” and “Multiple Maniacs” were unable to get a DVD release because of this problem. “Multiple Maniacs” had the music rights issue resolved for a 2016 DVD release, but “Mondo Trasho” remains in a state of limbo. Waters claimed it would cost $1 million to clear the rights to the music on his soundtrack, and the film’s less-than-sterling reputation is keeping it off the market.
You can find “Mondo Trasho” in an unauthorized posting on Archive.org. How long it will be there is anyone’s guess. But unless you’re a Waters completist, this is hardly required viewing.
IMPORTANT NOTICE: While this weekly column acknowledges the presence of rare film and television productions through the so-called collector-to-collector market, this should not be seen as encouraging or condoning the unauthorized duplication and distribution of copyright-protected material, either through DVDs or Blu-ray discs or through postings on Internet video sites.
Listen to Phil Hall’s award-winning podcast “The Online Movie Show with Phil Hall” on SoundCloud and his radio show “Nutmeg Chatter” on WAPJ-FM in Torrington, Connecticut, with a new episode every Sunday. His new book “100 Years of Wall Street Crooks” is now in release through Bicep Books.