Hairspray

Hairspray (1988)

The world was in a mess... but their hair was perfect!!

'Pleasantly plump' teenager Tracy Turnblad achieves her dream of becoming a regular on the Corny Collins Dance Show. Now a teen hero, she starts using her fame to speak out for the causes she believes in, most of all integration. In doing so, she earns the wrath of the show's former star, Amber Von Tussle, as well as Amber's manipulative, pro-segregation parents. The rivalry comes to a head as Amber and Tracy vie for the title of Miss Auto Show 1963.

Date of release
1988-02-26
TMDB
6.8 / 10 (471)
Runtime
1h 32m
Genres
Comedy
Director
John Waters

Casting

Interesting facts

  • Filmed in: Baltimore

Hairspray is a 1988 American independent comedy film written and directed by John Waters, starring Sonny Bono, Ruth Brown, Divine, Debbie Harry, Ricki Lake in her film debut, and Jerry Stiller, with special appearances by Ric Ocasek and Pia Zadora. Hairspray was a dramatic departure from Waters's earlier works, with a much broader intended audience. Hairspray's PG is the least restrictive rating a Waters film has received; most of his previous films were rated X by the MPAA.

Production

Waters wrote the screenplay under the title of White Lipstick, with the story loosely based on real events. The Corny Collins Show is based on the real-life Buddy Deane Show, a local dance party program which pre-empted Dick Clark's American Bandstand in the Baltimore area during the 1950s and early 1960s. Waters had previously written about The Buddy Deane Show in his 1986 book Crackpot: The Obsessions of John Waters.

Principal photography took place in and around the Baltimore area during the summer of 1987. The school scenes were shot at Perry Hall High School, with set locations including the library, a first-floor English class and the principal's office. In the principal's office, the Harry Dorsey Gough (see Perry Hall Mansion) coat-of-arms that once hung in the main lobby can be seen through the doorway.

According to Harry, Waters wanted her to not only act but also perform music for the film, but her record label Sire objected.

Hairspray was Divine's final film to be released in his lifetime; he died on March 7, 1988, three weeks after the film's premiere and nine days after the film's release. Hairspray was his only film with Waters in which he did not play the lead. Originally, Divine was considered to play both Tracy and Edna. Executives from New Line Cinema, the film's distributor, discouraged this concept, and it was dropped.

A handful of scenes were cut while in post-production, some of which provide context for certain plot developments seen in the finished film.

Read on Wikipedia · Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Data from Wikidata.

Recommended