A 'pleasantly plump' teenager teaches 1962 Baltimore a thing or two about integration after landing a spot on a local TV dance show.A 'pleasantly plump' teenager teaches 1962 Baltimore a thing or two about integration after landing a spot on a local TV dance show.A 'pleasantly plump' teenager teaches 1962 Baltimore a thing or two about integration after landing a spot on a local TV dance show.
- Director
- Writer
- Stars
- Awards
- 1 win & 7 nominations
Vitamin C
- Amber von Tussle
- (as Colleen Fitzpatrick)
Jo Ann Havrilla
- Prudence Pingleton
- (as Joann Havrilla)
Alan J. Wendl
- Mr. Pinky
- (as Alan Wendl)
Josh Charles
- Iggy
- (as Josh A. Charles)
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaRicki Lake began rapidly losing weight due to the intense dance lessons she had to take for the film. She reportedly had to "eat like crazy" in order to stay plump.
- GoofsIn the closing credits, the 1988 production year is shown in Roman Numerals as "MCMDXXXVIII." It should be "MCMLXXXVIII."
- Quotes
Tracy Turnblad: Oh, Link. This is so romantic. l wish - l wish l was dark-skinned.
Link Larkin: Tracy, our souls are black, even though our skin is white.
- Crazy creditsDuring the ending credits, there are footsteps moving to the beat of the song playing in the background.
- Alternate versionsThe main title credits in the Italian version misspell Ric Ocasek's name as "Rock Ocasek."
- ConnectionsEdited into I Love the '80s (2002)
- SoundtracksHairspray
Written by Rachel Sweet, Willa Bassen, and Anthony Battaglia
Performed by Rachel Sweet
Produced by Kenny Vance
Courtesy of Studio 900 Music, Sweet Rebel Music, and New Line Music
Featured review
Baltimore teens dance and battle segregation in the '60s
Ricki Lake plays Tracy Turnblad, a short, chubby teen with big hair who loves to dance in "Hairspray," a 1988 John Waters film starring Divine, Deborah Harry, Sonny Bono, Ruth Brown, Jerry Stiller, and Mink Stole. "Hairspray" has now been immortalized on Broadway as an enormous, energetic, fabulously entertaining musical which kept the conceit of a man playing Tracy's mother, again with great success.
"Hairspray" is highly exaggerated in parts, which makes it extra funny, and Waters captures '60s Baltimore beautifully. Corny Collins, who is the Baltimore Dick Clark, would like nothing better than to integrate his television show, but blacks are only permitted to dance one night a week. The van Tussles are for segregation - that would be Sonny Bono, running for office, his wife Harry (on stage the former Miss Baltimore Crabs, in the film Miss Soft Crab). Harry's hairstyles are fantastic - HUGE - her last hairdo is in the form of an enormous loving cup.
When Tracy's friend Penny takes up with the son of an outspoken black woman, Motormouth Mabel (Ruth Brown), her hysterical mother has her kidnapped and put in the hands of a psychiatrist (Divine as a man) who tries to torture her to stop liking black men. It's so outrageous it's funny, and that's where Waters shows his talent. When Tracy gets a contract modeling for a plus-sized woman's shop, the owner's live ad on Corny's show begins, "Tubby, tubby, 2 x 4, can't get through the kitchen door." It's this madcap treatment that keeps any of this from being remotely offensive.
All the performances are delightful, and there's a nice turn by Pia Zadora as a black-haired beatnik chick.
"Hairspray" has a lot of warmth that emanates from Tracy and the Turnblad family, and the mood stays upbeat throughout the entire film as the characters dance through life, Tracy with an overlay of blonde hair over her dark flip. Great music, great fun. "Hairspray" in any version is wonderful.
"Hairspray" is highly exaggerated in parts, which makes it extra funny, and Waters captures '60s Baltimore beautifully. Corny Collins, who is the Baltimore Dick Clark, would like nothing better than to integrate his television show, but blacks are only permitted to dance one night a week. The van Tussles are for segregation - that would be Sonny Bono, running for office, his wife Harry (on stage the former Miss Baltimore Crabs, in the film Miss Soft Crab). Harry's hairstyles are fantastic - HUGE - her last hairdo is in the form of an enormous loving cup.
When Tracy's friend Penny takes up with the son of an outspoken black woman, Motormouth Mabel (Ruth Brown), her hysterical mother has her kidnapped and put in the hands of a psychiatrist (Divine as a man) who tries to torture her to stop liking black men. It's so outrageous it's funny, and that's where Waters shows his talent. When Tracy gets a contract modeling for a plus-sized woman's shop, the owner's live ad on Corny's show begins, "Tubby, tubby, 2 x 4, can't get through the kitchen door." It's this madcap treatment that keeps any of this from being remotely offensive.
All the performances are delightful, and there's a nice turn by Pia Zadora as a black-haired beatnik chick.
"Hairspray" has a lot of warmth that emanates from Tracy and the Turnblad family, and the mood stays upbeat throughout the entire film as the characters dance through life, Tracy with an overlay of blonde hair over her dark flip. Great music, great fun. "Hairspray" in any version is wonderful.
helpful•226
- blanche-2
- Nov 3, 2006
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Muévanse todos
- Filming locations
- Perry Hall High School - 8100 Ebenezer Rd, Perry Hall, Maryland, USA(should be 4601 Ebenezer Road, Perry Hall, MD)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $2,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $6,671,108
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $577,287
- Feb 28, 1988
- Gross worldwide
- $6,677,135
- Runtime1 hour 32 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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