Polyester (1981) on Netflix
Francine Fishpaw lives in a Baltimore suburb, where her husband's adult movie theater draws pickets to the family home. Her daughter is pregnant and her son stomps women's feet.
- Netflix3.3/5
- IMDb7.0/1010,296 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes93%
Trailer
Plot summary
In a Baltimore suburb, Francine Fishpaw's family life comes apart. Her husband Elmer owns an adult movie theater, and anti-pornography protesters picket the family's house. Her daughter Lu-Lu is pregnant by her boyfriend Bo-Bo Belsinger, and her son Dexter sniffs glue and stomps on women's feet. Francine's mother La Rue, who snorts cocaine, mocks her weight and takes her money. Only Cuddles Kovinsky, a former housecleaner of hers who has inherited a fortune, tries to comfort her.
Cast
- Joni Ruth Whiteas La Rue
- Hans Krammas Heintz
- Rick Breitenfeldas Dr. Arnold Quackenshaw
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Polyester (1981)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- While shooting Polyester's opening scenes, cinematographer David Insley's helicopter had to make an emergency landing on a golf course that was still open; once it was cleared for safety, it was towed off the fairway with a flatbed.
- John Waters designed the Odorama gimmick for Polyester: scratch-and-sniff cards inspired by William Castle and the Smell-O-Vision film Scent of Mystery, handed out like 3D glasses and numbered so viewers could smell flowers, pizza, glue, gas, grass and feces.
- Paramount Pictures used the Odorama name and logo for its 2003 release Rugrats Go Wild, upsetting John Waters when he learned that New Line Cinema had let the trademark lapse.
- Polyester was the first John Waters film to skirt the mainstream, earning an R rating after all his earlier films were unrated or rated X, the equivalent of today's NC-17.
- Polyester was Edith Massey's final collaboration with John Waters; the actress, one of only two Dreamlanders given top billing alongside Divine, died in 1984.
- For Polyester, John Waters styled the film after the women's pictures of director Douglas Sirk, having cinematographer David Insley use similar lighting and editing techniques and even film equipment from Sirk's era.
