JOHN WATERS DOUBLE FEATURE
TCM, 2:00 a.m. ET
Tonight, in the wee hours of Saturday morning, TCM digs deeply underground to present a pair of John Waters movies from the 1970s. Waters, by now, has long established himself as an eccentric, often-embraced elder statesman of cult cinema, with films that get mass distribution and widespread general acclaim. But my, when he was starting out, he was out there – as this pair of movies certainly attests. Multiple Maniacs, from 1970, is shown first, starring Divine as Lady Divine, proprietress of a traveling freak show of sorts, aimed at titillating and/or horrifying conservative suburbanites. Waters’ films of this period clearly had the same general mission. Next comes 1975’s Female Trouble at 3:45 a.m. ET (pictured), promoted in the original trailer as “a new high in low taste.” Divine and Mink Stole feature prominently in both films, providing a bridge over troubled Waters.