John Waters’ first “mainstream” film stars Divine as a suburban housewife who is driven to the point of distraction by her family and her surroundings and is susceptible to the overtures of the handsome drive-in owner played by Tab Hunter. In addition to scoring Hunter to star in his movie, Waters released the film in Odorama ñ scratch and sniff cards that contained such odors as human fecal smells and other bodily aromas. When we interviewed Waters while he was in town this summer for aGLIFF, the director described how he felt upon seeing an audience of people all dutifully scratching off their cardboard fart smells: “The thrill of actually seeing people doing it and having it work was certainly one of the high points of my life.” The Dobie will be handing out Odorama cards with admission.
This article appears in November 5 • 1999.
