Universal Pictures
Eisenhower is President. Rock ’n’ Roll is king. And Wade ‘Cry-Baby’ Walker is the baddest hood in his high school. Screen idol Johnny Depp heads up a divine cast as the irresistible bad boy whose amazing ability to shed one single tear drives all the girls wild — especially Allison Vernon-Williams (Amy Locane), a rich, beautiful ‘square’ who finds herself uncontrollably drawn to the dreamy juvenile delinquent and his forbidden world of rockabilly music, fast cars and faster women. It’s the hysterical high-throttle world of 1954 in this outrageous musical comedy from the marvelously maniacal mind of John Waters.
REVIEW
Cry-Baby was John Waters’ first film following the massive success of Hairspray, and the shocking, untimely death of his star, his muse, Divine. After more than two decades of working together, Waters had to suddenly switch gears and create a film that didn’t feature his long-time ‘leading lady’. The result was Cry-Baby, set in the world of 1950s juvenile delinquents, the ‘Drapes’ against the ‘Squares’, drawing inspiration from films like The Blackboard Jungle, Rebel Without a Cause and The Wild One … and giving it a musical spin. Hairspray was a very tough act to follow, and Cry-Baby tried but just slightly missed the mark. Instead of Divine, Waters went with what could be considered stunt casting with the then up-and coming Johnny Depp (who was rehearsing for Edward Scissorhands while in Baltimore filming Cry-Baby), Iggy Pop, Susan Tyrrell, Traci Lords and Polly Bergen. Waters also brought Ricki Lake on board (some could say she had become his new muse), but some of his familiar cast of characters like Mink Stole have blink-and-you-miss-them cameos. Upon a first viewing of the movie, it is pleasant enough but the force that was Divine is obviously missing.
Seeing the film again today, many years after its release, in the sparkling new 4K transfer from Kino Lorber, Cry-Baby is actually a complete joy, filled with some of Waters’ most quotable dialogue and a cast of characters that only Waters could assemble. Where else would you see rocker Iggy Pop and refined actress Polly Bergen in the same movie? Depp is wonderful as the bad boy with a heart, and then-newcomer Amy Locane just lights up the screen as good girl-gone-bad Allison. Locane brings that innocence of the ‘square’ but fits right in with the cool crowd, the ‘drapes’, really getting the audience on her side, actually rooting for her to rebel and be Cry-Baby’s girl. It’s just such a shame the tragic path she had ahead of her that ended a promising career. Also doing some great work is Traci Lords, making her first appearance in a Waters film, really delivering her lines with aplomb. Patricia Hearst also makes her debut with Waters, and he also managed to snag some classic names like David Nelson (The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet), Troy Donahue, Joey Heatherton, and Joe Dallesandro (best known for his work with Andy Warhol and nude modelling). Also making her debut is Kim McGuire as Hatchet-Face, a role that could have just been played for grotesque laughs but McGuire’s performance shows us that there is a real person with real feelings behind that jacked up face (and I can attest that McGuire was a sweetheart in real life). Lake and Bergen are also wonderful, and Tyrrell and Pop add a bit of the over-the-top to their ‘hillbilly’ characters, but they even get their moments to tone it down and show us they are just as normal as the rest of us. That’s certainly a hallmark of the John Waters universe — no matter how weird and out there someone may be, deep down inside they have a heart too.
Waters keeps the film moving and really stages the musical numbers well, particularly the ‘Please Mr. Jailer’ number that involves most of the cast. Waters reveals in the commentary that the scene featuring Locane and most of the cast outside the prison did not employ wind machines, it was just a happy accident that it was blustery that day and it worked. The cinematography in that scene is also gorgeous, looking like a Douglas Sirk Technicolor movie from the 1950s (and if you don’t know, Sirk is a major influence for Waters). Fun fact — neither Depp nor Locane sang their own vocals but the lip-sync is impeccable and the voices match so well that you believe they are doing the singing. There are a few moments in the film that oddly enough weren’t questionable at the time, but I have to say the image of a giant Confederate flag hanging on the stage at the Turkey Point biker club did stun me for a moment, especially as the bright red really stands out in 4K. It’s funny how the film has become more subversive over the years.
If you saw Cry-Baby back in the day, upon its original release or on early home video releases, this new 4K version is well worth the look. The film actually holds up better than expected, it has some great musical numbers, and some truly wonderful performances from a wildly diverse cast that only John Waters could put together. This package also contains a Director’s Cut of the film on Blu-ray which runs about seven minutes longer than the theatrical release, including additional dialogue and musical numbers! Cry-Baby from Kino Lorber comes highly recommended.
Universal Pictures
VIDEO
All I can say about this new 4K transfer of Cry-Baby is … WOW! The film looks brand new, but it also looks like a film, not something shot on digital video and processed to look like a film. It has a nice fine grain pattern, and a wide color palette that just pops off the screen (like the aforementioned Confederate flag) thanks to the 4K HDR/Dolby Vision master, scanned from the original 35mm film negative, and spread out across a triple-layer UHD 100 disc, giving the video ample room to breathe, showing off some great detail in the image, balancing the light and dark scenes, nothing ever blown out or crushed. You really have not seen Cry-Baby until you see it in 4K. The Director’s Cut Blu-ray is also sourced from a 4K scan of the original negative with the additional footage culled from a 4K scan of the interpositive, and uprezzed SD footage to fill in the missing parts. Even with all of the different elements used, it still looks fantastic.
AUDIO
The 4K and Blu-ray discs include two audio tracks for the film — the original 2.0 DTS-HD Master and a 5.1 DTS-HD Master remix. Giving the film a listen with headphones and through a surround sound audio system, I really prefer the 2.0 mix which seems to balance the music and dialogue much better, whereas the 5.1 mix seems to allow the music to slightly over-power the dialogue and singing. But check your own set-up and decide which one suits you better because each is clear as a bell. Both discs also include a commentary track by John Waters, with the one on the 4K disc being newly recorded.
SPECIAL FEATURES
Cry-Baby comes loaded with bonus material on the Blu-ray (the 4K disc only includes the commentary track so as to not compromise the video image):
- Bringin Up Baby (38 minutes) — NEW Featurette with Writer/Director John Waters, Associate Producer /Casting Director Pat Moran, Cinematographer David Insley and Actress Mink Stole.
- Pop Icons (14 minutes) which features a NEW interview with Actress Amy Locane.
- Part of a Collection (19 minutes) — NEW interview with Actress Traci Lords.
- A Few Yucks (9 minutes): NEW interview with Actor and Rock Legend Iggy Pop.
- All These Misfits (8 minutes): NEW Interview with Actress Ricki Lake.
- So Tired of Being Good (9 minutes): NEW Interview with Actress Patricia Hearst.
- In the Sandbox (10 minutes): NEW Interview with Actor Darren E. Burrows.
- Hip To Be Square (9 minutes): NEW Interview with Actor Stephen Mailer.
- Talking Hair (10 minutes): NEW Interview with Barber Howard ‘Hep’ Preston.
- It Came from… Baltimore! (48 minutes): 2005 Documentary with Cast and Crew.
- Five deleted scenes (7 minutes)
- Theatrical trailer
- Optional English Subtitles
The 2005 documentary is a wonderful look at the making of the film, but the new material assembled for this release is amazing as the cast looks back on the magic of making Cry-Baby. Probably the most stunning of these extras is the Amy Locane interview, amazing that it was allowed to happen at all considering the location where the interview was conducted (as we mentioned in the review, Locane’s life took a tragic turn that ended with her incarceration). Sadly, McGuire, Bergen and Tyrrell are no longer with us to share their experiences, and Depp is nowhere to be found in the new material but it’s all very much worth the purchase price. It’s been a long time since I’ve encountered a disc this loaded with extras, including a director’s commentary (two!), so any real movie fan or John Waters fan needs to add this disc to their collection. It’s certainly on par with any of the Blu-ray releases the Criterion Collection has given us.
OVERVIEW
Cry-Baby has stood the test of time much better than expected. The film is a lot of fun, and the 4K presentation is a revelation. The cast, Waters writing and direction, the musical numbers all make the film watchable many times over. The 4K image brings out the color and details never before seen, and the commentary and bonus material will satisfy any movie fan. Plus you get the Director’s Cut as well! It would really be hard to ask for more. Kino Lorber has really outdone itself with this release, setting a new standard for what a home video release could and should be. Highly, highly recommended.
Kino Lorber generously provided Hotchka with the 4K for reviewing purposes.
Cry-Baby has a running time of 1 hour 25 minutes and is rated PG-13 for some mild violence, sexual innuendo, profanity and scenes of smoking.
Universal Pictures
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