Usually some of our favorite movies are movies from when we weren’t born, or too young to even understand the undertones or give a rats ass about it. And being 23, there are a lot of those movies. But this one is one that I just cannot get sick of. And being 3 when it originally released, meant jack shit.
This movie came out 12 years after Grease, and isn’t recognized by the average joe. I wonder why? The soundtrack is perfect, the cast is solid, the styling is perfect. So why has this movie not taken notoriety as Grease has?
And what movie am I talking about? The one and only, Cry Baby.
This is one movie where I had to know everything about. The influences that helped John Waters write this movie, the life styles beyond girls and fast girls (but who’s complaining,) and the music behind it all. There’s just soo much to this movie, that I can’t stop watching it or listen to the entire soundtrack daily. This is truly, a masterpiece.
Here are a few screen shots of some of my favorite moments in the first half of the film.
The Cry Baby Gang.One of my favorite things in this movie is obviously, Johnny Depps hair. Johnny Depp is already one of my favorite actors, and in Pirates of the Carribean, he had perfect dreadlocks. And in Cry Baby, he had a perfect pompadour/ducktail. You also gotta love Hatchet Face's awkward facial expressions. I guess that's the point of her character though, huh? But I think in this moment, it wasn't on purpose!It's more than just the few strands...
A lot of people try to re-create Depps pompadour, by pulling down a few strands of hair. It’s more than just that. His pomp in the movie is full, and flows perfectly. It’s not a shield like pompadour, with a couple of hairs down. It pulls forward, flows back, and swoops perfectly. His character, Wade “Cry Baby” Walker, has one of my favorite styled pompadours. Maybe ever…
Last shot of his hair, I promise.
Tracy Lords as Wanda, also had some of the best hairstyles I’ve seen her in. Of course she’s hot with her bangs, but having a full head of hair like that, just made her even more hot. Not to mention, her high slit pencil skirt, perfecto jacket, and red lipstick. She was definitely the hottie of the film…
Also gotta give it up to Stephen Miller, who played Baldwin. The part in his hair was as sharp as it can get, and he also had a nice profiled contour. As far as the girl they were both fighting for, I wasn’t much a fan of her. The singing didn’t match her. She was just as square as her character Allison tried so hard not to be. Sorry doll, you only had one hot moment in the film. And that was before you approached the gang.
Gee, listen to me... Gotta love all of their facial expressions.
Should switch out Ricki Lake for Tracy Lords. She would be a badass chick to be sitting shotgun. Lady, I’m Just sayin!!!
"... and wears clothes obviously designed by homosexuals!"
One of the funniest lines in the movie. The Last Supper in the window is a topper. No idea what’s up with the starfish though.
I thought Lenora was hot...
It was cool of John Waters to include some actual things the girls would do. Here is Lenora ripping off some bandages after tanning. Leaving CB for Cry Baby scorched on her thigh… Her INNER thigh no less…
Ok, I lied...
LAST PICTURE OF HIS HAIR. But damn, his duck ass flows nicely… And yes, that is a Confederate Flag behind him.
The Whiffles
As dorky as these guys actually were, their awkwardness was funny as fuck. I mean, just look at their facial expressions! Gotta love how serious Baldwin looks. It’s just the icing for this goofy ass cake.
A fuckin Race Truck...
This part is pretty racist, (well obviously, this WAS supposed to have taken place when?) but it was pretty funny. Have them cooped up like chickens.
And lastly, one of my favorite characters in the movie is none other than the famous Alan J. Wendl. He plays such great characters in John Waters movies, but this one was just too much. And by too much, I mean fuckin hilarious.
His character Toe-Joe, was perfectly perverted. Is that possible? Watch this movie, and you’ll know what I mean. From his awkward laughs, his feminine colored car with it’s child saftey lock always on for the passenger side, and his camera, this guy is a straight up creeper! He creeps harder than anyone from the Jersey Shore.
"KNOCKERS UP SWEET HEART!"
I can’t find a clip of this scene. But his laugh at this moment, is fuckin hilarious.
BOOBIES
“Yeah, you! The looker with the class-A sealed beam headlights!”
There is no better pervert out there. But coming in close is Herbert the Pervert. I mean, he has PERVERT in his damn name!
Well there you guys have it. A few of my favorite parts from the movie Cry Baby. All clips have been taken by me. Maybe I should water mark these shots. I mean, look at Toe-Joe! Hope everyone enjoyed this post, because this is one of my favorite movies out there. If you haven’t seen it, go out and buy it. Target has em for sale for like $5. And it also has scenes that were never included in the original release.
There are a ton of other parts of this movie that I love, but I’ll leave that for another day.
I put colored people in quotations, only because this was some of the terminology being used for that particular era. Of course and unfortunately, there’s various other terminology used then as well, but we aren’t about that shit!
Get it got it good.
Anyways…
On a page I follow on Tumblr, someone asked about how one of color would be able to get a pompadour. Lawdy Lawdy Miss Clawdy suggested that they could cut the hair to shape, and let the pompadour part grow out. Well, let’s get real specific with this one!
Since there weren’t hair straightening chemicals that you can go to the store and buy back in the 50s, so how else could black guys get their hair in a pompadour? Simply put, they just cut their hair into the shape of a pompadour. But it takes more than just cutting it into the shape. It needs to be combed and trained to stay in that shape, and of course, pomade is also used.
Don’t believe me?
Here’s a pic from Blackboard Jungle, showing a couple of the “kids of color” with a pompadour.
Kind of hard to tell at the angle, but it is indeed a pompadour. The hair in the front is longer than the rest of the hair. Therefore, it is a pompadour.
This picture shows Glenn Ford creepin up in the backround. As well as a better shot of the pompadour. See how it has that break? Yeah. Pomp’n.
While the pompadour is probably one of the most popular mens hairstyles from the 1950s-60s, it wasn’t the only one around for black males. Of course, there are the other hairstyles pictured above, but there’s another one amongst the rebelious ones…
And that hairstyle is…
A conk. What is it exactly? Imagine the underside of a conch shell, but on your head. Here are a couple of screen shots I took from Cry Baby. Though they are exaggerated, it shows off how the hairstyle is styled. So imagine that, but with a lower profile! Unless you like em big, that’s what she said.
Top View
Profile View
I think it’s a pretty cool hairstyle. A whole lot differen’t than a pompadour, but just as stylish.
To top it all off, here’s a little clip of a Teddy Boy quiff. A.K.A. A Conk…
Well there you have it, a couple more different hairstyles from the 1950s-60s. There are still a ton to cover. But there’s only one for me. A pompadour. But as long as you don’t go out looking like a slob, and have your hair styled up, that’s all that matters.
The other day I was thinking about the photographs of Gene Vincent and Eddie Cochran. Those are some amazing photos. You can just feel the connection those two legends have, the talent, and the love of what they do, and how fuckin well they do it.
Plus, they both had good hair!
One in the same.
They both looked a-fuckin-like.
I was listening to the soundtrack of Cry Baby, and thinking about how many people honestly believed that it was Johnny Depp singing. In actuality, it was none other than James Intveld behind the scenes, singing those memorable tracks for Depp.
They too, both looked a-fuckin-like.
Similar enough?
It’s just funny how things work out.
Except James was darker than Johnny, but that’s ok.
Together, Eddie Cochran and Gene Vincent have made incredible songs. And Johnny Depp and James Intveld have made an incredible movie.
I think it’s time to put Cry Baby into the DVD player and watch it again… And again…
You couldn’t have rockabilly without some old country. Although, I am not a fan of country, I do like this song… Unfortunately, I do not like the original, sorry Al Dexter. Nor do I like the covers by other country artist predeceasing him neither.
But I do love this doowop version, by The Hurricanes. It’s a whole lot more upbeat which makes it a real great tune. You can definitely see yourself dancing with someone to this song.
As it were, it is also played in Cry Baby, during a little dance number at Turkey Point. Which is also one of the best parts of the movie. I could watch this scene over and over again, and still find every little bits and pieces of it to be entertaining.
Although Cry Baby is sticking to the rockabilly/greaser theme…
Rockabilly legend Gene Vincent also covered this song. But his version still isn’t as satisfying as The Hurricanes version.
As I’ve said before, everything rockabilly comes in full circle.
The Rebel Rouser 
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