John Waters (pornography aside) is perhaps one of the best directors when it comes to looking at social issues with a totally unique perspective.  His campy romps are scandalous, but also hilarious.  In 1990, two years after his mainstream hit, Hairspray, Waters wrote and directed Cry-Baby.  Johnny Depp stars as Wade “Cry-Baby” Walker, the coolest drape in school, he’s also the leader of the Cry-Baby Gang.  Enter Allison Vernon, a square who can’t help herself around Cry-Baby.  What ensues is a wonderfully campy caricature of the 1950s.  From the hair to the clothes, Cry-Baby is like Grease – but taken to the Nth degree, it’s simply outrageous.

In terms of realism, you can pretty much through it out the window, however it fairly period accurate in terms songs, cars and clothing.  There was a moment when Allison’s skirt is torn and stockings are revealed, they seem accurate since they have two welts, the back of the stockings are never shown.  In a deleted scene, the character of Wanda (Traci Lords) is taken to Toe-Joe Jackson’s studio, where he shoots both male and female smut.  While the lines are rather unpleasant, the images are great, as seen on the right.  Wanda is wearing a fabulous little number with double welt stockings, again, the backs are not seen.  The imagery is still adorable and perfectly pin-up.

The downsides to period correctness of Cry-Baby are few and far between.  The song “Bad Boy” was written in 1957 and the film takes place in 1954.  Additionally, a portion of the film takes place at the Enchanted Forest theme park in Maryland, this park wasn’t built until 1955 though.  Another error I would point out, while not a period issue, is that prisoners are shown watching Creature for the Black Lagoon, they are wearing 3D glasses, however, the print being shown is the normal version.

Ultimately, Cry-Baby may appear period correct, but it isn’t exactly a perfect recreation of the period, but rather a highly entertaining caricature of the period.  Additionally, Cry-Baby also stars Iggy Pop and Patty Hurst – yes, the Patty Hurst.