Starring: Ricky Lake, Divine, Leslie Ann Powers, Michael St. Gerard, Colleen Fitzpatrick, Sonny Bono, Deborah Harry, Joanna Havrilla
Release Date: Feb. 26, 1988 (USA)
Running Time: 92 min
Genres: Comedy, Drama, Music
Commentary Hairspray is a hilarious nostalgic comedy about the dance crazes of the early '60s, which also looks at the early days of the civil rights movement and integration. Several popular songs from the early '60s are played and many dance steps are shown throughout the movie. The acting is very good, particularly Divine's roles as Edna Turnblad and Arvin Hodgepile as well as Joann Havrilla's role as Prudence Pingleton, Penny's hysterical racist mother.
Plot Summary Hairspray takes place in Baltimore in 1962. Two teenage girls, Tracy Turnblad (Lake) and Penny Pingleton (Powers) like to get together every week to watch The Corny Collins Dance Show. Penny encourages Tracy to audition to become a regular on the show. She does and succeeds, despite the rivalry of Amber von Tussle (Fitzpatrick). Tracy uses her newfound fame to campaign for racial integration along with Penny, who falls in love with a black teen named Seaweed. Eventually Tracy wins the title of Miss Auto Show 1963 and succeeds in integrating The Corny Collins Dance Show.
Music Songs played in the film include the following:
"Hairspray" by Rachel Sweet
"Mashed Potato Time" by Dee Dee Sharp
"I Wish I Were a Princess" by Little Peggy March
"The Madison Time" by The Ray Bryant Combo
"Mama Didn't Lie" by Jan Bradley
"A Town Without Pity" by Gene Pitney
"Nothing Takes the Place of You" by Toussaint McCall
"The Bug" by Jerry Dallman and the Knightcaps
Like the 1968 Mel Brooks film The Producers, which was remade into a Broadway musical in 2001, Hairspray was also in 2002, with new songs. In 2007, the new musical version will be made into a movie.
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Title: Hairspray 
