Ladies and Gentlemen, the Fabulous Stains (1982) User Reviews

A very cool early 80's rock'n'roll cult favorite

[Woodyanders · 8/10 · 11 November 2008]

Fiery and insolent rebellious teenager Corinne "Third Degree" Burns (a wonderfully raw and dynamic portrayal by Diane Lane) is angry about the untimely death of her mother. So she convinces her reluctant sister Tracy (the cute Marin Kanter) and her equally surly cousin Jessica (Laura Dern at her most adorable) to form a rowdy all-female punk group called the Stains (who look and sound like an unholy cross between the Shaggs and the Runaways). Despite having no real musical talent, the Stains still manage to get a gig as part of a tour along with the past their prime metal band the Metal Corpses (they stink) and the snarly punk outfit the Looters (who seriously smoke!). The Stains become huge stars because of their skimpy stage outfits, outrageous two-tone skunk hairstyles, defiant attitude (their motto is "We don't put out"), and, most of all, extensive media coverage by opportunistic TV news anchorwoman Alicia Meeker (delightfully played with lip-smacking relish by Cynthia Sikes). However, their moment in the spotlight proves to be fleeting when their loyal audience of adolescent girl admirers known as Skunks realize they've been had and turn on the band at a disastrous concert.

Director and noted music producer Lou Adler, working from a sharp and abrasive script by Nancy Dowd (who also wrote "Slap Shot"), offers a fiercely cynical and illuminating depiction of the more sordid aspects of the rock music business which include drug use (one member of the Metal Corpses dies of an overdose), performing in seedy dives, mindless consumerism, and especially how the media can either make or break a band. This film further benefits from excellent acting from a fine cast. Lane delivers a positively electrifying performance full of rage and passion that holds the whole picture together. Ray Winstone likewise shines as bitter and cranky, yet wise and knowing punk singer Billy, who tries to be a mentor for Corinne without much success. Christine Lahti only pops up in two scenes as Corinne's neurotic and regretful Aunt Linda, but makes a strong and lasting impression just the same. Special kudos are also in order for Barry Ford, who gives a marvelously engaging turn as laid-back and philosophical Jamaican bus driver Lawnboy. Plus there's nice support from David Clennon as sleazy agent Dave Robell, Fee Waybill as washed-up rocker Lou Corpse, John Lehne as smarmy newscaster Stu McGrath, and E.G. Daily as a perky hotel maid. Appearing as members of the Looters are erstwhile Sex Pistols Paul Cook and Steve Jones and Paul Simonon of the Clash. Horror scream queen Debbie Rochon makes her feature film debut an uncredited bit part as a Skunk. The gritty, yet polished cinematography by Bruce Surtees comes through with plenty of striking visuals and spot-on evocative shots of often dreary and grungy locations. A tad rough around the edges, but overall a really fun and rollicking blast of a movie.

A great rock-n-roll movie

[zetes · 8/10 · 19 November 2012]

Excellent little rock-and-roll satire. A teenage Diane Lane stars as a young woman who hates her dead-end life. Along with her sister and cousin (Laura Dern), she cons her way onto a tour bus as the nonexistent band The Stains. The gals can't play a lick, but get themselves on the local news, and they ignite like a meteorite - and come crashing to Earth just as fast. It's a biting little picture, and Lane shines brightly in the lead. Ray Winstone co-stars as the lead singer of a British punk band with whom the Stains tour. The movie was barely released when it was made, but it became a cult favorite later on through frequent airings on the USA cable network.

Textbook Cult Classic. Please don't make it famous!

[rooprect · 7/10 · 31 December 2009]

In the documentary "The Making of Ladies and Gentlemen the Fabulous Stains" (which you can find on YouTube), the narrator mentions that 83 million Americans have seen Star Wars: The Phantom Menace; then he adds he's not sure if a total of 83 people have seen The Fabulous Stains.

This is the quintessential cult classic. Like the original Jerky Boys tape (remember that?) it has been copied & re-copied and passed around from one VHS to another for the last 20 years. In interviews, even the stars of the film say they haven't seen the finished product. So if nothing else, you should feel special for having the opportunity to watch it.

I'm part of the nu-crowd, having found this movie at a Blockbuster going out of business sale last week and buying the recently-released DVD for $3. I can see instantly how it became a cult classic. First, it features a cast of respected musicians (Sex Pistols, The Tubes, The Clash) as well as a very young Laura Dern (Jurassic Park, Wild at Heart) and a lead actress whom I'm shocked I haven't seen in any other films because she's fabulous: Diane Lane.

Next we have a story about the underground music scene and a girl band's rise to stardom which predicted the whole Madonna craze 2 years before Madonna's debut album (as well as the Go-Gos and even Joan Jett). I think that's what makes this a great film--how prophetically accurate it was. The "old rockers" of the 70s (with outrageous makeup on their faces) were clearing the way for badass chicks with attitude (and outrageous makeup on their eyes). As Diane eulogizes in the film "He was an old man in a young girl's world." That theme is something you have to keep in mind while watching this. At the time, aside from maybe Janis Joplin, rock music didn't have a great history of bad girls, but audiences were demanding it. So not only does this film highlight the evolution of music, but it also foretells a new age of feminism in the industry.

For me, what made the film really enjoyable was its realism. Touring with a rock band isn't all Ritz-Carlton and Leer jets, unless you're the Rolling Stones. No, touring with a rock band is dirty, smelly, cramped on a malfunctioning tour bus with shady promoters, managers and rival bands with a lot of catty attitudes. I can't think of any other film that tells it like it is.

The biggest flaw of this film is the ending. I won't ruin it, but I'll just say it was NOT the ending intended by the original writer Nancy Dowd (as the rumors go, Nancy was so angry at the reworked ending that she took her name off the credits). Indeed, the ending seems a bit incongruous. But at the same time it makes sense on certain levels, so maybe it turned out for the best.

Another problem is the way the film shows 15-year-old girls in a very sexual way. Sure, that's realism (as Fee Waybill says in the documentary, 'There was more sex & drugs going on behind the scenes than there was in the movie'), but it might--and should--make you feel a little uncomfortable watching a 15-year-old girl have sex. But hey, I guess that's one of the reasons why this was never the ABC movie of the week, and instead it was quickly buried for 20 years.

So yeah, if you have a chance I think you should watch it. If nothing else, it's a great nostalgic trip back to the music scene of the 80s. But it's also very poignant in today's world. Diane's "meh" attitude toward life is exactly what confronts a lot of teens today in this increasingly cynical world.

I'm happy that this film managed to get released on DVD, otherwise I never would've seen it. I just hope it doesn't get too popular, because that would kill some of its charm. I like the idea that there are only 82 other people who have seen it.

Seldom-seen satire of media's role in rock

[thomandybish · 31 March 2001]

This film apparently is one of the best-kept secrets of 80s cinema, a movie that was born to be a cult hit. The film focuses on an orphaned teen(Diane Lane)who hits the road with her three girl rock group the Stains as opening acts for an over-the-hill glam rock group and an up-and-coming British new wave/punk outfit. When the glam rock group bows out due to the death of their drummer(who is mourned by his several common-law wives and illegitimate children), the Stains and the other group slog on alone, with Lane and her group quickly grabbing the spotlight through a series of gimmicky stunts and gaining media notoriety(for one, the girls all dye white skunk-like stripes down the middle of their heads, causing a new teenybopper trend). The film looks down the long, thin line that separates fame from notoriety, a line that has grown increasingly blurred in the past 20 years. We see the way the media latches on to these girls and their antics, making them celebrities over night, and unmaking them just as quickly. But not to fear, for the girls latch on to a new medium, the rock video, and find themselves the fame they deserve.

It's no accident that this movie came out the same year that M-TV premiered, because a lot of the fears and concerns that M-TV generated(some of them still valid)are explored. Is rock that relies on the visual image really rock? Is rock's spirit diluted or prostituted by videos? In an era where we watch television shows based on a corporate entity's quest to "create" a pop group, the questions are valid ones. I saw this movie on VH-1 a couple of years ago, and now regret not taping it. Supposedly it was labelled unreleasable and never made it to the theatres, and has yet to appear on video. Pity, because there's much to like--and discuss--that is still relevant today.

Tough, scrappy film has amazing moments...

[moonspinner55 · 7/10 · 9 December 2005]

Unreleased theatrical feature financed by Paramount was once an '80s staple on the USA network (in their weekend "Night Flight" movie slot). It's a satirical comedy-drama with music which finds angry, rebellious teen Diane Lane caught by reality-TV cameras getting fired from a fast food restaurant; soon, she, her sister, and a cousin hit the road with their barely-rehearsed punk band and find failure, success, unintended exploitation, and life's little ironies outside of their blue-collar town. Reminiscent of the later "This is Spinal Tap", the film has a sense of humor far more sly, less forced and obvious. Lane is so tough at first, one doesn't know how to respond to her (she pushes everyone away); somewhere down the line she begins to soften and becomes more flexible, and you see the desperation underneath her scowl--you see her pathos just once, when she gives the bus-driver money for his brother (a subtle scene that speaks volumes). Harsh in both its writing and directing, unblinking in its teenage hostility, the film still manages to be funny (intentionally so) and with a cutting edge; it's like a breath of fresh air to the disenfranchised. *** from ****

Diane Lane has IT

[SnoopyStyle · 7/10 · 27 September 2016]

Corinne Burns (Diane Lane) calls herself Third Degree Burn as the leader of the band The Stains with her sister Tracy Burns and her cousin Jessica McNeil (Laura Dern). Her mother recently died from cancer. Jessica's mother Linda (Christine Lahti) is her aunt. The girls attend a concert and Corinne talks her way onto the tour. The tour manager Lawnboy is trying to appease the conflict between aging singer Lou of The Metal Corpses and their young opening act The Looters led by Billy (Ray Winstone). The girls are not that good. When The Metal Corpses' guitarist turns up dead, Lawnboy makes the girls the new opening act. The girls become an overnight sensation for Croinne's attitude, her feminist tirades, and her edgy look championed by TV reporter Alicia Meeker despite the band's lack of musical skills. Her young female fans call themselves Skunks.

This is a cult movie from the 80's. I do remember the trailer back in the day although I don't think it had much of a run in the theaters. This is about fame in the new age of MTV. It's a little dated now but it has a certain punky indie edge. The best part is Diane Lane. She has IT. She is this young girl with attitude. There are also some notable big screen newcomers. This movie thrives on Lane's attitude but it can get monotone.

The best "punk" movie you've never seen.

[gein · 9/10 · 14 May 2001]

Warning: Depending on how you look at it, this review contains spoilers.

I was fortunate enough to see Ladies and Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains in 1983 during its VERY limited "art-house" run at Western Washington University. It played along with other punk rock classics such as Lech Kowalski's D.O.A. and Penelope Spheeris's Decline of Western Civilization. Unfortunately, I did not appreciate the film at the time. I was a young punk who had these "purist" ideals about what punk was all about. (Didn't we all?) I completely missed the film's message against uniformed conformity. The only thing I appreciated about the film was its down-and-out ending with the ultimate demise of Diane Lane's character.

Recently, at Seattle's Experience Music Project I (along with a couple hundred other lucky individuals) was treated to a special screening of this nearly forgotten classic.

Ladies and Gentlemen, the Fabulous Stains is the story of Corrine "Third Degree" Burns (Diane Lane) and her all-girl punk band called The Stains (Laura Dern & Marin Kanter). Initially, The Stains are given a chance to tour backing up a young English punk band The Looters & an old washed up heavy metal act The Metal Corpses. The Looters are Paul Cook & Steve Jones of the Sex Pistols and Paul Simonen of The Clash. The Metal Corpses feature Fee "Hey, is there any coke in this coke?" Waybill and Vince Welnick of The Tubes. Eventually The Stains generate a media frenzy, due mainly to Corrine's transparent blouse and rallying cries like "We're the Stains and we don't put out!" and "I'm a waste of time." They attract a large following of "skunks" - young girls who adopt Corrine's image as well as attitude.

I'll stop here to throw a little trivia your way. During the beginning credit sequence, Rob Morton is credited as the writer, but as we all know it was Nancy "Slap Shot" Dowd who actually wrote the screenplay. According to interviews with Dowd, there was sexual harassment on the set with terrible conflicts with the film's director Lou Adler. After a cameraman grabbed one of Dowd's breasts, she walked off the set and asked for her name to be stricken from the film. Dowd's confrontation caused Paramount to stall the release of the film. One year later, Paramount finally showed the film to a test audience (a group of spoiled Orange County brats). The audience whined about the downbeat ending. Waaaaah!!! To fulfill contractual obligations, Paramount released the film to literally a handful of "art houses."

The Fabulous Stains sat moldering on the shelves at Paramount for a couple of years until the USA channel asked for permission to air the film on their popular late-night show, Night Flight. Paramount agreed, but some brain-dead studio exec wanted to add a "happy ending". So, Paramount re-shot a confusing MTV style "happy ending" with Diane Lane, Laura Dern and Marin Kanter (THREE YEARS LATER!!!). These scenes are interesting to watch because Laura Dern had grown foot taller since the original filming. She ends up towering over her band-mates! Pretty funny.

More trivia: this will probably be the only time you will see Dangerhouse recording artist/owner (and punk legend!!!) Black Randy and his band, The Metrosquad perform their classic, "I Slept In An Arcade." Black Randy died of an AIDS related illness after being offered a "dirty" syringe from Dangerhouse partner Dave Brown. In addition, Black Randy portrays a Mexican classical guitarist sneaking into an audition as part of an amusing cameo.

Still more trivia: It is interesting to see the base similarities between Ladies & Gentlemen, the Fabulous Stains and Nancy Dowd scripted Slap Shot. Both films' main characters originate from the dark-dreary steel-mill town of Charlestown and eventually wind up escaping their dead-end lives via tour bus.

Despite the "happy ending," Ladies and Gentlemen, the Fabulous Stains should be required viewing for all those interested in punk history and to see the film that inspired many "riot-grrl" acts like Bikini Kill, Bratmobile, Cub, Sleater-Kinney and even Courtney "Hole" Love. Unfortunately, you will probably never see this film unless you buy a bootleg copy of it. It has never been available on video or DVD and Paramount has no plans on releasing it.

Classic line: "Everybody want to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die."

[sschwart · 7/10 · 8 June 1999]

I was riveted to this movie since as a child. It's a gritty, no frills portrayal of relentless ambition to get ahead in rock and roll. It's definitely the grittier, earthier Canadian cousin of the fairy tale movie, "Starstruck". The two would make a great combination in a film festival, however. Diane Lane is sullen and striking, and don't miss Fee Waybill (of the 80's band, the Tubes) not-quite-stretching his acting talents by playing a washed-up former rock musician fallen on hard times. This movie is a reported favorite of Courtney Love, and undoubtedly influenced her on her meteoric rise up the rock ladder. "...Stains" makes a unsubtle statement about fame, ambition, and fads. Check it out if you sat through "Smithereens", and "The Decline of the Western Empire" which are its rock underbelly contemporaries.

Got Attitude? Get 'Ladies and Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains'!

[sarine_voltage · 10/10 · 9 September 2018]

Rock 'n' Rebel Chickies, This Is One of The Coolest Movies You'll Ever See!

One night after falling asleep with the TV on, I woke up somewhere in the middle of the night in the middle of this movie and had my eyes glued to the set till the end. It was the coolest thing I'd seen since like ever. But the title hadn't been shown and I had no idea what it was, so I wound up calling all over the place-including the broadcasting TV station-to find out. No luck.

Took me awhile, but I kept asking around and finally someone down at Prairie Sun knew of it and told me the title. I tracked it down, ordered a copy and have watched it at least 20 or so times over. Sharing it with all my rocking friends, of course.

Highly recommended if you're cool. ; )

Pure inspiration

[skex123 · 7/10 · 14 October 2005]

Wow, a punk rock movie that plays like an after-school -special while staying true to the real feeling of punk. I really liked this film a lot, seeing it on late night TV. It captures an era or rebellion- I mean the era of being 13 and wanting to ROCK out and trying to find out what is real. The ex-Pistols are in this movie because the band just imploded on it's American tour and they had nothing better to do before going back to England. What could be better than being in a great cult classic? I heard that they were very supportive of the movie, but this is just a rumour. I knew a lot of punk-gals who started on this movie.

PLAY THIS MOVIE FOR THE KIDDIES

What you were was a concept.......

[FlashCallahan · 5/10 · 26 June 2015]

The Stains are a rock band comprised of sisters Corinne and Tracy, and their cousin Jessica. Their talent is questionable but the media attention on Corinne's personal life gets them a job as a support band on a U.S. tour.

The tour headlines an ageing metal band - the Metal Corpses - and their lead-in act, the British rock band, the Looters. The Stains, purely there as a bookend between the two feuding acts, take the rock world by storm with further media attention centred on Corinne and her transformation into punk rock diva, and what her fans call "the skunk look".

The dynamics on the tour quickly changes as the Stains' collective stars rise.......

Another largely forgotten film from the eighties that has gained a cult following over the years, has again, passed me by up until now. And while the music is wonderful, and the poetry like babblings of Corrine are pretty genius, the rest of the film is decidedly ho-hum.

The film shows fame in three different stages-the has beens, the strugglers, and the flash in the pan overnighters, which the latter is the titular group.

Lane is brilliant as the wannabe anarchist, and her and Winstone make the film watchable, it's just the rest of the support are bland, and maunder there way through their stereotypical character arcs.

But, as said before, I'm probably missing a trick not seeing it when first released, the element of propaganda and 'blaming the fame machine' is there, but it's too short of a film to really delve into the psyche of the main characters.

Like the titular band, the film comes and goes too soon, a little more depth would have helped.

A snap shot of a different time even for us Old Farts

[cadfile · 9/10 · 6 August 2010]

Like many reviewers on this film I first saw "Ladies and Gentlemen, the Fabulous Stains" on late night cable in the mid 80's. I loved the music as I was just digging Punk and getting into New Wave. The more adult themes went over my head but I got the gist - the conflict between men and women in the music business and how media can build up and tear down stars.

I had wanted to see the film again but until 2008 it was still only available if it were shown on TV or if someone had a copy from a previous TV showing. The studio finally released a DVD of a restored print and I fell in love with it all over again.

Diane Lane, 15 at the time, plays the leader of The Stains, "Third Degree" Burns. Laura Dern, 13 at the time, plays Third Degree's cousin and bassist "Peg". The British punk band The Stains hang out on tour with is made up of members of the Sex Pistols and The Clash and fronted by Ray Winstone. Fee Waybill of The Tubes plays a hasbeen metal band singer. Christine Lahti, who plays Lane's Aunt and Dern's mother, kills in the two short scenes she's in. Other notable cast members are David Clennon, Cynthia Sikes, Elizabeth Daily, and an uncredited Brent Spiner. The film was directed by Lou Adler who had directed "Up in Smoke" and was written by Nancy Dowd who had written "Slap Shot".

Diane Lane shows once again her raw untrained talent in only her 3rd film at the time. Laura Dern also looks natural in her role. Along with Lahti, Waybill also turns in a great performance.

The film does a good job of showing one part of the rough and tumble music business before the MTV era. It's rough around the edges with some cringe worthy scenes and stiff dialog but overall it makes its gritty point about the nature of show business and the media and about gender roles. The happy ending that was filmed 2 years after initial filming fits in that it reminded me of the rise of the group "The Go-Go's" They had started in the punk scene and moved into the new MTV scene and got the same make over "The Stains" get in the final scene.

The film has reached cult status not only from the late night cable showings and lack of a previous home release but also because it influenced future women singers most notably Courtney Love.

As noted before the film is jagged but Lou Adler made sure the music was as polished as possible to be heard. That of course is what is important - the music and the message.

*Side Note* If you are an "Old Fart" now and want to reminisce about the film and the time of the story, listen to the commentary by Diane Lane and Laura Dern on the DVD. They were a bonus and added to the value of the disc.

Not very good,but quirky

[mgconlan-1 · 6/10 · 19 November 2007]

The oddest thing about this movie was that it was produced and directed by Lou Adler — an important manager in the 1960's and 1970's whose most important artists were the Mamas & the Papas and Carole King (just the man for a punk movie!) and that it's a no-holds-barred vision of the rock world as cynically exploitative and manipulative, taking honest expressions of teen angst and turning them into phony commodities. One wonders whatever possessed Adler to make a movie exposing the seamy side of the business that had made him rich enough to produce a major-studio feature film! Aside from that, it's a sometimes dull, sometimes stupid, sometimes incredibly compelling movie held together mostly by the marvelously deadpan performance of Diane Lane in the female lead. Adler's direction doesn't have the excitement we expect from a rock 'n' roll movie but it's serviceable, and Barry Ford's performance as the Black bus driver who's the voice of reason is quite good. Incidentally, it occurred to me that the story might have been inspired by the real-life band the Shaggs, three no-talent teenage sisters who recorded an album called "Philosophy of the World" in 1969, funded by their father and released privately. They developed an Ed Wood-style so-bad-it's-good following and copies of their album went for four-figure sums until it was recently released on CD.

Overrated Cult Film

[tpaladino · 4/10 · 22 April 2011]

This isn't the worst movie ever made, but it certainly isn't worth all the praise I've read about it either.

It's a good enough cult film I suppose, but even as such it's unremarkable in pretty much all aspects other than as a time capsule of early-80's teen/punk rock culture. Also, you get to see Diane Lane's underage boobs, which is also a plus. Not quite sure how they managed to pull that one off.

Anyway... the story had a lot of potential to be compelling and provocative, and the premise was certainly ahead of it's time, but overall it still managed to fall flat. At no point do you truly feel involved, and there are a lot of points that just don't make much sense at all.

Still, as a look into that particular era, it's worthwhile viewing. Also, teen boobs.

Diane Lane got an Oscar nomination today - NOW can this film be released on video???!

[Joyela · 11 February 2003]

For this film not to be available to the public (with the exception of the odd midnight movie crowd) is scandalous!! It's a touchstone for the next twenty years of pop culture! The film predicts the Madonna Wanna-Be craze by *years*; there's nods to such programming as MTV and such shows as VH1's Behind the Music & Driven; it was co-written by the cool, great Jonathan Demme; it features early screen appearances by later screen/TV stars Laura Dern, Christine Lahti, Star Trek's Brent Spiner (has the line, "You're fired!" ever been uttered more emphatically on film??), Rugrats voice Elizabeth Daily, B-Movie Goddess Debbie Rochon, and it stars newly-minted Unfaithful Oscar nominee Diane Lane, in a performance arguably as solid as the one she's just been nominated for. SO WHAT IS THE PROBLEM?? Release the film on video/DVD already!!!

The 80s were a very different time

[Jeremy_Urquhart · 7/10 · 29 December 2022]

This is one of those movies where you watch it and wonder who it was made for. It exists in this weird zone where it doesn't really have a direct target audience.

The premise of a disaffected teenager starting a punk band with two of her cousins and finding unexpected fame sounds like it would be a good teen movie, but Ladies and Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains is also crazily dark, features someone dying from a drug addiction, and contains literally every curse word under the sun. I mean, it's a good movie and all, but you can see why it was destined to become a cult film at best, and certainly not a big hit.

It reminded me a bit of another music-themed movie from around the same time that was also about young musicians and the dark side of fame, Eddie and the Cruisers. That one had better music, but Stains definitely had the more compelling narrative.

Yes, the plot's familiar, and there are plenty of movies about the predatory nature of executives, the fleeting nature of fame, and the simplicity/stupidity of fads and how quickly they burn out. But this film tackles it in a way that's grittier and a little more impactful than most. It's also cool (and sometimes alarming) to see a fair few famous actors back when they were very young - most notably Diane Lane, Laura Dern, and Ray Winstone. Also cool: it featured dialogue that was sampled in an Avalanches song (Born to Lose, off their most recent album).

A Chance to Simply Enjoy

[Hitchcoc · 7/10 · 2 February 2023]

The rise of a female rock group is good grist for a movie, and those who put this together did a great job. We get to see some of the great new people who occupied the eighties and beyond. While things are a little simplistic at times, the film has a rhythm that works quite well. The early eighties had female groups moving in an doing quite well as the entire package, from drummers to bass player, to keyboardists. The group here is lacking a bit, but it doesn't matter because precursors to bigger movements always have growing pains the the rawness here is a part of the entire movie. I had never heard of it until a found a list of cult films where it was mentioned. Well worth an hour and a half.

My Favorite Waste Of Time

[JZvezda · 8/10 · 5 March 2003]

D-lish! This is such a groovy little movie.

Diane Lane as a fledgling punkette/media-whore named Corinne "Third Degree" Burns. She's got a band called "The Stains" --3 teenage girls who perform in black lingerie and 6-inch stilettos and smear on layers upon layers of Rocky Horror makeup. When they land a spot on a prominent punk tour, the media latches onto their GIRRL Power-style and Corinne's contradictory motto: "I don't put out".

I can't decide what I dig most about this flick:

* The wannabe "Skunkette" girls who worship Corrine and share in her undying love of Clorox and Pepe Le Pew hair fashion

* A blase & bored-looking Laura Dern, chewing scenery here and rocking out under the stage-name "Dizzy Heights" (!!!)

* "The Professionals" --super-cheezy and super-fun! The music video at the end was wayfreakycool. They look like acid-tripping stewardesses who work for Pat Benatar Airlines

So much to like here. Diane Lane kicks it. Joe Strummer & Fee Waybill are in this. All the acting is good. The music does not make you want to reach for kerosene and matches. Recommended!

Punk film brims with style and swagger but lacks believability

[matthewlcorey-77844 · 6/10 · 27 March 2024]

A cult film about an all-female punk band which has many excellent components is nearly undone by one element: its plot's believability. The gritty look, the inspired casting, the awkwardness of The Stains in their early performances all propel the story along with style and swagger.

In an effort to escape the dead end nature of their small-town lives, two sisters and their cousin literally will themselves into becoming a band when a group called The Looters pass through their depressing industrial suburb. Diane Lane, in one of her earliest roles, absolutely knocks it out of the park as The Fabulous Stains singer. She and the Looters lead singer (Ray Winstone) soon get involved in a messy up-and-down relationship.

In one of the film's lowlights Winstone somehow turns a whole venue full of adoring fans against the Stains simply by pointing out that they have been manipulated into spending money on makeup and hair dye in order to approximate Diane Lane's unique look. I don't buy it.

In short, a flawed movie - but well worth seeing.

We are professionals...

[Quinoa1984 · 8/10 · 11 February 2009]

Ah, punk rock, how it came, saw, went, came back again, and maybe another time, and is now in so many varieties that one could just spend an entire semester in college studying all of the bands that have come from the early to mid 70s and beyond. Ladies and Gentlemen, the Fabulous Stains, is a satirical document of the punk rock scene, but it works better as just flat-out punk and/or new-wave rock than as satire. The writer tries for a Network approach: the media latches on to The Fabulous Stains, a trio girl group started by Corrine Burns (aka Third-Degree Burns) with her sister and cousin, who aren't very talented but have Corrine as their wont-take-no-s*** lead singer with crazy hair and a "I don't put out" slogan while wearing skimpy clothes.

Because apparently every single punk girl watches the nightly news and believes every single word they say, suddenly the Stains have a HUGE fan-base of lemming-like girls who latch onto every word of their song "Waste my time" and, soon after, their rip-off cover of the Looters' "The Professionals", the real Brit punk rock group touring as the lead group following (original headliner) aging rock group's bitter demise. The script takes the point of view that it's probably as much the audience's fault, if not more-so, than the exploitation by the media, which was not uncommon to happen to certain bands (it even happened to the Sex Pistols to a degree, though the bulk of hype came about after they broke up). This part is clever but also not clever by half; we've seen this quick rise-and-fall story before and there's not a whole lot that's fresh that's brought to the table creatively, except for the cynical aspect that if you look pretty and bad and don't give a bleep you'll make it with a rip-off single that most of the audience doesn't understand anyway.

And yet for whatever flaws the film might have director Lou Adler aptly displays, amusingly and with a deft skill at capturing young-and-old rocker angst, life in the ever changing rock scene and specifically punk rock. While it's a given a band will be kick-ass if two members of the Pistols and Paul Simonen of the Clash are in it, as they are in the Looters with a young Ray Winstone as ornery front-man (one of his most compelling performances as a "tough" guy), it will have some punk rock cred. But very young Diane Lane and even younger Laura Dern bring some credibility of their own, and open up another sight for aficionados of the attitude and mood of punk rock, much like the attitude and mood of film-noir more than a real genre, is punk rock for girls. Inspiration for the likes of the Go-Go's can be seen here as "birds" as Winstone says can rock as hard, or just with enough spirit, while also not being too full of crap.

That's the interesting thing too in Fabulous Stains, what makes it more interesting as a punk rock flick than a satire: when it's at its best, like Suburbia did as well, we get a personal and sad look at wayward youth with nothing else but music, be that they can't read like Winstone's Billy or just have a parent that's dead like Corrine's father ("Died in war, beep, got lot of money, beep"). It's a fine little nugget of music/movie lore.

SAME OLD STORY BUT IN THE 80'S

[Tak005 · 2/10 · 22 September 2018]

Every era produces a movie about young upcoming people trying to make it in the music industry and cope with the normal stresses of becoming an adult and dealing with the complexities of life. This is no different except that the back drop is the 1980's in the punk scene. However, the acting and script are bad and it has the feel of having been filmed on a shoestring budget. The only way this movie could be considered a cult classis is by those people from that period attempting to relive it.

Some Good Philosophy Mixed Into This Well Hidden Movie

[Jakemcclake · 8/10 · 15 June 2009]

Spoilers

This movie written, by Nancy Dowd, who is identified a Rob Morton in the movie credit, had strong philosophical statements.

For example:

"The thing is man, be yourself, because if you're not yourself, you're nobody."

"Everybody wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die."

"Come see me and come live with me are two different things"

"You're just another girl, lining up to die. Sucker! Suckers! Suckers! Be yourself!"

I felt this should have gotten a lot more notoriety. The only place to see this was on late night cable (It was never was on VHS, and it was only in a handful of movie theaters).

The anger throughout this movie, the fact that one rock group gets famous stealing another rock groups song, little girls wearing see through blouses and the naked lovemaking scene between a 15 year old girl and a 23 year old man in the shower, may have caused the shelving of this movie for decades.

When I watched this movie in the 80's I had never seen anything else with Diane Lane and as a result, I thought Diane was a very angry young (15 year old) lady who sings and was really into her rock music. Years later most of us know her to be anything but an angry rock singer, which also tells you that she is a great actress and played this part well.

The songs and music are forgettable, except I did like the reggae song "Moving", which is worth a listen. That song first plays when they are on the tour bus and they leave Charlestown, Pennsylvania. Diane Lane and Laura Dern's comments about the movie on the DVD are worth listening to.

This movie has inspired several all female rock groups, like "Bikini Kill" and it developed a strong following. Therefore, it finally, was released to the public on DVD. But consider it can take six weeks to get a copy of it, so you may just want to rent it. It is worth a view. Go ahead and see why it is a considered a cult classic.

rock and roll girls

[billcr12 · 5/10 · 11 March 2012]

Ladies and Gentleman, etc. is a rock and roll movie that coincided with the advent of mtv and a downward spiral of music videos making stars of lackluster musicians, sometimes overnight. Diane Lane is the lead as Corinne, a lost teenager seeking fame and fortune with her cousin and sister in a band with very little talent.

Real life artists such as Fee Waybill of the Tubes and also members of the Clash and the Sex Pistols are used to give the film some authenticity. Corinne(Lane) leaves home after the untimely death of her mother to hit the road on a bus with the aforementioned punk rockers. The driver of the bus is a philosophical Jamaican Bob Marley type constantly spouting "ja rastafari."

Corinne unveils a black and white "skunk" hairstyle, booty shorts, and see through blouse, inspiring adolescent female followers to copy her fashion statement.

Along the way, romance and career conflict ensue, but the show must go on and it does. Some of the music is good due to punkers Steve Jones and Fee Waybill and Diane Lane is thoroughly convincing as the troubled young rebel; she makes Ladies and worthwhile.

I was in this movie...............

[refkim1 · 11 July 2004]

I was a student in high school when the film crew and actors/actresses came to Vancouver, British Columbia Canada to film this movie.

They had a radio contest at the local radio station called 14 CFUN and they wanted people to come down to the radion station to sign up to be "extras" in the movie. I had never done this before, but took a chance and was selected. I was to play a "skunk".

We filmed down at the exhibition grounds of the P.N.E. {Pacific National Exhibition}.

I missed 3 days of school to do this movie and had the time of my life! Actually, it was even more fun when I found a friend of mine was also picked as an extra.

I remember meeting and getting the autographs of the Sex Pistols and Clash members who were there. I actually didn't even know that there were other "stars" in this movie until I had found this website and saw the cast list.

I also remember eating way too much "White Spot" {burgers and fries}. It seemed like that is all they fed us. I had been "called back" for a 3rd day of the shoot because they had chosen me for some "close-up shots".....much to my surprise.

I remember the costume and the makeup that we wore as "skunks". We all wore see-through red blouses with very high pumps on our feet. The makeup was kind of "skanky" and the big white stripe that they put down the middle of your hair. I can barely remember what we looked like.

I signed a contract with Paramount Pictures when the movie was still called "All Washed Up". I never did see it. Actually, when I was in Waikiki, Hawaii a couple of years later, we had been watching "sumo wrestling" on one of their channels and had fallen asleep. When I woke up, the credits to this movie were scrolling by!!!!!

I was soooooo upset about it, because I had never even seen the movie.

I have still yet to find this movie and would like very much to attain a copy of it on DVD.

Media and rock and roll

[BandSAboutMovies · 8/10 · 30 May 2019]

I pity the kids who didn't grow up watching Night Flight. While the rest of the teenage world was out getting drunk and laid from 1981 to 1988 (although syndicated repeats would last until 1996), I was parked in front of the TV, soaking up the knowledge that would lead to lifelong obsessions in music and media.

Night Flight also curated movies that otherwise would never find an audience or ones that had simply disappeared. From the two Andy Warhol horror films to The Brain, Daughters of Darkness and Pink Flamingoes to Fantastic Planet, The Kentucky Fried Movie and Liquid Sky, the show brought incredibly strange films that even the largest video stores might not carry directly into my home. For a kid trapped in a cultural desert an hour from Pittsburgh - hardly a media force save for being the center of zombie movies - Night Flight kept me going.

Set in the fictional town of Charlestown, Pennsylvania (the same place that writer Nancy Dowd also covered in her film Slap Shot), Ladies and Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains feels like my hometown. It's the kind of movie that demands to be seen, one that should have never been derailed by disastrous screening in Colorado.

Corinne Burns (an incendiary Diane Lane, who is also perfect in Streets of Fire) is already a star as the movie begins. She struggles to support herself and her sister and when she's interviewed by a local TV station, she lashes out and gets fired by her boss. Teenage viewers fall in love with her and in a follow-up interview, she's even more belligerent and sarcastic.

Corinne attends a Metal Corpses concert put on by small-time promoter Lawnboy where she's amazed by a punk band called the Looters. The two bands could not be more different and they're at constant war, so Lawnboy brings The Stains - Corinne's band with her sister and cousin - on tour to act as a buffer.

The first show goes horribly. The girls can barely play and Corinne yells at the audience in a near-monotone voice before flipping out on them. Then, the Corpses bassist OD's in the women's bathroom. Corinne takes advantage of the media, claiming that he died of a broken heart, knowing that he could never have her. She claims that she never puts out and debuts a new look - streaked hair, pink war paint and see-through clothing - that is soon imitated by female fans.

The media falls in love with her, with men hammering her antisocial attitude and lack of talent while women see them as female empowerment. Girls start running away from home to follow the band. Meanwhile, the Looters frontman Billy shares his illiteracy and feelings behind his song "Join the Professionals" as an attempt to seduce Corinne. They make out in a hotel room shower, but does our heroine really put out? Does she simply fall in love and run away with the rock star?

Their romance soon falls apart when an agent reveals that Billy wanted The Stains replaced on the tour. Corinne goes from blood when she steals the very song Billy confided in her about and makes it her first single. Things happen fast - maybe too fast, one of the few bad things I have to say about this movie - and the girl become the headliners and cut out Lawnboy.

At the Stains' first show as the new lead band, Billy incites a riot by convincing the band's followers that The Stains have become corporate sell-outs. The agent cancels their contract after the concert falls apart, but Corinne gets paid by threatening the man with a can opener, a movie she learned from Billy.

After one last TV appearance, where a male journalist laughs at her, Billy apologizes and asks for her to come back. She refuses, wandering the streets until she finds a group of girls with guitars, all listening to her sing on the radio.

That's where this movie should end.

Dowd was unsatisfied with the editing and final cut of the film, which led to her changing her name on the final credits. She was also groped by a camera operator on set, which only added to her dissatisfaction with this movie. The tacked on ending - where The Stains have become an MTV success on Lawnboy's new record label - seems glittery and polished and at odds with every moment of the film's grit.

The music is great, though. That's because other than The Stains (Lane, Laura Dern and Marin Kanter), they're all real bands. The Looters have actor Ray Winstone as Billy, but otherwise are an all-star punk lineup with Pail Simonon from The Clash on bass and Sex Pistols Steve Jones and Paul Cook on guitar and drums. The Metal Corpses have Fee Waybill and Vince Welnick from The Tubes as members. And Black Randy and The Metrosquad also show up.

This movie was directed by Lou Adler, who is also a Grammy Award-winning record producer, music executive, talent manager, songwriter, film producer, and co-owner of the famous Roxy Theatre. He produced and developed Jan & Dean, The Mamas & The Papas and Carole King, including producing her record Tapestry, which is considered one of the all-time greatest albums of all time.

Adler also guided the careers of Cheech and Chong, working on their albums and then producing and directing Up In Smoke. He also produced The Rocky Horror Picture Show and its sequel, Shock Treatment, before this film.

My favorite scene in the film is when Christine Lahti, playing Jessica's mom, is asked about her daughter and nieces on TV. Instead of piling scorn on top of the girls, she instead relates how much she misses her sister and how proud she is of her daughter for rising out of the cycle of abuse where every woman in their family has been told that they're nothing.

The only other issue I have with this film is that the camera seems to linger with the male gaze on the young bodies of Lane and her fans. It seems to want to titilate and provide female empowerment at the very same time. That said - it's hard to watch a movie made in 1982 and force it to conform to the morals we've learned nearly three decades later.