John Waters (early films only)

John Waters’ filmography is fairly widely known, but since I had the immense pleasure in 2023-24 of working on restorations of his first five films at the Academy Film Archive, I thought it would be of some value to include information on these early films of Waters’, based on my inspections and research.

HAG IN A BLACK LEATHER JACKET (1965)
8mm, bw, 16/18fps with sound on tape, 18m
John Waters’ first film, Hag in a Black Leather Jacket was shot on 8mm b/w reversal film. The spliced original was projected with sound from a separate 1/4″ tape – no print was ever struck. The soundtrack consists primarily of a collage of different music cues and sound effects, and when projecting the film, Waters would need to adjust the projector or tape machine speed on the fly to keep them in sync, as the picture and sound editing are quite deliberate and elaborate. Although the film’s year has frequently been given in various references as 1964, the 8mm original for the film was labeled “March 1965” by Waters likely around the time of its original completion. The Perutz stock on which the film was shot does not have a dating code of any kind, but the accuracy of the can labeling is fairly suggestive (though it’s also quite reasonable the shooting began in late 1964).
Film stock notes: This film was shot on Perutz b/w reversal film, and the sound assembled on 1/4″ half-track tape running at 3.75ips.

ROMAN CANDLES (1967)
8mm, color & bw, 16/18fps with sound on tape, 30m
Made directly under the influence of Andy Warhol’s Chelsea Girls, which Waters had seen on a visit to New York in 1966, this film comprises THREE simultaneous 8mm projections with a sound collage of music and some effects played on separate 1/4″ tape. The spliced original was projected – no print was ever struck. In preparation for the exhibition John Waters: Pope of Trash at the Academy Museum in 2023, Waters discovered notes among his papers that confirmed he had actually screened Roman Candles as a vertical triple projection, rather than a horizontal one. The projected images were arranged in a vertical column – top, center, and bottom.
Performance of the film begins with no image onscreen for approximately one minute while a radio ad for a Baltimore wig store is played. As soon as the wig store ad ends, the center panel projection begins. The center panel starts with the opening credits, and the top and bottom panels were then begun in sync as soon as the center panel titles concluded, to create the three-panel projection. The few times it was presented originally, the ending of the piece was somewhat unfixed and performative, as all three rolls run to somewhat different lengths from each other to enable them to conclude at different points. In the Academy Film Archive’s 2023 digital restoration of the piece, with John Waters’ guidance and approval, I finalized the restoration structure to have each panel drop out at semi-fixed intervals (center ends first, then bottom, and then top, order dictated by their different lengths). The running time given here reflects the running time of the restored version, but it should be noted that historical presentations of the film in 1967 (and in its rare gallery exhibition presentations on video) ran to varying lengths.
The title of the film doesn’t actually appear onscreen, and although its definitive and accepted form (preferred by Waters) is simply “Roman Candles“, early posters/fliers for the film list it as “The Roman Candles“.
The year for Roman Candles is frequently given as 1966 or even 1965 in various references over the years, but its actual date can be unambiguously confirmed as 1967, based on the processing tags in the original film stock comprising the film’s footage (which exclusively spans the months September 1966 to May 1967), as well as the known premiere date of the film (May 10, 1967 near the Flower Mart at Mount Vernon Place, in Baltimore, shown three times and paired with Kenneth Anger’s Eaux d’Artifice).
Film stock notes: This film was shot on Kodachrome II and IIA and Perutz b/w reversal stock, and also contains found footage on Gevaert and Fuji b/w print stocks. The sound was assembled on 1/4″ half-track tape running at 3.75ips.

EAT YOUR MAKEUP (1968)
16mm, bw, 18fps with sound on tape, 43.5m
This was John Waters’ first 16mm film, though it was still shot at silent speed, and then projected with sound played from a separate 1/4″ tape. Although it’s possible the spliced original was projected, Waters did actually strike a silent 16mm print of this film at the time (unlike his previous two 8mm films), and this print was likely what was most commonly projected, accompanied by the tape soundtrack.
As with Hag, the music and sound effects cues are very particularly synched to the film and its editing, so historically Waters would have to occasionally “perform” the projection of the film by adjusting the tape or film speed during the show to maintain sync.
Film stock notes: This film was shot on Eastman b/w reversal film stock, and the sound assembled on 1/4″ half-track tape running at 3.75ips.

MONDO TRASHO (1969)
16mm, bw, sound, 96m
John Waters’ first feature film, Mondo Trasho was also his first film to be printed as a composite print, with 24fps sound on film, rather than sound played from a separate tape, although the soundtrack was still non-sync.
Film stock notes: This film was shot on Eastman and Dupont b/w reversal stocks.

THE DIANE LINKLETTER STORY (1970)
16mm, bw, sound, 10m
This was John Waters’ first sync-sound film, and was created fairly spontaneously as a technical test of the sync sound equipment prior to shooting his first sync sound feature film, Multiple Maniacs.
Film stock notes: This film was shot on mag-striped Eastman b/w reversal stock.

Note that some filmographies include the title DOROTHY THE KANSAS CITY POTHEAD as a 1968 film Waters made, but only one day of shooting occurred for this project, and it was immediately abandoned. The small amount of footage actually filmed has shown up online, but according to Waters, nothing else exists and it should not be considered a formal work of his.