Sometimes, a film, despite being mostly shelved, can grow and evolve into something really special. One such film is Lou Adler’s Ladies and Gentlemen, the Fabulous Stains (1982). It was mostly shot in 1980, but after test audiences failed to connect, it sat around until a tacked-on ending was completed, and then it was released on a limited basis.
Grossing just $25,728 during its theatrical run, it failed to capture an audience until it was aired on the popular program Night Flight, and audiences began to take notice. After years of being unavailable, in 2008, a special edition DVD was released. 18 years later, it’s time for a new edition, in 4K from Fun City Editions.
Corinne Burns (Diane Lane) is a 17-year-old girl from a struggling Pennsylvania steel town, raising her younger sister after losing both parents. While working at a fast-food restaurant, she’s interviewed for a TV segment on the recession and explodes at her condescending boss, getting fired. The outburst resonates with teenage viewers and turns Corinne into a minor celebrity.
She plugs her garage band, The Stains, and is soon signed, without an audition, by small-time promoter Lawnboy to tour with feuding punk and metal acts. Despite being musically inept, Corinne’s confrontational attitude and extreme punk image ignite media attention, reframing the Stains as a feminist phenomenon. As fame grows, internal conflicts, betrayal, and exploitation derail the tour, but will Corinne ultimately reclaim control, or will she self-implode?
Ladies and Gentlemen, the Fabulous Stains is one of those films that continues to grow an audience as the years pass. It helped inspire a movement (Riot Grrrl), as well as launch the careers of Diane Lane, Laura Dern, Debbie Rochon, Christine Lahti, and Ray Winstone. It features real musicians from punk bands like Paul Simonon from The Clash, Steve Jones and Paul Anthony Cook from the Sex Pistols, and several others.
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Its cult following is well deserved, and seeing this Fun City Editions 4K transfer is a real treat. I remember seeking this movie out for years in the early 2000s and ending up with a bootleg that was sourced from an old television airing. So, seeing it now, so cleaned up and vibrant, it really breathes new life into the film.
There’s a mixture of new and archival special features that includes a commentary with director Lou Adler, a commentary with both Lane and Dern, a newly recorded commentary with Marc Edward Heuck, a newly recorded commentary with Heuck and Jake Fogelnest, an image gallery, an archival making-of featurette, deleted scenes, interviews, and much more.
The UHD presentation brings this punk rock classic to the masses, and if there was ever any doubt, the world is ready for The Stains.
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