Cry Baby
About the Film
Baltimore, 1954. Wade “Cry-Baby” Walker is the impossibly cool leader of the leather-clad “drapes,” famous for the single perfect tear he can shed on cue. When he falls for Allison, a pretty, bored “square” from the right side of the tracks, their romance scandalises both cliques.
As the squares try to keep the lovers apart and Cry-Baby lands in juvenile detention, Allison and the drapes rally to spring him for a rockabilly showdown that finally brings the divided teens together. John Waters’ gleefully trashy 1950s musical send-up.
Johnny Depp
Johnny Depp plays Wade “Cry-Baby” Walker, the swoon-worthy teen rebel who can cry a single tear — Depp cheerfully spoofing his own teen-idol image for John Waters in his first starring film role after 21 Jump Street.
Cast & Crew
Cast
Wade “Cry-Baby” WalkerJohnny Depp
Allison Vernon-WilliamsAmy Locane
Pepper WalkerRicki Lake
Wanda WoodwardTraci Lords
Belvedere RickettesIggy Pop
Ramona RickettesSusan Tyrrell
Mrs. Vernon-WilliamsPolly Bergen
Mona “Hatchet-Face” MalnorowskiKim McGuire
Milton HackettDarren E. Burrows
Crew
DirectorJohn Waters
ScreenplayJohn Waters
MusicPatrick Williams
CinematographyDavid Insley
ProducerRachel Talalay
“Sometimes Shook up old ladies get cut”
— Cry-Baby
Filming Locations
- Baltimore, Hampden, Ellicott City, Reisterstown & Sykesville, Maryland
- Golden Oak Ranch, California
- Hersheypark, Pennsylvania
- Maryland House of Correction, Jessup, Maryland (prison)
- Milford Mill Park & Swim Club, Windsor Mill, Maryland (Turkey Point)
- The Enchanted Forest, Ellicott City, Maryland
- Westport Power Plant, Baltimore, Maryland
More about this film
Trivia
- John Waters’ first film after the death of his longtime collaborator Divine.
- It was Johnny Depp’s first leading film role, made while he was still on 21 Jump Street.
- A box-office disappointment on release, it became a cult classic and inspired a 2008 Broadway musical (nominated for four Tony Awards).
