The Greater Park Circle Film Society will host former State Representative James “Bubba” Cromer, in the world premier of the director’s cut "The Hills Have Thighs" on Saturday, April 4.  MPC Caught up with the former state representative turned filmmaker to chat about his upcoming visit.

This is Mr. Cromer’s second full-length film. His first film, “The Long Way Home: Big Foot Story,” earned seven awards, including Best Feature Narrative at the New York International Film and Video Festival in 2007.  Cromer says his first film was “a piece of my heart, but the second film is part of my warped mind.”

Cromer fashions himself as a southern John Waters’ style director. “I want to complement him but not emulate him.” The 44-year-old adds that Waters, now his friend, “challenged me to do that.”  The Director’s Cut of “The Hills Have Thighs” is a much tighter but no less campy version of its first release from last year. “I am going to be on eggshells to see the audience reaction” this Saturday. After each film, Mr. Cromer will respond briefly to audience questions and comments before autographing copies of the new DVD version along with posters, t-shirts, and the like.

"Bubba," as he is known to his friends in and out of the State Legislature, never dreamed of being a filmmaker--practicing law was really the family business. He earned his law degree from Clemson and served in the State Assembly for eight years in the 1990s. Cromer currently is the House Reader.

Working at the State House or on a film set, says Cromer, require some similar skills. "You have to be able to laugh at yourself and be able to share that laughter with others," he observes.  Cordell Maddox of Anderson, a former legislator who served alongside Cromer, told the Anderson Independent : "This creative animal has been trapped in a lawyer/legislator body all these years." Maddox adds, “And now that it’s out, I’m sort of concerned for humanity.”

“The Hills Have Thighs” is an irreverent film set in the South as narrated by the lead character Drip Drywall—an Appalachian version of Kevin Spacey in American Beauty. He investigates the disappearance of “local hillbilly” Daniel Boone Owen, who vanished after a corn liquor-induced stupor. Spanning Upper Pickens County, South Carolina and lower Transylvania County, North Carolina. There are other colorful, larger than life characters, including: Drip’s mother who lives with him at a cat shelter known as “Pussy Heaven;” an Obama-obsessed Limousine Liberal from California named Tree-Tree, who has a penchant for Mammy Dolls and sees nothing wrong with her extensive collection of Negrobelia; and a colorful variety of big-boned ladies with even larger attitudes.