Chelsea Girls (1966)

User Rating:

7.1/10   

Directors:

Paul Morrissey
Andy Warhol

Writers:

Ronald Tavel (writer)
Andy Warhol (writer)

Genre:

Drama

Plot Keywords:

Multi Screen | Dominatrix | Bizarre | Independent Film

Cast

Brigid Berlin	...	Herself - The Duchess (as Brigid Polk)
Randy Borscheidt	...	Himself
Christian Aaron Boulogne	...	Himself (as Ari)
Angelina 'Pepper' Davis	...	Herself
Dorothy Dean	...	Herself
Eric Emerson	...	Himself
Patrick Flemming	...	Himself
Ed Hood	...	Himself
Arthur Loeb	...	Himself
Donald Lyons	...	Himself
Gerard Malanga	...	Son
Marie Menken	...	Mother
Mario Montez	...	Transvestite
Nico	...	Herself
Ondine	...	Himself - Pope
Rona Page	...	Herself
Albert Rene Ricard	...	Himself
Ronna	...	Herself
Edie Sedgwick	...	Herself
Ingrid Superstar	...	Herself
International Velvet	...	Herself
Mary Woronov	...	Hanoi Hannah

Directed by
Paul Morrissey
Andy Warhol

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Ronald Tavel		writer
Andy Warhol		writer

Produced by
Andy Warhol	....	producer

Original Music by
The Velvet Underground

Cinematography by
Andy Warhol

Makeup Department
Marina Spada	....	makeup artist

Distributors

• Film-Makers' Cooperative
• Filmmakers Distribution Center
• Museum of Modern Art Film Library
• Raro Video (2003) (Italy) (DVD)

Also Known As:

Ta koritsia tou Chelsea (Greece) (festival title) [el]

Runtime:

210 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White | Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Italy:VM18 (DVD rating) | Singapore:R21 (cut) | UK:R

Filming Locations:

Chelsea Hotel - 222 West 23rd Street, Chelsea, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Trivia:

Mary Woronov's mother, on seeing the film, sued Andy Warhol, as she had not signed a release allowing Warhol to use footage of her in the film. Warhol then paid the actors $1000 each for their releases.

Quotes:

[last lines]
Himself - Pope: By the way, "The Bride Of Frankenstein" is the greatest movie ever made. It's just fabulous... Isn't it?

Movie Connections:

Featured in Andy Warhol (1987)

It's a intolerable to watch! It's experimental avant garde!--It's both!

You know when you let your mind drift--especially when under the influence of drugs or alcohol--and you think up some idea that sounds like it would be great? A typical non-genius would consider an idea like that later and think, "well, this sounded like a good idea then but it's just stupid now?" Thankfully, Warhol said to himself, "no, I'm a genius and therefore that was a good idea."

And what was this brilliant idea?

Film a bunch of drug users and couples in various rooms of a hotel then project two films at a time side-by-side, shifting the audio to switch focus.

Doesn't that sound amazingly fresh and cool?

Don't answer yet! You also get:

- randomly twitchy camera work

- quasi-purposeful film speed changes

- having the camera's point-of-interest fail to follow the viewer's desires

- racking the zoom

- sluggish response to bad focus after changing camera positions

- over- and under-exposure

Now how much would you pay?

With your average film you'd get three or four reels, but with this, you get _12 reels!_ Plus, you get sketchy instructions on when to do transitions and change projectors, putting _you in the driver seat!_

Operators are standing by.