Four Stars (film)
Encyclopedia
Four Stars is a 1967 avant-garde film by Andy Warhol
, actually consisting of 25 hours of film http://www.warholstars.org/warhol/warhol1/warhol1f/stars.html. In typical Warhol fashion of the period, each reel of the film is 35 minutes long, or 1200 ft. in length, and is shot in sync-sound.
The film's title is a pun on the rating system
used by critics to rank films, with "four stars" being the highest rating
, made in 1965, in which the camera, once turned on, was never stopped until the film ran out in one continuous take, Four Stars uses what critic Gene Youngblood dubbed "strobe cuts", created by turning the camera on and off during shooting, causing several overexposed, or "whited-out" frames, to appear in the completed film, and an accompanying burst of sound on the film's soundtrack. However, apart from this "in-camera" editing, no other edits were made in the finished film; each reel, as in all of his films during this period, runs 1200 ft. in length. Warhol uses these "strobe cuts" as punctuation for the images in the film, which document Factory life during this period, and feature a cast of Warhol "superstars" including Edie Sedgwick
, Ondine
, Brigid Berlin
, Viva
, Gerard Malanga
, Ultraviolet
, Taylor Mead
, Joe Dallesandro
(in his film debut), and others.
Photographed entirely in color, Four Stars was projected in its complete length of nearly 25 hours (allowing for projection overlap of the 35 minute reels) only once, at The Filmmakers' Cinematheque
in the basement of the now-demolished Wurlitzer Building at 125 West 41st Street in New York City
. The imagery in the film is dense, wearying and beautiful, but ultimately hard to decipher, for, in contrast to his earlier, and more famous film Chelsea Girls
, made in 1966, Warhol directed that two reels be screened simultaneously on top of each other on a single screen, rather than side-by-side.
This created two levels of imagery for the entire running time of the film, along with two levels of sound to contend with at the same time. Warhol attended the screening for the entire length of the film, and later remarked that he knew that "this was the last time we would be making films for ourselves."
Shortly thereafter, Warhol turned his hand to more commercial efforts, and after his near fatal shooting at his second studio at 33 Union Square West
by Valerie Solanas
, Paul Morrissey
effectively took over production of films produced under the Warhol banner.
After the one marathon screening of Four Stars, the film was broken down into many shorter works, such as Imitation of Christ
, and a two-hour excerpt from the film was shown for several weeks afterward under the same title at the Cinematheque, although it had little of the impact of the original film.
Andy Warhol
Andrew Warhola , known as Andy Warhol, was an American painter, printmaker, and filmmaker who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art...
, actually consisting of 25 hours of film http://www.warholstars.org/warhol/warhol1/warhol1f/stars.html. In typical Warhol fashion of the period, each reel of the film is 35 minutes long, or 1200 ft. in length, and is shot in sync-sound.
The film's title is a pun on the rating system
Star (classification)
Stars are often used as symbols for classification purposes. They are used by reviewers for ranking things such as movies, TV shows, restaurants, and hotels. For example, one to five stars is commonly employed to categorize hotels.-Restaurant ratings:...
used by critics to rank films, with "four stars" being the highest rating
Overview
As opposed to Warhol's earlier sound films during this period, such as VinylVinyl (1965 film)
Vinyl is a black-and-white experimental film directed by Andy Warhol at The Factory. It is an early adaptation of the novel A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess, starring Gerard Malanga, Edie Sedgwick, Ondine, and Tosh Carillo, and featuring such songs as "Nowhere to Run" by Martha and the...
, made in 1965, in which the camera, once turned on, was never stopped until the film ran out in one continuous take, Four Stars uses what critic Gene Youngblood dubbed "strobe cuts", created by turning the camera on and off during shooting, causing several overexposed, or "whited-out" frames, to appear in the completed film, and an accompanying burst of sound on the film's soundtrack. However, apart from this "in-camera" editing, no other edits were made in the finished film; each reel, as in all of his films during this period, runs 1200 ft. in length. Warhol uses these "strobe cuts" as punctuation for the images in the film, which document Factory life during this period, and feature a cast of Warhol "superstars" including Edie Sedgwick
Edie Sedgwick
Edith Minturn "Edie" Sedgwick was an American actress, socialite, model and heiress. She is best known for being one of Andy Warhol's superstars. Sedgwick became known as "The Girl of the Year" in 1965 after starring in several of Warhol's short films in the 1960s...
, Ondine
Ondine (actor)
Robert Olivo aka Ondine was an American actor. He is best known for appearing in a series of films in the mid-1960s by Andy Warhol, whom he claimed to have met in 1961 at an orgy....
, Brigid Berlin
Brigid Berlin
Brigid Berlin is an American artist and former Warhol superstar.-Early years:Berlin was the eldest of three daughters born to socialite parents, Muriel Johnson "Honey" Berlin and Richard E. Berlin, into a world of Manhattan privilege. Her father was chairman of the Hearst media empire for 32 years...
, Viva
Viva (Warhol superstar)
Viva is an American actress, writer and a former Warhol superstar.-Career:She was born Janet Susan Mary Hoffmann in Syracuse, New York. She was given the name Viva by Andy Warhol before the release of her first film but later used her married last name . She appeared in several of Warhol's films...
, Gerard Malanga
Gerard Malanga
Gerard Joseph Malanga is an American poet, photographer, filmmaker, curator and archivist.-Early life:Born in the Bronx, New York, Malanga graduated from the School of Industrial Art in Manhattan and attended Wagner College on Staten Island...
, Ultraviolet
Ultra Violet (Isabelle Collin Dufresne)
Isabelle Collin Dufresne is a French artist, author and former colleague and superstar of Andy Warhol.-Early life:...
, Taylor Mead
Taylor Mead
Taylor Mead is an American writer, actor, and performer. Mead appeared in several of Andy Warhol's underground films including Tarzan and Jane Regained.....
, Joe Dallesandro
Joe Dallesandro
Joseph Angelo D'Allesandro , better known as Joe Dallesandro, is an American actor, and Warhol superstar. Although he never became a mainstream film star, Dallesandro is generally considered to be the most famous male sex symbol of American underground films of the 20th century, as well as a sex...
(in his film debut), and others.
Photographed entirely in color, Four Stars was projected in its complete length of nearly 25 hours (allowing for projection overlap of the 35 minute reels) only once, at The Filmmakers' Cinematheque
Cinematheque
A cinémathèque is a French word used to refer to a film archive with small cinemas that screens particularly classic and art-house films.- History :...
in the basement of the now-demolished Wurlitzer Building at 125 West 41st Street in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. The imagery in the film is dense, wearying and beautiful, but ultimately hard to decipher, for, in contrast to his earlier, and more famous film Chelsea Girls
Chelsea Girls
Chelsea Girls is a 1966 experimental underground film directed by Andy Warhol and Paul Morrissey. The film was Warhol's first major commercial success after a long line of avant-garde art films...
, made in 1966, Warhol directed that two reels be screened simultaneously on top of each other on a single screen, rather than side-by-side.
This created two levels of imagery for the entire running time of the film, along with two levels of sound to contend with at the same time. Warhol attended the screening for the entire length of the film, and later remarked that he knew that "this was the last time we would be making films for ourselves."
Shortly thereafter, Warhol turned his hand to more commercial efforts, and after his near fatal shooting at his second studio at 33 Union Square West
Union Square (New York City)
Union Square is a public square in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York.It is an important and historic intersection, located where Broadway and the former Bowery Road – now Fourth Avenue – came together in the early 19th century; its name celebrates neither the...
by Valerie Solanas
Valerie Solanas
Valerie Jean Solanas was an American radical feminist writer, best known for her attempted murder of Andy Warhol in 1968. She wrote the SCUM Manifesto, which called for male gendercide and the creation of an all-female society.-Early life:Solanas was born in Ventnor City, New Jersey, to Louis...
, Paul Morrissey
Paul Morrissey
Paul Morrissey is an American film director, best-known for his association with Andy Warhol.Morrissey attended Ampleforth College, a private Roman Catholic boarding school and Fordham University, both Roman Catholic schools, and later served in the United States Army...
effectively took over production of films produced under the Warhol banner.
After the one marathon screening of Four Stars, the film was broken down into many shorter works, such as Imitation of Christ
Imitation of Christ (film)
- Production :Andy Warhol shot sixteen 32-minute reels of film for all the interior shots during January 1967 in a Hollywood Hills home called the Castle...
, and a two-hour excerpt from the film was shown for several weeks afterward under the same title at the Cinematheque, although it had little of the impact of the original film.