Heat (1972 film)

This article is about the 1972 film. For the 1995 crime drama, see Heat (1995 film).
Heat
Theatrical release poster
Directed byPaul Morrissey
Written byPaul Morrissey
Produced byAndy Warhol
StarringJoe Dallessandro
Sylvia Miles
Andrea Feldman
CinematographyPaul Morrissey
Edited byJed Johnson[1]
Lana Jokel[1]
Music byJohn Cale
Distributed byLevitt-Pickman
Release dates
Running time
102 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$15,000[2]–$100,000[3]
Box office$2,000,000[2]

Heat is a 1972 American comedy drama film written and directed by Paul Morrissey, produced by Andy Warhol, and scored by John Cale. The film stars Warhol superstars Joe Dallesandro, Sylvia Miles and Andrea Feldman. It was conceived by Warhol as a parody of the 1950 film Sunset Boulevard. It is the final installment of the "Paul Morrissey Trilogy" produced by Warhol, following Flesh (1968) and Trash (1970).

Plot

Joey Davis is an unemployed former child star who supports himself as a hustler in Los Angeles. Joey uses sex to get his landlady to reduce his rent, then seduces Sally Todd, a former Hollywood starlet.

Sally tries to help Joey revive his career but her status as a mediocre ex-actress proves to be quite useless. Sally's psychotic daughter, Jessica, further complicates the relationship between Sally and the cynical, emotionally numb Joey.

Cast

Production

Heat was based on an idea by writer John Hallowell.[4][5] The film was shot in Los Angeles in 1971. Without a written plot, it was produced for less than $100,000 in two weeks.[6][3]

Release

In May 1972, Heat was screened at the Cannes Film Festival.[7] In August 1972, the film was screened at the 33rd Venice International Film Festival. It was the first Andy Warhol production permitted to be shown in Italy.[8]

The film was screened at the New York Film Festival on October 5, 1972, before opening the following day at New York's Festival Theatre and then expanding to the Waverly Theatre in Greenwich Village and the Rialto Theatre in Times Square on October 11.[9][10]

Prior to its October 1972 opening at San Francisco's Music Hall venue, it was screened at the San Francisco International Film Festival.[11]

The film grossed $28,000 in its first week.[10]

Reception

The film was well received at Cannes Film Festival and the New York Film Festival screening was standing-room only and was received by a generally enthusiastic crowd however three people walked out, with one lady claiming "It's the most disgusting thing I have ever seen" and referring to the films of the era "Make them, make them, just don't show them to anybody."[9][7] At a panel discussion following the New York Film Festival screening, Otto Preminger called it "depressingly entertaining".[7]

After previously ignoring most Warhol films, the New York Daily News reviewed the film, with Kathleen Carroll awarding it three stars.[12] The advert for the film was censored in the Daily News with a t-shirt painted on Dallesandro and a bra strap on Miles.[12]

Andrea Feldman, who had a much larger role than in previous Warhol films, committed suicide shortly before the film was released.[13] Her performance garnered positive reviews, with Judith Crist, writing in New York magazine, "The most striking performance, in large part non-performance, comes from the late Andrea Feldman, as the flat-voiced, freaked-out daughter, a mass of psychotic confusion, infantile and heart-breaking."[14]

In a review for the Los Angeles Times, Kevin Thomas described Heat as a "captivating but too drawnout parody of 'Sunset Boulevard' crossed with 'Where Love Has Gone.' He added, that the film "rings true at its core; it's around the edges that indulges in self-defeating spoofery and sexploitation."[5]

Peter Schjeldahl of The New York Times wrote that Heat is "by far the slickest and most coherent specimen of Warholian cinema to date; it is also, for me, the least interesting. If it lacks the harshness and distraction of previous Warhol Factory productions, it also lacks their sense of serendipity and thorny life. Without being boring, it's a bore."[15]

Jerry Stein of The Cincinnati Post described the film as "an unexpectedly cold, harsh comedy in its lack of compassion."[1]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c Stein, Jerry (August 24, 1973). "Cinema: The Failures Gather in Hollywood". The Cincinnati Post. p. 16.
  2. ^ a b Eichelbaum, Stanley (1974-06-07). "'Frankenstein' in 3-D--bigger than 'Trash'". The San Francisco Examiner. p. 28. Retrieved 2024-08-26.
  3. ^ a b Eichelbaum, Stanley (October 24, 1972). "A Star is Born in Warhol Factory". San Francisco Examiner. p. 24.
  4. ^ "Heat movie review & film summary (1972)". Roger Ebert. Retrieved 2024-11-04.
  5. ^ a b Thomas, Kevin (October 20, 1972). "'Heat' Lean on Warhol Ambience". Los Angeles Times. pp. Part lV Page 17.
  6. ^ Gardner, Paul (November 14, 1972). "Morrissey Gives the Director's View". The New York Times.
  7. ^ a b c Verrill, Addison (October 11, 1972). "Morrisey's Ad-Libbed 'Heat' Whams N.Y. Fest; Could Have B.O. Wattage Too". Variety. p. 7.
  8. ^ Quinn Curtiss, Thomas (September 4, 1974). "Venice Festival Honors Chaplin". The New York Times.
  9. ^ a b "Don't Go Into Film Fest If You Can't Stand 'Heat'". Variety. October 11, 1972. p. 3.
  10. ^ a b "'Heat'-ed Up At The B.O.". Variety. October 11, 1972. p. 7.
  11. ^ "GREAT MOMENTS | San Francisco Film Festival". history.sffs.org. Retrieved 2024-11-04.
  12. ^ a b "Daily News Decides To Recognise Warhol". Variety. October 11, 1972. p. 7.
  13. ^ Killen, Andreas (2008-12-10). 1973 Nervous Breakdown: Watergate, Warhol, and the Birth of Post-Sixties America. Bloomsbury Publishing USA. p. 147. ISBN 978-1-59691-999-0.
  14. ^ Crist, Judith (October 9, 1972). "Some For The Cachet, Others For The Cash". New York Magazine. 5 (41).
  15. ^ Schjeldahl, Peter (November 26, 1972). "What's So Hot About 'Heat'?". The New York Times.