Edvard Lieber Michael Oblowitz Rosa von Praunheim Juliana Wang Lloyd Williams
Edited by
Mike Shephard Rosa von Praunheim
Music by
Tally Brown Holly Woodlawn
Release date
4May1979(1979-05-04)
Running time
97 minutes
Countries
Germany United States
Language
English
Tally Brown, New York is a 1979 documentary film directed, written and produced by Rosa von Praunheim, that focuses on the career of Tally Brown. It features interviews and commentary from legendary scenesters of the day.
The film follows the singing and acting career of Tally Brown, a classically trained opera and blues singer who became a star of the New Yorkunderground scene in the late 1960s.
In this documentary, von Praunheim draws on extensive interviews with Brown, in which she shares her collaborations with Andy Warhol, Taylor Mead and other artists, and friendships with Ching Ho Cheng, Holly Woodlawn and Divine.
Brown opens the film with a cover of David Bowie's Heroes and closes with Rock 'n' Roll Suicide. The film not only captures Tally Brown's career, but also a certain New York milieu of the 1970s.[1]
Praunheim said he met Brown through the gay journalist Brandon Judel, and that she was "very, very difficult, a true diva."[2]
I admired her a lot, but she always let me feel that I was an amateur, never professional enough. She made me wait half a year to film her concert because she had to fix her teeth. Shortly before she died we had a show in New York with her in attendance. She loved it and acknowledged that I was the only person who documented her life.[2]
One of the filming locations in the film was Ching Ho Cheng's apartment on the 6th floor at the Hotel Chelsea, where Arthur Miller used to live during his separation from Marilyn Monroe. Cheng has a scene in his suite with Brown.[3]
New York City singer and actress Tally Brown, circa 1950s.
Melissa Anderson from the Village Voice wrote the film is "a must-see for all those interested in performance and the cultural history of New York in the '70s; the bewigged Miss Brown, with false eyelashes capable of sending her short, round body aloft, is the most mesmerizing raconteur and cabaret artist you'll hear."[1]
Pat Graham from the Chicago Reader opined that "Tally Brown, was one of the stars of the New York 60s underground circuit, who reemerged briefly in the punk-strewn late 70s to find, alas, that the subcultural cutting edge had passed her by; an oblique commentary on avant-garde aging and oblivion."[7]
Film critic Michael Bronski wrote it is a "fairly straightforward interview/documentary of the Warhol set in the East Village; it is interesting more for a historical context than as fine filmmaking; it is clear that von Praunheim's lurid visual sensibilities are not at work here."[8] Critic Kevin Thomas said that "Brown is a hefty, bizarre-looking cabaret singer of exquisite diction and compelling presence, a remarkably candid and perceptive woman, a determinedly brave and free spirit."[9]
British film director Peter Strickland said "this is not only a documentary on the flamboyant chanteuse and actor Tally Brown, but also a highly evocative portrait of late–70s New York and its long–extinct illicit zones such as the Continental Baths; its parade of downtown luminaries such as Taylor Mead, Divine and Holly Woodlawn supply ample cultural wattage for viewers unfamiliar with Brown herself."[10]
↑Bronski, Michael (October–November 1986). "Filmmaker Mixes Flamboyance with Marxism". Gay Community News. Vol.14, no.15. p.7.
↑Thomas, Kevin (4 September 1997). "Saluting Rosa: An American Cinematheque Series Honors a Fearless International Pioneer in Gay Cinema". Los Angeles Times. p.13.
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