Trash (1970 film)

Last updated
Trash
Trash-788139.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Paul Morrissey
Written byPaul Morrissey
Starring Joe Dallesandro
Holly Woodlawn
Jane Forth
Release date
  • October 5, 1970 (1970-10-05)
Running time
110 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$25,000

Trash is a 1970 American drama film directed and written by Paul Morrissey and starring Joe Dallesandro, Holly Woodlawn and Jane Forth. Dallesandro had previously starred in several other Andy Warhol/Paul Morrissey films such as The Loves of Ondine , Lonesome Cowboys , San Diego Surf , and Flesh .

Contents

Woodlawn made her screen debut in this film; director George Cukor famously instigated a write-in campaign to have her nominated for an Academy Award, but this did not materialize.[ citation needed ] Jane Forth, a 17-year-old model, also makes her debut in this film. She would shortly afterwards appear on the cover of Look magazine. The film also features other Warhol superstars such as Andrea Feldman and Geri Miller. The film features graphic scenes of intravenous drug use, sex, and frontal nudity.

Plot

Joe Smith, a heroin addict, is on a quest to score more drugs. Joe has a problematic relationship with his on-off, sexually frustrated girlfriend, Holly Sandiago.

During the course of the day, Joe overdoses in front of an upper-class couple, attempts to fool welfare into approving his methadone treatment by having Holly fake a pregnancy, and frustrates the women in his life with his drug-induced impotence.

Cast

Reception

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film two-and-a-half stars out of four and wrote that it was "aware of its own ludicrousness ... The humor grows out of the incongruity of the actors, the situation, the movie, the audience. 'Trash' passes right through pornography and emerges on the other side." [1] Vincent Canby of The New York Times called the film "true-blue movie-making, almost epic, funny and vivid, though a bit rotten at the core," concluding, "'Trash' is alive, but like the people in it, it continually parodies itself, and thus it represents a kind of dead end in filmmaking." [2] Variety wrote that the film was "the most comprehensible, least annoying and possibly most commercial of a long line of quasi-porno features from 'Chelsea Girls' to 'Lonesome Cowboys.' [3] Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune gave the film three stars out of four and wrote, "The Warhol-Morrissey world is a strange one, but in many ways, especially if taken in infrequent doses, a far more real world than the formula Hollywood drama or comedy. The actors are solidly in touch with their madness and can improvise with wit." [4] Kevin Kelly of The Boston Globe slammed the film as "worthless excess of an amateur rank beneath consideration." [5] Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times wrote, "What Morrissey did in his first film 'Flesh' and now in this sometimes uproariously funny, sometimes desperately sad new work is to draw upon the far-out scene of the Warhol superstars and utilize the same basic setups of extended dialogs between two or three people." [6] Stanley Kauffmann of The New Republic wrote- "Trash is disgusting, not for what it is on screen but for what it is in the minds of the people who made it". [7]

Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a rating of 80% from 35 reviews with the consensus: "Diving into the lives of societal outcasts with an intent to shock, this export from the Warhol Factory will reek of trash for some but is a treasure for audiences who have a taste for outré fare." [8]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Morrissey</span> American film director (born 1938)

Paul Morrissey is an American film director, best known for his association with Andy Warhol. He was also director of the first film in which a transgender actress, Holly Woodlawn, starred as a girlfriend of the main character played by Joe Dallesandro in Trash (1970).

Warhol superstars were a clique of New York City personalities promoted by the pop artist Andy Warhol during the 1960s and early 1970s. These personalities appeared in Warhol's artworks and accompanied him in his social life, epitomizing his dictum, "In the future everyone will be famous for fifteen minutes". Warhol would simply film them, and declare them "superstars".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jackie Curtis</span> American actor, writer, singer

Jackie Curtis was an American actor, writer, singer, and Warhol superstar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Factory</span> Andy Warhols New York City studio

The Factory was Andy Warhol's studio in New York City, which had four locations between 1963 and 1987. The Factory became famed for its parties in the 1960s. It was the hip hangout spot for artists, musicians, celebrities and Warhol's superstars. The original Factory was often referred to as the Silver Factory. In the studio, Warhol's workers would make silkscreens and lithographs under his direction.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joe Dallesandro</span> American actor

Joseph Angelo D'Allesandro III is an American actor and Warhol superstar. He was a sex symbol of gay subculture in the 1960s and 1970s, and of several American underground films before going mainstream.

Superstar in a Housedress (2004) is a feature-length documentary by independent filmmaker Craig Highberger about the life and legend of Warhol superstar Jackie Curtis. Highberger also wrote the biography of the same name, published by Penguin imprint Chamberlain Bros. in 2005. The film includes interviews with surviving superstars Holly Woodlawn, Penny Arcade and Joe Dallesandro; as well as Paul Morrissey, the director of the Warhol films Flesh and Women In Revolt that Jackie appeared in; and Tony Award winners Harvey Fierstein, and Lily Tomlin who also narrates. The film also includes twenty friends and colleagues of Curtis who round out the story of the artist's life. Rare footage includes Curtis performing in Vain Victory, Heaven Grand in Amber Orbit, and Glamour, Glory and Gold.

<i>Personal Best</i> (film) 1982 American drama film by Robert Towne

Personal Best is a 1982 American drama film written, produced and directed by Robert Towne. It stars Mariel Hemingway and real-life track star Patrice Donnelly, along with Scott Glenn as the coach. The film is about the lesbian relationship between two track-and-field teammates whose relationship might interfere with their performance.

<i>Flesh</i> (1968 film) 1968 film by Paul Morrissey

Flesh is a 1968 American film directed by Paul Morrissey and starring Joe Dallesandro as a hustler working on the streets of New York City. It highlights various Warhol superstars, in addition to being the film debuts of both Jackie Curtis and Candy Darling. Also appearing are Geraldine Smith as Joe's wife and Patti D'Arbanville as her lover.

<i>Women in Revolt</i> 1971 American film

Women in Revolt is a 1971 American satirical film produced by Andy Warhol and directed by Paul Morrissey. The film stars Jackie Curtis, Candy Darling, and Holly Woodlawn, three trans women and superstars of Warhol's Factory scene. It also features soundtrack music by John Cale.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Holly Woodlawn</span> Puerto Rican actress (1946–2015)

Holly Woodlawn was a transgender American actress and Warhol superstar who appeared in the films Trash (1970) and Women in Revolt (1971). She is also known as the Holly in Lou Reed's hit glam rock song "Walk on the Wild Side".

<i>Andy Warhols Bad</i> 1977 film by Jed Johnson

Andy Warhol's Bad is a 1977 comedy film directed by Jed Johnson and starring Carroll Baker, Perry King, and Susan Tyrrell. It was written by Pat Hackett and George Abagnalo, and was the last film produced by Andy Warhol before his death in 1987.

<i>Lonesome Cowboys</i> 1968 film

Lonesome Cowboys is a 1968 American Western film directed by Andy Warhol and written and produced by Paul Morrissey. The film is a satire of Hollywood Westerns, and was initially screened in November 1968 at the San Francisco International Film Festival, where it won the Best Film Award. On May 5, 1969, it was shown for initial viewings at the New Andy Warhol Garrick Theatre in New York City.

<i>Flesh for Frankenstein</i> 1973 film

Flesh for Frankenstein is a 1973 horror film written and directed by Paul Morrissey. It stars Udo Kier, Joe Dallesandro, Monique van Vooren and Arno Juerging. Interiors were filmed at Cinecittà in Rome by a crew of Italian filmmakers.

<i>Blood for Dracula</i> 1974 film directed by Paul Morrissey

Blood for Dracula is a 1974 horror film written and directed by Paul Morrissey and starring Udo Kier, Joe Dallesandro, Maxime McKendry, Stefania Casini, Arno Juerging, and Vittorio de Sica. Upon its initial 1974 release in West Germany and the United States, Blood for Dracula was released as Andy Warhol's Dracula.

<i>Husbands</i> (film) 1970 film by John Cassavetes

Husbands is a 1970 American comedy-drama film written and directed by John Cassavetes. It stars Ben Gazzara, Peter Falk, and Cassavetes as three middle class men in the throes of a midlife crisis following the death of a close friend.

<i>Heat</i> (1972 film) 1972 film by Paul Morrissey, produced by Andy Warhol

Heat is a 1972 American comedy drama film written and directed by Paul Morrissey, produced by Andy Warhol, and starring Joe Dallesandro, Sylvia Miles and Andrea Feldman. The film 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).

<i>Mixed Blood</i> (1985 film) 1985 film directed by Paul Morrissey

Mixed Blood is a 1985 black comedy film directed by Paul Morrissey and John Leguizamo's film debut.

San Diego Surf is a 1968 feature film directed by Andy Warhol and Paul Morrissey, and filmed in La Jolla, California in May 1968. On June 3, 1968, Warhol was shot by Valerie Solanas, bringing work on the film to a halt. In 1996, the Andy Warhol Foundation commissioned Morrissey to "finish editing the film based on Warhol's notes".

Jane Forth is an American actress and model, best known for having been one of the Warhol superstars, starring in films such as Trash, and being one of “Antonio’s Girls”, models and muses of fashion illustrator Antonio Lopez.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">55th Street Playhouse</span> Former theater in Manhattan, New York

The 55th Street Playhouse—periodically referred to as the 55th Street Cinema and Europa Theatre—was a 253-seat movie house at 154 West 55th Street, Midtown Manhattan, New York City, that opened on May 20, 1927. Many classic art and foreign-language films, including those by Jean Cocteau, Sergei Eisenstein, Federico Fellini, Abel Gance, Fritz Lang, Josef Von Sternberg and Orson Welles, were featured at the theater. Later, Andy Warhol presented many of his notable films in this building in the late 1960s. Other notable films were also shown at the theater, including Boys in the Sand (1971) and Him (1974).

References

  1. Ebert, Roger (March 5, 1971). "Trash". RogerEbert.com . Retrieved December 19, 2018.
  2. Canby, Vincent (October 6, 1970). "Film: Andy Warhol's 'Trash' Arrives". The New York Times . 57.
  3. "Film Reviews: Trash". Variety . September 30, 1970. 20.
  4. Siskel, Gene (March 1, 1971). "Trash". Chicago Tribune. Section 2, p. 13.
  5. Kelly, Kevin (October 18, 1970). "Warhol's 'Trash' precisely that". The Boston Globe . A-17.
  6. Thomas, Kevin (December 25, 1970). "'Trash' an Urban Odyssey". Los Angeles Times . Part IV, p. 27.
  7. Kauffmann, Stanley (1974). Living Images Film Comment and Criticism. Harper & Row Publishers. p. 24.
  8. "Andy Warhol's Trash". Rotten Tomatoes .