| Title: | **** (Four Stars) |
| Director, Producer, Editing, Photography: | Andy Warhol |
| Running Time: | 512 minutes (Long version)/120 minutes (Short Version) |
| Premiere: | 1967-07-08 New York City movie theater |
| Release Date: | From 8.30 pm on 1967-12-15 to 9.30 pm on 1967-12-16 |
| Venue: | The New Cinema Playhouse, 125 West 41st Street, New York City [US] |
| Cast: | The Bananas: Rock & Roll group: Manuel Peña, Rolando Peña, Juan Downey Christian Aaron Boulogne Tally Brown John Cale Nick Cernovich Jacque Lynn Colton David Croland Ronnie Cutrone Joe Dallesandro: College Wrestler Angelina "Pepper" Davis: Girl on Love Seat Waldo Diaz Balart Dickin Juan Downey: The Bananas Rock & Roll group Eric Emerson Andrea Feldman Patrick Fleming Freddy Herko Baby Jane Holzer Ed Hood International Velvet [Susan Bottomly]: Ray Johnson Katrina Rodney Kitzmiller La Monte Young Johanna Lawrencon Gerard Malanga Alan Midgette Mary Woronov Paul Morrisey Tiger Morse Billy Name [Billy Linich] Ivy Nicholson: Girl on Chair Nico Ondine: Scrooge Orion Rona Page [Rona Schwarz] Manuel Peña: The Bananas Rock & Roll group Rolando Peña: The Bananas Rock & Roll group Susan Pile Brigid Polk: Wife to Ondine Yvonne Rainer Rene Ricard Edie Minturn Sedgwick Ingrid Superstar Katrina Toland Marcia Trinder Roger Trudeau Ultra Violet [Isabelle Collin Dufresne] Viva: Girl in Bed |
| Note: | Andy Warhol's **** or Four Stars, composed of footage shot between August 1966 and September 1967, originally titled Fuck,is a twenty-five hours long composite work with 30 sections. A review of the opening by Grace Glueck (Warhol Unveils 25 Hour **** Film; New York Times, 08 July 1967) contains an interesting observation for the Velvet Underground hopeful: "... As one projector reels off a far out party scene, another projects the oversized face of a man eating. On those two images may be superimposed a third scene involving an amorous couple. The soundtrack has superimpositions too, so that electronic squawks are mingled with murmured dialogue ...", screened in its entirety only once, at the New Cinema Playhouse, New York, from 8:30 pm on 15 December 1967 to 9:30 pm on 16 December 1967. Edie Minturn Sedgwick appears in reel 38, Edith Sedgwick and reel 41 Edith and Ondine shot toward the end of 1966. In January 1967, Andy Warhol shot some footage of Susan Bottomly for **** (Four Stars) — a 30 minute colour and sound segment referred to simply as International Velvet which also included Alan Midgette and Dickin. The Loves of Ondine was shot in in the summer of 1967. it was not released or edited until 1968. It opened at the New Andy Warhol Garrick Theatre in Greenwich Village on 01 August 1968. Ondine, the sharp-tongued, tough-talking gay amphetamine-popping star of The Chelsea Girls, is shown here in a series of scenes in which he spars with Viva amongst other women. The film marks Joe Dallesandro's Warhol debut. Joe's famous wrestling scene was shot in John Wilcock's Greenwich Village apartment. Nico acts in five sections of ****: I, a Man The uncut reels of I, a Man were included in ****. Imitation of Christ Of all the films Nico shot with Andy Warhol, the one she likes the best is Imitation of Christ. Andy Warhol shot sixteen 32 minute reels for Imitation of Christ. The long version was shown once in November 1967 and then withdrawn from circulation. A month later it appeared as a segment in ****. Nico-Katrina Segment number 25. Screened only once. High Asbury A thirty minutes documentary evoking Flower Power, with Ultra Violet, Ondine, Nico. Overexposed, very short shots and strobe cuts show a room in San Francisco. It is all very flowery, with rock music and people smoking, sitting on the floor. There is little movement except that I haven't seen so many cuts in a Warhol movie. A baby in blue light becomes very central. Cut to his crib in another room, swinging against the daytime light. Someone begins to play a clarinet or flute and a drummer joins in. (Velvet Underground record in the background.) Sausalito 30 minutes, filmed September 1967. Images of Sausalito: water, docks, boats, street, with Nico's voice over but broken to pieces by the strobe cuts with a distant band on the soundtrack. Nico speaks slow, disconnected lines. "A man is walking on the sea." "The sea is walking." "The sea is after me." Occasional cuts to Nico's face in close-up and in sync. It is getting darker, the color is dark, deep blue with some red in the sky. "Night is light." "The night grows into the sky." "The light grows back into the earth." By now it is quite dark. Boats are silhouetted against the sky, some figures pass across across the frame, a band begins to play. Lights appear in windows far away and the band stops. Nico's voice comes in for a moment. |
| In his book, Stargazer, Stephen Koch includes the following partial listing of segments included in the original version of ****, which he managed to assemble from the markings on film cans and from conversations with Paul Morrissey, Gerard Malanga and Andy Warhol: | |
| Length | Reel Title |
| 30 mins | Group One |
| 30 mins | Sunset Beach on Long Island |
| 30 mins | High Ashbury (segment 76) |
| 20 mins | Tiger Morse (filmed 1966-11-00) (with Ultra Violet, Ondine, Nico) |
| 30 mins | International Velvet (filmed 1967-01-00) |
| 2 hours | Alan and Dickin (filmed 1967-00-00) (with Alan Midgette and Dicken) |
| 8 hours | Imitation of Christ |
| 30 mins | Courtroom (filmed 1966-12-00) |
| 30 mins | Gerard Has His Hair Removed with Nair (filmed 1967-07-00) |
| 30 mins | Katrina Dead (segment 23) |
| 30 mins | Sausalito |
| 30 mins | Alan and Apple (filmed late 1967-01-00) (With Alan Midgette) |
| 30 mins | Ondine and Ingrid (segment 68) |
| 30 mins | Ivy and Susan |
| 30 mins | Sunset in California |
| 30 mins | Ondine in Yellow Hair |
| 30 mins | Philadelphia Story |
| 30 mins | Katrina (segment 25) |
| 30 mins | Barbara and Ivy |
| 30 mins | Ondine and Edie |
| 30 mins | Susan and David (segment 82) |
| 30 mins | Orion (segment 42) |
| 30 mins | Emanuel (segment 35) |
| 30 mins | Rolando (segment 37) |
| 30 mins | Easthampton Beach (segment 43) |
| 30 mins | Swimming Pool |
| 30 mins | Nico-Katrina (also listed as segment 43) |
| 30 mins | Tally and Ondine |
| 30 mins | Ondine in Bathroom |
| 33 mins | A Christmas Carol (with Ondine) |
 **** © Billy Name |
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