''Flesh'' (alternative title: ''Andy Warhol's Flesh'') is a 1968 American film directed by Paul Morrissey and starring

Joe Dallesandro Joseph Angelo D'Allesandro III (born December 31, 1948) is an American actor and Warhol superstar. Having also crossed over into mainstream roles such as mobster Lucky Luciano in the film '' The Cotton Club'', Dallesandro was a sex symbol of g ...

as a

hustler Hustler or hustlers may also refer to: Professions * Hustler, an American slang word, e.g., for a: ** Con man, a practitioner of confidence tricks ** Drug dealer, seller of illegal drugs ** Male prostitute ** Pimp ** Business man, more gener ...

working on the streets of

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. It highlights various

Warhol superstars 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 fam ...

, in addition to being the film debuts of both

Jackie Curtis Jackie Curtis (February 19, 1947 – May 15, 1985) was an American actress, writer, singer, and Warhol superstar. Early life and career Jackie Curtis was born in New York City to John Holder and Jenevive Uglialoro. She had one sibling, half-b ...

and

Candy Darling Candy Darling (November 24, 1944 – March 21, 1974) was an American actress, best known as a Warhol superstar and transgender icon. She starred in Andy Warhol's films ''Flesh'' (1968) and '' Women in Revolt'' (1971), and was a muse of The Velve ...

. Also appearing are Geraldine Smith as Joe's wife and

Patti D'Arbanville Patricia D'Arbanville is an American actress known for her appearance in Andy Warhol projects. Career After ''Flesh'', D'Arbanville performed in Warhol's '' L'Amour'' (1973), and as the title character in the David Hamilton film '' Bilitis'' ...

as her lover. ''Flesh'' was first shown at the Andy Warhol Garrick Theatre at 152 Bleecker Street in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

on September 26, 1968. In January 1970, the film premiered at the

Open Space Theatre The Open Space Theatre was created by Charles Marowitz and Thelma Holt in 1968. It began in a basement on Tottenham Court Road in London, then transferred to an art deco post office on the Euston Road in 1976. Thelma attracted a team of voluntee ...

in London, but due to controversy surrounding the film's censorship, it was pulled from the theater and wasn't publicly shown until 1971. ''Flesh'' is the first film of the "Paul Morrissey Trilogy" produced by

Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (; born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director, and producer who was a leading figure in the Art movement, visual art movement known as pop art. His works explore th ...

. The other films in the trilogy include ''

Trash Trash may refer to: Garbage * Garbage, unwanted or undesired waste material ** Litter, material discarded in inappropriate places ** Municipal solid waste, unwanted or undesired waste material generated in a municipal environment Arts, enter ...

'' (1970) and ''

Heat In thermodynamics, heat is defined as the form of energy crossing the boundary of a thermodynamic system by virtue of a temperature difference across the boundary. A thermodynamic system does not ''contain'' heat. Nevertheless, the term is ...

'' (1972). All three have gained a cult following and are noted examples of the ideals and ideology of the time period.

Plot

As the film begins, Geri ejects Joe from their bed and insists he go out on the streets to make some money for her girlfriend's

abortion Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pre ...

. This leads to Joe's various encounters with clients, including an artist who wishes to draw Joe, played by

Maurice Braddell Maurice Lee Braddell (23 November 1900 – 28 July 1990) was an English actor, author and art restorer. Maurice Braddell was born in Folkestone, Kent, England, and lived in New York City for much of his life. He was the son of Sir Thomas Bradde ...

, Louis Waldon as a gymnast, and John Christian. Scenes filmed on the streets of

show Joe spending time with other hustlers, one of whom is played by his real life brother, and teaching the tricks of the trade to the new hustler, played by Barry Brown. The film includes a scene of Joe interacting with his real life one-year-old son. ''Flesh'' concludes with Joe in bed with Geraldine Smith and Patti D'Arbanville. The women strip Joe and begin to get intimate with each other. In turn, Joe gets bored and falls asleep.

Cast

as Joe, The Hustler * Geraldine Smith as Geri *

as The Artist * Louis Waldon as David * Geri Miller as Terry *

as Candy *

as Jackie *

as Geri's Girlfriend * Barry Brown as Hustler

Production

Warhol and Morrissey conceived ''Flesh'' while Warhol was convalescing following the attempt on his life by

Valerie Solanas Valerie Jean Solanas (April 9, 1936 – April 25, 1988) was an American radical feminist known for the ''SCUM Manifesto'', which she self-published in 1967, and for her attempt to murder artist Andy Warhol in 1968. Solanas had a turbulent child ...

John Schlesinger John Richard Schlesinger (; 16 February 1926 – 25 July 2003) was an English film and stage director. He won the Academy Award for Best Director for ''Midnight Cowboy'', and was nominated for the same award for two other films ('' Darling'' an ...

was filming ''

Midnight Cowboy ''Midnight Cowboy'' is a 1969 American drama film, based on the 1965 novel of the same name by James Leo Herlihy. The film was written by Waldo Salt, directed by John Schlesinger, and stars Dustin Hoffman and Jon Voight, with notable smaller ...

'', which featured several members of Warhol's entourage, including Viva and

Ultra Violet Ultraviolet (UV) is a form of electromagnetic radiation with wavelength from 10 nm (with a corresponding frequency around 30 PHz) to 400 nm (750 THz), shorter than that of visible light, but longer than X-rays. UV radiation i ...

who, with Morrissey, shot a separate short film during shooting of ''Midnight Cowboy'''s elaborate party scene. Warhol initially endorsed the participation of his people but grew resentful at what he perceived as Schlesinger's poaching of Warhol's scene. Warhol decided to undercut Schlesinger by filming his own story about a male prostitute. The film was photographed by Morrissey, using a

16mm 16 mm film is a historically popular and economical gauge of film. 16 mm refers to the width of the film (about inch); other common film gauges include 8 and 35 mm. It is generally used for non-theatrical (e.g., industrial, ed ...

Auricon Auricon cameras were 16 mm film Single System sound-on-film motion picture cameras manufactured in the 1940s through the early 1980s. Auricon cameras are notable because they record sound directly onto an optical or magnetic track on the same film ...

camera favored by Warhol for his earlier films. This camera permitted the recording of sound directly onto the film and had a maximum run time of 33 minutes. This allowed for long improvised scenes. Morrissey often included the camera's flash frames and pops, which occur when starting and stopping the camera, as an aesthetic choice.

UK censorship controversy

''Flesh'' premiered in London at the

Tottenham Court Road Tottenham Court Road (occasionally abbreviated as TCR) is a major road in Central London, almost entirely within the London Borough of Camden. The road runs from Euston Road in the north to St Giles Circus in the south; Tottenham Court Road t ...

on January 15, 1970. British censor John Trevelyan was wary of issuing the film a cinema certificate but had suggested it to distributor Jimmy Vaughan for club screenings. On February 3, 1970, following a complaint by a member of the public, authorities raided the Open Space Theatre because the film did not possess a

British Board of Film Classification The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC, previously the British Board of Film Censors) is a non-governmental organisation founded by the British film industry in 1912 and responsible for the national classification and censorship of f ...

(BBFC) certificate. After a public protest, the BBFC passed Flesh with an uncut 'X' certificate on October 27, 1970. The film re-opened at the Chelsea Essoldo in 1971.

Reception

''Flesh'' was originally not well received in the US and the UK, but it garnered popularity in Germany–being among the top 5 grossing movies of 1970. Over the years, the film has gained a cult following. ''Flesh'' ranks 478th on ''Empire'' magazine's 2008 list of the 500 greatest movies of all time, and in 2007, ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' picked ''Flesh'' as one of its "1000 Movies to See Before You Die". It holds an approval rating of 63% on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

based on 8 reviews, with an average rating of 7/10.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Flesh (Film) 1968 films 1968 LGBT-related films American LGBT-related films Bisexuality-related films Lesbian-related films Films about male prostitution in the United States Films directed by Paul Morrissey Transgender-related films 1960s English-language films 1960s American films