''Heat'' is a 1972 American

comedy drama Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

film written and directed by

Paul Morrissey Paul Morrissey (born February 23, 1938) 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 cha ...

, 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 visual art movement known as pop art. His works explore the relationsh ...

, 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 ...

Sylvia Miles Sylvia Miles (née Scheinwald; September 9, 1924 – June 12, 2019) was an American actress. She was twice nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performances in ''Midnight Cowboy'' (1969) and '' Farewell, My Lovel ...

and

Andrea Feldman Andrea Feldman (April 1, 1948 – August 8, 1972) was an American actress and Warhol superstar. She committed suicide in 1972. Career Andrea Feldman was a native New Yorker. She attended Quintano's School for Young Professionals, a high sc ...

. The film was conceived by Warhol as a parody of the 1950 film ''

Sunset Boulevard Sunset Boulevard is a boulevard in the central and western part of Los Angeles, California, that stretches from the Pacific Coast Highway in Pacific Palisades east to Figueroa Street in Downtown Los Angeles. It is a major thoroughfare in ...

''. 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 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 ...

in Los Angeles. Joey uses sex to get his landlady to reduce his rent, then seduces Sally Todd, a former

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywoo ...

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 Psychosis is a condition of the mind that results in difficulties determining what is real and what is not real. Symptoms may include delusions and hallucinations, among other features. Additional symptoms are incoherent speech and behavior t ...

daughter, Jessica, further complicates the relationship between Sally and the cynical, emotionally numb Joey.

Cast

as Joey Davis *

as Sally Todd *

as Jessica *

Pat Ast Pat Ast (October 21, 1941 – October 3, 2001) was an American actress and model. She was best known for starring in Andy Warhol films and being a Halston model and muse in the 1970s. Early life Patricia Ann Ast was born on October 21, 1941 in t ...

as Lydia, the motel owner * Ray Vestal as Ray, the producer *

Lester Persky Lester Persky (July 6, 1925 – December 16, 2001) was an American film, television, and theatre producer. Early life and career Born in Brooklyn, New York, Persky attended Brooklyn College before serving in the Merchant Navy during World Wa ...

as Sidney * Eric Emerson as Eric * Gary Kaznocha as Gary * Harold Stevenson as Harold (credited as Harold Childe) * John Hallowell as Gossip columnist * Pat Parlemon as Girl by the pool *

Bonnie Walder Bonnie, is a Scottish given name and is sometimes used as a descriptive reference, as in the Scottish folk song, My Bonnie Lies over the Ocean. It comes from the Scots language word "bonnie" (pretty, attractive), or the French bonne (good). That ...

as Bonnie

Release

The film was shown at the

1972 Cannes Film Festival The 25th annual Cannes Film Festival was held from 4 to 19 May 1972. The Palme d'Or went to the Italian films ''The Working Class Goes to Heaven'' by Elio Petri and '' The Mattei Affair'' by Francesco Rosi. The festival opened with the French fi ...

. The film was also screened at the

New York Film Festival The New York Film Festival (NYFF) is a film festival held every fall in New York City, presented by Film at Lincoln Center (FLC). Founded in 1963 by Richard Roud and Amos Vogel with the support of Lincoln Center president William Schuman, i ...

on October 5, 1972, before opening the following day at New York's Festival Theatre and then expanding to the

Waverly Theatre Waverly may refer to: Education ;United States * Waverly Community Schools, a school district located in Lansing, Michigan * Waverly School District 145, Nebraska * Waverly Central School District, New York * Waverly High School (disambiguati ...

Greenwich Village Greenwich Village ( , , ) is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street to the north, Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the south, and the Hudson River to the west. Greenwich Village ...

and the Rialto Theatre in

Times Square Times Square is a major commercial intersection, tourist destination, entertainment hub, and neighborhood in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is formed by the junction of Broadway, Seventh Avenue, and 42nd Street. Together with adjacent ...

on October 11.

Reception

The film was well received at Cannes and the New York Film Festival screening was

standing-room only An event is described as standing-room only when it is so well-attended that all of the chairs in the venue are occupied, leaving only flat spaces of pavement or flooring for other attendees to stand, at least those spaces not restricted by occup ...

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." At a panel discussion following the New York Film Festival screening,

Otto Preminger Otto Ludwig Preminger ( , ; 5 December 1905 – 23 April 1986) was an Austrian-American theatre and film director, film producer, and actor. He directed more than 35 feature films in a five-decade career after leaving the theatre. He first gai ...

called it "depressingly entertaining". After previously ignoring most Warhol films, the

New York Daily News The New York ''Daily News'', officially titled the ''Daily News'', is an American newspaper based in Jersey City, NJ. It was founded in 1919 by Joseph Medill Patterson as the ''Illustrated Daily News''. It was the first U.S. daily printed in ...

reviewed the film, with Kathleen Carroll awarding it three stars. The advert for the film was censored in the Daily News with a t-shirt painted on Dallesandro and a bra strap on Miles.

, who had a much larger role than in previous Warhol films,Andy Warhol 23: Andrea Feldman RIP
warholstars.org; accessed April 1, 2018. died shortly before the film was released, jumping from the fourteenth floor of her parents' apartment. Her performance garnered positive reviews, with

Judith Crist Judith Crist (; May 22, 1922 – August 7, 2012) was an American film critic and academic. She appeared regularly on the '' Today'' show from 1964 to 1973 Martin, Douglas (August 8, 2012)"Judith Crist, Zinging and Influential Film Critic, ...

, writing in ''

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

'' 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

confusion, infantile and heart-breaking." The film grossed $28,000 in its first week.

References

External links