''Lonesome Cowboys'' is a 1968 American Western film directed 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 written and produced 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 ...

. The film is a satire of Hollywood Westerns, and was initially screened in November 1968 at the

San Francisco International Film Festival The San Francisco International Film Festival (abbreviated as SFIFF), organized by the San Francisco Film Society, is held each spring for two weeks, presenting around 200 films from over 50 countries. The festival highlights current trends in i ...

, where it won the Best Film Award. On May 5, 1969, it was shown for initial viewings at the

New Andy Warhol Garrick Theatre The Garrick Cinema (periodically referred to as the New Andy Warhol Garrick Theatre, Andy Warhol's Garrick Cinema, Garrick Theatre, or Nickelodeon) was a 199-seat movie house at 152 Bleecker Street in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Lower ...

in New York City.

Production

''Lonesome Cowboys'' was shot in January 1968 in

Old Tucson Old Tucson (formerly Old Tucson Studios) is an American movie studio and theme park just west of Tucson, Arizona, adjacent to the Tucson Mountains and close to the western portion of Saguaro National Park. Built in 1939 for the movie ''Arizona'' ...

and the Rancho Linda Vista Dude Ranch in Oracle, Arizona on a budget of $3,000. The film features

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 ...

Viva Viva may refer to: Companies and organisations * Viva (network operator), a Dominican mobile network operator * Viva Air, a Spanish airline taken over by flag carrier Iberia * Viva Air Dominicana * VIVA Bahrain, a telecommunication company * V ...

, Taylor Mead,

Louis Waldon Louis Waldon (December 16, 1934 – December 6, 2013) was an American film actor, whose career spanned nearly 45 years. He was born in Modesto, California. Waldon began his acting career in 1965. He was best known for his collaboration with Ameri ...

, Eric Emerson, and Joe Dallesandro. The plot loosely is based on ''

Romeo and Juliet ''Romeo and Juliet'' is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about the romance between two Italian youths from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetime and, along with ''Ham ...

'', hence the names Julian and Ramona of the two leads. While in Arizona on a college lecture tour in November 1967, Warhol booked film screenings of excerpts from '' Chelsea Girls'' followed by a question-and-answer session with the artist, Morrissey, Viva, and

Allen Midgette Allen Midgette (born as Allen Joseph Midgett; February 2, 1939 – June 16, 2021) was an American actor and painter who is perhaps best known for playing Andy Warhol on a 1968 University lecture tour after the artist was shot by Valerie Solanas. ...

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...

and the Cinema I Film Society at the Tucson Jewish Community Center. Warhol and Viva apparently both enjoyed their time in Arizona so much that they made plans to find a way to return, which culminated in Paul Morrissey's writing the screenplay for ''Lonesome Cowboys'' to be shot there two months later. A detailed first-hand account of Warhol's time in Tucson by Cinema I director Shirley Pasternack was published in the May 1989 issue of ''Tucson City Magazine''. The film was shot on

16 mm film 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, edu ...

using an Auricon camera, recording the sound directly onto the film. Warhol deliberately stopped and started the camera during takes to include flash frames and audio pops in the middle of shots. Warhol initially planned to title the film ''Fuck'', then ''The Glory of the Fuck''. Warhol and Morrissey settled on ''Lonesome Cowboys'' while Warhol was convalescing following the attempt on his life by Valerie Solanas.

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 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 naming this film ''Lonesome Cowboys'' as a reference to ''Midnight Cowboy''. The original poster promoting the film, designed by George Abagnalo, is shown prominently in a portrait of Warhol by Jack Mitchell.

Cast

* Joe Dallesandro as Joe "Little Joe" * Julian Burroughs as Brother * Eric Emerson as Eric * Tom Hompertz as Julian * Taylor Mead as Nurse *

as Ramona D'Alvarez *

as Mickey * Francis Francine as Sheriff

Reception

In August 1969, the film was seized by police in

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital city, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georgia, Fulton County, the mos ...

, personnel at The Ansley Mall Mini Cinema were arrested, and the entire audience was searched by police for their identifications.WarholStars entry
/ref> The event was considered a turning point in the city's LGBT community and led to the first

Atlanta Pride Atlanta Pride, also colloquially (and formerly) called the Atlanta Gay Pride Festival, is a week-long annual lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender ( LGBT) pride festival held in Atlanta, Georgia ( United States). Established in 1971, it is one of ...

two years later.

Remakes

A 2010 remake by Marianne Dissard titled ''Lonesome Cowgirls'' was shot in Tucson, Arizona.

References

External links

*
''Lonesome Cowboys'' at WarholStars
* {{Romeo and Juliet film adaptations 1968 films 1968 LGBT-related films 1960s English-language films Films directed by Andy Warhol 1968 Western (genre) films American Western (genre) films Films based on Romeo and Juliet LGBT-related adaptations of works by William Shakespeare 1960s American films