It seems that anyone making a movie or television series set in New York City in the 1960\u2019s and early 1970\u2019s finds it\u00a0 irresistible to include something about the Underground Film scene that flourished in New York at that time, particularly as it relates to Andy Warhol and his bizarre friends\/entourage. (In an earlier blog post on Andy Warhol, I discussed some of the reasons for this fascination.).\u00a0 Furthermore, I find it rather amusing to see casting notices for some of these projects which contain the names of persons long forgotten and hardly known during their \u201c15 minutes of fame” that \u00a0derived from their association with the Underground movement. \u00a0Just what were Underground Films?<\/p>\n
Well, that\u2019s difficult to say because it was such an eclectic movement; but one thing these rather amateurish films had in common was the cachet that they were films that you were not supposed to see.\u00a0 I know that the concept of forbidden films may be difficult to comprehend today,\u00a0when with cable television and the internet, \u201canything goes\u201d and there is \u201ceverything for everybody\u201d; however in those dark days there \u00a0was certainly something conspiratorial in just attempting to see such films \u00a0You learned about screenings mainly by word of mouth and announcements\u00a0 in Underground (i.e. counter culture) newspapers\u2014which, themselves, contained things you were not supposed to read, written by writers who often employed noms de guerre. <\/em> Most screenings were held in lofts in the industrial part of town or church basements.\u00a0 In fact, just getting to these showings was scarier than anything you would ever see on the screen. \u00a0And \u00a0having made your way to one of these films, if you felt that the man sitting next to you might be an undercover agent, you may \u00a0not have been paranoid : Underground filmmaker Jack Smith\u2019s \u00a0notorious Flaming Creatures<\/em> (1963) was seized by the authorities after its first public showing, never to be screened again for decades; and one of Andy Warhol\u2019s films suffered a similar fate.<\/p>\n What happened to the participants of the Underground at the end of their \u201c15 minutes of fame?\u201d\u00a0 Most moved on.\u00a0 Andy Warhol, for example, went on to make films that were more and more exploitive and commercial.\u00a0 However, for many \u201cmoving on\u201d meant moving on to the next world, as so many of them died tragically young.<\/p>\n But to get back to the special fascination that this particular era has today, it seems every talented young actress wants to play the tragic Andy Warhol muse Edie Sedgwick; British actress Sienna Miller played her last.\u00a0 And then there is the enigmatic Nico of Warhol\u2019s illustrious Velvet Underground<\/em>; what a splendid role for an actress who possesses her statuesque good looks. But what about Mario Montesz, another Warhol \u201csuperstar\u201d?\u00a0 How would a good actor play one who was universally acknowledged to be\u00a0so terrible?\u00a0 Mario Montez was a female impersonator who patterned himself after Maria Montez, a Hollywood actress who appeared in many exotic low budget adventure films. (It should be noted that Maria Montez was considered by many as \u201cthe world\u2019s worst actress.\u201d)\u00a0\u00a0 And as far as female impersonators go, Mario Montez was, himself, considered to be\u201cpretty bad.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0But perhaps the\u00a0 key to portraying him can be found in critic Parker Tyler\u2019s astute observation: \u201cMario Montez does not impersonate Maria Montez; he is (that is, wishes to be<\/em>) Maria Montez.\u201d\u00a0 Mario passed away in 2013; sadly, he was one of\u00a0only a\u00a0few veterans of the Underground to have\u00a0survived to old age.<\/p>\n Let the record show that once upon a time in America, if you were determined and not afraid, you could see films that you were not supposed to see!<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It seems that anyone making a movie or television series set in New York City in the 1960\u2019s and early 1970\u2019s finds it\u00a0 irresistible to include something about the Underground Film scene that flourished in New York at that time, … Continue reading