Saturday, October 4, 2014

VIVA, THE FORMER SUSAN HOFFMAN


Viva may indeed have been the most exotically beautiful and intelligent of the Warhol "Superstars",  appearing in such films as NUDE RESTAURANT, BIKE BOY (both 1967),  LONESOME COWBOYS (1968) and BLUE MOVIE (1969).  It was her peripatetic intelligence,  fearlessness on camera and off,  and ability to improvise dialogue that made her essential to Warhol's "let's make a movie" modus operandi.  That this sweet Catholic girl with ultra-conservative parents could perform intercourse on camera (a first for a "name" actress) while retaining her chatterbox persona (talking to co-star Louis Waldron about the Vietnam War,  cooking, and taking a shower) did little to help Warhol avoid obscenity charges. BTW,  the movie's punning title and blue tint are the result of a technical error in keeping with Warhol's child-like delight in chance, ineptitude, and calculated dumbness.  

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