''Blue Movie'' (also known as ''Fuck'') is a 1969 American erotic film written, produced and directed by Andy Warhol. It is the first adult erotic film depicting explicit sex to receive wide theatrical release in the United States, and is regarded as a seminal film in the Golden Age of Porn. It helped inaugurate the "

porno chic Porno may refer to: * Pornography, explicit depiction of sexual subject matter with principal intention of sexually exciting a viewer **Pornographic magazine **Pornographic film * ''Porno'' (film), a 2019 American film * ''Porno'' (novel), a 2 ...

" phenomenon, in which porn was publicly discussed by celebrities (like

Johnny Carson John William Carson (October 23, 1925 – January 23, 2005) was an American television host, comedian, writer and producer. He is best known as the host of ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'' (1962–1992). Carson received six Pr ...

and Bob Hope) and taken seriously by film critics (like

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...

), in modern American culture, and later, in many other countries throughout the world. According to Warhol, ''Blue Movie'' was a major influence in the making of '' Last Tango in Paris'', an internationally controversial erotic drama film starring

Marlon Brando Marlon Brando Jr. (April 3, 1924 – July 1, 2004) was an American actor. Considered one of the most influential actors of the 20th century, he received numerous accolades throughout his career, which spanned six decades, including two Academ ...

and released a few years after ''Blue Movie'' was made.

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 * ...

and

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 ...

, playing themselves, starred in ''Blue Movie''. In 1970, '' Mona'', the second adult erotic film that received a wide release, was shown. Afterwards, other adult films, including ''

Boys in the Sand ''Boys in the Sand'' is a landmark American gay pornographic film, released early in the Golden Age of Porn. The 1971 film was directed by Wakefield Poole and stars Casey Donovan.Deep Throat'', '' Behind the Green Door'', and '' The Devil in Miss Jones'', were released to continue the Golden Age of Porn, beginning with ''Blue Movie''. In 2016, ''Blue Movie'' was shown at the Whitney Museum of American Art in Manhattan.

Development

The film includes dialogue about the Vietnam War, various mundane tasks and unsimulated sex, during a blissful afternoon in a New York City apartment (owned by art critic David Bourdon). The film was presented in the press as, "a film about the Vietnam War and what we can do about it." Warhol added, "the movie is about ... love, not destruction." Warhol explained that the lack of a plot in ''Blue Movie'' was intentional: According to Viva: "The Warhol films were about sexual disappointment and frustration: the way Andy saw the world, the way the world is, and the way nine-tenths of the population sees it, yet pretends they don’t."

Cast

as Himself *

as Herself

Production

Andy Warhol described making ''Blue Movie'' as follows: "I'd always wanted to do a movie that was pure fucking, nothing else, the way ''

Eat Eating (also known as consuming) is the ingestion of food, typically to provide a heterotrophic organism with energy and to allow for growth. Animals and other heterotrophs must eat in order to survive — carnivores eat other animals, herbi ...

'' had been just eating and '' Sleep'' had been just sleeping. So in October '68 I shot a movie of Viva having sex with Louis Waldon. I called it just ''Fuck''." The film was supposedly filmed in a single three-hour session, with 30 minutes initially cut for the 140-minute version. The climactic section was shot in a 35-minute take. According to ''Variety'', the film has only 10 minutes of actual sex. The film acquired a blue/green tint when Warhol utilized film stock that was meant for filming with tungsten lights, and the daylight coming through a large apartment window resulted in the film's middle reel turning blue. According to Wheeler Winston Dixon, a filmmaker and scholar who attended the first screening of the film at Warhol's Factory in the spring of 1969:

Release

The film had a benefit screening on June 12, 1969, at the

Elgin Theater The Elgin Theater is the former name of the building now known as the Joyce Theater, located on the corner of 19th Street and Eighth Avenue in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. The theater showed films from its opening ...

in New York City. ''Variety'' reported that the film was the "first theatrical feature to actually depict intercourse". While it was initially shown at The Factory, ''Blue Movie'' was not presented to a wider audience until it opened at the New Andy Warhol Garrick Theater in New York City on July 21, 1969, with a running time of 105 minutes. The film was also screened at the Berkeley Repertory Theatre in California. On its opening day in New York, the film grossed a house record $3,050, with a total of $16,200 for the week. Warhol received 90% of the gross, which recovered the film's $3,000 cost quickly. Viva, in Paris, finding that ''Blue Movie'' was getting a lot of attention, said, " Timothy Leary loved it. Gene Youngblood did too. He said I was better than Vanessa Redgrave and it was the first time a real movie star had made love on the screen. It was a real breakthrough."

Controversy

On July 31, 1969, the staff of 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 ...

were arrested, and the film confiscated. The theater manager was eventually fined $250; afterwards, the manager said, "I don't think anyone was harmed by this movie ... I saw other pictures around town and this was a kiddie matinee compared to them." Warhol said, "What's pornography anyway? ..The muscle magazines are called pornography, but they're really not. They teach you how to have good bodies ..I think movies should appeal to prurient interests. I mean the way things are going now – people are alienated from one another. ''Blue Movie'' was ''real''. But it wasn't done as pornography—it was done as an exercise, an experiment. But I really do think movies ''should'' arouse you, should get you excited about people, should be prurient. Prurience is part of the machine. It keeps you happy. It keeps you running." ote – in "view all"/"page 327" – from the book text, "In a final defence of his methods, which were used in ''Blue Movie'' for the last time, Andy told Leticia Kent, [in a ''Vogue'' interview..."]

Aftermath

Afterwards, in 1970, Warhol published ''Blue Movie'' in book form, with film dialogue and explicit stills, through Grove Press. When '' Last Tango in Paris'', an internationally controversial erotic drama film directed by Bernardo Bertolucci and starring

, was released in 1972, Warhol considered ''Blue Movie'' to be its inspiration. ''

Mona the Virgin Nymph ''Mona'' (1970) (also promoted as ''Mona; the Virgin Nymph'') is a sexually explicit adult film that contains a number of unsimulated non-penetrative sex scenes as well as penetrative ones. The film is regarded as the second sexually explicit f ...

'', an erotic film depicting explicit sex, also received a mainstream theatrical release in the United States in 1970. Shortly thereafter, other adult films, such as ''

Boys in the Sand ''Boys in the Sand'' is a landmark American gay pornographic film, released early in the Golden Age of Porn. The 1971 film was directed by Wakefield Poole and stars Casey Donovan.Deep Throat'', '' Behind the Green Door'', and '' The Devil in Miss Jones'', were released, continuing the Golden Age of Porn that began with ''Blue Movie''. In 1973, the phenomenon of porn being publicly discussed by celebrities (like

and Bob Hope) and taken seriously by film critics (like

), a development referred to by Ralph Blumenthal of '' The New York Times'' as "

", began for the first time in modern American culture and later throughout the world.

Revival

In 2005, ''Blue Movie'' was publicly screened in New York City for the first time in over 30 years. In 2016, the film was shown at the Whitney Museum of American Art in Manhattan.

References

External links

* * * *
Blue Movie
' at the

National Galleries of Scotland National Galleries of Scotland ( gd, Gailearaidhean Nàiseanta na h-Alba) is the executive non-departmental public body that controls the three national galleries of Scotland and two partner galleries, forming one of the National Collections o ...

''Blue Movie'' stars – Warholstars
*
Images: Blue Movie – Andy Warhol

Images: New Andy Warhol Garrick Theatre
{{Portal bar, 1960s, Film, Society, United States 1969 drama films 1969 films 1960s erotic drama films 1960s pornographic films American erotic drama films American independent films American pornographic films Films directed by Andy Warhol Films set in New York City Obscenity controversies in film Films shot in 16 mm film 1969 independent films 1960s English-language films 1960s American films