Harlot (1964), Hedy (1966), and Lupe (1965)

In these films, Warhol draws inspiration from Hollywood leading ladies of the 1930s and ‘40s, reflecting a fascination with celebrity glamour and tragedy. Warhol’s first sound film, Harlot, stars the legendary drag performer Mario Montez as Jean Harlow, eating bananas on a sofa with other members of Warhol’s circle, as off-screen discussions about the scene are heard. Montez reappears in Warhol’s farcical Hedy as a scandal-ridden Hedy Lamarr, who had recently been arrested and tried for shoplifting. In Lupe, Warhol casts Factory Superstar Edie Sedgwick in a loose reenactment of the suicide of actress Lupe Vélez (although based on a much-disputed account of the star’s death.) Lupe can also been read as a filmic glimpse into Sedgwick’s own troubled life.

All films screen courtesy Museum of Modern Art Circulating Film and Video Library.