Pepper Davis Movies

This characteristically offbeat, but tedious, Andy Warhol film was finished just before Warhol was seriously wounded by a gunshot wound inflicted by one of his disgruntled followers. It was released soon after Warhol's recovery. Though the film tends to be a muddled, haphazard collection of seemingly unrelated scenes, it begins clearly enough by introducing the main character: the flamboyant, verbose Ondine, an infamous homosexual who makes a passing attempt to live life as a heterosexual. Ondine is also adventuresome enough to try and learn "college wrestling" from a young male prostitute. In the most memorable scene of the film, a nude boy standing over a motorcycle is buried in trash after he and other willing parties participate in a food-and-garbage orgy. The film is re-edited from his earlier 25-hour marathon Four Stars. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

One of the first "underground" films of the 1960's to achieve a degree of mainstream acceptance (it was an actual hit in New York City, was well-received in Los Angeles and San Francisco, and was banned in Chicago and Boston), Andy Warhol's The Chelsea Girls offered a long, unblinking look into the lives of Warhol's retinue of "superstars" as they showed off for the camera in their various rooms in the notorious Chelsea Hotel, long a favored New York hangout for writers, artists and bohemians. Along with such notables of the moment as Eric Emerson, Brigid Polk, Ondine, and Mario Montez, one of the "girls" was Mary Woronov, years before she gained a cult following for her work in Rock 'n' Roll High School and Eating Raoul. The three-and-a-half hour film consisted of two series of images shown simultaneously, though only one soundtrack was audible; in 1995, Warhol associate Paul Morrissey prepared a video edition for broadcast on British television, though the film has yet to be broadcast in the United States and there is no authorized video release as yet in North America. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

This is an interesting biography of the actor known for his gangster roles in films, and though Ray Danton plays the part of George Raft without looking like him in the least, he is still convincing in his mannerisms. Without getting into any in-depth plumbing of the actor's life, the story begins with the young Raft making his way in New York as a dancer and rubbing shoulders with underworld figures. Then he goes to Hollywood where he eventually finds fame in the film Scarface and gets typecast as a gangster. Tiring of this persona but unable to do very much about it, Raft's career starts to decline for quite a awhile before his success in Some Like It Hot. Along the way, his relationships with five different women are pictured in the briefest fashion. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide