Lonesome Cowboys


Lonesome Cowboys is a 1968 film by American filmmaker Andy Warhol, and was shown, for initial viewings, at the New Andy Warhol Garrick Theatre at 152 Bleecker Street in New York City. Written by Paul Morrissey, the film is a satire of Hollywood westerns. The film won the Best Film Award at the San Francisco International Film Festival.

Production

Lonesome Cowboys was shot in January 1968 in Old Tucson and the Rancho Linda Vista Dude Ranch in Oracle, Arizona on a budget of $3,000. The film features Warhol superstars Viva, Taylor Mead, Louis Waldon, Eric Emerson, and Joe Dallesandro. The plot loosely is based on Romeo and Juliet, hence the names Julian and Ramona of the two leads. While in Arizona on a college lecture tour in November 1967, Warhol booked film screenings of excerpts from Chelsea Girls followed by a question-and-answer session with the artist, Morrissey, Viva, and Alan Midgette at Arizona State University and the Cinema I Film Society at the Tucson Jewish Community Center. Warhol and Viva apparently both enjoyed their time in Arizona so much that they made plans to find a way to return, which culminated in Paul Morrissey's writing the screenplay for Lonesome Cowboys to be shot there two months later. A detailed first-hand account of Warhol's time in Tucson by Cinema I director Shirley Pasternack was published in the May 1989 issue of Tucson City Magazine.
Warhol initially planned to title the film Fuck, then The Glory of the Fuck. Warhol and Morrissey settled on Lonesome Cowboys while Warhol was convalescing following the attempt on his life by Valerie Solanas. John Schlesinger was filming Midnight Cowboy, which featured several members of Warhol's entourage, including Viva and Ultra Violet who, with Morrissey, shot a separate short film during shooting of Midnight Cowboy's elaborate party scene. Warhol initially endorsed the participation of his people but grew resentful at what he perceived as Schlesinger's poaching of Warhol's scene. Warhol decided to undercut Schlesinger by naming this film Lonesome Cowboys as a reference to Midnight Cowboy.

Cast

In August 1969, the film was seized by police in Atlanta, Georgia, personnel at The Ansley Mall Mini Cinema were arrested, and the entire audience was searched by police for their identifications.

Remakes

A 2010 remake by Marianne Dissard titled Lonesome Cowgirls was shot in Tucson, Arizona.