Poor Little Rich Girl
Encyclopedia
Poor Little Rich Girl is a 1965 underground film
by Andy Warhol
starring Edie Sedgwick
. Poor Little Rich Girl was conceived as the first film in part of a series featuring Sedgwick called The Poor Little Rich Girl Saga. The saga was to include other Warhol films: Restaurant, Face and Afternoon.
The title references the 1936
movie of the same name
, starring Shirley Temple
, whom Warhol idolized as a child. The title also serves as a sort of description of the star, heiress
Edie Sedgwick
.
Edie Sedgwick. Warhol and Gerard Malanga
began shooting in March 1965 in Sedgwick's posh New York City apartment. After initial filming and processing, the reels were found to be out of focus due to a faulty camera lens. Warhol then reshot footage, adding it to the original, out of focus first reel footage. The first reel depicts an out-of-focus Sedgwick waking up, ordering coffee and orange juice, smoking cigarettes and marijuana, exercising, taking pills and putting on makeup in silence. The only noise is that of an Everly Brothers record
playing continuously in the background.
The second reel, which is in focus, shows Sedgwick lying on her bed and talking to her friend, Chuck Wein
, who remains off camera. Wein can be heard responding to Edie, asking various questions and commenting on different subjects, but never appears on camera. The rest of the film continues with Edie talking on the telephone, smoking more cigarettes, trying on different outfits, including a real leopard-skin coat. (Wein describes the coat as 'ugly' with 'transistor-radio buttons', much to Edie's annoyance.) Sedgwick goes on to speak to someone on her telephone, and vaguely describes how she spent her entire inheritance in six months.
Poor Little Rich Girl premiered at the Film-Makers' Cinematheque on a double bill with another Warhol film, Vinyl
, in June 1965.
Underground film
An underground film is a film that is out of the mainstream either in its style, genre, or financing.-Definition and history:The first use of the term "underground film" occurs in a 1957 essay by American film critic Manny Farber, "Underground Films." Farber uses it to refer to the work of...
by Andy Warhol
Andy Warhol
Andrew Warhola , known as Andy Warhol, was an American painter, printmaker, and filmmaker who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art...
starring Edie Sedgwick
Edie Sedgwick
Edith Minturn "Edie" Sedgwick was an American actress, socialite, model and heiress. She is best known for being one of Andy Warhol's superstars. Sedgwick became known as "The Girl of the Year" in 1965 after starring in several of Warhol's short films in the 1960s...
. Poor Little Rich Girl was conceived as the first film in part of a series featuring Sedgwick called The Poor Little Rich Girl Saga. The saga was to include other Warhol films: Restaurant, Face and Afternoon.
The title references the 1936
1936 in film
The year 1936 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*May 29 - Fritz Lang's first Hollywood film Fury, starring Spencer Tracy and Bruce Cabot, is released.*November 6 - first Porky Pig animated cartoon...
movie of the same name
Poor Little Rich Girl (1936 film)
The Poor Little Rich Girl is a 1936 American musical film directed by Irving Cummings. The screenplay by Sam Hellman, Gladys Lehman, and Harry Tugend was based on stories by Eleanor Gates and Ralph Spence, and on the 1917 Mary Pickford vehicle of the same name...
, starring Shirley Temple
Shirley Temple
Shirley Temple Black , born Shirley Jane Temple, is an American film and television actress, singer, dancer, autobiographer, and former U.S. Ambassador to Ghana and Czechoslovakia...
, whom Warhol idolized as a child. The title also serves as a sort of description of the star, heiress
Beneficiary
A beneficiary in the broadest sense is a natural person or other legal entity who receives money or other benefits from a benefactor. For example: The beneficiary of a life insurance policy, is the person who receives the payment of the amount of insurance after the death of the insured...
Edie Sedgwick
Edie Sedgwick
Edith Minturn "Edie" Sedgwick was an American actress, socialite, model and heiress. She is best known for being one of Andy Warhol's superstars. Sedgwick became known as "The Girl of the Year" in 1965 after starring in several of Warhol's short films in the 1960s...
.
Synopsis
The concept of Poor Little Rich Girl is a day in the life of socialiteSocialite
A socialite is a person who participates in social activities and spends a significant amount of time entertaining and being entertained at fashionable upper-class events....
Edie Sedgwick. Warhol and Gerard Malanga
Gerard Malanga
Gerard Joseph Malanga is an American poet, photographer, filmmaker, curator and archivist.-Early life:Born in the Bronx, New York, Malanga graduated from the School of Industrial Art in Manhattan and attended Wagner College on Staten Island...
began shooting in March 1965 in Sedgwick's posh New York City apartment. After initial filming and processing, the reels were found to be out of focus due to a faulty camera lens. Warhol then reshot footage, adding it to the original, out of focus first reel footage. The first reel depicts an out-of-focus Sedgwick waking up, ordering coffee and orange juice, smoking cigarettes and marijuana, exercising, taking pills and putting on makeup in silence. The only noise is that of an Everly Brothers record
Gramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
playing continuously in the background.
The second reel, which is in focus, shows Sedgwick lying on her bed and talking to her friend, Chuck Wein
Chuck Wein
Chuck Wein was an American promoter and manager of entertainment acts whose celebrity stemmed from his five-year association with Andy Warhol and from his discovery of Edie Sedgwick who became Warhol Superstar of 1965.Wein graduated from Pittsburgh's Taylor Allderdice High School in 1957 and...
, who remains off camera. Wein can be heard responding to Edie, asking various questions and commenting on different subjects, but never appears on camera. The rest of the film continues with Edie talking on the telephone, smoking more cigarettes, trying on different outfits, including a real leopard-skin coat. (Wein describes the coat as 'ugly' with 'transistor-radio buttons', much to Edie's annoyance.) Sedgwick goes on to speak to someone on her telephone, and vaguely describes how she spent her entire inheritance in six months.
Poor Little Rich Girl premiered at the Film-Makers' Cinematheque on a double bill with another Warhol film, Vinyl
Vinyl (1965 film)
Vinyl is a black-and-white experimental film directed by Andy Warhol at The Factory. It is an early adaptation of the novel A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess, starring Gerard Malanga, Edie Sedgwick, Ondine, and Tosh Carillo, and featuring such songs as "Nowhere to Run" by Martha and the...
, in June 1965.