Andy Warhol “My Hustler” Film Still Collection
[Fire Island]: np, 1965. Four (4) b/w silver gelatin prints. 8 x 10 in. All very good or near fine. All annotated in unknown hand on verso; one stamped “Film-makers Distribution Center.”. Item #5905
Four stills from My Hustler, Andy Warhol’s film of “sin in the summer on Fire Island.’’
Starring Ed Hood and Paul America as the titular blonde hustler, with appearances by Joseph Campbell, Genevieve Charbin, and Dorothy Dean. Directed by Andy Warhol and Chuck Wein, with Paul Morrissey as camera and audio operator, the film was shot over Labor Day Weekend 1965 on Fire Island. The first Warhol film that Morrissey worked on, the film utilized camera movement and sound synchronization, techniques Warhol had never used in his films. My Hustler premiered in January 1966 at the Film- makers’ Cinematheque, playing every night at midnight from January through April before opening nationally in summer 1966.
One of Warhol’s most well-known and widely discussed films, it was also his first film to make money, grossing $4,000 from its initial run at the Filmmaker’s Cinematheque. Due to its explicitly gay subject matter, My Hustler screenings were often subjected to plainclothes police surveillance during its theatrical run throughout 1966, culminating in Filmmakers’ Cinematheque receiving a summons on April 12 to a hearing in order to revoke their operating license. However, with the help of the New York Civil Liberties Union, the charges were dropped and the Cinematheque continued to screen transgressive and homosexual films to the benefit of all New Yorkers.
This collection includes four stills from the film, each an 8 x 10 in. silver gelatin print, captioned on verso, from the collection of Jonas Mekas.
Complete inventory available upon request.
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