Heat *** (1972, Joe Dallesandro, Sylvia Miles, Andrea Feldman, Pat Ast) – Classic Movie Review 3,137

Heat, the 1972 final part of director Paul Morrissey’s trilogy for producer Andy Warhol, provides a great role for a brilliant Sylvia Miles as a fading actress who falls for a breathtakingly handsome former child actor (Joe Dallesandro), now just a gigolo.

Heat, the 1972 final part of director Paul Morrissey’s trilogy for producer Andy Warhol, provides a great role for a brilliant Sylvia Miles, who is quite believable and touching as fading actress Sally Todd, who falls for breathtakingly handsome, young unemployed ex-child actor Joey Davis (Joe Dallesandro), now just a gigolo.

First Joey uses sex to get his landlady Lydia (Pat Ast) to reduce his rent. Next he tries to manipulate Sally into trying to help him. But then Sally’s psychotic, perhaps lesbian, daughter Jessica (Andrea Feldman) tries to muscle in on Joey.

Morrissey’s movie is a sexed-up, parody version of Sunset Blvd (1950), with the Andy Warhol sense of camp fun at its wittiest. As usual, following its predecessors Flesh (1968) and Trash (1970), Heat is not exactly polished, though this time Morrissey does give it a veneer of professionalism. But generally it’s the charismatic acting turns that win the day.

Here, admittedly, sex is more upfront than back in Gloria Swanson’s day, but it’s still fairly discreet by some of today’s standards.

Also in the cast are Ray Vestal, Lester Persky, Eric Emerson, Harold Stevenson [Harold Childe], John Hallowell, Gary Koznocha, Pat Parlemon and Bonnie Walder.

It is scored by John Cale, founding member of the American rock band the Velvet Underground. Between 1966 and 1967, Paul Morrissey had managed the Velvet Underground and Nico. Andy Warhol agreed to do the cover art for John Cale’s album The Academy in Peril (1972) in exchange for the use of his song ‘Days of Steam’ in the film.

It premiered at the 1972 Cannes Film Festival, was screened at the New York Film Festival on 5 October 1972, before opening on 6 October at New York’s Festival Theatre, expanding to the Waverly Theatre in Greenwich Village in Lower Manhattan and the Rialto Theatre movie palace in Times Square in New York City on October 11.

The film’s advert in the Daily News was censored with a T-shirt painted on Dallesandro and a bra strap on Miles.

Andrea Feldman died shortly before the film was released by jumping from her parents’ 14th floor apartment, aged just 24.

It cost only $15,000, grossed $28,000 in its first week of release, and eventually took $2,000,000 at the box office.

Joe Dallesandro opined: ‘When I’m dressed, I really don’t give very good performances, but when I am not, I really do a great job.’

The cast are Joe Dallesandro as Joey Davis, Sylvia Miles as Sally Todd, Andrea Feldman as Jessica, Pat Ast as motel owner Lydia, Ray Vestal as producer Ray, Lester Persky as Sidney Eric Emerson as Eric, Gary Kaznocha as Gary, Harold Stevenson (credited as Harold Childe) as Harold, John Hallowell as gossip columnist, Pat Parlemon as girl by the pool, Bonnie Walder as Bonnie.

Sylvia Miles (née Scheinwald; September 9, 1924 – June 12, 2019)

Andrea Feldman (April 1, 1948 – August 8, 1972)

Paul Joseph Morrissey (February 23, 1938 – October 28, 2024)

Paul Morrissey (February 23, 1938 – October 28, 2024) is best recalled for Flesh (1968), Trash (1970), Heat (1972), Flesh for Frankenstein (1973), and Blood for Dracula (1974), all starring Joe Dallesandro, 1971’s Women in Revolt and the 1980’s New York trilogy Forty Deuce (1982), Mixed Blood (1985), and Spike of Bensonhurst (1988).

© Derek Winnert 2015 Classic Movie Review 3,137

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