The first adaptation of the Anthny Burgess’ 1962 novel, Vinyl was made by Andy Warhol six years before Stanley Kubrick’s more elaborate, lavish and controversial picture, A Clockwork Orange.
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The film starred Gerard Malanga, Edie Sedgwick, Ondine, and Tosh Carillo.
Victor, the tale’s anti-hero, lifts weights, dances and torturing others. When he hits his friend Scum Baby, he calls the police. Victor gets the choice to go to jail or undergo a behavioral change. Victor decides goes for treatment, which forces to watch violent videos and describe what is happening on the screen while warm wax from a candle runs over him.
After a while, Victor is cured. He swears off the violence, and rejects the doctor’s request that he beat him and take drugs.
Warhol bought the book and asked Ronald Tavel to write the script, which details the plot in a condensed, short form (runnng time is 70 minutes) and changed the characters’ names.
Vinyl was shot unrehearsed and was also performed live in various stage productions.
The low budget allowed for only location, a corner in Warhol’s Factory. The 16mm camera stood on a stand and barely moved.
Vinyl was originally meant to consist of an all-male casting, focusing on Gerard Malanga.
However, since the model Edie Sedgwick coincidentally showed up for photography, Warhol gave her the last minute role in the strip. Sedgwick, who appeared in Warhol’s Horse, has no lines of dialogue in the entire film.
Some of the extras in Vinyl had no connection to the plot.
The movie features the songs “Nowhere to Run” by Martha and the Vandellas, “Tired of Waiting for You” by The Kinks, “The Last Time” by The Rolling Stones and “Shout” by The Isley Brothers. “Nowhere to Run” is played twice while the artists dance to it.
Kubrick’s 1971 film, as well as Vinyl, begins with a close-up of the protagonist’s face.
Vinyl was first screened on June 4, 1965 as part of Jonas Mekas’ Film-Makers’ Cinematheque listing.
The HBO series Vinyl, which concerns music in New York, included Warhol as a character, but was not related to his film.
Cast
Gerard Malanga as Victor
Edie Sedgwick as Extra
Ondine as Scum Baby
Tosh Carillo as The Doctor
Larry Latrae
J.D. McDermott as Cop
Jacques Potin as Extra
Credits:
Produced, irected by Andy Warhol
Written by Ronald Tavel, based on “A Clockwork Orange” by Anthony Burgess
Distributed by The Factory
Release date: June 4, 1965
Running time: 70 minutes
