Four Stars

Four Stars (also known as ****) is a twenty five hour movie made up of shorter film segments. It consists of 83 reels each lasting approximately 33 minutes. (CB) The reason that four stars were used as the title was because film critics gave the best films four stars in their reviews. Victor Bockris incorrectly referred to the film as 24 Hour Movie in The Life and Death of Andy Warhol whereas Warhol, himself, described it as his "twenty five hour movie" in Popism. According to Popism, the full version was only shown once. According to the Jonas Mekas filmography, the full version of **** (Four Stars) was shown on December 15-16, 1967 at the New Cinema Playhouse in New York. Mekas gives the address of the New Cinema as 125 West 41st Street but the handbill for the cinema, reproduced above, lists the address as 120 West 42nd Street. Note also that the handbill says "continuous showings from 1 p.m." According to David Bourdon, the full-length version began at 8:30 pm on the 15th and continued until 9:30 pm on the 16th. (DB265) The New Cinema Playhouse was one of the venues used by Jonas Mekas' Film-makers' Cooperative as a "cinematheque" after his organization had been kicked out of the Grammercy Arts Theatre for showing unlicensed and obscene films in 1964. Mekas had started showing underground films in approximately 1960 at the Charles Theater on Avenue B in New York. He moved to the Bleecker Street Cinema in 1963 and then to the Grammercy Arts Theater. It was at the Grammercy Arts Theater that Warhol's first film, Sleep, premiered on January 17, 1964. From 1965-1968, the Film-makers' Cooperative used different venues for short periods of time for their screenings, including the New Cinema Playhouse. Some of the footage from **** (Four Stars) was released as shorter, separate films - such as the 100 minute version of Imitation of Christ. It also included footage filmed for The Loves of Ondine. In Warhol's quote above, he mentions The Bananas as appearing in **** (Four Stars). The Bananas were a rock and roll band started by the Latin American men who appeared in the food fight sequence in The Loves of Ondine - the reels for which were shown as part of **** (Four Stars). The group included Manuel Pena, Rolando Pena, and future video artist Juan Downey. **** (Four Stars) also included A Christmas Carol - a 33 minute film of a play by Soren Agenoux featuring Ondine as Scrooge.