Ciao! Manhattan

Ciao! Manhattan (1973)

Speed. Madness. Flying Saucers.

Fiction and documentary mingle in a freewheeling portrait of Susan Superstar, a New York celebrity on a drug-fueled downward slide that mirrors Edie Sedgwick’s own self-destructive spiral.

Date of release
1973-04-19
TMDB
5.5 / 10 (27)
Runtime
1h 24m
Genres
Documentary, Drama
Director
David Weisman, John Palmer

Casting

Interesting facts

  • Filmed in: New York City, New Jersey, California, and Fort Lee

Ciao! Manhattan is a 1972 American avant-garde film starring Edie Sedgwick. The film blends scripted narrative with documentary footage to depict the rise and fall of a troubled socialite and former celebrity known as Susan Superstar.

Production

The development of Ciao! Manhattan began when filmmaker John Palmer, producer Robert Margouleff, and writer Chuck Wein conceived the project as a low-budget feature. Although the production emerged from New York's underground scene, the filmmakers sought a more professional approach than was typical of contemporary experimental films. In 1967, Wein rejected the notion that the film was an underground production.

According to director David Weisman, Warhol superstar Susan Bottomly (International Velvet), who appeared in Chelsea Girls (1966), was originally cast as the lead character Susan. However, because she was only 17 years old and her father refused to sign the required release forms, she was forced to withdraw from the project.

The filmmakers then turned to Edie Sedgwick at the suggestion of Wein despite concerns about her declining health and increasing drug use. Sedgwick was subsequently cast in the lead role, and principal photography began on April 21, 1967, in Central Park.

Wein and Genevieve Charbin co-wrote the screenplay, which early reports describe as a "modern comedy," and "'an absurd concoction' involving, among other elements, the Mafia, a teeny-bopper seeking to end an unwanted pregnancy, and Allen Ginsberg, the poet, who, in the stills from the picture, appears totally nude." The production was plagued by budget problems and an unfinished screenplay.

In August 1967, Ciao! Manhattan was reported to be in the editing stages and had been acquired by Peppercorn-Wormser Film Enterprises for a planned release later that year. However, production stalled, and by October 1968, filming had been halted as America awaited trial on narcotics charges in Michigan, and Sedgwick was undergoing treatment at a New York state psychiatric hospital.

Read on Wikipedia · Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Data from Wikidata.

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