Working With Andy the Auteur

[lsanderson]

Two films that Ronald Tavel wrote, “Kitchen” (1965), above left, and “Hedy” (1966), above right, were among the most influential of the hundreds Andy Warhol made in the 1960s. More Photos >
By MANOHLA DARGIS
Published: November 27, 2009

“WARHOL and I were very uncomfortable together,” the playwright, novelist, screenwriter and professional wit Ronald Tavel said of Andy Warhol, who often seemed uncomfortable with everyone. “I never knew what to say to him, and he never knew what to say to me. In fact we almost never said anything.” Whether this discomfort was real, the words he wrote for Warhol films — hilarious, abrupt, lewd, illogical, artlessly artful words — contributed to a sense of unease that even now makes the films seem radical, even a bit dangerous. More