back to MID-OCTOBER 1972: HEAT PLAYS L.A.

Bob Colacello:

"All afternoon, producer Herb Pickman had been assuring Andy that 'lots of big stars' were coming to the preview and bit player John Hollowell had been calling too,with hourly star-watch bulletins: 'Rita's coming. Lana's coming. Lucy's coming.' But now, as the Directors Guild lobby filled with hordes of P.R. people from all the studios who wouldn't finance a Warhol movie, Andy was feeling let down. 'Oh there are no big stars here,' he moaned. 'I'm going back to the hotel.'

Then, in rapid succession, Lorne Greene, George Cukor, and Rona Barrett arrived, and Andy felt better... Ann Miller tap-danced in and Andy took Polaroids of Ann Miller tap-dancing in... and Lucie Arnaz, holding hands with her then beau, Jim Bailey who was famous for his 'impressions' of Judy Garland, Peggy Lee and Barbara Striesand, but who was never to be called a 'female impersonator', let alone a transvestite.

Suddenly a swarm of paparazzi flew in from the klieg-lit boulevard, shouting in unison: 'Mae West is coming! Mae is coming! Mae is coming!' A long stretch limo bearing a bevy of Mr. America contestants had pulled up outside the Directors Guild, but when the platinum-topped Raisinette of a woman squeezed between these slabs of beefcake saw the waiting photographers, she waved to her chauffeur to drive on... Later a rumor circulated that she had driven around the block, changed into a brown wig, and walked back to the theater unnoticed.

Heat was a big hit with the Hollywood crowd... Only Lucie Arnaz and Jim Bailey were unenthusiastic. He thought Heat was 'unbelievable' and she concurred. 'I can't say I liked it. The characters were too strange.'

'But her boyfriend's a drag queen,' Andy kept muttering.
'Impressionist, Andy, impressionist,' Paul jokingly reminded him.
'Listen, Paul, I know a drag queen when I see one, and she's got a lot of nerve calling our movie strange'." (BC136)

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