Andy Warhol's A Christmas Carol

A Christmas Carol was Warhol's 33 minute (one reel) film of Soren Agenoux's play, Charles Dicken's Christmas Carol. The footage was included in **** (Four Stars) - Andy Warhol's 25 hour movie when it was shown in December 1967. (FAW31) The exact date of filming is unknown but would have been either late 1966 or early 1967. The play opened at the Caffe Cino on Thursday, December 22, 1966 and ran until approximately January 8, 1967, with the following cast (RP):

Soren Agenoux
Donald Brooks
Jacque Lynn Colton
Arnold Horton
Ondine (as Scrooge)
Robert Patrick
Charles Stanley

Micheal Smith directed the stage production, with lighting by Johnny Dodd (John P. Dodd).

Michael Smith:

"Andy [Warhol] shot the film of "Christmas Carol" in the Caffè Cino one night after the regular performances. Billy [Name] set up a couple of bright movie lights which naturally washed out Johnny's more subtle lighting. Andy "operated" the camera by switching it on and off all through the play, which made me crazy as I was attached to the idea of having a record of my work. Andy naturally turned it into something else, a sort of fast-forward version of the play, which might have been tedious complete (not that he minded tedium). I now realize he was not filming my show but making a work of his own... Billy's stills of the shoot of course are all over the place, and Ondine's Scrooge is immortal." (MS)

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