Back in 1968, Charles Littler invited pop artist Andy Warhol to film his movie "Lonesome Cowboys" at Rancho Linda Vista, an Oracle arts colony founded that year by Littler and a group of other artists.
It was an offer, apparently, that Warhol couldn't refuse. He packed his band of odd characters, including the tall, lanky, Viva, who was in a controversial rape scene in the movie.
"Lonesome Cowboys," directed by Warhol, never won any Oscars, though it did win a place for Warhol on the FBI's surveillance list: One of the onlookers at the filming of the movie's rape scene had complained.
Though it may not be cinema magic, "Lonesome Cowboys" was filmed in Oracle and at Old Tucson. And it is one of the films Warhol made.
So, saddle up and check out the Museum of Contemporary Art's screening of "Lonesome Cowboys" at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the Screening Room, 127 E. Congress St. Also on the bill: One-time Rancho Linda Vista residents Steve Romaniello and Charlotte Lowe-Bailey will talk about those early, heady days at the ranch founded by the late Littler, and give a little insight into the making of the movie.
People are also reading…
Tickets are $5 for MOCA members; $10 non-members. Call 624.5019 for tickets and more information.
– Kathleen Allen
