Ciao for Now...

CIAO MANHATTAN-1972-This strange film stars Warhol "superstar" Edie Sedgwick (who died before it was completed) as Susan, a rich heiress/drug addled burn out recounting her life as a model in NYC. Real scenes of Sedgwick gallivanting with "The Factory" crowd are used as flashbacks. Susan (who spends much of the present day scenes topless) lives in a tent in an empty pool in a mansion owned by her mom (Isabel Jewell), while a doofus named Geoffrey (Paul Briggs) who is suppose to take care of her spends most of his time stealing anything from the house. Much of it is told through the eyes of Butch (Wesley Hayes), a kind of naive guy from Texas who first encounters Susan when she is hitchhiking topless. There are a few subplots with strange characters spouting nutty dialogue but basically it's Sedgwick playing herself. In an ultimate shot at bad taste, the news headline that announces Susan's death are Sedgwick's real obituary! 

Co-star Jewell played “dumb blondes” in many movies of the '30's and '40's and was in GONE WITH THE WIND. She even has a star on The Hollywood Walk of Fame. CIAO was her last film. One of CM's directors (there were 2) David Weisman later produced the film version of KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN.

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