The Pope Ondine Story. 1966. USA. Directed by Andy Warhol. With Angelina “Pepper” Davis, Gerard Malanga, Paul Morrissey, Billy Name, Ondine, Ronna Page, Rene Ricard, Ingrid Superstar, Andy Warhol (off-screen), Orion de Winter (off-screen). Digital 16mm film transfer. 99 min.
In keeping with Ondine’s Pope character, the set at the Factory was arranged to simulate a confessional, so that the he and Factory penitents, including Rene Richard and Angelina “Pepper” Davis, were only inches away from one another. Only two reels from this film were used in the final version of The Chelsea Girls, including the first, in which Ingrid Superstar matches wits with the fiery Ondine. Also making the cut was the infamous third reel, in which Ondine shoots up amphetamine before he dispatches Rona Page with a vicious slap in a moment of unrehearsed physical violence unprecedented in Warhol’s films.