Lonesome Cowboys was shot in January 1968 in
Old Tucson and the Rancho Linda Vista Dude Ranch in
Oracle, Arizona on a budget of $3,000 (). The film features
Warhol superstars Viva,
Taylor Mead,
Louis Waldon,
Eric Emerson, and
Joe Dallesandro. The plot loosely is based on
Romeo and Juliet, hence the names Julian and Ramona of the two leads. While in Arizona on a college lecture tour in November 1967, Warhol booked film screenings of excerpts from
Chelsea Girls followed by a question-and-answer session with the artist, Morrissey, Viva, and
Allen Midgette at
Arizona State University and the Cinema I Film Society at the Tucson Jewish Community Center. Warhol and Viva apparently both enjoyed their time in Arizona so much that they made plans to find a way to return, which culminated in Paul Morrissey's writing the screenplay for
Lonesome Cowboys to be shot there two months later. A detailed first-hand account of Warhol's time in Tucson by Cinema I director Shirley Pasternack was published in the May 1989 issue of
Tucson City Magazine. The film was shot on
16 mm film using an
Auricon camera, recording the sound directly onto the film ("
single-system"). Warhol deliberately stopped and started the camera during takes to include flash frames and audio pops in the middle of shots. Warhol initially planned to title the film
Fuck, then
The Glory of the Fuck. Warhol and Morrissey settled on
Lonesome Cowboys while Warhol was convalescing following the attempt on his life by
Valerie Solanas.
John Schlesinger was filming
Midnight Cowboy, which featured several members of Warhol's entourage, including Viva and
Ultra Violet who, with Morrissey, shot a separate short film during shooting of
Midnight Cowboy's elaborate party scene. Warhol initially endorsed the participation of his people but grew resentful at what he perceived as Schlesinger's poaching of Warhol's scene. Warhol decided to undercut Schlesinger by naming this film
Lonesome Cowboys as a reference to
Midnight Cowboy. The original poster promoting the film, designed by George Abagnalo, is shown prominently in a portrait of Warhol by
Jack Mitchell. ==Cast==