BEAUTIFUL DARLING chronicles the short but influential life of transgender pioneer Candy Darling, who was a major part of Andy Warhol’s entourage and was one of the inspirations for the Lou Reed song, “Walk on the Wild Side.”

Recapturing the excitement of a long lost New York City, this acclaimed doc recounts the story of Darling, a star in the constellation of Warhol’s Factory. By the mid-sixties Jimmy Slattery, born in a Long Island suburb of Massapequa in 1944, had become Candy, a gorgeous blond actress and throwback to Hollywood’s golden age. This persona won her starring roles in two Warhol movies, parts in mainstream films, and a lead role in Tennessee Williams’ play. Her ethereal beauty attracted such taste-making photographers as Robert Mapplethorpe, Cecil Beaton, Richard Avedon and Peter Beard. She was the inspiration behind two of Lou Reed’s best known songs, Candy Says and Walk on the Wild Side, and was one of the most unusual and charismatic fixtures in the explosive downtown, underground scene of late 1960s/early ’70s New York.

 Candy‘s journey of self-discovery and transformation becomes, for director James Rasin, a tragic allegory for our fame and media obsessed times. But it is also a gripping story with a simple, universal theme: One person’s pursuit of their own American Dream. The film interweaves rare archival footage and both historical and contemporary interviews (Tennessee Williams, director Paul Morrissey, writer Fran Lebowitz, Warhol Superstar Holly Woodlawn among many others) with excerpts from Candy‘s own diaries and letters, which are voiced, to devastating effect, by Academy Award nominee and Golden Globe Award winning actress Chloë Sevigny.

 

Available to stream now at  Film Movement Plus who are currently offering a special deal: new subscribers get a 30-day free trial and 50% off the first month. With a library offering 450+ feature films, documentaries and shorts — all award-winners from around the globe and every prestigious film festival — there’s no end to the absorbing entertainment for cinema aficionados, available 24/7 across all devices and platforms.

 

About the Author

Bryen Dunn is a freelance journalist with a focus on travel, lifestyle, entertainment and hospitality. He has an extensive portfolio of celebrity interviews with musicians, actors and other public personalities. He enjoys discovering delicious eats, tasting spirited treats, and being mesmerized by musical beats.