Mixxie Powers's video: Clip from Merry-go-Round with Joe Dallesandro Maria Schneider

This is a scene from the interesting, yet, ultimately, failed film "Merry-Go-Round". It was made in 1979 by acclaimed director Jacques Rivette. Apparently, one of Rivette's problems was filming too much and not knowing where to stop. This production was plagued by difficulties, starting with the female star Maria Schneider who suffered a breakdown during filming. Joe was dealing badly with the death of his brother Bobby, dulling his grief with drugs and alcohol. The director was not in control of his film, which was largely improvised. The actors were given a basic plot (I suspect the supporting actors were given a bit more plot to work with) and told to improvise. Maria Schneider was not as comfortable with improvisation as Joe (who got his start that way with the Warhol/Morrissey productions). According to Joe, they got along well at first (which can be seen in some of the earlier scenes) but at some point Maria mysteriously turned on him and he could not figure out why. There is a scene about 2/3 through the film where Joe breaks down in tears and one wonders if the stress of dealing with her increasing hostility was the cause. This film went on and on and seemed to have no end. Joe actually said, "We worked on the film for so many weeks, and they kept shooting these scenes where I was running. Running, running, running. It got so bad that I wasn't even aware that Maria had left he picture. She was so far away during these endless scenes that I had no idea they'd replaced her with a double. That's when I really understood that this movie could go on forever, If they'd have replaced me with a double, they'd still be out there shooting.". In a scene like this one, which took place toward the end, you can see Joe's involvement in the plot as well as a bit of playfulness with his take on looking for some sort of sign of the 'number 3'. He takes it to the extreme in one of the better scenes in this movie.