[2] In typical Warhol fashion of the period, each reel of the film is 35 minutes long, or 1200 ft. in length, and is shot in sync-sound.
Warhol uses these "strobe cuts" as punctuation for the images in the film, which document Factory life during this period, and feature a cast of Warhol "superstars" including Edie Sedgwick, Susan Bottomly, Ondine, Brigid Berlin, Viva, Nico, Mary Woronov, Gerard Malanga, Ultra Violet, Ruby Lynn Reyner, Taylor Mead, Joe Dallesandro (in his film debut), and others.
Photographed entirely in color, Four Stars was projected in its complete length of nearly 25 hours (allowing for projection overlap of the 35-minute reels) only once, at the Film-Makers' Cinematheque in the basement of the now-demolished Wurlitzer Building at 125 West 41st Street in New York City.
The imagery in the film is dense, wearying and beautiful, but ultimately hard to decipher, for, in contrast to his earlier, and more famous film Chelsea Girls, made in 1966, Warhol directed that two reels be screened simultaneously on top of each other on a single screen, rather than side-by-side.
Shortly thereafter, Warhol turned his hand to more commercial efforts, and after his near fatal shooting at his second studio at 33 Union Square West by Valerie Solanas, Paul Morrissey effectively took over production of films produced under the Warhol banner.