The Loves of Ondine is vaguely organized around the fictional premise that Ondine, as a gay male, is trying to "adjust" his sexual orientation by attempting amorous encounters with a number of different women. This basic concept provided Ondine with plenty of opportunity to demonstrate his brilliant, occasionally misogynistic wit and recapitulate the alternately sweet and bitchy interactions with women he had so successfully carried off in The Chelsea Girls. After Ondine tries his luck with Pepper Davis, Viva, and Ivy Nicholson, the film moves off in a markedly different direction (including) the notorious "food fight" sequence, which features a sophomoric performance by a group of young Latin American men who called themselves The Bananas, (and) the famous wrestling scene between Ondine and Joe Dallesandro. The Loves of Ondine was generally considered to be a failure by critics as well as by the Warhol film organization. Whatever its narrative shortcomings, however, the film is notable for its performances, and for introducing two important new Warhol stars-Viva and the teenaged Joe Dallesandro.-C.A.