Remembering Dennis Hopper (1936-2010)

Today, we remember our favorite Republican as actor/filmmaker/photographer/artist/art collector Dennis Hopper lost his battle to prostate cancer yesterday at the age of 74.

But, he leaves behind him a legacy of memorable films from "Easy Rider" to "Apocalypse Now!" to "Blue Velvet.

One film that many Americans are unaware that he starred is the brilliant Wim Wenders film "The American Friend" which was made in Germany in 1977. It was based on the Patricia Highsmith novel "Ripley's Game."

Here are some trivia bits we found about the film which is available on dvd through Netflix:

-In addition to Hopper, there are six other film directors in the film (alas most of them are deceased). Each of them play criminals. They include Nicholas Ray who actually directed Hopper, when he was 19, in "Rebel Without a Cause" (1955), maverick, independent director Sam Fuller ("The Big Red One," "White Dog") and famed French film director Jean Eustache who directed the 1973 classic "Mother and the Whore," which is also notable for being substantially more than three hours in length! Alas, Eustache committed suicide at a young age.

-John Cassavates was actually Wenders' initial choice to play Ripley (Hopper's part), but he declined. Though it was his recommendation that lead to Hopper's casting.

-Hopper improvised much of the dialogue including the line: "We have nothing to fear, but fear itself."

-The film marked the screen debut for Bruno Ganz who in recent years has played Hitler in the acclaimed German film "Downfall."

-Hopper and Ganz actually got into a fist-fight on the set!

Those who wish to see Hopper can see the western film "Hang 'Em High" (1968) with Clint Eastwood that was already scheduled to air on TCM tomorrow afternoon (Memorial Day) at 3:00 p.m.

There will be more on Hopper on our other blog "Politics, Culture and Others of Time."

Last 10 Films I've Seen- from Caine to Fuller

Here are the last ten films I've seen. I will post commentary about some of them at the end of the list:

1. "White Dog" (1982. dir-Sam Fuller)
2."The Panic in Needle Park" (1971. w/Al Pacino. dir-Jerry Schatzberg)
3. "The Last Frontier" (1955. dir-Anthony Mann)
4. "Young Torless" (Germany. 1966. dir-Volker Schlondorff)
5. "Giants and Toys" (Japan. 1958. dir-Yasuzo Masumura)
6. "The Wild One" (1953. w/ Marlon Brando and Lee Marvin. dir-Laslo Benedek)
7. "The Red Shoes" (South Korea. 2005. dir- Yong-gyum Kim)
8."The President's Last Bang" (South Korea. 2005. dir- Sang-soo Im)
9. "Bandolero!" (1968 w/ Jimmy Stewart, Dean Martin and Raquel Welch. dir-Andrew V. McLaglen)
10. "Get Carter" (UK. 1971. w/ Michael Caine. dir-Mike Hodges)


Of all these titles, I had only seen "White Dog," which was highly controversial at the time. It is a poignant film about the negative effects of racism on American society as illustrated through a trained 'white dog' which is meant to attack black people.

The NAACP, however, misinterpreted the film's message and urged Paramont to block its release. Hence, it never found an office though the new Criterion release has helped further the film's well-deserved cult following. Interestingly, a very young Kristy McNichol (who was about 20 when the film was made) is the lead. I am pretty sure it is her most serious role, but films of "The Nights the Lights Went Out in Georgia" may beg to differ:)

The German film "Young Torless" is an exceptional statement on Nazi Germany even though it takes place at a boarding school in rural Germany during the turn of the 20the century. The film illustrates what can happen when one chooses to overlook an injustice they witness in front of them.

The Korean horror film "The Red Shoes" should in no way way be confused with Michael Powell's classic film of the same name, though both are based on the same Hans Christien Andersen fairy tale!

"The President's Last Bang," another Korean film made in 2005 is an excellent political thriller with lots and lots of blood. It should be subtitled: "Z Meets Reservoir Dogs." The film is about the real-life 1979 political assasination of then president Park Chung-Hee by Kim Jaegyu, his own director of intelligence! According to wikipedia, Jaegyu was hanged for the crime in 1980. He was actually a good friend of the president's!

And, the original 1971 version of "Get Carter" (pictured here) is a very unique film as it shows Michael Caine basically being a son-of-a-biscuiteater. Amazingly enough (SPOILER ALERT), his character Carter never kills anyone with his gun. But, his victim meet their fate in other ways, including being casually dumped from the upper story of a large office building.

Caine's new film "Harry Brown" seems to have a similar plot line and it is currently showing at the following places on the east coast: The Bow-Tie Cinema in Hartford, Conn., The Landmark Bethesda Row Cinema in Bethesda, Md., and The Ritz East in Philadelphia.

The South Korean horror