Althouse: Dennis Hopper has died.

May 29, 2010

Dennis Hopper has died.

Cancer. He was 74.

Talk about your favorite Dennis Hopper movies. "Easy Rider," "Blue Velvet," "Basquiat," "True Romance," "River's Edge," "Rumble Fish," "Apocalypse Now," "The Trip," "Head"... a huge list. And look at all the old TV shows he had parts in... "Surfside 6," "The Naked City," "The Millionaire," "Petticoat Junction," "Wagon Train," "Swiss Family Robinson"... on and on.

ADDED: This is "The Trip":

AND: Here he is talking about James Dean teaching him how to act:

Here's his screen test for Andy Warhol, from 1965:

AND: That great scene in "True Romance":

NOW: What kind of beer are you drinking?

AND: Don't wait for heaven, get out and fly, just glide there, through the clear air, making figure eights, through the pearly gates, where the soul and the universe meet....

45 comments:

EnigmatiCore said...: 24; 5/29/10, 1:00 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: Blue Velvet.; 5/29/10, 1:05 PM
Steve said...: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLkmbLoaORU; 5/29/10, 1:08 PM
Anonymous said...: Far fucking out!

I know more people on the Other Side than in the here and now.

Won't be long, now. I'll be headed to the Other Side myself.

Groovy!; 5/29/10, 1:11 PM
Automatic_Wing said...: How 'bout that Keanu Reeves exploding bus movie? He sort of became typecast as an over-the-top villain in later years and did a pretty good job of it. He could ham it up with the best of them.

RIP.; 5/29/10, 1:14 PM
Paco Wové said...: What was he hoping for?; 5/29/10, 1:20 PM
alan markus said...: Blue Velvet is my favorite (but I think more so because of David Lynch).

When I was in High School in the late 60's, Pabst Blue Ribbon was the only brand we would drink. That must have "informed" this scene:
Blue Velvet Pabst Blue Ribbon

That movie had so many surprises and quirks.; 5/29/10, 1:22 PM
HDR said...: "Hoosiers." Took a role that could have been TV-movie cheesy and nailed it. Made the movie.; 5/29/10, 1:27 PM
kjbe said...: I wonder if my Grandmother, Rosalie, knew that about the Moors?

Anyway, this guy always had something going on. He will be missed...; 5/29/10, 1:31 PM
chickelit said...: My hommage to Dennis Hopper and Trooper York in one take: Link; 5/29/10, 1:31 PM
Jason said...: Don't you fucking look at me!!!!; 5/29/10, 1:35 PM
Trooper York said...: Thank you El Pollo Real. That was cool when you did it and still pretty cool today.

My favorite Dennis Hopper role: “Gunfight at the OK Corral.”

As Billy Clanton. Genius.; 5/29/10, 1:36 PM
TMink said...: One of the greats. Despite all his struggles, he rremained a crafted actor. I will miss him. I do not think we will see his like again soon.

Trey; 5/29/10, 1:37 PM
Anonymous said...: The "True Romance" clip becomes even more heartbreaking if you see the scene immediately before it, in which Christian Slater's estranged son of Dennis Hopper and Hopper have a stilted, awkward encounter. They're no less estranged when he leaves, but Hopper's character does, of course, know where he's going.

So here's the father, who knows he's going to talk sooner or later, and also knows the only way out is to convince these goons (including the reliably creepy Christopher Walken) to kill him first. Because he loves his son, in spite of everything.

Gah.

I honestly don't even remember the rest of the film. I was stuck in this scene for the remaining hour or so. RIP, Dennis Hopper; 5/29/10, 1:39 PM
Bob_R said...: Blue Velvet for me as well. Classic "middle class psycho" villain. Made for the role. Creepy in ways that are familiar enough that they don't push me too far away. Very much in line with Lynch's basic theme of the movie.

I have not seen Rebel Without a Cause or Giant in years and don't remember his roles in them. Easy Rider was always too much of a meandering mess for me to warm up to - though it had good bits.; 5/29/10, 1:39 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: I've never seen Easy Riser..

Is it any good? ;); 5/29/10, 1:52 PM
Amexpat said...: Blue Velvet was his definitive villian role.; 5/29/10, 1:55 PM
Meade said...: Second Sky Lawyer 1:27 PM; 5/29/10, 2:02 PM
Jason said...: Did you know that IF is the middle word in "Life?"; 5/29/10, 2:20 PM
Largo said...: There will never be another King Koopa.; 5/29/10, 2:20 PM
Cedarford said...: Some of the fun with Dennis Hopper is how he would just seem to pop up in small roles in movies from the late 50s to early 80s - taking what work he could get, I guess.
And 60s TV shows like some of the Westerns my Dad taped.

"Hey, that's Dennis Hopper!!; 5/29/10, 3:04 PM
Hector Owen said...: Thanks for the shout-out to Peter Stampfel.; 5/29/10, 3:09 PM
Focko Smitherman said...: "Mommy!"; 5/29/10, 3:24 PM
Kev said...: (the other kev)

Hopper was in one of my favorite SNL sketches, where he was in an episode of 'This Is You Life,' and couldn't remember anyone - his wife, his kids, Jack Nicholson.

"Listen, do you have anyone here from after like 1984? 'cause that's when I started taking notes."; 5/29/10, 3:44 PM
Rialby said...: Saw him last year in Vegas. One of my friends almost knocked him over coming out of an elevator. He looked rough then. Prostate cancer is a hell of a way to go. Godspeed Dennis and thanks for the memories.; 5/29/10, 4:03 PM
Unknown said...: Until "Easy Rider", one of the best bad guys in the biz.

I think I first saw him on 'Cheyenne' about '56 or '57. Warners loved pairing him with Clint Walker; he was a little guy, but such a good actor, he always was formidable against a bigger man.

He did some humor once in a while and it's too bad he didn't try his hand at more, but, I guess after "Easy", he was an icon and spent his time being that.; 5/29/10, 4:21 PM
Trooper York said...: You dad was a smart man Cedarford. I always DVR any Gunsmoke or Rifleman episode where Dennis Hopper or Bruce Dern or Charles Bronson shows up as the villian.

That's some cool TV.; 5/29/10, 4:43 PM
Fred4Pres said...: RIP Dennis.; 5/29/10, 4:47 PM
Skeptical said...: Yes, that scene in True Romance is something else. You can see exactly where Hopper's character resigns himself to his fate.; 5/29/10, 4:55 PM
victoria said...: Rebel Without a Cause, Giant, Easy Rider, Hoosiers. The list goes on and on.

Brilliant, mean.

Vicki from Pasadena; 5/29/10, 6:20 PM
Kirby Olson said...: My favorite movie overall is The American Friend. I think it was made by Wim Wenders, and has Bruno Ganz playing the frame-maker against the lunatic Tom Ripley played by Hopper. Much better than the remake made with John Malkovich, though Malkovich was pretty good. The shots it he film are unique. There is a neat image of children playing with odd German toys.

Why can't Americans make movies like that? I guess Jarmusch did. I take it back.; 5/29/10, 6:31 PM
k said...: Can't say I liked it... but for me, Hopper's most disturbing (ever) performance was in Paris Trout. Hmph.

And now I see it was directed by Maggie and Jake Gyllenhaal's dad. How interesting.

As Maggie's performance in Secretary is my like 2nd most disturbing performance I've ever witnessed.

Well, RIP. You disturbed me and attracted me.

vw... hesinomi. Nah. Not so much.; 5/29/10, 7:01 PM
knox said...: Shit. Shit. I knew it was coming, but it still feels ... sudden. He was so great. RIP.; 5/29/10, 8:19 PM
Scott said...: @kirby olsen: I agree with you on The American Friend. Very stylish murder mystery. Hopper as Tom Ripley was an evil guy who was hard not to like.

Hopper was a man who got cooler as he got older. I admire that so much.; 5/29/10, 9:53 PM
Jeff with one 'f' said...: Since no one's mentioned it I will: his performance as the creepy older guy in River's Edge was great and has been unjustly overlooked.

His scenes dragging his blowup doll/girlfriend through a convenience store demanding beer during an armed robbery was a real highpoint!; 5/29/10, 10:08 PM
The Crack Emcee said...: Talk about a guy who could light up a screen - every movie was made better by him, and, in some cases, he was only thing worth watching in some of them.

Pure electricity.

And just the kind of talent that gets stifled in life. Others shut him down, in his youth, for knowing he had a vision. (A crime I can identify with.) The cheapie, "Colors", finally redeemed him.

Assholes. I guess that's the way they like it. He still beat 'em all, though.

Dennis Hopper.

He will be missed.; 5/30/10, 9:52 AM
Phil 314 said...: My favorite movie overall is The American Friend.

Thanks for that memory; I'd forgotten. Great movie and Hopper played it well. understated malevolence.

I also liked him in "River's Edge". The recurring unspoken message from the Hopper character was I know evil and this guy is evil

And as I'm writing this just realized Keanu Reeves was in that movie too!; 5/30/10, 12:13 PM
DADvocate said...: One of the genuinely coolest guys to ever walk the streets of Hollywood.; 5/30/10, 2:44 PM
Kirby Olson said...: @ Scott, yes, Hopper made Ripley work beautifully in The american friend.

He had the kind of sociopathic charm that is likable and yet deadly.

Was Hopper really like that? Was he playing himself to a degree?; 5/30/10, 8:13 PM
Wally Kalbacken said...: Red Rock West.; 5/30/10, 11:31 PM
amba said...: I perversely enjoyed his role in Speed, where he was every GenXer's nightmare of the toxically narcissistic baby boomer. In fact, he was the Baby Boom incarnate (although Hopper was not, in fact, a baby boomer).; 5/31/10, 1:23 AM
amba said...: I will also miss him. He seemed so manic and irrepressible and undefeatable even in those Ameriprise ads.; 5/31/10, 1:28 AM
amba said...: Hopper was a man who got cooler as he got older. Yes!; 5/31/10, 1:32 AM
amba said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 5/31/10, 1:38 AM
amba said...: No! Wait! You know what may be my favorite Dennis Hopper performance?

Boiling Point. Anybody know it?; 5/31/10, 9:18 AM