DENNIS HOPPER

FROM THE LAST MOVIE to WHITESTAR

Well during the crash here and my lack of getting to the business, I missed the AD's article on Dennis Hopper post Easy Rider sojourn struggles . . . . .this is really worth a read. Ken Barlow never looked like this (British joke!sic)

AQUARIUM DRUNKARD- VIDEODROME : Dennis Hopper in White Star

Terrance Robay of the new-wave band Vivabeat and Dennis Hopper in White Star

"Between 1972 and 1985, Dennis Hopper was persona non grata in mainstream Hollywood circles. His exile came out of the critical and commercial failure of his second directorial film The Last Movie (1971). This film was the much-anticipated follow-up to the immensely successful and generation-defining Easy Rider (1969). Instead of doubling down on Easy Rider’s success, The Last Movie employed arthouse film and editing techniques, a non-linear narrative, improvisational performances, and a story critical of capitalism, colonialism, and Hollywood exploitation. Hopper gave the movie executives who placed faith and funds in him a bloody nose and for that indiscretion they let the film die. After this fallout, his personal troubles and drug addictions spiraled and made him an unreliable choice for movie producers and film directors to hire. Of course, he wasn’t completely off the radar. He pulled off some interesting lead roles in independent films such as Tracks (1976) and Mad Dog Morgan (1976) and appeared in supporting roles in Apocalypse Now (1979) and Rumble Fish (1983). He even knocked out a directing credit with the Canadian film Out of the Blue (1980).

I loved this film . . . . . .

What might be perceived as a desolate period in Hopper’s career has always greatly intrigued me. The films might be hard to find, and in varying degrees of quality, but one can never doubt the dedication that Hopper brought to these roles. In comparison to his early career in stock westerns and exploitation films and his later career in mostly straight to DVD fare, this period sees Hopper as a true force of nature and open to challenging himself, the actors he shared the screen with, and the audiences who dared to watch.
As Hopper was unable to score a decent mainstream acting gig in American cinema, he headed to West Germany to appear as a disheveled and burned-out music manager in German director Roland Klick’s White Star (1984)". (read on - link above)

White Star ImDb