JACK NICHOLSON EASY RIDER MOVIE
JACK NICHOLSON EASY RIDER TV

The Maniac – Dennis Hopper was by all reports a mad man on set. When it came to film the famous campfire scene, the bikes had already been stolen and so are nowhere to be seen. There were multiple copies of the bikes but they all got either destroyed during the shoot or stolen. The Bikes – The motorcycles for the film, based on hardtail frames and panhead engines, were designed and built by two chopper builders - Cliff Vaughs and Ben Hardy - with suggestions from Peter Fonda. Fonda’s mother had killed herself when he was ten. The final trip in a cemetery in New Orleans features a raw moment where Wyatt tearfully asks a statue – addressing her as mother – why she left him. Editing, photography and structure were all influenced, or under the influence, with Hopper especially chemically fuelled. The campfire scene where lawyer George (Jack Nicholson) is introduced to grass for the first time has to be one of the funniest scenes much copied and rarely equalled. But of course drugs are also part of the whole experience with a lot of being stoned and a finale of dropping acid – once more inspired by 2001 a Space Odyssey. The earnings from a cocaine deal are going to put Wyatt and Billy in the cat bird seat, and the rest of the film is what to do once you’ve made it.

The Drugs – So the plot is essentially the tail end of a drug smuggling operation. Karen Black and Toni Basil have brief but striking roles as a pair of prostitutes sharing acid with the boys. Finally, Jack Nicholson was probably the least known, but even he had already spent years as a factotum and actor for Roger Corman, appearing in The Little Shop of Horrors among others.

JACK NICHOLSON EASY RIDER TV

Dennis Hopper had already spent a decade popping up in Hollywood movies and TV shows and being James Dean’s best friend. He’d earned himself cult status with his appearances in such films as The Trip and Wild Angels. Peter Fonda was obviously the most famous as a member of the Fonda family with dad Henry, an icon and sister Jane, a sex symbol. The Stars – Although the three young leads were relatively fresh faces, they were also each involved in Hollywood to a greater or lesser extent. Peter Fonda, Jack Nicholson and Dennis Hopper The music also was influenced by Stanley Kubrick’s 2001 a Space Odyssey in that it was once more a so-called needle drop soundtrack with no original score as such. Throughout the film the music choices are perfect with contributions from The Band, The Byrds and The Jimi Hendrix Experience and costing in licensing fees threes times the shooting budget. The Music – ‘Get your motor runnin’, Set out on the highway…’ Although we start with Billy (Dennis Hopper) and Wyatt (Peter Fonda) scoring drugs from a dealer played by record producer and later murderer Phil Spector, the film really kicks in with the title sequence and “Born to be Wild” by Steppenwolf. Two cowboys Billy the Kid and Wyatt Earp in search of a new American Dream and once more … we blew it.

JACK NICHOLSON EASY RIDER MOVIE

With its experimental style, its rock soundtrack and unconventional heroes, the film was a road movie set out to discover the counterculture and yet already had an elegiac spin on the decade.

On July 17, 1969, Easy Rider was released in the (dis)United States of America.

Jack nicholson easy rider