![]() “They knew her mother, Margaret Sullavan, who was a nice Irish woman. “Well, his reason for hiring me was because he and John Wayne, the Duke, heard that I’d married a nice Irish woman, Brooke Hayward,” he said. Hopper then worked sporadically in episodic television and two films (including director Curtis Harrington’s cult favorite, Night Tide ), until Hathaway gave him a reprieve, casting him in The Sons of Katie Elder (1965), starring John Wayne and Dean Martin. Hopper later adorned a closet door in his house with a copy of the film’s poster. With his cigar in his mouth, Hathaway promised the tear-stained Hopper he’d never work in the town again. They fought constantly over Hopper’s interpretation of his role, until the last day of filming, when Hathaway finally broke his will after shooting dozens of takes of the same scene. Hopper’s troubles began when he locked horns with bellicose director Henry Hathaway on the set of the Western From Hell to Texas (1958). “Once he pulled a switchblade and threatened to murder his director. “ was also a guerilla artist who attacked all restrictions on his sensibility,” he later recalled. Hopper idolized Dean and began emulating his personal style. Those were heady days for the 19-year-old Hopper, who received informal acting advice from Dean, with whom he claimed to have smoked pot and taken peyote. Hopper was the proverbial overnight discovery: only six months after the fresh-faced kid had graduated from Helix High School in San Diego, he landed a contract with Warner Bros., where he acted alongside James Dean in Rebel Without a Cause (1955) and Giant (1956). Narrated by Satya de la Manitou, Hopper’s right-hand man for over 40 years, the film skillfully weaves together new interviews with 31 of Hopper’s friends and colleagues with well-chosen clips from Hopper’s films, archival footage, and still photos. Hopper is the subject of director Nick Ebeling’s new documentary, Along for the Ride (2017). That film’s unexpected success transformed Hopper from a Hollywood pariah into everyone’s hot ticket to the youth market. ![]() Schiller on it.DENNIS HOPPER’S roller-coaster life and career was characterized by incredible successes followed by equally incredible failures - none more so than The Last Movie (1971), Hopper’s ambitious directorial follow-up to the box-office smash Easy Rider (1969). We’re incredibly proud of the project and couldn’t be more honored to work with Mr. Our dear friend and artisan printer Dan Black assumed those duties for us. We decided to create a four color process screen print to pay homage to the analog nature of the film and posters of the era. Schiller graciously collaborated with us in turning one of his photos into the poster for the film. ![]() It’s a moment you imagine Dennis would want to bask in if he could. There’s an optimism and naiveté in that image I just love. One photo in particular stood out: Dennis sitting in the middle of a group of devotees smiling toward the viewer. When I saw these wonderful photos I realized there was nothing we’d be able to illustrate that would capture the essence of this film in the same way. ![]() Lawrence Schiller, the film’s director and acclaimed photojournalist, sent a collection of photographs he’d taken during production back in 1971. It’s a candid and endearing portrait of Dennis Hopper’s maniacal creative process. I’ve seen the film several times and absolutely love it. For the film’s theatrical screenings at the Alamo Drafthouse in San Francisco and Austin, Mondo creative director Jay Shaw designed a new poster for the film: When we were asked to create a poster for The American Dreamer I was instantly overwhelmed. ![]()
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