Easy Rider

It was a year ago, late on a June gloom Venice afternoon, when I last sat down with Dennis Hopper. We had been working for over 18 months on a publication of his photographs for Taschen Books. It was our last meeting before the book went to print and he was reading, with a mix of curiosity and bemusement, a biography I had written for the publication. It is not an easy thing to sit beside an icon and watch him read a summation that you've written of his entire existence. But Dennis, thankfully, had a sense of humor — particularly about himself.

Bert Schneider, the iconoclastic producer behind a trio of influential movies — "Easy Rider," "Five Easy Pieces" and "The Last Picture Show" — that captured the rootlessness and discontent of the late 1960s and '70s and became symbols of a new era in Hollywood, has died. He was 78. Schneider had been in failing health and died of natural causes Monday at Olympia Medical Center in Los Angeles, said his daughter, Audrey Simon. The son of a Hollywood power broker — his father, Abraham, ran Columbia Pictures in the late 1960s — Schneider helped revitalize moviemaking in the "New Hollywood" movement in which directors, not studios, held the creative reins and made movies that embraced the sensibilities of the emerging counterculture.

Seven things worth remembering about "Easy Rider," a remarkable piece of cinematic Americana that is getting a special one-week, 40th anniversary commemorative run at Landmark's Nuart Theatre starting Friday: What spare beauty it had -- sweeping shots of deserts and fields, of highways and backroads that cut through the country from Los Angeles to New Orleans.

Initially known for such obsessive noirs as "Laura" and "Fallen Angel," Otto Preminger enjoyed a long run in the 1950s and '60s as one of Hollywood's most ambitious practitioners of the issue movie. Driven to dramatize big social-political themes and the largest institutions of public life, he tackled drug addiction ("The Man With the Golden Arm"), the legal system ("Anatomy of a Murder"), the state of Israel ("Exodus"), Beltway duplicity ("Advise & Consent"), the Catholic Church ("The Cardinal")

Peter Fonda is justifiably proud that he and Dennis Hopper turned the world of cinema on its ear with their iconic 1969 counterculture movie "Easy Rider. " But Fonda believes that before they did "Easy Rider," they changed the fortunes of an old film that helped turn it into a cult favorite. The 71-year-old Fonda recalled that Hopper called him one day and said, "Pick me up. We are going to a museum in Pasadena. " The museum, Fonda related, was part of the Pasadena Playhouse and showed old movies.

Never mind that the original Summer of Love was 42 years ago and almost 1,000 miles away: Taos is offering its own version this year. The summer-long celebration marks the 40th anniversary of the iconic counterculture film "Easy Rider" -- some of which was shot here -- and the influx of hippies that added yet another spicy ingredient to Taos' multicultural stew.

What better way to celebrate America this Fourth of July weekend than by jumping on a motorcycle and leaving a trail of havoc in your wake? Better yet, do it vicariously with the late Dennis Hopper, who stars in, co-wrote and directed the seminal 1969 biker movie " Easy Rider," which also stars Peter Fonda and Jack Nicholson as a boozy Southern attorney — his first Oscar-nominated role. The classic screens Saturday at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery. http://www.cinespia.org With bite You might think the upcoming holiday was Halloween given some of the chills on tap with the American Cinematheque's programming at the Egyptian Theatre.

"Easy Rider" associate producer Bill Hayward has died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, authorities said Thursday. He was 66. Hayward fired a handgun into his heart in Castaic on March 9, authorities said. The suicide occurred in a trailer where Hayward was living. His body has already been cremated and a memorial service is planned in April. Hayward was born March 27, 1941, the son of theatrical agent Leland Hayward and actress Margaret Sullavan.

You remember the last time you were on a horse. It was the summer before the fifth grade, at 4-H camp. The counselors gave you the oldest, slowest, tamest horse in the barn. You still wound up with a painful, half-dollar-size blister on your tailbone. So it is with mixed emotion that you pull up to the horse-riding establishment where they are offering lessons on learning to ride "the cowboy way."

Laszlo Kovacs, the Hungarian-born cinematographer who found international fame after treating the American landscape as a character in the landmark 1969 movie "Easy Rider," has died. He was 74. Kovacs, a former Budapest film student who arrived in the United States as a political refugee in 1957, died in his sleep Sunday at his Beverly Hills home, said his wife, Audrey. His work on "Paper Moon" was considered a masterpiece of black-and-white photography.

Peter Fonda is justifiably proud that he and Dennis Hopper turned the world of cinema on its ear with their iconic 1969 counterculture movie "Easy Rider. " But Fonda believes that before they did "Easy Rider," they changed the fortunes of an old film that helped turn it into a cult favorite. The 71-year-old Fonda recalled that Hopper called him one day and said, "Pick me up. We are going to a museum in Pasadena. " The museum, Fonda related, was part of the Pasadena Playhouse and showed old movies.

'True Grit: The Golden Age of Road Movies' Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Leo S. Bing Theatre, 5905 Wilshire Blvd. Admission is $10 for general audiences; $7 for LACMA members, seniors (62+) and students with valid I.D and $5 for the 5 p.m. Saturday shows For information go to http://www.lacma.org Schedule: Friday: "Five Easy Pieces" at 7:30 p.m.; "Play It as it Lays" at 9:30 p.m. Saturday: "Easy Rider" at 5 p.m.; "Zabriskie Point" at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 13: "Harry & Tonto" at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 14: "Bonnie and Clyde" at 7:30 p.m.; "Thunderbolt and Lightfoot" at 9:40 p.m. Jan. 15: "Electra Glide in Blue" at 5 p.m.; "Scarecrow" at 7:30 p.m. with special guest, cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond Jan. 21: "Two-Lane Blacktop" at 7:30 p.m.; "Alice's Restaurant" at 9:40 p.m.

The story of American cinema's last official golden age ? the late '60s and early '70s groundswell known as the New Hollywood ? has been told and retold so many times and with such gilded nostalgia that it is by now, at least in part, a sentimental myth. It's easy to understand the lasting appeal of the era. The movies seemed more connected to their moment, and that moment offered so much to connect with: the countercultural thrills of sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll; the specter of war and the tumult of radical politics; the explosion of world, experimental and underground cinema, and the rise of various European new waves.

It was a year ago, late on a June gloom Venice afternoon, when I last sat down with Dennis Hopper. We had been working for over 18 months on a publication of his photographs for Taschen Books. It was our last meeting before the book went to print and he was reading, with a mix of curiosity and bemusement, a biography I had written for the publication. It is not an easy thing to sit beside an icon and watch him read a summation that you've written of his entire existence. But Dennis, thankfully, had a sense of humor — particularly about himself.

Since iconoclastic actor-writer-producer-director-artist Dennis Hopper died in May after a long battle with prostate cancer, screenings of his 1969 masterwork, "Easy Rider," have been popping up around town. However, the Silent Movie Theatre is the first to schedule a tribute screening series to Hopper. "Dennis Hopper: Wasn't Born to Follow," kicks off Friday evening with "Easy Rider," which marked his directorial debut, and the 1971 documentary "The American Dreamer," which chronicles his post-"Easy Rider" success and the making of his next film, the ill-fated "The Last Movie."

What better way to celebrate America this Fourth of July weekend than by jumping on a motorcycle and leaving a trail of havoc in your wake? Better yet, do it vicariously with the late Dennis Hopper, who stars in, co-wrote and directed the seminal 1969 biker movie " Easy Rider," which also stars Peter Fonda and Jack Nicholson as a boozy Southern attorney — his first Oscar-nominated role. The classic screens Saturday at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery. http://www.cinespia.org With bite You might think the upcoming holiday was Halloween given some of the chills on tap with the American Cinematheque's programming at the Egyptian Theatre.

To hear motorcyclists tell it, there's something almost mystical about their sport. They will passionately describe the exhilaration of cruising up a two-lane highway toward Big Sur, of having the wind in their hair and a pine scent on the breeze, of feeling they are a part of every twist and turn in the road. They will talk of the camaraderie of riders, of a bond among strangers passing on the highway. To them, clearly, it is far more than mere transportation.

There have been many tributes to renegade actor Dennis Hopper since he died Saturday at age 74 of complications from prostate cancer. But what might be the biggest tribute to the renegade artist Dennis Hopper is yet to come: The Museum of Contemporary Art here is preparing to mount a sweeping survey of his visual art to open July 11. "Dennis Hopper Double Standard," curated by Julian Schnabel, will include artwork by Hopper from the last...

Dennis Hopper, the maverick director and costar of the landmark 1969 counterculture film classic "Easy Rider" whose drug- and alcohol-fueled reputation as a Hollywood bad boy preceded his return to sobriety and a career resurgence in the films " Hoosiers" and "Blue Velvet," died Saturday. He was 74. A longtime resident of Venice who also was known as a photographer, artist and collector of modern art, Hopper died at his home of complications from prostate cancer, said Alex Hitz, a friend of the family.