Easy Rider (1969)

User Rating:

7.3/10   

Director:

Dennis Hopper

Writers:

Peter Fonda (written by) &
Dennis Hopper (written by) ...
(more)

Release Date:

26 June 1969 (Sweden)

Genre:

Adventure | Crime | Drama

Tagline:

This Year It's Easy Rider

Plot:

Two counterculture bikers travel from Los Angeles to New Orleans in search of America.

Plot Keywords:

Biker | Mardi Gras | Jail Cell | Motorcycle | Hitchhiker

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 10 wins & 10 nominations

Cast

Peter Fonda	...	Wyatt
Dennis Hopper	...	Billy
Antonio Mendoza	...	Jesus
Phil Spector	...	Connection
Mac Mashourian	...	Bodyguard
Warren Finnerty	...	Rancher
Tita Colorado	...	Rancher's Wife
Luke Askew	...	Stranger on Highway
Luana Anders	...	Lisa
Sabrina Scharf	...	Sarah
Sandy Brown Wyeth	...	Joanne (as Sandy Wyeth)
Robert Walker Jr.	...	Jack (as Robert Walker)
Robert Ball	...	Mime #1
Carmen Phillips	...	Mime #2
Ellie Wood Walker	...	Mime #3 (as Ellie Walker)
Michael Pataki	...	Mime #4
Jack Nicholson	...	George Hanson
George Fowler Jr.	...	Guard
Keith Green	...	Sheriff
Hayward Robillard	...	Cat Man
Arnold Hess Jr.	...	Deputy
Buddy Causey Jr.	...	Customer #1
Duffy Lafont	...	Customer #2
Blase M. Dawson	...	Customer #3
Paul Guedry Jr.	...	Customer #4
Suzie Ramagos	...	Girl #1
Elida Ann Hebert	...	Girl #2
Rose LeBlanc	...	Girl #3
Mary Kaye Hebert	...	Girl #4
Cynthia Grezaffi	...	Girl #5
Colette Purpera	...	Girl #6
Toni Basil	...	Mary
Karen Black	...	Karen
Lea Marmer	...	Madame
Cathé Cozzi	...	Dancing Girl
Thea Salerno	...	Hooker #1
Anne McClain	...	Hooker #2
Beatriz Monteil	...	Hooker #3
Marcia Bowman	...	Hooker #4
David C. Billodeau	...	Pickup Truck
Johnny David	...	Pickup Truck
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Susan Brewer	...	Woman in Commune (uncredited)
Bridget Fonda	...	Child in Commune (uncredited)
Justin Fonda	...	Child in Commune (uncredited)
Virgil Frye	...	Biker (uncredited)
Dan Haggerty	...	Man in Commune (uncredited)
Randee Lynne Jensen	...	(uncredited)
Carrie Snodgress	...	Woman in Commune (uncredited)

Directed by
Dennis Hopper

Writing credits
Peter Fonda		(written by) &
Dennis Hopper		(written by) &
Terry Southern		(written by)

Produced by
Peter Fonda	....	producer
William Hayward	....	associate producer (as William L. Hayward)
Bert Schneider	....	executive producer

Cinematography by
László Kovács		(director of photography) (as Laszlo Kovacs)
Baird Bryant		(uncredited)

Film Editing by
Donn Cambern

Art Direction by
Jeremy Kay		(as Jerry Kay)

Makeup Department
Virgil Frye	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Paul Lewis	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Len Marsal	....	second assistant director

Art Department
Robert Vincent O'Neill	....	property master (as Robert O'Neil)

Sound Department
James Contrares	....	boom operator
Le Roy Robbins	....	sound mixer

Special Effects by
Steve Karkus	....	special effects

Stunts
Tex Hall	....	stunt gaffer
Gary Littlejohn	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Richmond L. Aguilar	....	gaffer (as Richmond Aguilar)
Guy Badger	....	generator operator
Foster K. Denker	....	electrician (as Foster Denker)
Peter Heiser	....	assistant camera (as Peter Heiser Jr.)
Melton Maxwell	....	best boy (as Mel Maxwell)
Tom Ramsey	....	key grip (as Thomas Ramsey)
Peter Sorel	....	still photographer
Les Blank	....	second camera operator (uncredited)
Larry Lapointe	....	electrician (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Henry Jaglom	....	editorial consultant
Marilyn Schlossberg	....	post-production
Stan Siegel	....	assistant editor (as Stanley Siegel)

Music Department
Mike Deasy	....	musician (uncredited)

Transportation Department
Lee Pierpont	....	transportation

Other crew
Joyce King	....	script supervisor
Tony Vorno	....	location manager
Dan Haggerty	....	motorcycle builder (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Columbia Pictures Corporation
• Pando Company Inc.
• Raybert Productions

Distributors

• Columbia Pictures (1969) (USA) (theatrical)
• Columbia TriStar Films de Argentina (2000) (Argentina) (all media) (re-release)
• Columbia TriStar Home Video (1993) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Columbia TriStar Home Video (2000) (USA) (DVD)
• Columbia TriStar Home Video (2003) (USA) (DVD) (widescreen)
• Columbia TriStar (????) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Columbia TriStar (????) (Brazil) (VHS)
• Falcon (????) (Czech Republic) (DVD)
• LK-TEL (1987) (Argentina) (VHS)
• LK-TEL (2000) (Argentina) (DVD)
• LK-TEL (2000) (Argentina) (VHS) (re-release)
• RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video (????) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2009) (Netherlands) (DVD) (Blu-ray)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2004) (USA) (DVD) (widescreen)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2005) (USA) (DVD)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2009) (USA) (DVD) (Blu-ray)

Other Companies

• Cinefx  titles
• Edit-Rite  sound effects
• Producers' Sound Services  re-recording (as Producer's Sound Service, Inc.)
• Ryder Sound Services  sound recording (as Ryder Sound Service, Inc.)
• Sunset Gower Studios  sound stages
• Synchrofilm Inc.  music editing (as Synchrofilm, Inc.)

Also Known As:

The Loners (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

95 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Spanish

Colour:

Colour | Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Argentina:18 | Netherlands:12 | South Korea:15 | South Korea:18 (DVD rating) | Brazil:16 | Philippines:R-18 | Singapore:M18 | New Zealand:R16 | UK:15 (re-rating) (2009) | Australia:MA (2009 DVD rating) | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | Norway:15 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | USA:R | West Germany:16 | Canada:R (Nova Scotia) | Canada:PG (Manitoba) | Canada:AA (Ontario) | Canada:18+ (Quebec) (original rating) | Canada:13+ (Quebec) (re-rating) (2003)

Filming Locations:

157 Bridge Street, Las Vegas, New Mexico, USA

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

For the famous soliloquy that Peter Fonda does in the cemetery while tripped on acid, Director Dennis Hopper asked Peter to talk to the statue as if he were talking to his mother, who died a suicide when Peter was 10 years old. Peter didn't want to do it, as he had never confronted his feelings about his mother. But Hopper insisted, which is why you hear Peter call the statue "Mother", and he states that he both loves her and hates her, which expresses his conflicted emotions. This scene persuaded Bob Dylan to allow the use of his song "It's Alright Ma" in one of the final scenes, which contains lyrics referencing suicide. Peter told Dylan, "I need to hear those words", and he agreed to its use.

Goofs:

Boom mic visible: In the diner scene, a shadow on the wood panel between the booths.

Quotes:

Captain America: It's grass.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Recess: School's Out (2001)

Soundtrack:

I Wasn't Born to Follow

This film was a rite of passage

I cannot overstate the importance of this movie in my personal development.

In 1969 I was eighteen and a freshman at Cambridge University. I was also a near-fundamentalist and a member of the Christian Union. Its officials decreed that Easy Rider was unsuitable for Christian viewing; I'd seen some enthusiastic reviews which made me curious. Moral and spiritual dilemma followed. To view or not to view? I prayed about it - look, this is a long time ago, right - and decided that if it had been OK for the Christian Union's leaders to see it, if only to realise it was morally dubious, then it was OK for me. They hadn't been corrupted, presumably; the Lord would see that I wasn't either.

So I went and it blew me away. I thought then and think now, that this is a magnificently perceptive commentary on hippie culture and one that only the medium of film can deliver. Naive idealism is weighed against the squalid reality of drugs (and indeed alcohol). Freedom is portrayed as often aimless, self-indulgent and downright boring. The underlying morality could be seen as puritanical: a celebration of the free-lovin' drop-out Sixties it ain't, more a weary end-of-decade critique thereof. I would have thought there was much to commend it to the Christian Union moralisers, yet as ever they couldn't see past the surface - drug abuse, loose women. Yet it has its high moments, in more ways than one, and is always a treat for the eyes.

My decision to defy the Christian Union by seeing the film was an early step out of my fundamentalist prison and I haven't stopped walking yet. No-one's ever going to tell me what I can and can't watch again: nor will I censor anyone else's viewing. I'm still a believer, but not of the kind that the Christian Union would have thought will ever go to heaven. Guess I'll have to live with that.