Dennis Hopper’s Mad Vision

The actor-director's follow-up to Easy Rider was going to change Hollywood. That is, if he could get the damn thing made. [ view in browser.   add esquire@newsletter.esquire.com to your address book ]             FOLLOW US       Dennis Hopper's Mad Vision   Henry Fonda wasn't holding back. Not even a little. It was October 1970, and the 65-year old Hollywood legend had recently watched his son Peter on The David Frost Show. Peter wasn't the problem. Fonda's son had come out, shaken Frost's hand, and taken his seat—like a goddamn normal person. No, the thing raising Fonda's blood pressure was what happened next, when Peter's friend, Dennis Hopper came on stage. "Dennis came out floating," Fonda later told a New York Times reporter. He demonstrated what he meant by flouncing about the living room of his Manhattan apartment with arms spread wide and head tossed backwards. "And every time Frost asked him a question, he began giggling… Dennis is stoned out of his mind. He'd have to be to act that way." "Put that in your story," Fonda told the reporter. 'This is not off the record. Dennis Hopper is an idiot. Spell that name right D-e-n-n-i-s H-o-p-p-e-r!" Reached at his home in Taos, New Mexico, Hopper laughed when told about Fonda's rant. "Henry Fonda said I was an idiot?" Hopper said. "Well, I guess it goes to show you what the establishment view of me is." Hopper could afford to be amused. After years of being regarded by much of the old guard as an ill-mannered, drug-addled lunatic, he was now possibly the hottest filmmaker in Hollywood. Easy Rider, which Hopper had made for less than half a million dollars, was the surprise smash of 1969, grossing $60 million and seemingly striking a death blow to the studio system that nourished the elder Fonda. Hopper's overnight transformation from unemployable fuckup to Wellesian genius was made exponentially more aggravating when Universal gave him total control over his next picture, on which he was currently in post-production: The Last Movie, which Hopper wrote, directed, starred in, and edited. He declared it "the first American art film." Hopper was keenly aware that the project would determine the course of his future, as he told the endless stream of reporters who visited him on the film's set. "The Last Movie is the big one," he told one writer. "If I foul up now, they'll say Easy Rider was a fluke. But, I've got to take chances to do what I want." And, true to his word, that's exactly what he did. Read on.       Fighting to Breathe in the Shadow of a Coal Power Plant   An area of Pennsylvania called Allegheny County is home to a large coal power plant in the town of Springdale—and a mortality rate in some areas that's 87 percent above the national level. People in this little corner of the country get cancer, and they get asthma, and they get it early and often. They have no doubt about the cause. It is not a question of bureaucracy or environmentalism or liberty to them—it's life and death. This is a look at their story as the Trump administration moves to relax what regulations there still are on how these plants operate. Read On         The New Rules of Office Style   The old rules of dressing for work are entirely out the window. Here's how to get dressed for every kind of modern office, whether you're working in a creative loft, a corporate tower, or somewhere in between. Read On         The Pretty-Much-Perfect Hoodie That's Finally Not Sold Out Anymore   I found what might just be the perfect hoodie. Or, at least, a perfect hoodie. It's nothing new. But it's been enjoying such a renaissance lately that it just keeps selling out, over and over. For once, praise be to the style gods: Champion's classic Reverse Weave black hooded sweatshirt isn't out of stock. Which means you have to go buy it now. Seriously. Read On         Every Steve Carell Movie, Ranked   Though he may always be best known as the bumbling but loveable Michael Scott from The Office, Steve Carell has proved to be a hilarious and award-caliber leading Hollywood actor. It all started with a small but memorable performance in Bruce Almighty and led him all the way to an Oscar nomination for Foxcatcher. Read On         The Best Last-Minute Halloween Costumes For Procrastinators   Last minute Halloween costumes don't have to be completely lazy. Just work what you've already got in your closet, nail down a character or person, and rock it like you've been plotting the idea for months. Here are 15 ideas to get you started. Read On       Unsubscribe •  Privacy Notice   esquire.com ©2018 Hearst Communications Inc. All Rights Reserved. Hearst Email Privacy, 300 W 57th St., Fl. 19 (sta 1-1), New York, NY 10019