In Memoriam: Hot Tuna Hopper

When I was a kid I remember thumbing through boxes of VHS movies that my uncle had rented then recorded using his TWO VCRs (quite the luxury at the time!), and searching for obscure cinematic gems that my parents were largely unaware of. At times my uncle would send stuff home for my dad to watch. My family had only one VCR, could only rent movies (typically PG) or else record them off television, and so our collection was not nearly as impressive as the box of goodies stored in the upstairs living room of my grandmother's house where my uncle happened to live. On several visits, my sister and I were left to entertain ourselves while our parents drank coffee in the kitchen with the family and talked adult stuff. When on my own, I would throw in a movie that I hadn't heard of and discover what else was out there other than Ghostbusters and Dick Tracy.

Part of the mystique of my uncle's collection was the prevalence of R-rated movies, which as I grew older, became increasingly seductive as my interests shifted from ninja turtles to more 'sophisticated' depictions of violence ... and sex. At about 9 years old (sometime around 1989), I vividly recall finding one title that sounded just too captivating to set down. It was called Blue Velvet, and it was clearly marked with an 'R' in black sharpie marker. For whatever reason, but likely because of sexual curiosity (I had already passed on all the Rambo and Chuck Norris flicks), the title was too irresistible to walk away from. If you've ever seen David Lynch's Blue Velvet, you know that there is plenty to keep you interested beyond its incredibly graphic depictions of sex/rape/violence. The film opens with a mystery, the discovery of a severed human ear in a open field, and progresses through a deeply troubled and disturbing vision of the 'American Dream' that looks and feels more like a nightmare.

Through the opening of the film I held on with awestruck fascination, until the scene wherein we meet the villain, Dennis Hopper's 'Frank Booth.' Then things took a turn for the worse. We are introduced to the amyl-nitrate-sucking bad guy immediately following a very intense sexual encounter between Kyle MacLachlan and Isabella Rossellini, which results in our naive protagonist (MacLachlan) hiding and witnessing pure evil from inside a closet. Like this character, I suddenly knew I was in way over my head, realizing I shouldn't be watching this yet having a hard time looking away. I eventually shut it off. This was my first real exposure to Dennis Hopper (I'd probably already seen Hoosiers but not savvy enough to recognize him or his Academy Award nominated performance). Never before had I seen such horrifying intensity from an actor, and as far as I can recall, this was the first time (perhaps only time?) that I had to stop a movie because I found the villain just too disturbing.

Ten years later, while in college, I rediscovered Blue Velvet. This time I was more aware of David Lynch, Dennis Hopper, and the importance each has had in film and storytelling. As such, I was able to better appreciate the artistry and impact of what I had previously found to be so unsettling. Blue Velvet worked me over, both as a kid and adult, and even now (in reflection of Hopper's legacy) the role stands out to me as his best performance. It is one thing for an actor to 'play evil,' then there are a select few who manage to embody it fully (I'm thinking Hopkin's Hannibal Lecter, and more recently Bardem's Anton Chigurh).

Dennis Hopper first cut his teeth in film with bit parts playing alongside James Dean in Rebel Without a Cause (1955) and Giant (1956). In the decade following the death of Dean, a close friend, he found work appearing in sporadic popular television shows, typically playing troubled and highly conflicted characters that called for a kind of intensity that was usually off-putting but always easy to empathize with (such as a misguided neo-Nazi in a 1963 Twilight Zone episode). Hopper then became forever linked to the counter-culture movement when he wrote, directed, and starred in Easy Rider (1969). Easily his most ambitious project, at the time Hopper had every intention of being the best actor that ever lived. However, drugs and alcohol abuse took a profound toll on him in the 1970's and it wouldn't be until David Lynch's Blue Velvet (1986) and a nominated supporting role as an alcoholic father in Hoosiers (1986) that he would reemerge as a notable and incredibly talented actor.

We here at HTM rank Hopper's performances among the best ever and have always appreciated the subtle (and often not-so-subtle) intensity that he brought to every role. Hopper was a natural scene-stealer. You simply can't look away when he's at his best, and unless you're a freaked out 9 year old, why would you ever want to?

If you have not seen them, be sure to check out these three Dennis Hopper films. There are others that he appeared in which are arguably 'better' films (Apocalypse Now, Giant, True Romance, Speed) but in each of the following you get a heavy dose of Hopper at his best.

EASY RIDER

HOOSIERS

BLUE VELVET