Drive, He Said
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
|
"In 1968, Dennis Hopper, Peter Fonda, Jack Nicholson, Bob Rafelson and Henry Jaglom made Easy Rider, the most successful cult film of all time. It was such a success that it probably isn’t a cult film at all, but a mainstream movie. It made a lot of money, and as you know, money signifies quality. Money also conveys power. As a result of making such a successful film, all five guys were given more money to direct more films. Hopper went off to Peru and made The Last Movie, Nicholson directed Drive, He Said, Henry Jaglom made A Safe Place, Bob Rafelson made Five Easy Pieces, and Peter Fonda made a western called The Hired Hand."-- Moviedrome by Alex Cox |
|
Related e |
|
Featured: |
Drive, He Said (1971) is an American motion picture released by Columbia Pictures. It is one of the lesser-known works in the influential group of "New Hollywood" films of the late 1960s and early 1970s made by independent production house Raybert Productions (The Monkees, Easy Rider) and its successor, BBS Productions. Based upon the 1964 novel of the same title by Jeremy Larner, the film is mainly notable as the directorial debut of Jack Nicholson (who also wrote the screenplay) following his breakthrough as an actor in Easy Rider (1969) and Five Easy Pieces (1970).
Although coolly received at the time, and has subsequently faded into obscurity, the production brought together many significant Hollywood names. Director of photography Bill Butler gained renown for his later work on classic films such as Steven Spielberg's Jaws, Francis Ford Coppola's The Conversation, and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Original music was composed by David Shire (then married to Coppola's sister, Talia) and the screenplay included uncredited contributions from future director Terence Malick.
It starred several of Nicholson's friends and frequent screen collaborators in leading roles – Karen Black, Bruce Dern, Robert Towne and Henry Jaglom (although Towne and Jaglom became better known as screenwriter and director, respectively). Several younger actors who became familiar TV faces in later years were also featured in small supporting roles, including David Ogden Stiers (M*A*S*H), Cindy Williams (Laverne & Shirley) and Michael Warren (Hill St Blues), who (like Tepper) was also a former collegiate basketball player.
It was filmed on the campus of the University of Oregon and other locations in Eugene, Oregon. The film is also notable for its then-controversial use of profanity, its depictions of sex and drug use, and for several scenes of male frontal nudity, including a locker-room shower scene, and the mental breakdown scene in which Gabriel (Margotta) is shown frontally nude, which led to an attempt by the censor to give the film an X rating.
Plot
The film is an examination of libidinous basketball star Hector Bloom (played by William Tepper), and contrasts his sporting prowess on the court to his bedroom antics. Most notably, Hector has an affair with his favorite professor's wife Olive (Karen Black) that goes nowhere. This, and many other events, occur within a heated early 1970s backdrop of university politics, sporting hijinx, and anti-war sentiments.
Cast
- William Tepper as Hector
- Karen Black as Olive
- Michael Margotta as Gabriel
- Bruce Dern as Coach Bullion
- Robert Towne as Richard
- Henry Jaglom as Conrad
- Michael Warren as Easly
- June Fairchild as Sylvie
- Don Hanmer as Director of Athletics
- Lynette Bernay as Dance Instructor
- Joseph Walsh as First Announcer
- Harry Gittes as Second Announcer
- Charles Robinson as Jollop
- Bill Sweek as Finnegan
- David Ogden Stiers as Pro Owner
- B.J. Merholz as Pro Lawyer
- I.J. Jefferson as Secretary
- Kenneth Payne as President Wallop
- Cathy Bradford as Rosemary
- Eric Johnson as Private First Class Johnson
- Cindy Williams as team manager's girlfriend
