The Trip (1967 film)
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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The Trip (1967) is a unique low-budget cult film released by American International Pictures, directed by Roger Corman, and shot on location in and around Los Angeles and Big Sur, California in 1966. Peter Fonda stars as a young television commercial director, Paul Groves.
In this plot-free drama Groves takes his first dose of LSD, while experiencing the heartbreak and ambivalence of divorce from his beautiful but adulterous wife, played by Susan Strasberg. As Groves experiences his trip, he considers the roles played by commercialism, sex, love, the role of women in his life, and materialism in his existence.
The Trip also features Bruce Dern as John, Fonda's "guide", Salli Sachse as Glenn, his pivotal one-night stand, plus Dennis Hopper as dealer Max, who appears here with Fonda in a precursor role to Easy Rider (1969). Contrary to their characters in Easy Rider, though--and for obvious reasons--Fonda's Paul Groves acts paranoid and anxious in The Trip, while Hopper's Max appears calm and collected.
Corman wildly edited some scenes for The Trip, particularly the exterior night scenes on the Sunset Strip, to simulate the LSD user's racing mind. The Trip features photographic effects, body paint on seminude actresses to lend atmosphere, and colorful patterned lighting, during sex scenes and in a club, which imitates LSD-induced hallucinations. Finally, Corman included inscrutable fantasy sequences including one where Fonda is faced with revolving pictures of Che Guevara, Sophia Loren and Kahlil Gibran in a wildly lit room and then yells out "Bay of Pigs!!" in terror. The story plays over a musical backdrop of improvisational jazz, blues rock of the band The Electric Flag, plus an exotic musical score with an organ and horn-drenched theme.
Jack Nicholson wrote the original screenplay. Corman encouraged Nicholson's experimental writing style and gives between 80 and 90 percent credit to Nicholson for the shooting script in the director's commentary appearing on the DVD of this film. Corman slightly modified the story to stay within budget.
Trivia
- The house used as one of the primary shooting locations for The Trip was located on top of Kirkwood in Laurel Canyon, Hollywood Hills, California. It was the home of Arthur Lee of Love where he was living while recording the Forever Changes LP sessions.
- Lee stored 25-pound bags of Purina dog food for his dog "Self" in a closet in his house, which was rigged with lighting effects as seen in The Trip. According to the book by Love drummer Michael Stuart-Wise "Behind The Scenes of the Pegasus Carousel with the Legendary Rock Group LOVE," Lee was quoted as saying, "Yeah, I hide in that closet myself sometimes." Band member Alban "Snoopy" Pfisterer also used the closet as a "freak out" setting.
- Nicholson also appears with Susan Strasberg in the Dick Clark-produced Psych-Out (1968), set in San Francisco, California, sporting a prosthetic ponytail.
- One of the movie's promo posters is featured on the back cover of the cult 1980s compilation LP of obscure 1960s garage rock 'Wavy Gravy', on Beware records (BEWARE 001).
See also
[1] [May 2007]
