I hope when Dennis Hopper, dead at age 74, got to the Pearly Gates, Frank Booth wasn’t held against him, and he got Brownie points for making full use of his God-given talents.
Hopper and I go all the way back to 1955 when he had a minor role in “Rebel Without a Cause,” followed by a supporting role in “Giant,” while I fell head over heels for star James Dean.
In my video collection, I probably have every major film Hopper has starred in – there are just so many over a six-decade career. Often his supporting performances were so much a part of what made these movies great.
But for me, David Lynch’s bit of genius, “Blue Velvet,” gave us filmdom’s most chilling character ever – Frank Booth – and Dennis Hopper played him.
Hopper reportedly told writer-director Lynch, “"I've got to play this part, David, because I AM Frank."
I hope not. With all the innocence of the world whose creepy underbelly the film exposed, I’d like to think that nowhere in the world there exists a Frank Booth, and that Hopper was just giving us one of the best performances of his life.
***
DENNIS HOPPER’S FILMOGRAPHY
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demwit
Chronicling the absurd, the obnoxious, the outright lies, the occasional truths and the downright mystical out of the mouths of politicians and pundits.
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4 comments:
Dennis is now the Easy Rider In The Sky. May he rest in peace. My sympathy to his family and friends.
“Blue Velvet,” gave us filmdom’s most chilling character ever – Frank Booth – and Dennis Hopper played him.
I've often thought this. Blue Velvet fascinated me and I watched it many times, because Frank Booth was such a uniquely terrifying character. Whether Hopper was simply acting a role, or actually drawing upon something deep within himself (and even the most decent person can have a whole universe of carefully-controlled darkness within -- trust me on this), it was a brilliant performance.
I was sorry to hear it. I always thought Harper was a first rate actor. And don't good actors draw from deep withing themselves?
I'll never forget his roll in Blue Velvet. In fact, whenever I am in a stressful situation I can be heard to say "Fraaaaaank!"
Shudder.
He was a very talented but difficult man.
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