I may be naive, but I do not understand why Dennis Hopper's name is one of those listed as the movied opens and the stars names are scrolled through. His part is miniscule and irrelevant to the movie. If the movie had come after Easy Rider, I would understand, but it was before. Who makes these decisions and why do you think they chose to put his name up there.
"We're going to need a bigger boat..."
But then again, Arlene Golonka's role isn't much bigger (she played a prostitute later in the film) and she's listed in the opening credits too.
I don't know how well-known Dennis Hopper was at the time, but he was an established actor with many years of work behind him.
His part can be memorable though. Has anyone here seen Pulp Fiction? Take a closer look.
shareDennis Hopper was a very well known actor when this movie was made, he had been in first rate westerns such as From Hell to Texas (1958) or The sons of Katie Elder (1965)both directed by the great Henry Hathaway; also was in John Sturges Gunfight at OK Corral and of course he was in two pictures with James Dean, Giant and Rebel without a cause, also he did a lot of TV in the late fifties and early sixties, so I don't find shocking to see his name in the opening credits.
shareFirst let me make it clear I have nothing against Hopper, and this is not really about him. It is about how decisions are made to place names in the opening credits, sort of the equivalent of whose names go up in lights over the theater entrances in the old days.
I am still not convinced, even after reading your post, that he was a "well known" actor, and even if I were to concede the point, being a "well known" actor is not enough to get opening credit in big letters. (I should be clear for those that have not seen the movie, his name appears in huge letters in the beginning like he was going to be a major part of the movie ) Certainly the movies you mention were well known, but I don't think too many people of the general audience type would recognize his name from any of the parts he played in those movies. And again, I repeat, even if they did, he was hardly a box office star.
But I do appreciate the reasoned response.
"We're going to need a bigger boat..."
OTOH, it could just be that the producers of the film recognized his talent and star-potential and gave him credit for that reason alone.
As I said, I don't know how well-known he was among the public, but he was certainly well-known in the industry itself.
Actually Hopper, as the Prophet, has been given a speech role ande he was a well-known actor.
So why should he not been given a screen credit. If only the superstars get a screen credit, the credits would be very small.
I figure that the character Hopper plays, The Prophet, was considered to give a vital meaning to the story early on in the movie despite the very limited screen-time. His rant about God and justice goes together well with the theme of justice later on. Maybe the producers simply wanted to highlight this by giving the part to a well known actor and clearly credit his part and with that the character in the movie.
sharemy understanding is that screen credit is almost as hard-bargained by agents on their clients' behalf as is actual money. so it's usually a reflection of the hollywood pecking order as of when the contract was negotiated...
shareTrue enough about the DollarsWood pecking order. There's also the issue
of lines and credit. Depending on the number of lines (and roughly the
screen time) that can impact a credit.
I know from ad game that a non union person can appear twice in commercials
without requiring a union card. Thus some breaks are gained all around.
Cheaper to shoot yet actor gets a little book building. Not everyone takes
to the lifestyle.
"Unbilled" is a later day choice by some that has various uses. Can be a tax
matter or done to save friends a little coin yet keep your edge has being
still hip. Hot Fuzz and Starsky & Hutch come to mind. Bruce Willis has done
some of that too in a clever way to surprise the audience. Was that really
so and so? Yes, I know the voice.
That's a chance to play with the fan base and actor can get to play against
type in some cases.
Definitely: The great Mr. Hopper had a very good agent.
shareI watched this movie on some commercial TV channel, and Dennis Hopper's part was COMPLETELY CUT OUT (!@#!@#!!)!
This idiot channel showed the part where Ben Johnson locks Clint Eastwood in the wagon, and in the next scene, they are arriving in the town to be put in the cells. The entire scene of the wagon stopping in the town to pick up the deranged Dennis Hopper was missing.
So, the credits list Dennis Hopper, but he was completely missing in this butchered version of this movie.
If I had never seen the film before, I would not have know the scene was missing.
Unbelievable.
I'm watching Hang 'Em High on Hallmark now and the same thing happened: Clint gets loaded in the wagon, they go to 5 minutes of commercials, and when they come back the wagon is pulling into town. I was wondering if I just wasn't paying attention until I saw your post.
Hallmark is pretty G-rated. I wonder of the scene was cut for time or because of some objection to the scene. I didn't think Hopper's scene was objectionable, but who knows how some people think.
As far as Hopper getting a credit, I thought he deserved one. A lot of times a director will seek out a specific actor for a small role, and the least he/she can do is give the actor a credit.
The thing that bugs me is so many of the actors in this movie aren't credited, like the guy that played McCloud, the Johannson killer that gets sent screaming and fighting to the hangman.
Even the IMDB extended credits lists eight actors' names, but doesn't say who they played.
AMC is now showing this western -- with the Dennis Hopper scene intact. Now, if only they would show it in full aspect ratio, instead of pan-and-scan! Oh well, it's not too bad, since the film is 16x9 aspect ratio, so not too much gets chopped off of the sides..
shareSeems to me, that The Prophet had a deeper meaning in the film than just some insane guy.
He did in fact rant about God, who comes into play alot during the film. He rants about being an innocent servant of God and then later during the "6 Man Hanging", 3 of them were probably innocent, and Francis Duffy gave a speech telling he was an innocent man being hung.
Also, its weird that Bliss kills him and later Cooper hears that Bliss was killed, it may just be coincidence but you never know.
I liked The Prophet, I thought he should have been in the film longer
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I understand the role of the character that Hopper played. I just remain unconvinced that it makes any sense to put his name in big letters at the beginning of the film. Starring Dennis Hopper?? I don't think so.
"We're going to need a bigger boat..."
I heard he slept with the producer
share