1969 Revisited

Patrick Goldstein’s nostalgic cruise down memory lane with the pseudo-hauteurs of the late ‘60s and early ‘70s film scene recalls a less than uplifting period in Hollywood history (“Man, What a Trip That Was,” Aug. 15).

Personally, I’ll go along with Capra, Wise, Ford, Neame, Lean, Wyler, Wilder, Spielberg and others of their stature who represent true Hollywood class--and with films to prove it!

GERMAINE BAUR

Ojai

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Would it surprise you to learn that the highest-grossing movie of 1969 was not only not one of the “revolutionary” films mentioned in Goldstein’s article, but was Disney’s “The Love Bug”?

As to Dennis Hopper telling George Cukor “We’re gonna bury you. You’re finished”: I hope Hopper noticed that the current Cukor retrospective at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art is showing 29 of Cukor’s films, which is more than four times the number of films Hopper has even directed.

TOM STEMPEL

Los Angeles

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As I read Henry Jaglom’s remarks concerning the editing of “Easy Rider,” I wondered where was I? On the windowsill? Sitting on a potted plant?

If Jaglom, starting at the front and Jack Nicholson, starting at the rear, spent eight weeks in separate side-by-side editing rooms reducing “Easy Rider” from four hours to 95 minutes, and Dennis Hopper was in Taos, where was I? I don’t remember Jaglom or Jack working at the Moviola running film, choosing shots, adjusting the length of those shots or deciding the juxtaposition of shots. Did they choose every single performance line by line? How about the timing of those lines? What about the rhythm of lines for dramatic or comedic effect right to the frame? Think about the choice of music for the riding montages, add the sense of rhythm, of progression of shots to make each montage meaningful, rich and different. Did they edit that as Jaglom says? And so on and on and on and on.

Categorically I will say they did not edit “Easy Rider.” I did. However, we did spend time together. And we tried many ideas. Some were really good and many were really, really lousy.

“Easy Rider” did not come together easily. Dennis hated to give up ideas and sequences and scenes that were very important to him. The first cut was not four hours, but rather 4 hours and 17 minutes: 23,130 feet, 23 reels of picture and 23 reels of track. Dennis loved this cut and it was a slow process over many months to shorten the film. It finally got to the point where Bert Schneider invited everyone to leave. I mean Jaglom, Jack, Peter Fonda, Bill Hayward and Dennis. He told Dennis, “I’ll call you when Donn and I have a cut. When you see it, if something really bothers you, we’ll talk and leave room to put it back.” It was during this time that “Easy Rider” came down to the 95 minutes, give or take, of its release length. True to his word, Bert did give back some shots and moments that Dennis truly missed.

Editing is a collaborative art, as is the whole process of making movies. However, when someone comes into the editing room, spends considerable time, contributes thoughts and suggestions and then states that they edited the film, I find it absurd.

“Easy Rider” jump-started my editing career. And now looking back at almost 40 movies that I’ve edited and co-edited, I will always be grateful that I was given that special opportunity.

DONN CAMBERN

President, Motion Picture

Editors Guild, Los Angeles

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Dennis Hopper says, “I came out of working with screamers like John Ford and Henry Hathaway.” I would like to know what John Ford films, if any, Hopper acted in. I thought I had seen all of Ford’s films.

CHRIS SCHAEFER

Long Beach

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I approached, with considerable interest, Goldstein’s piece on “Hollywood’s Revolution of ’69.” However, upon completing it, I was more than somewhat dismayed to discover that many of the same themes, principal players and, in some cases, the very same quotes had already been covered, in far greater detail, by Peter Biskind in his book “Easy Riders, Raging Bulls.”

Appreciative acknowledgment is one thing . . . but neither Biskind nor his exhaustively researched book were even mentioned.

TIM MONTGOMERY

North Hollywood