Dirty Real

Exile on Hollywood and Vine with the Gin Mill Cowboys

Peter Stanfield

• Publisher: Reaktion Books
• Year: 2024
• ISBN:
  9781789148831
• Topic: Mezzi di comunicazione e arti performative
• Subtopic: Arti performative

The story of how the movies assumed a gritty facade in the name of authenticity, with working actors transforming into artists, poets, painters, troubadours, and filmmakers—both on- and off-screen. This is the tale of how Hollywood, inspired by the success of Easy Rider, sold a cycle of films as the new dirty real. Dennis Hopper, Peter Fonda, Monte Hellman, Jack Nicholson, Kris Kristofferson, and Sam Peckinpah, among others, parlayed a nostalgia for the gutter and donned bohemian personae, pulling on soiled shirts and scuffed boots to better counter the glamour and phoniness of Tinseltown. The result was a generation of movies, including The Hired Hand, Five Easy Pieces, Two-Lane Blacktop, The Last Picture Show, and Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid. With great care for the historical record and displaying a refined critical acuity, Peter Stanfield captures that pivotal moment when Hollywood tried to sell a begrimed vision of itself to the world.

Table of contents

• Front Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• Introduction: Dirt for Dirt’s Own Sake
• 1 The Hired Hand: Circling Back to the End Again
• 2 The Last Movie: Dennis Hopper’s Three-Ring Circus
• 3 The Last Picture Show, Five Easy Pieces and Payday: Cowboy Rhythm on ktrn
• 4 The Shooting, Ride in the Whirlwind and Two-Lane Blacktop: Who’s Monte Hellman, You Ask?
• 5 Cisco Pike: Kris Kristofferson Has Got a Great Future Behind Him
• 6 Dirty Little Billy: Scuffling on Madison Ave
• 7 McCabe and Mrs Miller: Pipe Dreams – Lows and Highs
• 8 Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid: Angels Descend and Graves Open
• Conclusion: Bring Me the Head
• Select Filmography
• References
• Select Bibliography
• Photo Acknowledgements
• Index