Nicholson'd been around. You can see him in old AIP Horror movies for Roger Corman and the occasional bit-part in other genres. He'd show up rarely on TV—you can find episodes of "Dr. Kildare" (where he played a dance instructor in a five-part episode where he co-starred with occasional series co-star...William Shatner) and even "The Andy Griffith Show" ("Thaaaank you, Aunt Beeee...fer belieeevin' in me..."). He was starting to do more writing, producing, even directing, when he got a call that Rip Torn* was no longer a part of Dennis Hopper's biker-western Easy Rider and could he get to the set?
It came at an opportune moment—the perfect performance in the perfect film at the perfect time. I'm not a fan of Easy Rider; seeing it in a theater and subsequently, it's a roughly slapped together road movie of the "inarticulately vague" variety saved by long stretches of beautiful László Kovács photography—where you don't have to listen to the characters talk—and a superbly chosen soundtrack. Just when you get tired of Hopper over-acting and Fonda under-playing, along comes Nicholson's George Hanson, who can string sentences together without inserting a single "man" or "like" and who seems to have a multi-dimensional personality.
It's like a breath of fresh air in joint-smoke-filled room. And Nicholson makes the most of it as a combination fool and wise-man on side of the road, especially in this scene as he—with an almost-straight face—half-convinces Hopper's stoned Billy that the lights he thinks he sees in the sky are part of a conspiracy of aliens to take over the human race...and Hopper is so fucked-up and paranoid he seems to buy it, even after Hanson cracks himself up in the middle of it. Easy Rider may have gotten a few things wrong about the future of the country...but it got the gullibility thing right.
And Nicholson's Hanson is a delight, with the actor slowly drawling out the words at a pace somewhere between James Stewart and James Mason, punctuating the sentences with looks that editor Donn Cambern can't seem to cut away from him.
And then, there's that killer smile. Nicholson burns every watt it generates in this scene. You knew you were watching a star in the making when it un-spooled. When the character disappears a few minutes later, the movie never really recovers, a bit tarnished with Hanson's demise. In Mad Magazine's parody (Issue 135 "Sleazy Riders"), Hanson doesn't even go with Wyatt and Billy, begging off saying that CBS-TV was building a series around him. Seemed apt.
The film, despite itself, became a hit. Hopper and Fonda parlayed it into some short-lived success. Nicholson got an Academy Award nomination, and never looked back.
The Set-up: Billy (Dennis Hopper) and Wyatt (Peter Fonda) have enough cocaine to fuel a trip "to find America" and have made their way from Los Angeles with an intended destination of New Orleans in time for Mardi Gras. In New Mexico, they're arrested for "parading without a permit" after driving down the street along with a parade through town. Their night in jail is spent with George Hanson (Jack Nicholson), a local lawyer—in for a charge of drunkenness—who's done work with the ACLU. George pleads their case and all three get out of jail. Billy and Wyatt tell George of their plans and invite him along, which George agrees. That night, camping out in the desert, they offer George his first joint, which George initially refuses because he doesn't want to get "hooked" but then acquiesces.
Action (man)
George exhales his long-held smoke.
WYATT: Wow.
GEORGE: It would be a devastatin' blow
to our antiquated systems.
WYATT: How's your joint, George?
GEORGE: Oh, my....
WYATT: Save it. We'll do it tomorrow morning,
first thing, all right?
Gives you a whole new way
of looking at the day.
Words by Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper, and Terry Southern
Pictures by László Kovács and Dennis Hopper
Easy Rider is available on DVD and Blu-Ray from Sony Home Video and The Criterion Collection.
* Torn, hailing from Texas, didn't like the way Southerners were being portrayed in the movie.
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