It’s Peter Fonda’s 80th birthday today. But he died last year, so he probably won’t be doing much celebrating today. So I thought we’d celebrate his most famous movie that he produced and starred in, “Easy Rider.”
“Easy Rider” is known as the first independent movie because back then no major movie studio would back it. He did secure funding from Columbia Pictures, but it was just a little over $300,000.
Fonda starred in the movie with Dennis Hopper and the two co-wrote the movie along with writer, Terry Southern. Hopper directed it and this was also the first big breakout role for Jack Nicholson.
It ended up grossing over 60 million dollars. Not bad for a film with a budget well under a half a million!
Below are six links to online articles about “Easy Rider” and one link to the film’s original trailer.
And then, as always, there’s the MBIP Coming Attractions! Woo and hoo!
Easy Rider at 50: how the rebellious road movie shook up the system - This article nicely sums up the movie and how it got made.
Behind The Motorcycles In ‘Easy Rider,’ A Long-Obscured Story - An article that delves into the controversy over who really created the original motorcycles for the film.
‘Easy Rider’: A Revolutionary Road-Trip Film that Heralded a New Era of Filmmaking - Details about the film, plus interviews with screenwriter Terry Southern, Dennis Hopper, Peter Fonda and cinematographer, László Kovács are included in this lengthy article.
Easy Rider Trivia - There’s tons of trivia in this article and I should point out here that tons spelled backwards is snot. You’re welcome!
13 Wild Facts About Easy Rider - Some interesting facts here including the fact that Jack Nicholson only got paid $392 dollars a week!
Revisiting The Groundbreaking ‘Easy Rider’ Soundtrack - “Easy Rider” was one of the first movies to use pre-existing songs for the movie rather than an original score. This article details the songs that they chose for the film.
Easy Rider (1969) - Original Trailer - Here’s the original trailer they put out for the film back in 1969.
Monday: I went to one of my favorite restaurants last night and that restaurant is Rizzi’s Italian restaurant. I got two dishes that I’ve never had before and you can read and see photos of my Saturday night tomorrow.
Tuesday: I’ll be continuing my Mexican food tour at a restaurant that I’ve never been to before, in fact I’m going there this afternoon, tune in Tuesday to see where this mysterious restaurant is and what I had for lunch there!
Wednesday: We’ll be spotlight the second bar in our Drinky Dozen bars of 2020 on Wednesday. I’m going to twelve classic Peoria bars this year and you can see who the second one is by clicking in on Wednesday!
Thursday: On this week’s Thursday Minute Marty Meals, I’m making a smash burger with a side dish I still need to figure out.
Friday: I’ll continue to eat the entire menu at McDonald’s. This week I’ll be sampling two chicken sandwiches so tune in for this fowl adventure!
Saturday: We’ll be spotlighting yet another sandwich from Peoria on this week’s Sandwiches of Peoria Post.
Related Posts: Sunday Links: Sonny and Cher, The Beatles on Ed Sullivan and Super Bowl Halftime Shows.