Special Report: The Last Movie (1971)

Special Guests: Craig Rogers, David Marriott, John Buck Wilkin, Jessica Hundley, Nick Ebeling, Satya de la Manitou
Guest Co-Hosts: Ben Buckingham, Nick Dawson

On this special episode of The Projection Booth we’re looking at Dennis Hopper’s The Last Movie. Barely released by Universal Pictures in 1971, the film stars Hopper as Kansas -- a man as middle-American as his name. He’s in Peru as a stunt man for a Western. When the cast and crew packs up and goes back to Hollywood, he stays behind where the natives form a sort of cargo cult around movie-making, holding up Kansas as their god, savior, and their sacrifice.

Mike talks to Craig Rogers and David Marriott from Arbelos Films who have restored The Last Movie and have re-released the film. He speaks to author Jessica Hundley, editor of Dennis Hopper: Photographs 1961-1967, John Buck Wilkin who performed music on both The Last Movie and Lawrence Schiller & L. M. Kit Carson's The American Dreamer. Finally, he speaks with Nick Ebeling, the director of Along for the Ride and its subject, Satya De La Manitou.

Nick Dawson and Ben Buckingham join Mike to discuss the film as well as its fascinating history.

Listen/Download Now:

Listen to "Special Report: The Last Movie (1971)" on Spreaker.

Links:
Buy the Along for the Ride book
Read Dennis Hopper's Mad Vision by Josh Karp
Be sure to LIKE Along for the Ride on Facebook
Read My uneasy ride with Dennis Hopper by John Buck Wilkin
Read When Westerns Were Un-American by J. Hoberman
Read Hip Hopp: Dennis Hopper, Protest, And Popular Music by Dominic Preston
Read DENNIS HOPPER’S “THE LAST MOVIE” | THE FILM THAT BURIED A VISIONARY by JP

Music:
"Easy Rider, 1970" by Chris Sikelianos

Watch:

SCENE MISSING from Alex Cox on Vimeo.

Guest Spot: Pickup on South Street (1953)

Mike guested on the Masters of Cinema Cast with host Tom Jennings to discuss Sam Fuller's Pickup on South Street.

From Masters of Cinema:

"If you refuse to cooperate you'll be as guilty as the traitors who gave Stalin the A-bomb."
"Are you waving the flag at ME?!"

Samuel Fuller's sensational film noir, Pickup on South Street casts a steely eye at America in the dawn of the Cold War, and brings 1950s New York City alive on the screen in a manner rarely equaled in the annals of film.

In one of his greatest roles, Richard Widmark plays Skip McCoy, a seasoned pickpocket who unknowingly filches some radioactive loot: microfilm of top-secret government documents. Soon after, Skip finds himself mixed up with federal agents, Commie agents, and a professional stool pigeon by the name of Moe (played by Thelma Ritter in her finest role this side of Rear Window).

With its complex ideology, outrageous dialogue, and electric action sequences, Pickup on South Street crackles in a way that only a Sam Fuller movie can, and is widely considered one of the director's finest achievements.

Download Episode Now:

Links:
Buy Pickup on South Street on Blu-Ray
Subscribe to Masters of Cinema Cast
Subscribe to Master of Cinema Cast on iTunes

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Episode 301: Run of the Arrow (1957)

Special Guests: Samantha Fuller, Christa Fuller, Paul Talbot
Guest Co-Hosts: Joseph Maddrey, Cullen Gallagher

Sam Fuller's Run of the Arrow (1957) tells the tale of O'Meara (Rod Steiger) the man who shot the last bullet of the Civil War. Disenfranchised by Reconstruction, he heads west to live with the Sioux (lead by Charles Bronson). Relevant in 1957 when the U.S. was tearing itself apart over Civil Rights, the film is still as relevant in today's tumultuous times.

Filmmaker Samantha Fuller discusses A Fuller Life (2013), the documentary about her father's life, while Christa Fuller offers insight about the making of Run of the Arrow. Paul Talbot, author of Bronson's Loose!: The Making of the Death Wish Films, discusses Charles Bronson's career and the times he played Native Americans in film.

Joining Mike are film scholar Cullen Gallagher and Joseph Maddrey, author of The Quick, the Dead and the Revived: The Many Lives of the Western Film.

Listen/Download Now:

Listen to "Episode 301: Run of the Arrow (1957)" on Spreaker.

Links:
Buy Run of the Arrow on DVD
Buy A Fuller Life on DVD
Buy Bronson's Loose!: The Making of the Death Wish Films by Paul Talbot
Buy Bronson's Loose Again! On the Set with Charles Bronson by Paul Talbot
Buy The Quick, the Dead and the Revived: The Many Lives of the Western Film by Joseph Maddrey
Read a review of the Warner Archive disc
Read The Essentials: The 5 Best Sam Fuller Films

Music:
"The End of the Story" - Victor Young
"The Blue and the Grey" - Victor Young
"The Purple Hills" - Victor Young
"Ghost Riders in the Sky" - Vaughn Monroe

Watch:

A Fuller Life Trailer from Samantha Fuller on Vimeo.

Episode 19: The Big Red One (1980)

Special Guests: Robert Carradine, Christa & Samantha Fuller

Film is a battleground this week as Mike and Mondo Justin storm Sam Fuller's masterpiece, The Big Red One. The guys, while smoking Fuller's favorite cigar examine the film, it's original release, and the Richard Schickel Warner Brothers reconstruction project as they discuss the work with the film's star, Robert Carradine.

In addition, the guys sit down to speak with Christa & Samantha Fuller, wife and daughter of the great filmmaker, Samuel Fuller.

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