Fonda recalls 'Easy Rider' trip to screen

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By Nina Metz, Special to the Tribune

When I rang up Peter Fonda at his home in Los Angeles last week, he asked me to call back in five minutes. "I'm in the middle of negotiating with these guys," he said. He later explained that he had been on the other line hammering out details for a role in what he described as a "family movie."

"I'm a lucky actor," he said, and a quick look at his Internet Movie Database page bears that out. Fonda, who turns 70 next month, has four films listed for 2010 that are in preproduction or post-production.

But on this day, our conversation was focused on perhaps his most famous movie, 1969's "Easy Rider," which is being screened in multiple showings this weekend at the Hollywood Blvd. Cinema in Woodridge and the Hollywood Palms Cinema in Naperville.

Fonda is flying into town to introduce the movie at each screening and field questions from the audience. On the phone he proved to be an affable conversationalist. He is a '60s renegade not afraid to use a corny word like "jeepers," and he displayed a ripe sense of humor about some of his younger antics — he once attended a press tour barefoot (although the suit was bespoke and the tie Hermes).

No doubt he has told stories about the making of "Easy Rider" countless times, but there was nothing weary or rote about his anecdotes. Some 40 years after the fact, the film still has a hold on his imagination.

The beginning: During a 1967 visit to Toronto promoting his role in Roger Corman's "The Trip," Fonda retired to his motel room ("which was pretty seedy") to sign publicity stills from "The Trip" and his previous film "Wild Angels."

"I came across an 8-by-10 of me and Bruce Dern, and in the middle of it Dernsy and I are on my motorcycle from 'Wild Angels,' and we were backlit in profile, just a total silhouette of two guys on a motorcycle.

"And suddenly it came smashing into my mind: That's it. It's not about 100 Hells Angels on their way to a Hells Angel funeral; it's about two guys riding across John Ford's West and they're going to Florida to retire. And I started making the story up, and I started with the ending and worked my way back."

"This'll shake the cage," is what Fonda remembers thinking. "When I fleshed it out a little more I called Hoppy" — that would be Dennis Hopper — "and I told him the story and he said, 'Man, this is great, what do you want to do with it?' And I said, 'You direct, I produce, we'll both write and act in it to save money.'" Fonda was 28 when they made the film, with a shooting budget of $252,000.

The music: "Dennis chose all the music, and I thought it was a bit of genius," Fonda said. "It was both of our record collections. Not only were they great tunes, but it was traveling music. It wasn't abstract music over a scene. The lyrics were specifically commenting on each scene."

I asked Fonda how much they paid for the music rights. I had read a figure that cited a $1 million price tag, which he disputed. "We paid everybody a thousand bucks. Everybody in Steppenwolf got a thousand bucks. Everybody got paid and they were very happy." Fonda recalled running into some of the musicians at an airport, where they greeted him with a hearty: "Hey, Fonda, you kept us in pot all year long!"

Speaking of which: Those are real joints being passed around the campfire. "It never even occurred to me to pretend. I didn't like smoking cigarettes, I had quit three years earlier. And Dennis, Jack (Nicholson) and I all smoked pot, so I provided the pot. … And I'd roll it up and pass it on to Jack, and Jack got royally bombed. When you see that scene, he loses his line at one point. He was just puffing on the thing on autopilot and he was stoned. If we had said to Jack, 'We want you to give us a stoner moment,' he would have thought about it and it wouldn't have been half as good. It couldn't have been sweeter."

Peter Fonda will be at the Hollywood Palms Cinema on Saturday (screenings at 4, 6, 8 and 10 p.m.), and at the Hollywood Blvd. Cinema on Friday (screenings at 7 and 9 p.m.) and Sunday (screenings at 4, 6 and 8 p.m.). For more info, go to atriptothemovies.com.

Animation for adults
The New Animation Showcase at Chicago Filmmakers on Saturday includes 16 short films that run the gamut in terms of style and theme. It's a mixed bag, but I was bowled over by "Western Spaghetti," a stop-motion bit of whimsy about cooking that hilariously substitutes household items (yellow Post-It notes as a pat of butter, rubber bands as cooked pasta, etc.). Also a must-see is "Chicory 'n' Coffee," which brings to mind an Old World, sepia-toned version of the first five minutes of "Up." For more info go to chicagofilmmakers.org.

Bad movies and more
B-Fest, the 24-hour marathon of B-movies held annually at Northwestern University (from 6 p.m. Friday to 6 p.m. Saturday), is part sleep-over, part audience participation event in which the audience is encouraged to holler wisecracks at the screen. The lineup includes a midnight showing of "Plan 9 From Outer Space." If you go, the fest recommends you bring a pillow, a flashlight, a sleeping bag, a toothbrush, toothpaste and cash for meals in the cafeteria. For more info go to b-fest.com.

Blast from the past
Not quite 20 years ago Bill Murray and director Harold Ramis set up camp in Woodstock for the filming of "Groundhog Day" (1993). The town's brief but enduring moment of celebrity (standing in for Punxsutawney, Pa.) has sustained its annual Groundhog Day celebrations, which include a walking tour of the movie's locations and free screenings of the film at the Woodstock Theatre at 10 a.m. Saturday and Sunday. For more info go to woodstockgroundhog.org or classiccinemas.com and click on "special events."

Nina Metz is a Tribune special contributor. Send items for Chicago Close-up to ninametzfilm@gmail.com This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .