Actor Dennis Hopper was the sort of artist myths are produced from. He was an extremely gifted performer with a larger-than-life persona that regularly bought him into bother. His reckless conduct and intense drug abuse may make him extremely tough to work with, and he even tried to get Marlon Brando to fist-fight him after a misunderstanding earlier than the filming of “Apocalypse Now,” resulting in the 2 being separated on set always. Within the mid-Nineteen Seventies, nonetheless, he behaved so badly whereas filming a film in Australia that he was not solely declared lifeless on his ft and banned from driving a automotive within the state of Victoria ever once more, however he was additionally kicked proper on in a foreign country.
That film was “Mad Canine Morgan,” a disturbing 1976 outback Western primarily based on the true life misdeeds of bushranger and outlaw Dan Morgan (whom Hopper performed within the movie). The Ozploitation, aka Australian exploitation, flick was directed by prolific French-Australian director Phillipe Mora, who would go on to direct the second and third “Howling” movies. It is a nasty piece of labor that includes a scene the place Morgan is brutally sexually assaulted in jail, in addition to one other the place a person’s head explodes from a gunshot wound at shut vary. Although “Mad Canine Morgan” is generally now an attention-grabbing footnote in Australian cinema historical past, Hopper’s wild methodology performing has since turn into the stuff of legend.
Hopper embraced methodology performing and bought arrested on his first day in Australia
Hopper used the Stanislavsky Methodology, regularly often known as “Methodology performing,” to convey authenticity to his roles. Within the case of “Mad Canine Morgan,” that meant leaning into the true Dan Morgan’s purported binge consuming. Within the documentary “Not Fairly Hollywood: The Wild, Untold Story of Ozploitation!,” Jeremy Thomas, a producer on “Mad Canine Morgan,” revealed that Hopper was “arrested and put in jail inside an evening of him arriving in Sydney. He was already in combating down on the pubs.” Affiliate producer Richard Brennan additionally alleged that Hopper was doing numerous cocaine, which wasn’t precisely traditionally correct.
Regardless of Hopper being an absolute wild card and Aboriginal co-star David Gulpilil occurring walkabout for 4 days in the midst of capturing to ask the birds and bushes about Hopper, who stated he was “loopy,” the film’s crew in some way managed to complete filming “Mad Canine Morgan.” Simply after capturing the ultimate scene, nonetheless, Hopper went off the deal with for the final time on Australian soil. In accordance with Hopper himself in “Not Fairly Hollywood,” he determined to go go to the grave of the true Dan Morgan instantly after filming his loss of life scene. He then “proceeded to down a bottle of 151-proof rum” and determined to “destroy the cemetery.” He apparently then bought right into a automotive, introduced he had previously been a racecar driver, and sped off, nonetheless dressed as Mad Canine.
Ultimately, Hopper was apprehended by Australian police, although not earlier than performing some harm. He was dragged earlier than a choose as rapidly as potential, who declared that he was legally lifeless primarily based upon his blood alcohol content material earlier than banning him from even driving in a automotive in Victoria ever once more. The choose then despatched him straight to the airport to depart the land down beneath. If you get kicked out of the identical nation that produced the brain-melting bizarreness of George Miller’s “Mad Max” films, that is actually fairly spectacular.
Mad Canine Morgan’s legacy as a darkish Western
“Mad Canine Morgan” is a little bit of an oddity, with some severe excessive factors (Hopper is basically giving it his all, plus there are some nice pictures of the Australian wilds) and simply as many lows. When the film was screened for executives in Australia, Mora stated that lots of them hated the movie and thought it will go nowhere. Regardless of this, it turned the primary Australian movie to ever get a U.S. distribution deal at Cannes Movie Pageant.
Mora additionally credited the movie’s critiques in New York, Los Angeles, and London for serving to him get a job directing a movie for United Artists. Viewers critiques on Rotten Tomatoes, however, are far much less type. Morgan’s sexual assault by the hands of a number of different inmates is fairly graphic and more likely to upset many viewers, whereas the film’s precise plot (or lack thereof) is reasonably nonsensical. Nonetheless, if nothing else, “Mad Canine Morgan” gave us one of many wildest tales in cinema historical past — one involving Dennis Hopper, a bottle of 151 rum, and an entire lot of mayhem.
This would not be the final time Hopper precipitated issues on set, in fact. Years later, he was even fired from his position in Aussie director Peter Weir’s “The Truman Present,” the place he was changed by Ed Harris. As for “Mad Canine Morgan,” the movie would not have the infamy of one thing like Hopper’s declare to fame, “Straightforward Rider,” nevertheless it’s additionally merely a lesser movie by comparability. (“Straightforward Rider,” it is price mentioning, had loads of its personal controversies involving Hopper, who feuded with many of the forged and was even sued by Rip Torn.) Generally, the making of a film is much more attention-grabbing than the film itself. Simply take a look at “Hearts of Darkness,” the documentary in regards to the making of “Apocalypse Now.”
