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The Library Of Congress has included Two Lane Blacktop among its latest selections for preservation in the National Film Registry. This is a distinguished honor as these films are chosen for their "enduring importance to American culture". I like the idea of Dennis Wilson, in a completely non-Beach Boys role, having a piece of something that is lasting and important in the American tradition.

http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/12/19/breakfast-at-tiffanys-and-the-matrix-among-movies-added-to-national-film-registry/

Excellent news and a well-deserved honor for Monte Hellman, James Taylor, Warren Oates, and Laurie Bird as well as Dennis. I remember when the movie was almost impossible to find before 2000. In fact, I remember only seeing it twice by pure accident, once on afternoon TV in Columbia, Missouri, in early 1989 (don't ask me what it was doing on an afternoon movie) and once on VH-1 in 97 or so. Still a completely egg-scrambling experience to watch it.

I'd love to hear other stories from folks about seeing it/hunting it down during its "lost years"....

I saw it at the Drive-In in about 1973, completely unaware that Dennis was in it until that "mechanic" character had his first close-up on screen...that was a mindblower. TLB is one of those rare films that looks like one thing, feels like something else, and after multiple viewings evolves into something altogether different again. So cool that time has seen it go from a mostly ignored curiosity to a work that is considered a masterpiece of the existential road-movie genre.

I taped it on VHS back inn the early 80s when it was shown on UK TV but lent the tape to a friends shortly after and… you know the rest. Had to wait decades before seeing it again.

Bloomin' great movie, great to see it honoured in this way.

i saw it in 1971 and have been scratching my head, wondering, since then... :)

I had a lot of fun digging through Monte Hellman's filmography, lots of quirky, interesting films to stumble on there... Plus: Warren Oates as a c*ckfighter... based on the Odyssey! It doesn't get any more 70s than that, and that's before Harry Dean Stanton lurches into frame.

Warren Oates made this movie with his shape shifting character.

Watching Two Lane Blacktop, Vanishing Point or Easy Rider always make me wish I was somewhere in America in the early 70's, out in the middle of nowhere, travelling from one small town to the next one.

Vanishing point is another classic that should be in the national film registry. Such a classic with my dream car ( white 1970 dodge challenger)

I'm sure it's been mentioned... but Criterion is releasing this in Jan.  I'm all over this.  Never seen it... but looks cool...

(http://images.static-bluray.com/movies/covers/57779_large.jpg)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ksiORAgXr04

Two-Lane Blacktop is infinitely superior to Easy Rider! Such a great film.

Thanks for the info! I got this movie from my library a few years ago - really loved it. Putting this in my amazon shopping cart asap.

It's nice to see this film finally getting its due.  It wasn't so long ago that people were walking out of a screening at Cannes.  Now will someone tell me how the genius that made this could possibly end up directing Silent Night Deadly Night 3?

(I kind of like SNDN3, but you know...)

Ah this is good news ...

I put this movie up there with the BBS Productions movies of the late '60s-early '70s ... certainly worth checking out is this box:

http://www.amazon.com/America-Lost-Found-Criterion-Collection/dp/B003ZYU3SM/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1355986094&sr=8-2&keywords=america+lost+and+found

if you're into Two Lane Blacktop. I can get lost in these movies for a long spell.

You mean there's a Silent Night Deadly Night part three?? Surely it can't possibly be better than part 2, with that lead actors incredible dancing eyebrows?

Anyone in the US with Comcast "On Demand" service, I was just able to watch the film free of charge about 4-5 weeks ago by simply browsing through the "free movies" section while battling another bout of insomnia. And it was a very, very good print/transfer of the film as far as I could tell, better than what had been out there on VHS or dubbed copies before.

I was going to post here about a few thoughts and a revisiting of the movie, but then I though Nah - no one wants to read what someone might think when they can dial it up for free on Comcast and watch it themselves. :)

It's a totally captivating film, one which you can get a bit confused by at times, one which you need to think what just happened because the initial surface reaction would seem to miss it, and it's also one which you ultimately might come away thinking the whole film was about two guys who shut out everything else in their lives because they loved being around cars, but then you'd reconsider and say that's too easy and too simple to base an entire movie.

Two thoughts: Dennis Wilson was *superb* in this film, and I say this not as a fan but as someone judging his performance. He draws you in when he's on the screen, and you want to watch to see what he will say or do. A natural - and I think everyone would see this film and ask why didn't he do more?

For Los Angeles music trivia buffs, watch and listen very close near the beginning as they are driving in the car, and Dennis is trying to find a radio station. You'll hear the familiar "93 KHJ...." jingle on the radio. I love moments like that in film. There was a similar one with a late 60's film shot in New York where the kids are listening to Dan Ingram on WABC. Totally random but accurate.

Until you mentioned Dennis Wilson in the forth paragraph I honestly thought you were talking about Silent Night, Deadly Night 3.

Since the topic being discussed was Two Lane Blacktop, I don't understand the confusion.  :)

Tina Delgado is alive...

You know, in its own way it's even nuttier than part 2.  What's really crazy is it's somehow still recognizable as a Hellman film.  There are a few brief moments where it veers off into existential territory and just for a minute you forget what you're watching.

There is also a completely unrelated part 4, part 5 (starring Mickey Rooney of all people), and remake.

Very proud for Dennis. It's not my favorite movie but the music was very cool it was well shot, and Dennis has that certain "it" factor that makes someone a star.

i'm glad the film is getting this honor...i remember back in 1971, i believe it was in cashbox magazine, how dennis and others wanted to purchase the rights of the movie for 1 million dollars saying the movie was not being promoted right and not being shown in the right theaters (something like that). nice little article. too bad for me it was in the bag of material of the group under my bed that mom threw out when i went to college. moms...gotta love 'em! :)

Some nice excerpts of another 1971 article, courtesy of Dan Addington:   

http://www.danaddington.com/denny/mag.html

Criterion has had a DVD release of this for a few years. Good that it's coming to Blu-ray as well.

Listening to a radio show today that featured a film critic, they were discussing some great "sleeper" films to watch over the holiday week, tying it in with the preservation list mentioned in this thread. The critic specifically mentioned Two Lane Blacktop as a must-see film, and had high praise for it - and was glad to see it make the list, which is quite an honor.

He also mentioned a period article in Esquire magazine from the time the film was originally released, actually he said it was a cover story lavishing praise on the film, calling it one of the great films or something similar. I have not checked the print/magazine archive section here, but is that article posted or does anyone know of it or have it in their collection?

That Esquire article is pretty wild. A lot of folks credit the public disappointment with the film to the hype generated by that piece.

I had not heard that! Is the Esquire piece available anywhere? That radio show this morning was the first I had heard of it, and it did sound like a lot (a LOT) of hype for the film according to the critic.

Google...
http://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=two+lane+blacktop+esquire&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8

Was there really a sense of disappointment with the film or just complete indifference?  From what I've always read, Universal just dumped it out there without any promotion.  Pretty much the same thing they did to Dennis Hopper's The Last Movie.

Well, none of the preview audiences liked it! Despite what folks may say, it was given a fine initial push on premiere engagements, an the Esquire article alone was major publicity, but the audiences didn't take to it and the film was dumped into drive-ins and second-runs. A lot of other films from that era were able to build up steam quickly through word-of-mouth, but the Easy Rider audience just couldn't get into this one.

And there it is: First time I'm seeing it. Thanks!

Very fond of Two Lane Blacktop, a great cult road movie...

I haven't seen it since it was released in theaters. I'll have to watch it again 'cuz I don't remember Dennis [or Taylor] doing much. Which I thought was the point at the time, so well done I suppose.

I only saw this movie a year or two ago, and two things struck me.  (1). The story is so-so, but gotta love those cars!  I'm a sucker for car movies!  And (2).  Dennis really stole the show as far as the actors went.  JT is a great, great singer/songwriter, but with all due respect....an actor, he's not.  I found him to be rather robotic.  Warren was pretty good, but hard to take seriously with some of those daffy lines he had.  He could have been a lot more menacing, IMO.  But Dennis seemed to be the only one out of the three guys that seemed....er, 'natural' for want of a better word.  This movie made me wish he had gone on to appear in many more movies!

The story is nearly nonexistent, for a specific purpose. The choice of nonactors, same. Warren isn't supposed to be menacing, he is supposed to be a sad, unfunny clown.

It's been a few years since I watched this. I watched it on the now out-of-print Anchor Bay DVD (the one that came in the collectible tin). Dennis' "non-actor" acting style is very interesting in this film; it works well. I don't know that he would have been a great actor; the whole "non-actor actor" schtick doesn't work over and over on film after film. But one certainly wishes he would have got another crack at trying a film. He certainly showed more promise than the rest of the band did on the Jack Benny show, or "You Again", or "Full House", or even "Home Improvement."  :lol

I bought the Criterion DVD last year but still hadn't watched it. Now Criterion is putting the same package out on Blu-ray, so I'll probably pick that up. Dunno if I should keep the Criterion DVD set; it does have a slipcase and book and whatnot which probably won't be fully replicated on the Blu-ray package.

"Two Lane Blacktop" is definitely not the best pick for someone who likes "The Fast and the Furious" or something. You have to be in the right mood to watch it, and usually I have to be very awake and not apt to nod off. It has a leisurely pace and a conservative amount of actual dialogue.

Harry And Tonto is incredible. I can't watch it with anyone else, because I weep.

The blu will not have the screenplay.

I'm a bit surprised to see dvdbeaver recommend the Masters of Cinema release over the Criterion.  The MOC may have a higher bitrate, but it also has some noticeable DVNR issues with the natural film grain processed right out.  I think the Criterion is clearly the better looking disc.

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film2/dvdreviews34/two-lane_blacktop.htm

I've seen Harry And Tonto randomly twice in the past year, both thanks to the amazing cable channel TMC. It's a very warm film, sometimes the laughs are played a little too broad and sometimes the humor can be a bit dated to its time of release, but overall it is a terrific film worth seeking out.

I can't give it away for those who haven't seen it, but the final 10 minutes are about as sentimental as you can get from a film, especially if you own or have owned a cat...just fantastic and hits home, I can't say more.

It is a deliberately slow film that develops at its own pace, and that pace seems to fit the lead character perfectly.

As far as a road trip, the scenery is more cold and realistic but still beautiful, the mode of transportation rarely matters as much as the main character(s) and the cat, the vignettes are each special in their own way and some work better than others, and the characters, especially the medicine man near the end, are always interesting.

I was disappointed to post something about the film on Facebook earlier this year and get not a single response. If I had the cash I'd buy DVD's of Harry And Tonto along with about 4 other films that impacted me this year (none made before 1980 BTW), and give them as gifts with the gift tag that reads "WATCH THIS".  :)

I have a few more - not road trip films but ones from this amazing era which you cannot forget after watching them - subject for another conversation.

I'll bite. Start the topic somewhere, I'd be interested in chatting with you about some films.

I second this.  Not sure I could contribute much to it but would LOVE to hear about films I could have a look at. I used to love watching movies when a bit younger but got out of the habit.

Will do. I feel it almost has to be separated so it doesn't get overwhelmed by the number of films, and carrying it over from this thread, I think going from 1971-76 and keeping it within the range of Two Lane Blacktop would be good. And of course, my favorite era 1966-1970 in a separate entry.

Honestly, I can rattle off any number of films that are better on several levels than Two Lane Blacktop and will leave more of an impression but this isn't the thread to do that...which is why a separate one would be good.  :)

And I want to get away from Two Lane Blacktop because quite frankly, as cool as it is and I've posted as much in this topic, there are *so many more* that are more compelling, more unforgettable, more technically impressive, more whatever than that film, but I think the Dennis Factor carries it a bit more than the film would carry itself.

My love for Two Lane Blacktop mainly comes from my love for 70's road films and the work of Monte Hellman in particular.

Excellent.. I will look out for it. 

I don't think I wrote exactly what I meant to say about Two Lane Blacktop, because I am a fan too, especially the visuals and the scenes with no dialogue - I think like the road montages in Easy Rider and even the terrific musical montages in the last half-dozen episodes of the most recent season of Breaking Bad, I feel closer to the characters when they're filmed doing normal daily activities and not speaking. Of course one of my favorite all-time scenes like this is in Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid, with Redford and Katherine Ross robbing the bank manager inside his vault, set to the Bacharach South American Getaway tune. The faces and expressions just kill me every time.

Maybe closer to what I meant to say diplomatically was I wouldn't put Two Lane Blacktop in the same category as certain other films from that era, which I think may be some of the greatest films ever made and which are more compelling than Blacktop.

You can get it at JB, which is pretty cool (edit; no, you can't) - I once stumbled across it at 2 in the morning, pre-digital channels and was pretty blown away

I have to disagree with you.  When I first saw Two Lane Blacktop I knew very little about Dennis and certainly wasn't the fan I am now, but the film was amazing.  There are precious few films from that era (or any other frankly) that can stand alongside this one, much less better it.

I am curious though, to the majority of posters here, would you still like the film if Dennis wasn't involved?  Would you even be interested in it?

hehe, actually when I said I would look out for it, I was referring to guitarfools new post ;)   But thanks for the info anyway.  I'm going to watch it tonight.
 
There was a commenter on a website about the film who said   "Strange that wasted Brian Wilson would ditch the road with The Beach Boys but yet show up for this, lol, Wow I gotta see? I'm in"      HAHAH,  can't quite picture Brian in a road movie :D

<vanilla slice>

Yeah, absolutely!

While Dennis beautifully plays his role of the mechanic - the key character (s) are the cars and their journey; this film adds to the dialogue started in Easy Rider  and contiuned through-out the road movie tradition of american cinema.

To tell the truth, Two Lane Blacktop was one of the reasons I got into the band, not the other way around.

I disagree with precious few that can stand alongside, and as proof there is now a thread "Films 1971-1976" under general music on this board that has some notable films, among them some of the most trend-setting, innovative, and copied/ripped-off films of all time. All time classics in other words.

And I haven't even gotten to 1967-70, which I will always feel was the most innovative and exciting time for film, lining up directly with a similar renaissance in popular music.

Naturally it's all opinion, but I can't agree with the precious few description at all because of the amazing movies that were released during the same era.

Put it this way, for me at least: There are specific scenes in specific films from 67-76 that are so beautiful to watch, so well done, so powerful, so well filmed and captured in time, that watching them makes me choke up a bit. Usually it's not due to the plot that is unfolding, but due to the notion that you're watching truly great art by people who were at the top of their creative game.

That's over the top, I know, but nothing in Two Lane Blacktop strikes me that way, or hits me right in the gut the way scenes in those other films do. It's all personal opinion, of course!  :)


Back to the Dennis connection, I think his role was most definitely a gateway for a number of Beach Boys fans who may not have actively sought out the film in the decades since it was released and during a time when the film could be difficult to locate. People getting into the BB's even in the 80's and 90's and beyond...I'm assuming this...who were not film buffs probably would not have found it without looking for that film Dennis was in. Just my two cents, I've definitely been wrong before!

A close comparison for me was the film "Electra Glide In Blue". I probably would not have tracked that down had it not been for the band Chicago being featured in various acting roles throughout the film. And even now, there is kind of a renewed interest as people of a certain age might remember hearing that Terry Kath song "Tell Me" during the final episode of Miami Vice, then tracking it down online years later, finding out it was from the film Electra Glide, then perhaps taking a chance on watching that film.

There was also an obvious connection to the Beach Boys with Elektra Glide In Blue as James Guercio went almost immediately from directing his final cut of this film to playing bass in the Beach Boys touring band and co-managing them. Jim told me he regretted not being able to direct Dennis in a film around the time he signed him as a solo act to Caribou.

I watched TLBT last night.  I really liked it.  Dennis and Warren were IMO the best on screen, the other two were a little wooden but it didn't detract too much. I liked the soundtrack too.  Dennis really had something alright, AND great hair!  ;)   Seems like the poor guy had a hex on him though..  I mean why oh why did he never act again? And after POB being such a great album did nothing come of that either (well I sorta know the answer there).  Just such a shame...

Two-Lane Blacktop director Monte Hellman, on his Facebook page the other day, posted a pic just taken of himself and another person with a BBs connection - Oscar nominee/Golden Globe winner Sally Kirkland, who was Carl's colleague in the MSIA/John-Roger ministry.  (She mentioned once in an interview that she and Carl went to the White House during the elder George Bush's administration, to attend an event connected with GB's "thousand points of light" agenda.  I've looked high and low for a photo of Carl at that event, but never have seen one.)

Funny thing is, I don't recall them ever discussing anything that had to do with Dennis acting in a film for him.  The projects Jimmy was attempting to direct back them, (such as "Coast to Coast" with Robert Blake), were all intended for Dennis to be involved in writing the soundtrack's, but never any mention of acting.  While JG regrets it, I imagine DW had already made it clear he had no interest to appearing in another film.  What a shame, eh?

It is a shame. Especially since Guercio was so insistent on directing an edgy Cowboy film like Tom Horn with Steve McQueen. Dennis could have pulled off a western for sure, limited dialogue, lots of horses, beards, booze, guns and fistfights. He'd have been a natural like Kristofferson.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzNS03lGx-U

Worth mentioning, if any of you have a hankering to make movies or are making them and have some downtime between projects, that Monte Hellman is now taking students for another of his freelance Master Classes in film. (He teaches a similar course at CalArts, but this is something he does on his own time.) The above link gives an idea of his approach as a teacher.  He'll show a lot of movies, from Hitchcock to (naturally) Hellman and beyond, and discuss them and just about anything else.

After this class is over he's getting to work on another feature to won't be teaching again until 2015.  He can be reached via Facebook and is also on Twitter.

It's worth mentioning that his course fee is pretty reasonable (though I forget the exact figure).

There is no Hollywood director, living or dead, with a career as long as Monte's. His first film, The Beast From Haunted Cave, came out in 1958, 55 years ago. (By contrast, Robert Altman's career was 52 years, Sidney Lumet's 53, John Ford's 49.)  So we're talking the voice of Experience, here.

Huh....talk about thorough. All right....

...Goood Evveninng...

Befahrre we begin tonaht's puh-foh-mannce, I should like to menntion that the, ah, management, in the interests of ahr youngah viewerrs, has playced a strategic asterissk ovah onne lettuh of moy name.

We willl now continyu...with a messagge from our sponsuhh....

Okay,  why didn't Dennis want to act again?  I may have read it but can't remember it and couldn't find what I wanted via search button. 

I'm curious as well.  He was obviously good at it and from everything I've ever read he had a great time during filming so what's the story?

I don't think he had such a great time...I don't know where you read that. Barbara Wilson, who was with him on the set says he hated the tediousness of the process, all the standing around and waiting for set-ups to do a 30 second take...and then more waiting etc... Dennis was naturally good at acting, like he was naturally good at so many things, but I think the actual job of being an actor on a movie set was probably too boring for him. That said, he should have done more of it because he had a special presence that translated extremely well to the camera.

Well, for example:

“Dennis Wilson (of Beach Boys fame) was the last one to come onboard, after I ran through every actor and some other musicians.  As a matter of fact, we even met with Randy Newman.  Fred Roos, the casting director, finally suggested Dennis.  If memory serves, I saw Robert DeNiro, Al Pacino, and James Caan; I think I saw every young actor in Hollywood.  Dennis was very easy going. The only problem was that he was having so much fun that it was hard to find him when we were ready to shoot because he was off somewhere playing all the time.”   –Director Monte Hellman

http://theselvedgeyard.wordpress.com/2010/06/30/two-lane-blacktop-under-the-hood-of-the-epic-1971-road-flick/

I've read other similar recollections.  I don't doubt that he may have been bored by the actual work involved in making a film, but I've always been under the impression that he enjoyed the experience as a whole.

Having fun being "off somewhere" sounds like he thought it was less fun to be on the set.

Barbara Wilson on Dennis' Two Lane Blacktop experience. "Shooting a film was a really tedious process, you can sit around all day....he'd shoot for two minutes, sit around some more, etc... That wasn't fun for him." (thanks to ESQ)

But yeah...he liked the idea of being in a film, and probably would have liked to make some films since he was into cameras and shooting the Beach Boys among other things. But to answer the question of why didn't he act more...i think one of the reasons is he was fast and the process is slow.

YEah, too bad, because I don't believe every film goes down in this way (with short takes followed by long breaks). 
He might've gotten hooked up with some better pacing and had it change his existence! 

A high school classmate of mine from the mid-60's directed a drag racing sub-culture film called "American Nitro" c. 1979, before he went on to work for G. Lucas on many blockbusters. We were just talking about Two Lane Blacktop and he told me that for "American Graffiti" Lucas brought in not only the producer of Two Lane, Garry Kurtz, but also the main car. Regarding classic cult films like Two Lane and Nitro, he also commented that "it is all very funny to have what one reviewer called, 'this exercise in asphalt anthropology', taken up by the natives themselves as their own battle flag".  Asphalt anthropology.  I like that.

Ah Two Lane Blacktop! I actually first saw this on late night TV before I was seriously into the BBs (I thought they were a cheesy barbershop/surf group from my parents childhood), so I had no idea that the mechanic was a member of the band. All I remember is being totally mesmerized by the mood and performances in the film. It just had this amazing vibe about it, that I felt said a lot about the way people interact with each other in certain situations.

I loved the fact that you never got the real story about GTO, yet at the same time you felt like you could read his whole story out of the things he wasn't telling us. Those long emotionless silences between the driver, the mechanic and the girl, were in fact crammed full of emotion because of how underplayed everything was. It's masterful stuff.

A truly unique experience and yes, I am gonna have to say it really is so much better than Easy Rider. Really nice to hear that it's going to be looked after for future generations to enjoy, so that those satisfactions really can be permenant (ba dum tish). I must pick up the blu-ray.

Cheesy barbershop/surf group from your parents' childhood, eh?  :lol  My I inquire as to your age?

I'm 29. My parents were born late 50s early 60s. To be honest though, they only had one BB album in their vinyl collection, which was a random 'best of' collection. But when I saw TLB all I knew about the BB's was that they'd done the I Get Around song that was in Flight of the Navigator, lol.

It's playing for three showings this week at Cinefamily on Fairfax:
Wednesday, April 3rd | 11:59pm
Friday, April 5th | 10:00pm
Saturday, April 6th | 9:50pm

http://vimeo.com/63135203

Come early and claim a couch for maximum comfiness!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzNS03lGx-U

Back in January I mentioned that Monte Hellman, director of Two Lane Blacktop, was teaching one of his master classes. (He teaches courses at Cal Arts, but the master class is something he does on his own time.)

 Now, Monte's gearing up to teach another of them. Immediately after it he'll be heading off to direct another feature, the latest in his 55-year career, so he won't be doing another class until sometime in 2014.

As I recall the setup, two or three times a week for a month, Monte shows a movie - either one of his, or one by another director - then spends two-plus hours analyzing and discussing it. The class is a small one - I think he runs it in his living room with a big ol' flat-screen. He charges about $800 or $900 for the course, which on a per-hour basis certainly beats Cal Arts' tuition. 

Should you be in the LA area with a little foldin' money and feel like breaking down Two-Lane Blacktop frame by frame with the man who made it, and seeing some other classic cinema and learnin' lessons from the all-time longest-serving Tinseltown director, well, there's your chance, since three places in it are still open. Monte can be reached at Facebook - or via the white pages for that matter.

I think it's been mentioned here that before Dennis was cast in Blacktop, Monte actually had a meeting with Randy Newman about his playing The Mechanic. I've often wondered who the heck cooked up the notion of Randy playing opposite James Taylor and Warren Oates (which is what the movie would have been since this was the very last role cast).  It looks like the idea may have originated with Mike Salisbury, an album-cover designer of note in the '70s (and a pretty big name in graphics and branding all-round since then), who was a friend of Randy's and was much involved with getting Blacktop made.

Just found this on Youtube and it seems worth dusting off this thread to post it - a video of the Byrds' classic "Lady Friend," starring the late Laurie Bird. Dennis is seen in it, but only from the back, though his appearance is quite amusing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBvIZ8KY75o

There's actually a Silent Night, Deadly Night, Part 4 and a Silent Night, Deadly Night, Part 5!!!

FANTASTIC! 

An interesting tidbit for me, (& excuse me if I've mentioned this before), is that one of the more serious films he considered doing after "Two Lane Blacktop" was "Straight Time", with Dustin Hoffman.  I'm sure Jon's book mentions that Karen & I had completely different versions about him starring in "Midnight Express", but I remember after he turned down "Straight Time" I saw the role played by Harry Dean Stanton, and it was quite a few years before I saw Harry in anything that I couldn't picture Dennis playing instead...

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001765/?ref_=nv_sr_1#actor

When it comes to classic Harry Dean roles, Bud in Repo Man has Dennis written all over it.

Didn't want to start a new thread for this.


‘Two-Lane Blacktop’s’ Original Publicist on Why the Monte Hellman Classic Has Been Misunderstood for 50 Years

https://variety.com/2021/film/news/two-lane-blacktop-50th-anniversary-monte-hellman-james-taylor-1235013008/?fbclid=IwAR3RCdRuoDunTzh6m-C7hRyEfin5MXfv2oLuGG3Fi1C_1927XI9m7pH7XfI

For those who wish to avoid Facebook's tracking, here's the link without their tracking code:
https://variety.com/2021/film/news/two-lane-blacktop-50th-anniversary-monte-hellman-james-taylor-1235013008/

In the commentary track for the film, Monte (who's worked with some great actors) said that Dennis was an ideal actor in the sense that he was the most unselfconscious actor he ever directed. Dennis did his scenes as though everything that was happening was real. He seemed completely unaware of being filmed. Dennis' only real issue was remembering his lines (though there weren't that many of them).