B Movies and Couch Classics:Easy Rider • Hersheypark Documentary

Easy Rider

Hersheypark Documentary:

B Movies and Couch Classics

Easy Rider, a cinematic roadshow born from the cultural and political strife of middle America in the late 1960s.

The amusing thing about watching Easy Rider, is that you get to peek into a time capsule and snicker at the fashion, language, and filming techniques of the time. The scary thing about watching Easy Rider today is, unfortunately, many issues of hate and distrust of individuals discussed in the film are still alive and well nearly 30 years later.

Made on a shoestring budget and featuring a cast of relative unknowns, Easy Rider chronicles the motorcycle journey of Captain America (Peter Fonda) and Billy (Dennis Hopper) from Los Angeles to New Orleans for Mardi Gras. Along the way, the characters meet a hippie heading home to his commune, spend time in prison and befriend a drunk lawyer (Jack Nicholson) who joins the journey, meet ridicule and potential violence in a small diner in Louisiana, enjoy the otherworldliness of Mardi Gras, and encounter a final violent episode on a quiet country road just as their journey is really beginning.

Although the language sounds dated, both Fonda and Hopper create characters that are relevant today. Fonda plays the role of the philosophical conscience of the group—slow to speak and always insightful, while Hopper portrays the ugly American—loud, arrogant aggressive—a stoned loner who wants things his way and no other. When the duo encounter Nicholson, who is recovering in jail after another heavy night of drinking. Fonda and Hopper are introduced to a tiny segment of the establishment, and they realize that they may actually have something in common with the people they thought they hated.

After a scene in a small diner in Northern Louisiana, where the three travelers quickly escape a potentially ugly encounter with the local sheriff and a bunch of rednecks, it is Nicholson who puts the incident into perspective. "They’re not scared of you," says Nicholson. "They’re scared of what you represent—freedom."

The movie climaxes with the Captain and Billy’s arrival in New Orleans. They experience Mardi Gras in the streets, eat their last supper and then have a hallucinogenic experience with two prostitutes in a New Orleans cemetery—a final prediction of their violent and untimely demise.

Easy Rider stands up pretty well for what it is—a travelogue of the American Southwest at an extremely turbulent time in our country’s history. The movie’s soundtrack further enhances the story by entwining relevant music with the film footage.

Easy Rider - Released 1969

Directed by: Dennis Hopper

Starring: Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper, Jack Nicholson. Available at Movie Merchants.

Hersheypark Documentary:
Sweet Memories is Timeless and destine to be a Classic

If you grew up around Hershey, you surely have a couple of vivid memories about Hersheypark. I have tons of great memories, but two really stick in my mind and neither is very pleasant. I was six years old when I chipped my tooth while riding The Bug, but I really made my mark when I was twelve and got caught standing on The Comet. The incident is so ingrained in my mind that I remember the security guard’s name who confiscated my coveted season pass, lectured me the whole way to the front gate, and then told me not to return for a week.

Luckily, Hersheypark: Sweet Memories, a documentary, created by WITF, celebrating the park’s 90th anniversary, skips my mishaps and focuses instead on personal memories, long-lost film footage, and a gentleman who opened the park for nothing more than a place his workers could take their families.

Sweet Memories, based on a book by amusement park historian Charles J. Jacques, Jr., uses the construction of Hersheypark’s newest roller coaster as its focal point, starting with construction and testing of The Wildcat and ending with opening day footage. But the real story comes to life through ancient footage of Hersheypark, the Hershey Pool, and the Hershey Ballroom. Even the still photos display the moving grandness and beauty of the park.

Beginning with a visual timeline starting in 1907, the film quickly moves to the park’s first defining moment–the opening of the carousel. Milton Hershey bought the carousel for $1,500 and quickly realized the park’s potential when he made $87 the first day of operation at a nickel a ride. The archive footage is nicely intertwined with interviews, including an interview with 101-year-old Milton Garland, who was at Hersheypark the day the carousel opened. You can still see the gleam in his eye as he talks about that first day. Interviews throughout the documentary elicit the same look and feel, whether it be a still-married couple recalling their first meeting or a retired principal remembering delivering his father’s lunch everyday to the park.

Sweet Memories identifies all the milestones in the park’s history, but some of the most memorable footage involves two attractions that have been reduced to memories–the Hershey Pool and the Hershey Ballroom. The video footage of the pool and the still photographs of the Ballroom truly illustrate what a popular destination Hershey was even in the ‘30s, ‘40s, and ‘50s.

No matter how good the footage, the true star of this film is the people, beginning first and foremost with Milton Hershey. He represents something that is long gone and, unfortunately, will never return. Luckily, the other interviews help remember Hershey and his legacy.

It is strangely ironic that my strongest memories of Hersheypark are so unpleasant, yet I grew up stomping those grounds. I think it’s simply because every other Hersheypark experience was so perfect, that having a great time, everytime, just became the status quo. Don’t miss this documentary’s premiere.

Hersheypark: Sweet Memories premieres on WITF-TV on Monday, May 5, at 8 p.m. It will be shown regularly throughout the summer and will be available for purchase on VHS videotape at local retailers.

PUBLISHER’S NOTE: Please stay tuned for next month’s B-Movies and Couch Classics column which will be written by our new reviewer Dan Dumbauld.

If you have a suggestion for a true B-Movie or Couch Classic or comment about this column, you can e-mail Dan by addressing your electronic mail to TheStaff@MODEweekly.com, attention B-Movie Reviews.