Kid Blue

The "Kid" has always been a recurring character in western lore. Here he gets a whole movie to himself. Hopper is excellent as the train robber trying to settle down. An unpredictable storyline starts with a very funny robbery and never goes entirely where you'd expect. (Good stuff: 7/10)

The first half of this seemed kind of slow to me and a couple of times I only watched about 10 minutes of it when it came on IFC, telling myself I'd rather watch it all the way through from the beginning.

I was glad I did. Bickner (Hopper) is a godless, but sincere former outlaw trying to live a straight life under tough conditions and a mean sheriff in a small town where the factory turned out to be his only hope for work.

Though I thought it a bit slow at first, about halfway through, I found I was into it and the ending actually made me smile.

My favorite line is easily Hopper's when he tells Warren Oates, "A man's gotta kill his own snakes.", which I found to have meaning on multiple levels.

I saw this movie when it first came out in the theater in 1973. Everyone I knew who saw it loved it. Then it disappeared. Vanished. Gone. Never available on VHS nor DVD, so your chances of ever seeing this great movie are nil. However, as I write this in November 2005, the movie is available on Comcast On-Demand Free Movies!

With a memorable supporting cast including Peter Boyle, Warren Oates, Ben Johnson and the beautiful, young Lee Purcell, Dennis Hopper turns in one of his best performances. You'll never forget Ben Johnson as Mean John Simpson. Nor Peter Boyle as the ascetic high-tech, high-flying Preacher. Although it is set in Texas around the turn of the century, the social commentary that is critical of religion, racial prejudice, the establishment's compulsion to force conformity on everyone, the inequality in the workplace, and the hypocrisy of the elite ruling class and their control of law enforcement, is still relevant today. Perhaps even more so than when it was released in 1973. With comedic undertones, the movie manages to combine action/violence, drama and an implied steamy sex scene without ever becoming too serious. It pits the individual against the mores and values of the group (in this case the town of Dimebox, Texas and it's biggest employer, the All American Western Novelty Company). And guess who wins?

Don't miss this movie if you have Comcast Digital. It's available until March 2006.

I saw this movie in the mid-70s at the People's Theater in a small town in Kansas (shortly before it burned down (the theater, not the town) & I've been wanting to see it ever since, although I'm almost afraid to now for fear of spoiling my memory of it..

The way I remember it, it was set in a Colorado town at the turn of the century (19th to 20th) & it was about capitalism & modernity & the end of the frontier. The classic scene in my memory is Dennis Hopper walking down Main Street with the owner of the new factory, which makes little gewgaws of some sort. The factory owner explains to Dennis Hopper that he needs to get a job in the factory so he can earn money to buy things that other people make in other factories-- (not mentioning, of course, that he skims off his share in the process). Political economy 101 for the wild wild west.

I'll admit that it wasn't a cinematic masterpiece-- the only lines of dialogue I remember for sure are Hopper's Native American pal advising him: "If you're not hungry, don't eat cow (censored word)," and somebody yelling, "Shoot that peckerwood, sheriff." On second thought, I probably shouldn't watch it again. Still, I like the beat, I can dance to it, I'll give it a 9.

There are a lot of Hopper films out there that too few people have seen, especially his lost decade of the 70s. Kid Blue is in the top 5 of my favorite Hopper films. 30 seconds into the movie I already laughed. I also melted many times that Hopper was on screen, his blue eyes and beautiful smile (yes I'm a tad obsessed). He was just so frickin cute in this film. His mannerisms and facial expressions show what a great actor he was (and wish he still was). But movie memories like from Kid Blue stay in my mind even during his bad movies of the year 2000s. Watch Kid Blue if you get lucky enough to find it on cable, I think you will like it.