Behind the Scenes Drama: The Unforgettable Clash Between Dennis Hopper and Marlon Brando on the set of ‘Apocalypse Now
According to Dennis Hopper, Marlon Brando yelled at him over a simple misunderstanding on the set of “Apocalypse Now” (1979). Hopper then decided to deliberately antagonize Brando whenever he could. This resulted in Brando refusing to share the set with him, and the one scene they share together being shot on separate nights. So when Kurtz throws the book at Hopper’s photojournalist character and calls him a “mutt,” one can only assume that was Brando’s genuine feelings about him.
The character of the photojournalist was first suggested by unit photographer Chas Gerretsen and Robert Capa, Gold Medal Award winner (1973) during a lunch with Francis Ford Coppola. During the lunch, they discussed the scene where an American television correspondent (played by Coppola) yells at some passing soldiers, “Don’t look at the camera!”. Gerretsen suggested that if Coppola wanted to portray the manic side of the press, he should use a photojournalist because, “We were all crazy.” The three black body Nikon F cameras that Hopper’s character used, had been used by Gerretsen in Vietnam.
He sold the three cameras to Zoetrope Studios after Hopper, who had originally been cast as Captain Colby, became the photojournalist. Gerretsen used three Nikon F2 cameras and one Leica M4 during the filming. He did not like using blimps (sound boxes) because it prevented him from immediately shooting an image when he saw it (as he had learned as a photojournalist). Coppola gave him permission to shoot during filming in-between the dialogue (except for Brando’s dialogue), a great annoyance to the sound editors, who had to edit out the clicking of the camera.
Although it is said that photojournalist Sean Flynn was the main inspiration for the drug-addled-brave war photographer, the character was largely based on English-born Tim Page. He was regarded by his press friends from that time as one of the craziest and most daring photographers running around between Saigon, May Lay, and Hamburger Hill. (IMDb)
Happy Birthday, Dennis Hopper!
