Natalie Wood | The Selvedge Yard

“There are moments that I’ve had some real brilliance, you know.

But I think they are moments. And sometimes, in a career, moments are enough.

I never felt I played the great part. I never felt that I directed the great movie.

And I can’t say that it’s anybody’s fault but my own.”

–Dennis Hopper

Dennis Hopper, Natalie Wood, and James Dean on the set of Rebel Without a Cause.

“In the 50s, when me and Natalie Wood and James Dean and Nick Adams and Tony Perkins (Anthony Perkins) suddenly arrived… God, it was a whole group of us that sort of felt like that earlier group – the John Barrymores, Errol Flynns, Sinatras, Clifts – were a little farther out than we were… So we tried to emulate that lifestyle. For instance, once Natalie and I decided we`d have an orgy. And Natalie says ‘O.K., but we have to have a champagne bath.’ So we filled the bathtub full of champagne. Natalie takes off her clothes, sits down in the champagne, starts screaming. We take her to the emergency hospital. That was our orgy, you understand?” –Dennis Hopper

Dennis Hopper (at 18 yrs old) on the set of Rebel Without a Cause

“I am just a middle-class farm boy from Dodge City and my grandparents were wheat farmers. I thought painting, acting, directing and photography was all part of being an artist. I have made my money that way. And I have had some fun. It’s not been a bad life.” –Dennis Hopper

Young Dennis Hopper waiting for his lunch in a Hollywood bistro –Frank Worth, 1955.

“Like all artists I want to cheat death a little and contribute something to the next generation.” –Dennis Hopper

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James Dean– from the haircut and setting, I’d say it’s during the filming of Rebel Without a Cause.

Dennis Hopper said that when he was around 18 or 19 years old, he thought of himself as one of the best, our at least on his way to being one of the best, actors in the world. That is, until he met James Dean. Watching Dean in action as they worked together in Rebel Without a Cause, Hopper witnessed Jimmy doing things so far over his head as an actor, that at the time he couldn’t even comprehend it. He knew Dean knew something, had something, that he didn’t, and it made him special– set apart.