Peter Fonda had played a biker in *The Wild Angels*. Dennis Hopper had played one in *The Glory Stompers*. Jack Nicholson had played one in *Hells Angels on Wheels*. “So we promised that we’d never make a motorcycle picture” again, Hopper later said.

The Bike Picture

How a long-haired band of outsiders with a 16-mm. camera, $300,000, and “a hell of an idea” re-invented American movies with Easy Rider

By Jeanine Basinger and Sam Wasson

BRUCE DERN (actor): [Roger] Corman was the first guy to let any of us in our generation have starring kinds of roles in B movies.

ROGER CORMAN (director): I was giving them an opportunity to make their first film, which hopefully I would make a profit from, and hopefully their career would take off.