Bob Rafelson Productions) -- and gave us "Easy Rider", "Five Easy Pieces", "The Last Picture Show" and "Hearts and Minds", and lamenting the absence of such risk-taking companies today." "Five Easy Pieces" was written by Rafelson and Carole Eastman (under the alias Adrien Joyce) and starred Jack Nicholson, Karen Black, and Susan Anspach. Nicholson plays Bobby Dupea, a gifted classical piano player who works on an oil rig in California and spends most of his time drinking beer and bowling with his put-upon girlfriend Rayette (Black). Bobby is constantly dissatisfied and a non-conformist, stating: "I move around a lot. Not because I'm
The King of Marvin Gardens which included the Monkees film "Head" (1968) and "Five Easy Pieces" (1970), which established both men as major figures in Hollywood. Dern and Nicholson had previously worked together in "Psych-Out" (1968) and "Rebel Rousers" (1970). Nicholson and Scatman Crothers subsequently co-starred in Miloš Forman's "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" (1975) and Stanley Kubrick's "The Shining" (1980). Co-star Ellen Burstyn had previously worked in the TV series "Gunsmoke", in which Dern had also appeared, and would soon achieve worldwide fame with her starring role in William Friedkin's "The Exorcist" (1973). The film was one of the few screen appearances made