Zabriskie Point

Cult drama from Italian writer-director Michelangelo Antonioni about young activists in America in the late 1960s. Rebel Mark (Mark Frechette) meets hippy secretary Daria (Daria Halprin) in the Los Angeles desert where she is working for property developer Lee Allen (Rod Taylor). Mark and Daria soon fall for one another but the anarchist tendencies of Mark, who is wanted by the police, make it difficult for their love to survive. The soundtrack includes music from Pink Floyd, The Rolling Stones and Jerry Garcia..

Appearing uncredited: Harrison Ford (his scenes, except for one brief appearance, were cut from the film); Philip Baker Hall. Harrison Ford fans know his scenes were cut from this film. However, look closely in the jail scene: he’s standing against the back wall near the door. Harrison Ford’s scene was deleted but his voice remains in Rod Taylor’s phone-call scene. This (non) appearance is, in fact, Ford’s last uncredited film role.

In real life, Mark Frechette led a counterculture life much like his character’s in the film. Three years after the release of Zabriskie Point (1970) he was imprisoned for his part in a bank hold-up in Boston. He died in prison in 1975 during a weightlifting exercise when a barbell fell on his neck.

Michelangelo Antonioni’s assistant and casting director, Sally Dennison, first spotted Mark Frechette having an argument with a woman at a bus stop in Los Angeles. Frechette was not an actor but a carpenter at the time so when Dennison brought him to Antonioni’s attention, she told him ”He’s twenty and he hates”. Antonioni cast him on the spot.

Antonioni met with Jim Morrison during early production to ask for a musical contribution to the soundtrack. Morrison and the Doors provided ”L’America” which Antonioni then rejected.

Mark Frechette and Daria Halprin became romantically involved during the film’s protracted shooting schedule with Mark’s wife consent. Later they got divorced yet Daria didn’t want to live in a commune like Mark so they eventually split.

One hundred people participated in the orgy scene, half of them from Joseph Chaikin ’s Open Theatre company, and the other half ”made up of assorted hippies.”

Mark Frechette earned $60,000 for making the film. He donated his earnings to a commune.

Sondra Locke, who was five years older than Daria Halprin, turned down the lead role.

Michelangelo Antonioni’s original ending was a shot of an airplane sky-writing the phrase ”Fuck You, America,” which was cut by MGM president Louis F. Polk along with numerous other scenes. Louis F. Polk was eventually replaced by James T. Aubrey, who had most of the cut footage restored, but without this final shot.

The film initially grossed $900,000 on a budget of $7 million, making it one of the year’s biggest box office disasters.

Rod Taylor’s dialogue was written specifically for him by Sam Shepard.

Mark Frechette and Daria Halprin (along with Mel Brooks and Rex Reed) were guests on ”The Dick Cavett Show” April 6, 1970. Cavett admits he has yet to see the film and Frechette shocks him by saying ”save your money.” Cavett recovers by saying, ”Well that’s the first time an actor has been on this show to UN-plug his movie!”

1970

R

68704773

Movie

2018-02-07 21:42:40

2.40:1

110

1970-05-08

~$10.11

2026-01-23

2018-02-07 21:42:40