Writer, satirist, “pornographer,” surrealist, and provocateur, Terry Southern was one of the great literary minds of his time. As a screenwriter, he brought his irreverent, gonzo sensibility to some of the defining counterculture films of the 1960s. Invited by Stanley Kubrick to assist on the screenplay for DR. STRANGELOVE, Southern was instrumental in transforming it from a straight thriller into a savagely satirical comedy, and the film’s success soon made him one of the most in-demand screenwriters of the decade. From cult classics like EASY RIDER and BARBARELLA to his outrageous adaptation of his own novel THE MAGIC CHRISTIAN, starring Peter Sellers and Ringo Starr, to the ultracontroversial rarity END OF THE ROAD, Southern’s screenplays defined the wildly subversive spirit of the New Hollywood era.
Up Next in Terry Southern: Hollywood’s Most Subversive Screenwriter
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Dr. Strangelove, or: How I Learned to...
Directed by Stanley Kubrick • 1964 • United Kingdom
Starring Peter Sellers, George C. Scott, Sterling HaydenStanley Kubrick’s painfully funny take on Cold War anxiety is one of the fiercest satires of human folly ever to come out of Hollywood. The matchless shape-shifter Peter Sellers plays thr...
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Barbarella
Directed by Roger Vadim • 1968 • France, Italy
Starring Jane Fonda, John Phillip Law, Marcel MarceauThis outrageous blend of science fiction, high camp, and erotic fantasia made Jane Fonda a permanent cult icon. She is sensational as a wide-eyed space adventurer whose quest to track down a fame...
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Easy Rider
Directed by Dennis Hopper • 1969 • United States
Starring Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper, Jack NicholsonThis is the definitive counterculture blockbuster. The down-and-dirty directorial debut of former clean-cut teen star Dennis Hopper, EASY RIDER heralded the arrival of a new voice in film, one...
