By Richard Harland Smith
The Glory Stompers
Brief Synopsis
A tough motorcycle gang leader abducts a rival and his girlfriend.
Cast & Crew
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Anthony M. Lanza
Director
Dennis Hopper
Chino
Jody Mccrea
Darryl
Chris Noel
Chris
Jock Mahoney
Smiley
Saundra Gayle
Jo Ann
Film Details
Genre
Adventure
Action
Release Date
Nov
22,
1967
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
Norman T. Herman Productions
Distribution Company
American International Pictures
Country
United States
Location
California, USA
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 25m
Sound
Mono
Color
Color
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
2.35 : 1
Synopsis
In an isolated wood, Chino and his rebel motorcycle gang, The Black Souls, capture Darryl, leader of a rival gang called The Glory Stompers, and Darryl's girl friend, Chris. One of the Black Souls, Magoo, attempts to rape Chris, and Chino beats up Darryl. Subsequently, the whole gang jumps Darryl, leaves him for dead, and heads for a border town to sell Chris to Mexican white slavers. In the meantime, Chino's advances toward Chris infuriate Jo Ann, his "momma." A disillusioned former Glory Stomper named Smiley, now traveling alone, happens upon the merely wounded Darryl, and together they set out to rescue Chris. En route they hear about a scheduled love-in, but upon arriving at the scene they learn that Chino and his gang have already left for the border. And so Darryl and Smiley head for the Black Souls hideout, where Chris is being guarded by Chino's admiring younger brother, Paul. Magoo, returning from the love-in alone, again tries to rape Chris. But soon Darryl, Smiley, and Chino also arrive, and a furious battle ensues. Paul is motorcycled to death by Magoo, who in turn is shot down, and Jo Ann accidentally kills Chino with a knife intended for Darryl. The bloody conflict over, Chris and Darryl are now free to go on to a better life.
Director
Anthony M. Lanza
Director
Cast
Dennis Hopper
Chino
Jody Mccrea
Darryl
Chris Noel
Chris
Jock Mahoney
Smiley
Saundra Gayle
Jo Ann
Jim Reader
Paul
Robert Tessier
Magoo
Astrid Warner
Doreen
Gary Wood
Pony
Lindsay Crosby
Monk
Casey Kasem
Mouth
Al Quick
Paul Prokop
Tony Acone
Ed Cook
Crew
Mike Curb
Associate Producer
Mike Curb
Music
Katherine De Mitt
Script Supervisor
Arthur Gilbert
Executive Producer
Rudy Kaddo
Assistant Director
Casey Kasem
Associate Producer
Louis Lane
Makeup
John Lawrence
Producer
John Lawrence
Writer
Len Miller
Film Editor
Arthur Names
Sound
Jack Shnell
Supervisor
Sidewalk Productions
Music
Al Simms
Music Supervisor
Maurice Smith
Executive Producer
Paul Stevenson
Associate Producer
Mario Tosi
Director of Photography
James Gordon White
Writer
Film Details
Genre
Adventure
Action
Release Date
Nov
22,
1967
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
Norman T. Herman Productions
Distribution Company
American International Pictures
Country
United States
Location
California, USA
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 25m
Sound
Mono
Color
Color
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
2.35 : 1
Articles
The Glory Stompers
Dennis Hopper was well on his way to becoming a New Hollywood auteur when he signed on to play the leader of an outlaw biker gang in The Glory Stompers (1967), shot two years before his breakthrough as the writer-director of Easy Rider (1969). By Hopper's own account, his micromanagement of what should have been an easy two-week shoot, his insistence on multiple retakes, and his need to oversee every aspect of his performance drove first-time director Anthony Lanza to a nervous breakdown, resulting in Hopper taking it upon himself to finish the film. Made on the heels of Roger Corman's The Wild Angels (1966) - which had featured Hopper's Easy Rider costar Peter Fonda - The Glory Stompers was a western retrofit for Harleys, with Hopper and his MC club kidnapping another biker's girl, with pursuit of the bad guys (The Black Souls) by the good guys (the eponymous Stompers, fronted by Jody McCrea, son of Joel, and former movie Tarzan Jock Mahoney) stretching out over hundreds of miles of Southern California blacktop into the Mexican high desert. Writing in The New York Times in March 1968, critic Howard Thompson derided The Glory Stompers as "just about rock bottom, with two groups of filthy, lecherous young animals... warring against each other, with time out for orgies." Thompson's condemnation was a veritable welcome mat for the drive-in and grindhouse trade, who turned the grimy little $100,000 programmer into a $3.5 million success.
By Richard Harland Smith
By Richard Harland Smith
The Glory Stompers
Dennis Hopper was well on his way to becoming a New Hollywood auteur when he signed on to play the leader of an outlaw biker gang in The Glory Stompers (1967), shot two years before his breakthrough as the writer-director of Easy Rider (1969). By Hopper's own account, his micromanagement of what should have been an easy two-week shoot, his insistence on multiple retakes, and his need to oversee every aspect of his performance drove first-time director Anthony Lanza to a nervous breakdown, resulting in Hopper taking it upon himself to finish the film. Made on the heels of Roger Corman's The Wild Angels (1966) - which had featured Hopper's Easy Rider costar Peter Fonda - The Glory Stompers was a western retrofit for Harleys, with Hopper and his MC club kidnapping another biker's girl, with pursuit of the bad guys (The Black Souls) by the good guys (the eponymous Stompers, fronted by Jody McCrea, son of Joel, and former movie Tarzan Jock Mahoney) stretching out over hundreds of miles of Southern California blacktop into the Mexican high desert. Writing in The New York Times in March 1968, critic Howard Thompson derided The Glory Stompers as "just about rock bottom, with two groups of filthy, lecherous young animals... warring against each other, with time out for orgies." Thompson's condemnation was a veritable welcome mat for the drive-in and grindhouse trade, who turned the grimy little $100,000 programmer into a $3.5 million success.
By Richard Harland Smith
Quotes
Trivia
Miscellaneous Notes
Released in United States on Video October 31, 1989
Released in United States Fall November 22, 1967
Released in United States November 22, 1967
Released in United States Fall November 22, 1967
Released in United States November 22, 1967
Released in United States October 31, 1989
Released in United States on Video October 31, 1989
c Pathecolor
Colorscope
Released in United States October 31, 1989
