The Hot Spot
Labios ardientes
1990 · United States · 130 min
- Director
- Dennis Hopper
- Screenplay
- Charles Williams
- Producer
- Paul Lewis
- Music
- Jack Nitzsche
- Cinematography
- Ueli Steiger
- Production company
- Orion Pictures
Cast
What it is about
Harry Madox, a drifter with no steady work, arrives in a small Texas town and takes a job at a used car lot. During the summer heat he becomes entangled with the owner's wife and with Gloria, a young woman who works in the dealership's loan office. Between these two women and the schemes Harry hatches against the town's bank, the story builds a love triangle thick with tension and mutual distrust.
How it was made
The screenplay comes from a novel by Charles Williams, who adapted it with Nona Tyson in 1962 with Robert Mitchum in mind. Years later Dennis Hopper found that script and updated it. According to Don Johnson, the change came only three days before shooting began, when a different project had been planned. Hopper shot on location in Texas, in Taylor, Austin and Luling, and the swimming scenes were filmed at Hamilton Pool Preserve. Jack Nitzsche's score brings together John Lee Hooker, Taj Mahal, Roy Rogers and Tim Drummond, while Miles Davis recorded his trumpet parts separately.
Reception and legacy
The film premiered at the 1990 Toronto International Film Festival and is usually placed within late-1980s neo-noir, thanks to its amoral drifter protagonist and a plot driven by its female characters. The available sources do not allow a precise account of its commercial reception or any awards it may have received.
Stills
Trailer
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Trivia
A negligee instead of nudity
A bedroom scene originally called for Virginia Madsen to appear naked, but she chose to wear a negligee, arguing that the nudity did not serve the story. Hopper later admitted she was right.
A birth during the shoot
Melanie Griffith, Don Johnson's wife, gave birth to their daughter Dakota in Austin while the film was being shot.
More films by Dennis Hopper
Easy Rider
Colors
Chasers
Catchfire
Out of the Blue
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