Terry Southern: Hollywood’s Most Subversive Screenwriter

Terry Southern: Hollywood’s Most Subversive Screenwriter

1 Episode

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.

Featuring:
DR. STRANGELOVE, OR: HOW I LEARNED TO STOP WORRYING AND LOVE THE BOMB (Stanley Kubrick, 1964)
BARBARELLA (Roger Vadim, 1968)
EASY RIDER (Dennis Hopper, 1969)
THE MAGIC CHRISTIAN (Joseph McGrath, 1969)
END OF THE ROAD (Aram Avakian, 1970)

Terry Southern: Hollywood’s Most Subversive Screenwriter