It is still considered the bible of the golden age of ‘70s that nurtured such directing talents as Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, Martin Scorsese, William Friedkin, Peter Bogdanovich, Roman Polanski, Robert Altman, Hal Ashby and Warren Beatty –even 15 years after its paperback edition was published. Few film history books proved that as well as “Easy Rider, Raging Bulls: How the Sex-Drugs-and-Rock ‘n’ Roll Generation Saved Hollywood. “I thought I couldn’t do anything wrong.”Įxcess – fueled by fame, fortune and self-serving, often-destructive behavior - often goes hand in hand with success, especially in the movie biz. Eventually Marlon Brando did sign on. “The success … went to my head like a rush of perfume,” Coppola recalled. He was enraged that he couldn’t convince major stars such as Steve McQueen and Al Pacino to be his headliner.

Right after Francis Ford Coppola turned a Mafia family’s travails into grand opera with 1972’s “The Godfather,” which went on to win 1972’s best-picture Oscar, he topped himself in 1974 with “The Godfather, Part II,” which became the first sequel to ever win the award. Later on, while preparing to film 1979’s “Apocalypse Now,” he tossed those Oscars out the window, shattering all but one.

Easy riders raging bulls documentary