Several photo sets from the Life Magazine archives have been posted, but I don't recall these....and I searched the thread with multiple keywords, nothing came up...but as always, apologies for any re-posts.
The photog here is Ralph Crane, we've seen his work before...recall the shapely woman with the backless dress at Hollywood & Vine.
The photos are dated Dec. 1957....the conceit was Hollywood's New Breed (as represented by Dennis Hopper, Nick Adams & Natalie Wood) at work and at play...the set starts out with the usual Hollywood puffery: the trio at Hopper's home (he was sharing it with Adams) in Laurel Canyon...eating take-out Chinese, reading aloud to each other, and some spontaneous hijinks:
and some shopping....
But then, the story takes a more somber turn, as the youngsters decide to spend an afternoon and evening downtown...to mingle with (and "observe") the commoners in their natural surroundings...all in furtherance of their craft.
Here, Wood ascends the speaker's podium at Pershing Square, in advocacy of lowering the voting age to 18...
Hopper anxiously scans the crowd reaction, for future reference in his work...
Adams gets up as well...
Then, darkness falls...
Here, the trio blends in seamlessly at Cooper Do-Nuts...Hopper with some intense eavesdropping in an effort to gain some insight into the lives of the underclass:
Dennis heads to either the cigarette machine or the jukebox...
OK, this one is pretty much textbook noir...what with the none too pleased counterman peering up at the camera through the donut case...
Probably covered here before, but Cooper's was raided a couple of years later, and a kind of mini-Stonewall ensued:
"In May of 1959, with laws against cross-dressing on the books, the police entered Cooper Do-Nuts to arrest anyone whose gender on their identification did not match their appearance. Arrests were made and patrons fought back, throwing doughnuts, cups and plates at the officers, who retreated and came back with a bigger army. The skirmish grew into a riot that closed down the street for a day. It was one of the first LGBT uprisings in American history."
Back to our story...
Adams negotiates the purchase of a tin mask....
Safely back at the canyon house, the staging of a tableau vivant in the front window:
