1 00:00:03,920 --> 00:00:07,560 Speaker 1: Welcome fans of movie history and true crime to Hollywood Land, 2 00:00:07,640 --> 00:00:10,240 Speaker 1: where we are once again going back into our archive 3 00:00:10,280 --> 00:00:13,160 Speaker 1: of stories to bring you an episode on the late 4 00:00:13,200 --> 00:00:16,560 Speaker 1: Great River Phoenix. For Gen xers growing up in the 5 00:00:16,640 --> 00:00:19,840 Speaker 1: eighties and nineties, River Phoenix was the rare actor whose 6 00:00:19,960 --> 00:00:22,320 Speaker 1: choices for the movies he was in seemed to mirror 7 00:00:22,560 --> 00:00:25,200 Speaker 1: our own coming of age year to year, and the 8 00:00:25,200 --> 00:00:27,880 Speaker 1: movie explores he wanted to build a spaceship to go 9 00:00:27,920 --> 00:00:30,280 Speaker 1: to outer space, just like we all did at eight 10 00:00:30,360 --> 00:00:33,839 Speaker 1: or ten years old, and stand by me, his sensitivity 11 00:00:33,880 --> 00:00:37,640 Speaker 1: and vulnerability communicated feelings of isolation that many of us 12 00:00:37,680 --> 00:00:40,239 Speaker 1: felt but didn't know how to express. And then in 13 00:00:40,280 --> 00:00:43,480 Speaker 1: my own private Idaho, his whole look embodied the indie 14 00:00:43,560 --> 00:00:47,320 Speaker 1: rock subculture that was at the time exploding onto the mainstream. 15 00:00:47,760 --> 00:00:50,040 Speaker 1: When he died in nineteen ninety three at the age 16 00:00:50,080 --> 00:00:52,520 Speaker 1: of twenty three, it felt like someone we'd all grown 17 00:00:52,560 --> 00:00:55,360 Speaker 1: up with was suddenly taken from us, which is true 18 00:00:55,600 --> 00:00:58,760 Speaker 1: because we had grown up with him. Sometimes he seemed 19 00:00:58,800 --> 00:01:01,200 Speaker 1: like the only actor our age she was really doing 20 00:01:01,240 --> 00:01:04,360 Speaker 1: something different and new. And then just a few months 21 00:01:04,440 --> 00:01:07,559 Speaker 1: later we lost Kurt Cobaine, and things never really felt 22 00:01:07,560 --> 00:01:10,080 Speaker 1: the same again. I hope you enjoyed this episode of 23 00:01:10,080 --> 00:01:12,520 Speaker 1: hollywood Land on River Phoenix, and then I hope you'll 24 00:01:12,600 --> 00:01:15,080 Speaker 1: join me on Wednesday in the rap party and later 25 00:01:15,160 --> 00:01:17,880 Speaker 1: on Friday in the screening room when I revisit one 26 00:01:17,920 --> 00:01:20,360 Speaker 1: of my favorite River Phoenix films running on empty. 27 00:01:22,400 --> 00:01:25,680 Speaker 2: This episode contains content that may be disturbing to some listeners. 28 00:01:26,080 --> 00:01:29,800 Speaker 2: Please check the show notes for more information. Hollywood Land 29 00:01:29,920 --> 00:01:34,800 Speaker 2: is a production of Double Elvis. Good Morning, Henry, Good 30 00:01:34,840 --> 00:01:38,959 Speaker 2: morning Roberta. You came early today for your music. 31 00:01:39,040 --> 00:01:42,640 Speaker 1: Later but at all right, you get your corner and 32 00:01:42,680 --> 00:01:44,960 Speaker 1: I will call Lena to play the piano for you. 33 00:01:45,600 --> 00:01:50,240 Speaker 2: Lina, All right, Lapa, now we will comment. Are you ready? 34 00:01:50,400 --> 00:01:54,280 Speaker 3: Come on one, two, three four. 35 00:01:58,840 --> 00:02:02,880 Speaker 2: The story is about River Phoenix. Are insane. He spent 36 00:02:02,920 --> 00:02:05,760 Speaker 2: his childhood outside the United States as part of a 37 00:02:05,800 --> 00:02:09,160 Speaker 2: religious community that would eventually be exposed as a much 38 00:02:09,280 --> 00:02:13,200 Speaker 2: darker and more dangerous cult. He was a natural presence 39 00:02:13,240 --> 00:02:16,639 Speaker 2: on the big screen with no formal acting training. At 40 00:02:16,760 --> 00:02:19,480 Speaker 2: just eighteen years old, he was nominated for his first 41 00:02:19,520 --> 00:02:23,840 Speaker 2: Academy award. His desire to immerse himself and a character 42 00:02:23,960 --> 00:02:28,880 Speaker 2: would sometimes lead him into dangerous situations, including propositioning John's 43 00:02:28,919 --> 00:02:32,679 Speaker 2: on the streets of Portland. He ran from some demons, 44 00:02:32,720 --> 00:02:36,440 Speaker 2: confronted others, and starting way too young, developed an addictive 45 00:02:36,480 --> 00:02:42,359 Speaker 2: relationship with illicted substances, and River Phoenix made great films. 46 00:02:43,320 --> 00:02:45,359 Speaker 2: Unlike that clip I played you at the top of 47 00:02:45,400 --> 00:02:48,480 Speaker 2: the show. That wasn't a clip from a great film. 48 00:02:48,760 --> 00:02:51,200 Speaker 2: That was a fair youth sample from the Library of 49 00:02:51,280 --> 00:02:55,639 Speaker 2: Congress of Collins and Harlan performing Henry's music Lesson from 50 00:02:55,760 --> 00:03:00,120 Speaker 2: nineteen twenty three. I played you that clip because I 51 00:03:00,160 --> 00:03:02,640 Speaker 2: can't afford the rights to sample a clip from Tim 52 00:03:02,680 --> 00:03:06,720 Speaker 2: Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas. And why would I play 53 00:03:06,760 --> 00:03:11,000 Speaker 2: you that specific slice of Christmastown celluloid cheese? Could I 54 00:03:11,080 --> 00:03:15,080 Speaker 2: afford it? Because that was the number one movie in 55 00:03:15,120 --> 00:03:19,520 Speaker 2: America on October thirty first, nineteen ninety three, And that 56 00:03:19,760 --> 00:03:22,280 Speaker 2: was the day that River Phoenix died suddenly on the 57 00:03:22,320 --> 00:03:29,000 Speaker 2: Sunset Boulevard sidewalk. On this episode, religious cults, illicit substances, 58 00:03:29,320 --> 00:03:32,880 Speaker 2: the mean streets of Portland, and the late Great River Phoenix. 59 00:03:33,919 --> 00:04:05,760 Speaker 2: I'm Jake Brennan, and this is Hollywood Land. Although some 60 00:04:05,880 --> 00:04:08,160 Speaker 2: hadn't seen him in a few years, they all knew 61 00:04:08,160 --> 00:04:11,800 Speaker 2: they would miss him forever. Filmmakers like Gus van Zandt 62 00:04:11,840 --> 00:04:15,000 Speaker 2: and Neil Jordan dedicated their latest movies to his memory. 63 00:04:15,480 --> 00:04:19,159 Speaker 2: Irim dedicated their new album Monster to him, and later 64 00:04:19,240 --> 00:04:22,359 Speaker 2: a song Ebo The Letter bore an inscription with his 65 00:04:22,480 --> 00:04:25,640 Speaker 2: name on the sleeve of its single The Cult, The 66 00:04:25,680 --> 00:04:29,520 Speaker 2: Red Hot Chili Peppers, Natalie Merchant, Belinda Carlyle, Rufus Wainwright, 67 00:04:29,560 --> 00:04:32,960 Speaker 2: the Stereophonics not a Serf. They all wrote songs that 68 00:04:33,000 --> 00:04:36,080 Speaker 2: were directly about his legacy or about the tragedy of 69 00:04:36,120 --> 00:04:40,960 Speaker 2: his untimely death. Yet every person behind every song, every movie, 70 00:04:41,000 --> 00:04:43,440 Speaker 2: and every other piece of art that strived to quantify 71 00:04:43,480 --> 00:04:48,000 Speaker 2: the sense of loss all acknowledged one truism. The most 72 00:04:48,040 --> 00:04:52,120 Speaker 2: important thing is the hardest thing to say. To paraphrase 73 00:04:52,120 --> 00:04:55,760 Speaker 2: Stephen King. Anyway, he was only twenty three and the 74 00:04:55,800 --> 00:04:59,280 Speaker 2: most talented actor of his generation. His greatest roles lay 75 00:04:59,320 --> 00:05:02,159 Speaker 2: ahead of and he was gone. It was too soon, 76 00:05:02,640 --> 00:05:05,600 Speaker 2: He was too young. How do you say that? How 77 00:05:05,600 --> 00:05:09,120 Speaker 2: do you convey exactly what that all means? It was 78 00:05:09,160 --> 00:05:11,640 Speaker 2: near the end of nineteen ninety three when River Phoenix 79 00:05:11,680 --> 00:05:15,160 Speaker 2: walked into the Viper Room on Sunset Boulevard. The room 80 00:05:15,320 --> 00:05:18,120 Speaker 2: was dark. It was always dark inside the Viper Room 81 00:05:18,360 --> 00:05:22,159 Speaker 2: that Hollywood club way, so dark that the stars could disappear. 82 00:05:22,720 --> 00:05:25,839 Speaker 2: It had been that way since nineteen o three eight 83 00:05:25,920 --> 00:05:29,680 Speaker 2: eight two five Sunset Boulevard for over a hundred years, 84 00:05:29,720 --> 00:05:32,600 Speaker 2: The La Hideaway on the corner of Sunset and Larrabie 85 00:05:32,640 --> 00:05:36,080 Speaker 2: was known by many names, the Cotton Club, Rue Angel 86 00:05:36,080 --> 00:05:38,800 Speaker 2: of the Last Call, of the Melody Room, Filthy mcnasty's, 87 00:05:38,880 --> 00:05:42,000 Speaker 2: the Central. In the nineteen forties, it was a hangout 88 00:05:42,000 --> 00:05:44,520 Speaker 2: for wise Guy Mickey Cohen, who ran dirty money through 89 00:05:44,560 --> 00:05:47,360 Speaker 2: the basement. In the nineteen fifties, it was a strip 90 00:05:47,440 --> 00:05:50,320 Speaker 2: joint again with Mobcash and Bob Mussel, until it was 91 00:05:50,360 --> 00:05:54,279 Speaker 2: shut down for violating obscenity laws. In the nineteen eighties, 92 00:05:54,320 --> 00:05:56,440 Speaker 2: it was a dive bar where John Belushi could be 93 00:05:56,480 --> 00:05:59,000 Speaker 2: spotted in the shadows and off the radar and on 94 00:05:59,000 --> 00:06:03,279 Speaker 2: the rails. In just months before River Phoenix walked inside 95 00:06:03,320 --> 00:06:07,039 Speaker 2: on that faithful evening October thirtieth. Going on thirty first, 96 00:06:07,160 --> 00:06:11,840 Speaker 2: nineteen ninety three, Johnny Depp had outbid both Arnold Schwarzenegger 97 00:06:11,839 --> 00:06:15,680 Speaker 2: and Frank Stallone to become the club's new owner. The 98 00:06:15,800 --> 00:06:19,039 Speaker 2: address maintained it see and be seen the lure, even 99 00:06:19,080 --> 00:06:21,200 Speaker 2: if the venues lowlt vibe made it hard to see 100 00:06:21,240 --> 00:06:24,880 Speaker 2: anything at all. Tom Petty played there Grottis on opening Night. 101 00:06:27,760 --> 00:06:31,160 Speaker 2: Unlike the story about Chris Chambers, the character River played 102 00:06:31,200 --> 00:06:33,920 Speaker 2: and stand By Me, the Rob Reiner film adapted from 103 00:06:33,960 --> 00:06:37,520 Speaker 2: a Stephen King novella called The Body. River did encounter 104 00:06:37,640 --> 00:06:40,520 Speaker 2: two men arguing inside the viper room when he entered, 105 00:06:41,160 --> 00:06:43,560 Speaker 2: and there was no knife. River wasn't stabbed in the 106 00:06:43,560 --> 00:06:45,359 Speaker 2: throat as he tried to keep the peace like the 107 00:06:45,360 --> 00:06:49,080 Speaker 2: fictional Chris Chambers had been. But River was the kind 108 00:06:49,080 --> 00:06:51,760 Speaker 2: of person to keep the peace. He was big on peace, 109 00:06:51,839 --> 00:06:54,640 Speaker 2: big on love, big on family and veganism and goodness 110 00:06:54,640 --> 00:06:57,280 Speaker 2: to others and to the earth itself. He was the 111 00:06:57,360 --> 00:06:59,440 Speaker 2: kind of guy he wanted for her brother, the kind 112 00:06:59,440 --> 00:07:01,520 Speaker 2: of guy you could bring home to mom, the kind 113 00:07:01,520 --> 00:07:03,880 Speaker 2: of guy who was up for any adventure, the crazier 114 00:07:03,920 --> 00:07:06,880 Speaker 2: the better. The kind of actor that directors only found 115 00:07:06,920 --> 00:07:11,200 Speaker 2: once every generation if they were lucky. Rob Reiner found 116 00:07:11,240 --> 00:07:13,400 Speaker 2: that actor when he cast River and stand By Me. 117 00:07:14,000 --> 00:07:17,080 Speaker 2: That was nineteen eighty six. It was River's breakout role, 118 00:07:17,320 --> 00:07:19,840 Speaker 2: coming of age, Flick piss Up a rope Man and 119 00:07:19,920 --> 00:07:22,040 Speaker 2: that's all River had been doing up until that point. 120 00:07:22,240 --> 00:07:25,880 Speaker 2: Coming of age, River was just fifteen. He was Chris 121 00:07:26,000 --> 00:07:29,080 Speaker 2: Chambers because he had already lived that role, just like 122 00:07:29,160 --> 00:07:31,640 Speaker 2: he had lived the role with Charlie Fox and Peter Weirs. 123 00:07:31,640 --> 00:07:35,360 Speaker 2: The Mosquito Coast, released later in eighty six, River played 124 00:07:35,360 --> 00:07:38,160 Speaker 2: the son of a brilliant inventor, Harrison Ford, who rejects 125 00:07:38,160 --> 00:07:40,920 Speaker 2: the commercialism of the United States and moves his family 126 00:07:40,960 --> 00:07:44,680 Speaker 2: to Central America. River was intimately familiar with that narrative. 127 00:07:45,120 --> 00:07:47,320 Speaker 2: He could also relate to the role of Danny Pope 128 00:07:47,320 --> 00:07:50,720 Speaker 2: and Running on Empty, directed by veterans Sidney Lumet, who'd 129 00:07:50,760 --> 00:07:54,200 Speaker 2: worked with everyone from Al Paccino to Paul Newman. In 130 00:07:54,240 --> 00:07:56,840 Speaker 2: that nineteen eighty eight film, River played the son of 131 00:07:56,880 --> 00:07:59,679 Speaker 2: counterculture radicals who were on the run from the FBI. 132 00:08:00,000 --> 00:08:02,880 Speaker 2: It never stayed in one place for too long. River 133 00:08:02,960 --> 00:08:05,680 Speaker 2: knew about counterculture, just like he knew about the rejection 134 00:08:05,800 --> 00:08:10,400 Speaker 2: of American commercialism. River pold from his own life experience 135 00:08:10,520 --> 00:08:13,840 Speaker 2: is to make each character feel lived in. Unlike a 136 00:08:13,840 --> 00:08:17,360 Speaker 2: lot of his contemporaries, River had something unique and something 137 00:08:17,440 --> 00:08:20,960 Speaker 2: special he borrowed into his roles. Like the method actors 138 00:08:21,000 --> 00:08:24,600 Speaker 2: of your and delivered performances that transcended his straight out 139 00:08:24,600 --> 00:08:29,080 Speaker 2: of central casting good looks. That all changed after Halloween 140 00:08:29,200 --> 00:08:33,400 Speaker 2: nineteen ninety three, shortly after River died on a sunset 141 00:08:33,440 --> 00:08:37,480 Speaker 2: boulevard sidewalk. The tragedy of his death overshadowed all that 142 00:08:37,600 --> 00:08:42,160 Speaker 2: other stuff, his talent, his choice, rolls, his goodness. Fame 143 00:08:42,200 --> 00:08:45,760 Speaker 2: will do that because fame doesn't care about what movies 144 00:08:45,800 --> 00:08:48,320 Speaker 2: you were in or the sort of impact you made 145 00:08:48,400 --> 00:08:51,240 Speaker 2: while you were around. Fame just wants to know how 146 00:08:51,240 --> 00:08:54,680 Speaker 2: it all ended. Fame wants the stuff from the dark room, 147 00:08:54,840 --> 00:08:57,440 Speaker 2: the room where you disappeared, where your star went out, 148 00:08:57,640 --> 00:09:00,040 Speaker 2: the room that you managed to emerge from, only to 149 00:09:00,080 --> 00:09:03,680 Speaker 2: collapse on cold asphalt under the pall of Hollywood light pollution. 150 00:09:04,880 --> 00:09:07,520 Speaker 2: River's next role was supposed to have vent Daniel molloy 151 00:09:07,559 --> 00:09:10,840 Speaker 2: in Neil Jordan's adaptation of the Anne Riis novel Interview 152 00:09:10,840 --> 00:09:14,240 Speaker 2: with the Vampire, a role that ultimately went to Christian Slater. 153 00:09:15,000 --> 00:09:19,280 Speaker 2: Excepting that role was a calculated move. It must River's image. 154 00:09:19,440 --> 00:09:21,480 Speaker 2: He'd been mussing that image ever since his pin up 155 00:09:21,520 --> 00:09:24,240 Speaker 2: photos graced the pages of fan rags like teen Beat 156 00:09:24,320 --> 00:09:27,840 Speaker 2: and Bot. His dedication to the cultivation of himself as 157 00:09:27,880 --> 00:09:30,200 Speaker 2: an actor was at the center of the best stories 158 00:09:30,240 --> 00:09:33,600 Speaker 2: about River, the stories people told to keep the memories alive, 159 00:09:33,960 --> 00:09:36,400 Speaker 2: the ones that made the campfire circles and tracks out 160 00:09:36,440 --> 00:09:39,600 Speaker 2: into the woods were trains rumbled down nearby tracks and 161 00:09:39,679 --> 00:09:43,480 Speaker 2: junkyard dogs failed to live up to their legend. River 162 00:09:43,880 --> 00:09:47,600 Speaker 2: lived up to his legend even when he was denying 163 00:09:47,640 --> 00:09:54,240 Speaker 2: his own legend. Gainesville, Florida, nineteen eighty nine. A skinhead 164 00:09:54,240 --> 00:09:57,280 Speaker 2: at the party made River Phoenix as the River Phoenix, 165 00:09:57,640 --> 00:09:59,520 Speaker 2: the one who had just been at the Oscars, the 166 00:09:59,520 --> 00:10:01,600 Speaker 2: one who was trying to blend in with the locals 167 00:10:01,679 --> 00:10:05,680 Speaker 2: play shows with his alt rock band Alekazadik, The same 168 00:10:05,720 --> 00:10:07,839 Speaker 2: one who'd spent the day tearing down some of those 169 00:10:07,840 --> 00:10:10,439 Speaker 2: old Tiger beat pit up photos that Arrival band had 170 00:10:10,480 --> 00:10:13,360 Speaker 2: stabled next to the flyers for his band's upcomany show 171 00:10:13,440 --> 00:10:17,520 Speaker 2: at the Hardback. The skinhead knew he wasn't just another dude. 172 00:10:17,640 --> 00:10:20,360 Speaker 2: He wasn't gonna let him slip into anonymity that easily. 173 00:10:21,080 --> 00:10:24,920 Speaker 2: But River was feeling contrarian. He was all method. He 174 00:10:25,040 --> 00:10:27,800 Speaker 2: slipped into a role. He told the skinhead that his 175 00:10:27,920 --> 00:10:30,720 Speaker 2: name was Rio. He must be thinking of another guy. 176 00:10:30,760 --> 00:10:34,440 Speaker 2: He said, I'm Rio, not River. There's a difference. Another 177 00:10:34,480 --> 00:10:37,160 Speaker 2: skinhead got in on the debate. He summoned a third, 178 00:10:37,320 --> 00:10:41,520 Speaker 2: and soon River was surrounded. Nah, man, you're full of shit. 179 00:10:41,800 --> 00:10:45,040 Speaker 2: One of the skinhead spat his head tilted. Why you 180 00:10:45,080 --> 00:10:48,240 Speaker 2: full of shit? You got a fucking problem with me? No, 181 00:10:48,640 --> 00:10:52,080 Speaker 2: River responded, no problem. He looked as three tormentors in 182 00:10:52,120 --> 00:10:55,680 Speaker 2: the eyes. Just not interested in having these conversation right now. 183 00:10:56,440 --> 00:11:00,000 Speaker 2: The skinheads laughed, not interested, and they laughed some more, 184 00:11:00,520 --> 00:11:03,280 Speaker 2: not interested. Are you interested in my fist in your face? 185 00:11:03,320 --> 00:11:05,400 Speaker 2: Are you interested in my boot up your fucking ass? 186 00:11:05,440 --> 00:11:08,480 Speaker 2: Or are you too good for that too? Look? River said, 187 00:11:08,720 --> 00:11:10,600 Speaker 2: you want to beat the shit out of me? Fine? 188 00:11:11,120 --> 00:11:12,559 Speaker 2: Why do you want to beat the shit out of me? 189 00:11:12,679 --> 00:11:15,199 Speaker 2: Because I look like someone else? Because I am someone else? 190 00:11:15,240 --> 00:11:17,600 Speaker 2: Because you think I'm not telling you the truth? The 191 00:11:17,640 --> 00:11:21,400 Speaker 2: skinheads paused, Wait, they were confused. Did not want to 192 00:11:21,440 --> 00:11:22,840 Speaker 2: beat the shit out of him? Was he actually not 193 00:11:22,920 --> 00:11:24,680 Speaker 2: the person that he thought he was? Was he telling 194 00:11:24,720 --> 00:11:28,679 Speaker 2: the truth? Too many questions? The confrontation had become all 195 00:11:28,720 --> 00:11:32,520 Speaker 2: pretzel logic and was therefore wrote. In the process. However, 196 00:11:33,000 --> 00:11:37,520 Speaker 2: River Phoenix had become someone completely different. Right there before 197 00:11:37,559 --> 00:12:04,520 Speaker 2: their eyes. Hollywood, February nineteen seventy one. John McVie looked 198 00:12:04,520 --> 00:12:07,400 Speaker 2: out the window of his room at the Hollywood Hawaiian Hotel. 199 00:12:07,960 --> 00:12:12,480 Speaker 2: Yuka Street was eerily calm, but John's anxiety was on eleven. 200 00:12:13,360 --> 00:12:16,080 Speaker 2: His English band Fleetwood Mac had just rolled into town 201 00:12:16,120 --> 00:12:19,040 Speaker 2: on their American tour. It was supposed to be a rebirth, 202 00:12:19,440 --> 00:12:22,480 Speaker 2: their first record and tour without founding member Peter Green. 203 00:12:23,080 --> 00:12:25,079 Speaker 2: They had a lot to prove, and they were scheduled 204 00:12:25,080 --> 00:12:27,079 Speaker 2: to prove it for three straight nights at the Whiskey 205 00:12:27,120 --> 00:12:30,880 Speaker 2: at Go Go. There was one major problem. Fleetwood Max 206 00:12:30,920 --> 00:12:35,120 Speaker 2: guitarist and singer Jeremy Spencer, was missing. He left after 207 00:12:35,160 --> 00:12:37,360 Speaker 2: they checked into the hotel, said he was going to 208 00:12:37,400 --> 00:12:40,199 Speaker 2: the grocery store. When hours passed and it was obvious 209 00:12:40,240 --> 00:12:43,959 Speaker 2: that Jeremy wasn't coming back, the band went into panic mode. 210 00:12:44,040 --> 00:12:46,880 Speaker 2: They called the British Consulate, They called the LAPD, they 211 00:12:46,880 --> 00:12:49,800 Speaker 2: called their label Warner Brothers. They even got the whiskey's owner, 212 00:12:49,920 --> 00:12:53,240 Speaker 2: Elmer Valentine, a former Chicago cop with a storied history 213 00:12:53,240 --> 00:12:56,760 Speaker 2: of losing and finding guys via his connections and organized crime, 214 00:12:57,080 --> 00:13:01,040 Speaker 2: to join the search. But no dice be no Fleetwood 215 00:13:01,040 --> 00:13:04,920 Speaker 2: Mac shows at the Whiskey that week. Three days later, 216 00:13:05,240 --> 00:13:07,960 Speaker 2: the phone in John's hotel room rang. It was the 217 00:13:08,000 --> 00:13:12,080 Speaker 2: band's manager, Clifford Davis. John. The voice on the other 218 00:13:12,160 --> 00:13:14,280 Speaker 2: end of the line was frantic, John, You're not going 219 00:13:14,320 --> 00:13:16,880 Speaker 2: to believe this. They found him. They found Jeremy. You're 220 00:13:16,880 --> 00:13:19,599 Speaker 2: not going to believe this. Jeremy had gone tropo with 221 00:13:19,679 --> 00:13:23,480 Speaker 2: the Jesus Freaks. He was found dancing, chanting, and praying 222 00:13:23,480 --> 00:13:26,240 Speaker 2: alongside four hundred others at a four story building in 223 00:13:26,400 --> 00:13:30,400 Speaker 2: LA's gritty downtown, the makeshift headquarters of the Children of God, 224 00:13:30,720 --> 00:13:35,720 Speaker 2: a pseudorevolutionary religious sect that preached change through rejecting societal norms. 225 00:13:36,360 --> 00:13:39,680 Speaker 2: Jeremy's hair was cut short, he was wearing a sackcloth. 226 00:13:40,000 --> 00:13:41,920 Speaker 2: He had given his two hundred dollars over to the 227 00:13:42,000 --> 00:13:45,640 Speaker 2: Children of God, or, more accurately, to its self appointed prophet. 228 00:13:45,800 --> 00:13:49,520 Speaker 2: David Brandt burke Berg was a pastor who had fallen 229 00:13:49,600 --> 00:13:53,240 Speaker 2: from grace. Booted from an evangelical church on suspicions of 230 00:13:53,280 --> 00:13:58,000 Speaker 2: sexual misconduct, he rebounded by attracting impressionable hippies along the 231 00:13:58,000 --> 00:14:01,959 Speaker 2: beaches of Greater La to what he called teens for Christ. 232 00:14:02,600 --> 00:14:05,360 Speaker 2: The hippies called him Father David or Moses, who are 233 00:14:05,400 --> 00:14:09,320 Speaker 2: eventually just Moe. By the time Jeremy Spencer was absorbed 234 00:14:09,320 --> 00:14:12,920 Speaker 2: into Moe's fold teens for Christ had morphed into Children 235 00:14:12,960 --> 00:14:17,319 Speaker 2: of God, his membership was growing exponentially. Moe was seizing 236 00:14:17,320 --> 00:14:20,640 Speaker 2: the attention not to mention the worldly possessions of twenty 237 00:14:20,680 --> 00:14:23,840 Speaker 2: something counterculture types who continued to desperately seek out the 238 00:14:23,920 --> 00:14:26,760 Speaker 2: hippie dream, the same hippie dream that had begun its 239 00:14:26,800 --> 00:14:29,680 Speaker 2: death spiral a few years earlier at the Rolling Stones 240 00:14:29,760 --> 00:14:34,560 Speaker 2: deadly Altamont Festival, John and the others in Fleetwood Mac 241 00:14:34,640 --> 00:14:37,800 Speaker 2: hardly recognized their bandmate. All it took was a few 242 00:14:37,880 --> 00:14:41,280 Speaker 2: days for Jeremy to become someone else. He had nothing, 243 00:14:41,360 --> 00:14:44,520 Speaker 2: he wanted nothing, He said very little. They asked Jeremy 244 00:14:44,560 --> 00:14:47,880 Speaker 2: to return, but he refused. He renounced Fleetwood Mac. He 245 00:14:48,000 --> 00:14:51,480 Speaker 2: renounced materialism, He renounced his wife and his two children. 246 00:14:51,720 --> 00:14:54,560 Speaker 2: He was an ever turning back. He was a child 247 00:14:54,760 --> 00:15:03,920 Speaker 2: of God. Now Texas nineteen seventy two, Fleetwood Max Sentimental 248 00:15:04,000 --> 00:15:07,080 Speaker 2: Lady crackled from the speakers as John Bottom drove his 249 00:15:07,240 --> 00:15:11,920 Speaker 2: VW down I forty five. Sitting behind him, his wife, Arlen, 250 00:15:12,200 --> 00:15:15,200 Speaker 2: held their two year old boy, River Jude, and sang along. 251 00:15:16,040 --> 00:15:19,280 Speaker 2: River was their first child, though they were currently expecting another. 252 00:15:19,800 --> 00:15:22,600 Speaker 2: He was born at a pepperin farm in Madris, Oregon, 253 00:15:22,720 --> 00:15:25,840 Speaker 2: which John and Arland stumbled upon while driving around with 254 00:15:25,920 --> 00:15:29,720 Speaker 2: their DIY mobile commune. With Arlind nearing her due date. 255 00:15:29,960 --> 00:15:32,320 Speaker 2: They had put down steaks for a spell, and the 256 00:15:32,360 --> 00:15:35,520 Speaker 2: couple's commune members worked the farm in exchange for a 257 00:15:35,600 --> 00:15:39,400 Speaker 2: place to crash. The idealism of their hippymo is what 258 00:15:39,480 --> 00:15:41,840 Speaker 2: led John and Arland to Oregon in the first place, 259 00:15:42,240 --> 00:15:46,120 Speaker 2: and also what led them to Texas. Now they were wanderers, 260 00:15:46,200 --> 00:15:48,560 Speaker 2: peace and lovers, and they knew there was more to 261 00:15:48,640 --> 00:15:52,080 Speaker 2: life than materialism. There was a higher consciousness out there 262 00:15:52,120 --> 00:15:55,160 Speaker 2: for the taking. War was over if you wanted it, 263 00:15:55,400 --> 00:15:58,560 Speaker 2: and they were searching for something, something real, something true. 264 00:15:58,880 --> 00:16:01,720 Speaker 2: They would know it when they found, Just like he, 265 00:16:02,040 --> 00:16:05,480 Speaker 2: John Bottom had known that she Arlen Dunett's was lee 266 00:16:05,600 --> 00:16:08,000 Speaker 2: one when he first saw her standing on the edge 267 00:16:08,000 --> 00:16:11,240 Speaker 2: of Santa Monica Boulevard back in nineteen sixty seven, Thulm 268 00:16:11,360 --> 00:16:14,360 Speaker 2: stuck out in the dry Los Angeles are She took 269 00:16:14,400 --> 00:16:18,160 Speaker 2: his breath away. He pulled the VW Over offered her 270 00:16:18,200 --> 00:16:21,600 Speaker 2: a ride, and that was that brother, and they started 271 00:16:21,600 --> 00:16:24,160 Speaker 2: a new journey together in that moment. It was fate. 272 00:16:24,840 --> 00:16:27,640 Speaker 2: From there, Fate gave him a mobile commune, and then 273 00:16:27,720 --> 00:16:31,000 Speaker 2: the Peppermint Farm, and then River arrived, and then cut 274 00:16:31,040 --> 00:16:34,280 Speaker 2: to another epic VW odyssey with John and Arland, River 275 00:16:34,360 --> 00:16:38,160 Speaker 2: and tow of course, still searching for that thing, that honest, 276 00:16:38,360 --> 00:16:42,400 Speaker 2: real thing, somewhere away from the trappings of stuff, free 277 00:16:42,400 --> 00:16:47,200 Speaker 2: from political and economic ideologies that smothered creativity and individuality. 278 00:16:47,680 --> 00:16:49,880 Speaker 2: And they would know it when they found it. And 279 00:16:49,960 --> 00:16:54,040 Speaker 2: in Crockett, Texas, in nineteen seventy two, they thought they'd 280 00:16:54,040 --> 00:16:57,840 Speaker 2: found it. The Children of God community in Crockett was 281 00:16:57,880 --> 00:16:59,880 Speaker 2: one of over one hundred that had popped up across 282 00:17:00,120 --> 00:17:03,000 Speaker 2: the United States and Canada in the early seventies, and 283 00:17:03,040 --> 00:17:06,040 Speaker 2: at each one, members were expected to follow the same 284 00:17:06,160 --> 00:17:11,800 Speaker 2: rules reject society, reject materialism, give up all your worldly possessions, 285 00:17:11,840 --> 00:17:16,200 Speaker 2: don't pay taxes, and don't vote. David Bramberg aka Father 286 00:17:16,320 --> 00:17:21,680 Speaker 2: David aka Moe so called Children were also expected to proselytize, 287 00:17:22,000 --> 00:17:25,240 Speaker 2: and they sang songs, they bore witness, they handed out pamphlets. 288 00:17:25,600 --> 00:17:28,080 Speaker 2: John and Arland were put in the group's leadership track, 289 00:17:28,320 --> 00:17:30,560 Speaker 2: and soon they were seeing the world and spreading the 290 00:17:30,600 --> 00:17:34,160 Speaker 2: word from Mexico to Puerto Rico to Venezuela. And during 291 00:17:34,200 --> 00:17:37,160 Speaker 2: their four year tenure as proselytizer, as their family grew 292 00:17:37,280 --> 00:17:39,640 Speaker 2: a girl, Rain Joan of arc and then another boy, 293 00:17:39,720 --> 00:17:43,800 Speaker 2: Joaquin Raphael, and then another girl, Liberty Mariposa. River and 294 00:17:43,920 --> 00:17:46,159 Speaker 2: Rain took to the street corners of Caracas with a 295 00:17:46,200 --> 00:17:50,440 Speaker 2: guitar and sang songs to scraunch out tips. And there 296 00:17:50,480 --> 00:17:53,639 Speaker 2: was a darker reasoning behind mo Their leaders called to 297 00:17:53,680 --> 00:17:57,480 Speaker 2: live lean and live communally. The apocalypse was near and 298 00:17:57,520 --> 00:18:00,240 Speaker 2: it was best to unburden yourself of such meaning list 299 00:18:00,280 --> 00:18:03,200 Speaker 2: flotsam and jetsam before the biblical shit hit the fan. 300 00:18:04,160 --> 00:18:07,119 Speaker 2: But families like the Bottoms were being duped by Mo's 301 00:18:07,119 --> 00:18:10,280 Speaker 2: cult because that's what it was, a cult. They weren't 302 00:18:10,320 --> 00:18:12,560 Speaker 2: told about everything that was going on behind the scenes. 303 00:18:12,800 --> 00:18:16,720 Speaker 2: There were unspeakable things happening in the darkness, behind closed doors. 304 00:18:17,440 --> 00:18:19,760 Speaker 2: Some light was shed on the true nature of MOA's 305 00:18:19,840 --> 00:18:22,280 Speaker 2: cult when he sent around a missive to his flock 306 00:18:22,520 --> 00:18:26,480 Speaker 2: that encouraged women to freely practice what he dubbed flirty fishing. 307 00:18:26,920 --> 00:18:30,320 Speaker 2: In other words, find wealthy and powerful men, sleep with them, 308 00:18:30,440 --> 00:18:32,720 Speaker 2: and convince them to turn their money and their bodies 309 00:18:32,760 --> 00:18:35,919 Speaker 2: over to the Children of God. When that piece of 310 00:18:35,960 --> 00:18:38,919 Speaker 2: mail arrived in the Bottom's mailbox, the wool was pulled 311 00:18:38,920 --> 00:18:41,320 Speaker 2: from their eyes. They began to see the cult for 312 00:18:41,359 --> 00:18:45,200 Speaker 2: what it really was, and it wasn't that real true 313 00:18:45,240 --> 00:18:47,920 Speaker 2: thing they had searched so long for on the road, 314 00:18:48,560 --> 00:18:50,840 Speaker 2: and they severed their ties with the Children of God 315 00:18:50,960 --> 00:18:55,840 Speaker 2: for good. It wasn't until much later that more of 316 00:18:55,880 --> 00:18:59,880 Speaker 2: the cult's truth emerged. Mo had been openly promoting incest 317 00:19:00,080 --> 00:19:03,920 Speaker 2: and pedophilia, and the ranks children were encouraged to experiment 318 00:19:04,000 --> 00:19:07,200 Speaker 2: sexually with other children, and according to Mo, it wasn't 319 00:19:07,240 --> 00:19:10,800 Speaker 2: taboo for adults to engage in sexual acts with kids either. 320 00:19:12,240 --> 00:19:15,600 Speaker 2: Back in nineteen seventy eight, the Bottom family split for 321 00:19:15,680 --> 00:19:19,199 Speaker 2: good from David Bramptberg aka Moe and his Children of 322 00:19:19,240 --> 00:19:22,040 Speaker 2: God when they boarded a cargo ship in Caracas and 323 00:19:22,160 --> 00:19:25,879 Speaker 2: sailed to Miami, and they would search for a better reality. 324 00:19:26,080 --> 00:19:28,760 Speaker 2: They would make a fresh start, and they cleansed the 325 00:19:28,840 --> 00:19:32,760 Speaker 2: past by adopting a new surname, Phoenix, which was rich 326 00:19:32,840 --> 00:19:36,960 Speaker 2: and meaning for river, It was his first experience becoming 327 00:19:37,000 --> 00:19:44,600 Speaker 2: someone new. We'll be right back after this. We're were were. 328 00:19:48,160 --> 00:19:50,600 Speaker 2: The club kids came from the suburbs. They came from 329 00:19:50,600 --> 00:19:53,520 Speaker 2: Gresham and Beaverton, and they came across the Columbia River 330 00:19:53,560 --> 00:19:56,560 Speaker 2: from Vancouver. When they made it to Portland to the 331 00:19:56,600 --> 00:19:59,919 Speaker 2: City Nightclub on Northwest Thirteenth Avenue, the boys could f 332 00:20:00,000 --> 00:20:02,439 Speaker 2: finally take their shirts off, and the girls could ignore 333 00:20:02,480 --> 00:20:04,600 Speaker 2: the boys, and they all could feel free to be 334 00:20:04,640 --> 00:20:08,760 Speaker 2: whoever they truly were. Gay, Bye, stray, curious, unsure, whatever. 335 00:20:09,560 --> 00:20:12,440 Speaker 2: Most nights, the line to get inside the alcohol free 336 00:20:12,480 --> 00:20:16,000 Speaker 2: all ages clubs stretched down the sidewalk, and the anticipation 337 00:20:16,080 --> 00:20:19,440 Speaker 2: to get beyond the front door was palpable. Each time 338 00:20:19,480 --> 00:20:22,399 Speaker 2: the door would open to let in another guest, unrelenting 339 00:20:22,480 --> 00:20:25,840 Speaker 2: bass would ooze out into the night, so the steady 340 00:20:25,840 --> 00:20:28,880 Speaker 2: waft of closed cigarettes. The club kid at the front 341 00:20:28,880 --> 00:20:30,919 Speaker 2: of the line would get the customary pat down, and 342 00:20:30,960 --> 00:20:34,080 Speaker 2: then would walk inside past the sign at the front office, 343 00:20:34,119 --> 00:20:37,880 Speaker 2: the one that prohibited over heterosexual behavior, and then on 344 00:20:37,960 --> 00:20:40,720 Speaker 2: into the main room, a dance floor heaving to the 345 00:20:40,760 --> 00:20:44,120 Speaker 2: rhythm of house music and the flash of storms, boys 346 00:20:44,119 --> 00:20:47,000 Speaker 2: and wigs, girls with shaved heads studded collars next to 347 00:20:47,080 --> 00:20:50,400 Speaker 2: pop preppy callers. From ten pm to two am every 348 00:20:50,440 --> 00:20:54,840 Speaker 2: Wednesday through Sunday, anything went. The City Nightclub was the 349 00:20:54,920 --> 00:20:58,359 Speaker 2: only place in Portland where marginalized kids between the ages 350 00:20:58,359 --> 00:21:02,040 Speaker 2: of fifteen and twenty five felt comfortable being themselves. In 351 00:21:02,080 --> 00:21:05,879 Speaker 2: the early nineteen nineties. It was an important gathering place 352 00:21:05,920 --> 00:21:08,920 Speaker 2: for gay teens and kids who had nowhere else to go, 353 00:21:09,440 --> 00:21:11,640 Speaker 2: and the City Nightclub offered a room where they could 354 00:21:11,680 --> 00:21:16,159 Speaker 2: live out loud without fear of judgment. August nineteen ninety, 355 00:21:16,600 --> 00:21:19,720 Speaker 2: River Phoenix stood in the City Nightclub's long line, just 356 00:21:19,760 --> 00:21:23,800 Speaker 2: another twenty year old anticipating the transformative powers of deep bass, 357 00:21:23,840 --> 00:21:28,200 Speaker 2: flashing lights, and sweaty bodies. But unlike the other clubgoers 358 00:21:28,200 --> 00:21:30,920 Speaker 2: looking to be part of something bigger than themselves, River 359 00:21:31,040 --> 00:21:33,480 Speaker 2: was looking to disappear. He didn't want to be River 360 00:21:33,560 --> 00:21:36,520 Speaker 2: Phoenix that night. He wanted to be another anonymous Portland 361 00:21:36,560 --> 00:21:38,879 Speaker 2: street kid looking for something that couldn't be found in 362 00:21:38,880 --> 00:21:43,399 Speaker 2: the daylight. His locks of blonde hair were cut short, 363 00:21:43,560 --> 00:21:47,440 Speaker 2: his tiger beat pinup style replaced with something greasy and haggard, 364 00:21:47,800 --> 00:21:51,040 Speaker 2: thin sunken eyes. He wore a dirty barn jacket. He 365 00:21:51,119 --> 00:21:54,600 Speaker 2: was a fallen Jay Crewe angel. The River was disappearing 366 00:21:54,600 --> 00:21:57,720 Speaker 2: into research for his next movie, My Own Private Idaho, 367 00:21:58,080 --> 00:22:01,760 Speaker 2: directed by Portland's hot indie film Gus van Zan, whose 368 00:22:01,840 --> 00:22:05,679 Speaker 2: last film, Drugstore Cowboy, took home awards for Best Picture 369 00:22:05,720 --> 00:22:08,840 Speaker 2: and Best Director from the National Society of Film Critics. 370 00:22:09,440 --> 00:22:12,640 Speaker 2: In My Own Private Idaho, River would play Mikey Waters, 371 00:22:12,880 --> 00:22:15,600 Speaker 2: a narcoleptic street hustler who hits the road with co 372 00:22:15,760 --> 00:22:19,040 Speaker 2: star Keanu reeves to seek out some idealized version of 373 00:22:19,040 --> 00:22:22,640 Speaker 2: his mother. For both River and Keanu, then best known 374 00:22:22,680 --> 00:22:25,359 Speaker 2: as one half of the excellent villain Ted, the roles 375 00:22:25,400 --> 00:22:29,480 Speaker 2: were daring choices that broke from their established tiger beat tight. 376 00:22:30,359 --> 00:22:32,680 Speaker 2: The role was such a dramatic shift that River's agent, 377 00:22:32,760 --> 00:22:35,240 Speaker 2: Iris Burton, didn't want River taking the role in the 378 00:22:35,280 --> 00:22:38,280 Speaker 2: first place. She was worried it would destroy him. It 379 00:22:38,400 --> 00:22:41,440 Speaker 2: was worth the risk. Maybe if the role destroyed anything, 380 00:22:41,720 --> 00:22:45,320 Speaker 2: it would be his teeny bopper image to deliver a 381 00:22:45,359 --> 00:22:49,399 Speaker 2: faithful character on screen, something dark and desperate, unlike anything 382 00:22:49,440 --> 00:22:52,880 Speaker 2: he'd played before. River lost himself in the city underworld 383 00:22:53,000 --> 00:22:56,080 Speaker 2: street culture of Portland. He got into heroin. He'd been 384 00:22:56,200 --> 00:22:59,679 Speaker 2: using hard drugs like cocaine since he was fifteen preebasing 385 00:22:59,680 --> 00:23:02,840 Speaker 2: at ann when his peers were experimenting with zema, and 386 00:23:02,920 --> 00:23:05,280 Speaker 2: so it was easy enough for River to go even 387 00:23:05,320 --> 00:23:08,959 Speaker 2: harder im Portland. Smack was everywhere, especially in the city's 388 00:23:09,000 --> 00:23:13,800 Speaker 2: underworld of dealers, users and hustlers, and at places like 389 00:23:13,840 --> 00:23:16,399 Speaker 2: the City Nightclub. He sought out the action going on 390 00:23:16,520 --> 00:23:19,240 Speaker 2: above the big communal dance party on the first floor. 391 00:23:19,720 --> 00:23:22,679 Speaker 2: He was looking for what was happening upstairs, in the 392 00:23:22,720 --> 00:23:26,680 Speaker 2: smaller room, the room with a darker soundtrack, more alien 393 00:23:26,760 --> 00:23:31,000 Speaker 2: sex fiend than Frankie Knuckles. Because like all great things, 394 00:23:31,160 --> 00:23:33,919 Speaker 2: the City Nightclub had a flip side, a dark side. 395 00:23:34,240 --> 00:23:37,680 Speaker 2: It lurked upstairs. It blended in among the shadows of 396 00:23:37,720 --> 00:23:41,919 Speaker 2: the wallflowers, coke, heroin and pills, or the currency creepy 397 00:23:41,960 --> 00:23:45,600 Speaker 2: old men going incognito or trying to go incognito, though 398 00:23:45,640 --> 00:23:48,439 Speaker 2: they always stuck out like sore thumbs, and they were 399 00:23:48,440 --> 00:23:50,760 Speaker 2: looking to take advantage of younger boys hard up for 400 00:23:50,840 --> 00:23:53,679 Speaker 2: attention or for a few bucks. The boys, on the 401 00:23:53,720 --> 00:23:56,320 Speaker 2: other hand, were playing their own grip. Soon they were 402 00:23:56,320 --> 00:23:58,640 Speaker 2: the ones propositioning the older men in order to make 403 00:23:58,640 --> 00:24:00,800 Speaker 2: a quick buck in one of the bathroom from stalls. 404 00:24:01,600 --> 00:24:04,560 Speaker 2: River had already been given a crash course in the 405 00:24:04,640 --> 00:24:09,840 Speaker 2: grift game that happened earlier that night, when Scott Green, 406 00:24:09,960 --> 00:24:12,239 Speaker 2: a former Portland street kid who was part of the 407 00:24:12,280 --> 00:24:15,960 Speaker 2: inspiration for the character of Mikey Waters, took River down 408 00:24:16,000 --> 00:24:19,680 Speaker 2: to a four block stretch of Southwest Stark. Portland's gay 409 00:24:19,720 --> 00:24:24,560 Speaker 2: community referred to it as Vassaline Alley, the Pied Piper, 410 00:24:24,800 --> 00:24:28,480 Speaker 2: Somebody's place gay bars and hotels, where impulsive trysts were 411 00:24:28,560 --> 00:24:31,080 Speaker 2: just as likely to happen in a lobby bathroom as 412 00:24:31,080 --> 00:24:34,520 Speaker 2: they were in a paid hourly room. River and Scott 413 00:24:34,560 --> 00:24:37,320 Speaker 2: took their spots against the wall of a building. The 414 00:24:37,359 --> 00:24:41,600 Speaker 2: paint was peeling, cigarettes burned between their fingers, the pavement 415 00:24:41,680 --> 00:24:45,160 Speaker 2: was wet from a recent storm. Scott gave River pointers 416 00:24:45,160 --> 00:24:47,919 Speaker 2: on his posture. Posture was everything. Posture could make a 417 00:24:47,920 --> 00:24:50,600 Speaker 2: brig a deal. And they watched a kid climb into 418 00:24:50,680 --> 00:24:52,840 Speaker 2: the passenger seat of a sedan that had just pulled 419 00:24:52,880 --> 00:24:55,280 Speaker 2: over into a handicapped spot on the side of the road. 420 00:24:55,800 --> 00:24:58,920 Speaker 2: Its rear bumper was dented on the driver's side, headlights 421 00:24:58,960 --> 00:25:02,560 Speaker 2: cut muffler rum, and the kid closed the door behind him. 422 00:25:02,720 --> 00:25:05,960 Speaker 2: How old is he? River asked, Scott shrugged. A few 423 00:25:06,000 --> 00:25:08,000 Speaker 2: minutes later, the kid was out of the car, stuffing 424 00:25:08,000 --> 00:25:10,080 Speaker 2: a bill into the pocket of his jeans. He lit 425 00:25:10,080 --> 00:25:13,800 Speaker 2: a cigarette and disappeared into the shadows on Stark where up. 426 00:25:13,920 --> 00:25:16,240 Speaker 2: Scott said to River as a Vovo station where I 427 00:25:16,240 --> 00:25:19,480 Speaker 2: can pulled up next to them. The middle aged bald 428 00:25:19,520 --> 00:25:22,560 Speaker 2: man at the wheel was making discreet eye contact. Just 429 00:25:22,680 --> 00:25:24,879 Speaker 2: remember if he box at the price. Remind him that 430 00:25:24,880 --> 00:25:27,360 Speaker 2: he's welcome to drive back home without getting anything. You've 431 00:25:27,359 --> 00:25:33,200 Speaker 2: got the upper hand. River and Scott never actually followed 432 00:25:33,200 --> 00:25:35,159 Speaker 2: through with any of the Johns they met on the 433 00:25:35,160 --> 00:25:37,520 Speaker 2: side of the street. River just wanted to see how 434 00:25:37,560 --> 00:25:39,720 Speaker 2: the deals were made. The two would bail on the 435 00:25:39,800 --> 00:25:42,159 Speaker 2: Johns as soon as the deals were struck, laughing and 436 00:25:42,200 --> 00:25:44,480 Speaker 2: screaming as they tore ass down the back streets of 437 00:25:44,560 --> 00:25:48,800 Speaker 2: Vassiline Alley. Now standing in line for the City nightclub, 438 00:25:49,160 --> 00:25:52,560 Speaker 2: River looked across Thirteenth Avenue. He was distracted by a 439 00:25:52,560 --> 00:25:56,239 Speaker 2: small group of protesters lining the opposite sidewalk, and they 440 00:25:56,240 --> 00:25:59,199 Speaker 2: were silent and pointed handmade signs. Of the crowd of 441 00:25:59,200 --> 00:26:02,720 Speaker 2: club kids repent read one of them. The letters surrounded 442 00:26:02,720 --> 00:26:06,159 Speaker 2: by a cartoon depiction of Hell, and the doorman had 443 00:26:06,200 --> 00:26:09,200 Speaker 2: to yell to get River's attention. He was next in line. 444 00:26:09,720 --> 00:26:13,360 Speaker 2: There was an issue. River wasn't carrying his wallet, immersing 445 00:26:13,400 --> 00:26:15,639 Speaker 2: himself in the research of the role. He wasn't carrying 446 00:26:15,680 --> 00:26:18,359 Speaker 2: anything that would identify him as his true self, and 447 00:26:18,440 --> 00:26:20,639 Speaker 2: since he and Scott had bailed and all the Johns 448 00:26:20,640 --> 00:26:23,040 Speaker 2: that night after sealing each deal, he didn't have any 449 00:26:23,040 --> 00:26:25,480 Speaker 2: cash on him either, he couldn't pay the cover charge. 450 00:26:26,240 --> 00:26:29,159 Speaker 2: Against his best judgment, he told the doorman under his 451 00:26:29,200 --> 00:26:32,639 Speaker 2: breath that he was, in fact River Phoenix researching a 452 00:26:32,680 --> 00:26:35,320 Speaker 2: new role. Gus Van's in and all that. Surely that 453 00:26:35,400 --> 00:26:38,359 Speaker 2: name meant something here, right, drunk store cowboy? You know? 454 00:26:38,600 --> 00:26:40,240 Speaker 2: Could you let him in for a quick look around? 455 00:26:40,800 --> 00:26:44,719 Speaker 2: And the doorman asked for id and the River had nothing. Listen, 456 00:26:44,880 --> 00:26:46,960 Speaker 2: the door man said, you know, you get the five 457 00:26:47,000 --> 00:26:49,360 Speaker 2: bucks to get inside or you don't. We're gonna move 458 00:26:49,400 --> 00:26:50,840 Speaker 2: this line along it. If you really are who you 459 00:26:50,880 --> 00:26:52,560 Speaker 2: say you are, you should ask some idea on you've 460 00:26:52,560 --> 00:26:54,600 Speaker 2: proven that to be true. I think I would know 461 00:26:54,760 --> 00:26:56,560 Speaker 2: River Phoenix when I see him, And let me tell 462 00:26:56,600 --> 00:27:24,640 Speaker 2: you ain't him met him, met him in the early 463 00:27:24,720 --> 00:27:28,040 Speaker 2: nineteen nineties, The Sunset Strip in Hollywood was a twenty 464 00:27:28,080 --> 00:27:31,360 Speaker 2: four to seven pharmacy. Whatever you wanted you could get. 465 00:27:31,760 --> 00:27:33,520 Speaker 2: You just had to know where to look or who 466 00:27:33,560 --> 00:27:36,600 Speaker 2: to ask. Sometimes you didn't even have to look for it, 467 00:27:36,680 --> 00:27:41,840 Speaker 2: and the pharmacy would find you. Did you need anything? Coke, ecstasy, weed, uppers, downers, junk. 468 00:27:42,320 --> 00:27:44,240 Speaker 2: It was a bad scene for someone who was doing 469 00:27:44,280 --> 00:27:47,160 Speaker 2: more drugs than he was letting on, perhaps even self 470 00:27:47,200 --> 00:27:49,879 Speaker 2: medicating as he navigated the demons of his past and 471 00:27:49,920 --> 00:27:53,520 Speaker 2: the pressures of fame while researching his role from My 472 00:27:53,560 --> 00:27:57,120 Speaker 2: Own Private Idaho. River disappeared a little too far into 473 00:27:57,160 --> 00:28:01,199 Speaker 2: his fictional character so far the shoot was over, he 474 00:28:01,240 --> 00:28:05,040 Speaker 2: didn't fully return to who he was before his recreational 475 00:28:05,119 --> 00:28:08,199 Speaker 2: drug use had become unchecked. He would often binge for 476 00:28:08,320 --> 00:28:11,119 Speaker 2: hours or days and then swear off drugs when another 477 00:28:11,119 --> 00:28:14,240 Speaker 2: Sunday morning came down, and this was a cycle that 478 00:28:14,320 --> 00:28:17,359 Speaker 2: played out over and over again. He ran that cycle, 479 00:28:17,440 --> 00:28:21,400 Speaker 2: sometimes with John Fruchante, guitarists for the Red Hot Chili Peppers, 480 00:28:21,640 --> 00:28:24,040 Speaker 2: the La band River had become friendly with. As he 481 00:28:24,080 --> 00:28:27,840 Speaker 2: continued to make a go of with alekaz Attic, Fruschat 482 00:28:28,000 --> 00:28:31,600 Speaker 2: really left that faded pink mansion up Laurel Canyonway, the 483 00:28:31,600 --> 00:28:34,639 Speaker 2: one that everyone called Houdini's Mansion, even though it was 484 00:28:34,760 --> 00:28:38,440 Speaker 2: Erro Flynn who had lived there, not Houdini. Fruschate had 485 00:28:38,480 --> 00:28:40,800 Speaker 2: gone on hiatus from his stay job with the Chili 486 00:28:40,800 --> 00:28:43,120 Speaker 2: Peppers and was spending most of his days and nights 487 00:28:43,120 --> 00:28:46,040 Speaker 2: at the so called Houdini's Mansion doing the so called 488 00:28:46,040 --> 00:28:54,240 Speaker 2: disappearing act. River was interested in that disappearing Hollywood, October 489 00:28:54,280 --> 00:28:59,280 Speaker 2: thirty first, nineteen ninety three, twelve twenty seven am. River 490 00:28:59,320 --> 00:29:02,240 Speaker 2: carried his guitar he made his way inside the Viper Room. 491 00:29:02,720 --> 00:29:04,920 Speaker 2: It was his intention to get on stage as part 492 00:29:04,920 --> 00:29:07,280 Speaker 2: of the pickup band that Johnny Depp had assembled to 493 00:29:07,280 --> 00:29:10,240 Speaker 2: perform songs of his band p As in the letter 494 00:29:10,520 --> 00:29:13,520 Speaker 2: that evening, every performer in the band was looking for 495 00:29:13,560 --> 00:29:16,200 Speaker 2: the same thing River was looking for to play against 496 00:29:16,240 --> 00:29:19,880 Speaker 2: type to be reborn, if only for the evening to disappear. 497 00:29:20,880 --> 00:29:23,440 Speaker 2: And there was Johnny Depp, actor by day and Viper 498 00:29:23,520 --> 00:29:25,840 Speaker 2: Room owner by night, playing the role of singer and 499 00:29:25,880 --> 00:29:30,160 Speaker 2: guitarist Al Jurgensen, ditching his standard industrial fare and ministry 500 00:29:30,200 --> 00:29:33,920 Speaker 2: for something far less transgressive. Gibby Haynes, frontman for the 501 00:29:33,920 --> 00:29:36,200 Speaker 2: Butthole Surfers, seeing what it was like to not be 502 00:29:36,280 --> 00:29:40,000 Speaker 2: the sole frontman for once. Ben Montyne keyboardist for Tom 503 00:29:40,040 --> 00:29:43,480 Speaker 2: Petty and the Heartbreakers, down shifting from sold out arenas 504 00:29:43,520 --> 00:29:45,880 Speaker 2: to slum it with the cool kids. And there was 505 00:29:46,000 --> 00:29:48,880 Speaker 2: flea bass player for the Red Hot Chili Peppers, who 506 00:29:48,960 --> 00:29:51,440 Speaker 2: wanted a jam with a unique roster of la cats 507 00:29:51,480 --> 00:29:54,040 Speaker 2: and gleaned some new insight into the art of collaboration. 508 00:29:55,080 --> 00:29:58,720 Speaker 2: Flee's usual collaborator, John Fruchante, had already attempted to play 509 00:29:58,720 --> 00:30:01,760 Speaker 2: an opening set, but he had brought that Houdini Mansion 510 00:30:01,840 --> 00:30:04,320 Speaker 2: vibe with him down from the hills. He was high 511 00:30:04,400 --> 00:30:07,000 Speaker 2: as shit. He barely made it through one song before 512 00:30:07,000 --> 00:30:10,000 Speaker 2: we stopped and puked on the stage. And the Viper 513 00:30:10,080 --> 00:30:12,520 Speaker 2: Room stage was as tiny as the pickup band's roster 514 00:30:12,760 --> 00:30:15,240 Speaker 2: was deep. That just wasn't enough room for River to 515 00:30:15,280 --> 00:30:19,840 Speaker 2: take part, so he took a seat guitar aside. It 516 00:30:19,880 --> 00:30:22,400 Speaker 2: wasn't in the cards to become another version of himself 517 00:30:22,400 --> 00:30:25,200 Speaker 2: on stage alongside all the other versions of all the 518 00:30:25,240 --> 00:30:28,000 Speaker 2: other performers who were better known for doing things besides 519 00:30:28,040 --> 00:30:31,120 Speaker 2: being in a pickup band called p and though the 520 00:30:31,200 --> 00:30:34,320 Speaker 2: room was dark, this wasn't the streets of Gainesville or 521 00:30:34,320 --> 00:30:37,840 Speaker 2: the meaner streets of Portland. This was Hollywood, and inside 522 00:30:37,840 --> 00:30:40,680 Speaker 2: the Viper Room he was made as the River Phoenix 523 00:30:40,720 --> 00:30:45,160 Speaker 2: by those who walked by his table. Not even thirty 524 00:30:45,200 --> 00:30:48,000 Speaker 2: minutes later, however, almost as soon as River had been 525 00:30:48,000 --> 00:30:51,000 Speaker 2: made by those in attendance as a celebrity that he was, 526 00:30:51,640 --> 00:30:55,320 Speaker 2: River was gone again. He'd split. He wasn't at his table. 527 00:30:55,600 --> 00:30:58,000 Speaker 2: He wasn't standing in the tightly packed crowd in front 528 00:30:58,000 --> 00:31:01,000 Speaker 2: of the small stage absorbing the rip of sound waves 529 00:31:01,000 --> 00:31:06,320 Speaker 2: coming from Johnny Depp's band. Where was River Phoenix. He 530 00:31:06,400 --> 00:31:08,680 Speaker 2: had slipped out the back door of the Viper Room, 531 00:31:08,840 --> 00:31:13,200 Speaker 2: undetected by most inside. He remained anonymous on the outside too, 532 00:31:13,720 --> 00:31:16,520 Speaker 2: And that's where he was, on his back on the 533 00:31:16,560 --> 00:31:21,720 Speaker 2: Sunset Boulevard sidewalk. The seizures started. His arms flailed, his 534 00:31:21,840 --> 00:31:25,520 Speaker 2: legs kicked, his head banged against the pavement, and the 535 00:31:25,600 --> 00:31:28,200 Speaker 2: rumble of Johnny Depp's pick up rock show seeped out 536 00:31:28,200 --> 00:31:32,080 Speaker 2: from the Viper Room's black walls. Hollywood revelers taking advantage 537 00:31:32,080 --> 00:31:34,720 Speaker 2: of a Saturday night to celebrate Halloween one night early 538 00:31:35,040 --> 00:31:38,360 Speaker 2: sidestepped around River's convulsing body, and they were used to 539 00:31:38,480 --> 00:31:41,800 Speaker 2: random encounters with derelicts tweaking on the sidewalk, but they 540 00:31:41,840 --> 00:31:44,680 Speaker 2: had no idea who was literally dying right in front 541 00:31:44,680 --> 00:31:48,440 Speaker 2: of them. Neither did anyone still inside the Viper Room, 542 00:31:48,480 --> 00:31:51,320 Speaker 2: and by the time the paramedics arrived, River had been 543 00:31:51,320 --> 00:31:54,440 Speaker 2: having a series of seizures for about fifteen minutes straight. 544 00:31:55,040 --> 00:31:58,440 Speaker 2: He was out cold, no pulse. They administered a shot 545 00:31:58,440 --> 00:32:02,120 Speaker 2: at Narcan CPR. They took him to Cedar Sinai. He 546 00:32:02,280 --> 00:32:06,240 Speaker 2: was pronounced dead at one fifty one a m Halloween morning. 547 00:32:06,880 --> 00:32:10,640 Speaker 2: Official cause of death an overdose of cocaine and heroin. 548 00:32:12,080 --> 00:32:14,920 Speaker 2: News of River's death hit the wires and the disappearing 549 00:32:15,040 --> 00:32:18,720 Speaker 2: started again. John Fruchante locked himself from the Houdini mansion 550 00:32:18,800 --> 00:32:22,000 Speaker 2: up the hill. Johnny deppskipped town, and the Viper Room 551 00:32:22,040 --> 00:32:24,400 Speaker 2: closed down for a week and became a makeshift shrine 552 00:32:24,400 --> 00:32:27,960 Speaker 2: to River's memory. Steve Lightfoot, an unemployed cook who drove 553 00:32:27,960 --> 00:32:30,760 Speaker 2: a van around town that read Stephen King shot John 554 00:32:30,840 --> 00:32:33,800 Speaker 2: Lennon see the photos that prove it, peddled a crackpot 555 00:32:33,800 --> 00:32:36,720 Speaker 2: theory that River was secretly murdered by the American government 556 00:32:36,760 --> 00:32:41,520 Speaker 2: for his crusades against animal cruelty. Years later, another particularly 557 00:32:41,600 --> 00:32:45,760 Speaker 2: explosive murder theory bombshell, was dropped by someone close to River. 558 00:32:46,440 --> 00:32:49,320 Speaker 2: Director William Reichart, who had worked with River on the 559 00:32:49,400 --> 00:32:51,840 Speaker 2: nineteen eighty eight film A Night in the Life of 560 00:32:51,920 --> 00:32:55,240 Speaker 2: Jimmy Reardon and at the time of River's death, was 561 00:32:55,240 --> 00:32:57,960 Speaker 2: preparing to work with him again on his upcoming version 562 00:32:58,000 --> 00:33:00,800 Speaker 2: of The Man in the Iron Mask, gave an interview 563 00:33:00,960 --> 00:33:05,720 Speaker 2: to writer Gavin Edwards in twenty thirteen. Edwards was speaking 564 00:33:05,760 --> 00:33:08,560 Speaker 2: to Reikart as research for his book about River, called 565 00:33:08,640 --> 00:33:12,480 Speaker 2: Last Night at the Viper Room. In that interview, Reichardt 566 00:33:12,480 --> 00:33:15,320 Speaker 2: claims that shortly after River entered the Viper Room and 567 00:33:15,360 --> 00:33:19,080 Speaker 2: immediately before he began to have convulsions, a friend of his, 568 00:33:19,200 --> 00:33:21,920 Speaker 2: a guitarist, stopped by his table and gave him a 569 00:33:21,920 --> 00:33:25,240 Speaker 2: cup and told him to drink it. Reichardt's story goes 570 00:33:25,240 --> 00:33:27,240 Speaker 2: that River did as he was told, but that he 571 00:33:27,280 --> 00:33:30,680 Speaker 2: had no clue that the cup contained a dissolved speedball 572 00:33:30,800 --> 00:33:34,400 Speaker 2: that's cocaine and heroin, and not just any speedball, but 573 00:33:34,480 --> 00:33:37,800 Speaker 2: one that was eight times a lethal dose. You can 574 00:33:37,840 --> 00:33:41,200 Speaker 2: easily go online and find many zealous defenders of this theory, 575 00:33:41,400 --> 00:33:45,280 Speaker 2: the theory that River Phoenix was actually killed, whether intentionally 576 00:33:45,400 --> 00:33:48,560 Speaker 2: or not, by someone that he knew. These theories from 577 00:33:48,560 --> 00:33:51,520 Speaker 2: William Reichardt and Stephen Lightfoot, regardless if you believe them 578 00:33:51,600 --> 00:33:53,320 Speaker 2: or not, regardless of whether or not they are real 579 00:33:53,400 --> 00:33:56,600 Speaker 2: or fake, they do do the same thing. They displaced 580 00:33:56,680 --> 00:33:59,920 Speaker 2: the pain and draw our focus instead to the scammed 581 00:34:00,120 --> 00:34:02,320 Speaker 2: and the shame of it all. And they also get 582 00:34:02,360 --> 00:34:05,640 Speaker 2: to a more profound truth, the truth that the most 583 00:34:05,640 --> 00:34:09,480 Speaker 2: important things are the hardest things to say. And sometimes 584 00:34:09,480 --> 00:34:12,759 Speaker 2: it's easier to mask grief behind a scandalous claim or 585 00:34:12,760 --> 00:34:15,080 Speaker 2: a makeshift sign on a white van than it is 586 00:34:15,120 --> 00:34:18,520 Speaker 2: to state what we really feel. That it sucks that 587 00:34:18,640 --> 00:34:21,200 Speaker 2: River Phoenix is no longer with us, and how do 588 00:34:21,280 --> 00:34:26,080 Speaker 2: you convey exactly what all that means? When we watch 589 00:34:26,080 --> 00:34:28,920 Speaker 2: as intoxicating Jaunt as a young Harrison Ford in the 590 00:34:28,960 --> 00:34:32,040 Speaker 2: opening scene of Indiana Jones in The Last Crusade, or 591 00:34:32,080 --> 00:34:34,440 Speaker 2: as nuanced comedic Turns and I Love You to Death 592 00:34:34,680 --> 00:34:38,239 Speaker 2: and the vastly underrated Sneakers, we all think the same thing. 593 00:34:39,280 --> 00:34:43,640 Speaker 2: Will miss him forever because River Phoenix ought to be here, 594 00:34:44,480 --> 00:34:49,280 Speaker 2: He ought to still be in Pictures. I'm Jake Brennan 595 00:34:50,000 --> 00:34:52,000 Speaker 2: in this This hollywood Land. 596 00:35:05,080 --> 00:35:08,160 Speaker 3: Hollywood Land was created by Years Truly and is produced 597 00:35:08,160 --> 00:35:12,040 Speaker 3: in partnership with Double Elvis. Follow like, rate, and review 598 00:35:12,040 --> 00:35:14,319 Speaker 3: hollywood Land wherever you get your podcasts, and get in 599 00:35:14,360 --> 00:35:17,680 Speaker 3: touch with us on social media at double Elvis. If 600 00:35:17,680 --> 00:35:19,920 Speaker 3: you like Hollywoodland, check out my other show, the award 601 00:35:19,920 --> 00:35:22,799 Speaker 3: winning Disgraceland, which looks at the world of music through 602 00:35:22,800 --> 00:35:23,480 Speaker 3: the lens. 603 00:35:23,200 --> 00:35:25,920 Speaker 2: Of true crime. Just search for Disgraceland or wherever you 604 00:35:25,920 --> 00:35:33,799 Speaker 2: get your podcasts. Good Here's a lat