The Hot Spot ***½ (1990, Don Johnson, Virginia Madsen, Jennifer Connelly, Jerry Hardin) – Classic Movie Review 8,214

Dennis Hopper’s sultry, steamy 1990 neo noir thriller The Hot Spot stars Don Johnson as a drifter who takes a job as a car salesman, and is attracted to a loan-office woman (Jennifer Connelly), but falls into the web of the owner’s wife (Virginia Madsen).

‘There are only two things to do in this small town. One is watching TV.’

Director Dennis Hopper’s sultry, steamy and scorching 1990 erotic, violent neo noir thriller The Hot Spot stars a well-cast Don Johnson as Harry Madox, an amoral drifter who takes a job as a car salesman, and is attracted to a young loan-office woman Gloria Harper (Jennifer Connelly), but falls into the web of the owner (Jerry Hardin)’s wife Dolly Harshaw (Virginia Madsen). Steamy sex, arson, robbery and murder follow.

Full-throttle performances, an intriguing story (based on the 1953 novel Hell Hath No Fury by Charles Williams), and Hopper’s success in conjuring up small-town passions easily make up for the slack pacing at the start and the inordinate length of the running time of 130 minutes.

The Hot Spot is an involving, enjoyable return to the film noir, in the vein of The Postman Always Rings Twice, rough edges and all. It was underrated by critics and under-patronised by audiences. It cost $13,000,000 and took only $1,293,976 at the US box office, adding to the troubles of Orion Pictures.

The notably outstanding soundtrack for the film is composed by Jack Nitzsche and features an original collaboration between John Lee Hooker, Miles Davis, Taj Mahal, Tim Drummond, drummer Earl Palmer, and Roy Rogers. Jazz trumpeter Miles Davis and blues guitarist John Lee Hooker play TOGETHER on the soundtrack.

The Texas location filming is another feather in the film’s cap, shot during what Hopper called the ‘hottest, steamiest weather you could imagine’. The main Texas locations are in Taylor, especially its iconic downtown area, in and around Austin, and in Luling. The swimming scenes were filmed at the Hamilton Pool Preserve west of Austin.

Charles Williams wrote a screenplay of his own novel with Nona Tyson in 1962, intended for Robert Mitchum to star. Dennis Hopper found the screenplay many years later and updated it, describing it as ‘Last Tango in Texas, real hot, steamy stuff’.

The Hot Spot is directed by Dennis Hopper, runs 130 minutes, is made by Orion Pictures, is released by Orion Pictures (US) and Rank Film Distributors (UK), is written by Charles Williams and Nona Tyson, based on the novel by Charles Williams, is shot by Ueli Steiger, is produced by Paul Lewis (unit production manager), is scored by Jack Nitzsche, and is designed by Cary White.

Also in the cast are Charles Martin Smith, William Sadler, Barry Corbin, Leon Rippy, Jack Nance, Virgil Frye, John Hawker, Debra Cole and George Haynes.

It premiered at the 1990 Toronto International Film Festival on September 8, 1990, and was released in the US on October 12, 1990.

It was released at the height of Johnson’s popularity as he was coming off his TV show Miami Vice (1984–1990), in which he played Detective James Crockett for 111 episodes.

The dialogue referred to in the tagline runs:

Dolly Harshaw: ‘There’s only two things to do in this town. You got a TV?’

Harry Madox: ‘Nope.’

Dolly Harshaw: ‘Well then, you’re down to one. Lotsa luck!’

UK cinema and video versions were cut by the BBFC by five seconds to remove a shot showing the building of an incendiary device. The UK and US 2003 DVD release is the same cut print.

Hopper said Madsen ‘was very embarrassed’ by the amount of her on-screen nudity. A bedroom scene called for Madsen to appear naked but she decided to put on a negligée. Madsen was body doubled in part of the skinny-dipping scene by Heather Cruikshank, who was working in a strip club.

Johnson recalled: ‘Mike Figgis had written a script called The Hot Spot, and it was a heist movie. Three days before we started shooting, Dennis Hopper came to all of us, he called a meeting on a Sunday, and he said, “Okay, we’re not making that script. We’re making this one.” And he passed a script around the table that had been written for Robert Mitchum in the Sixties. And that was the movie that we ended up making.’

Johnson found Hopper’s approach to film-making ‘a little disappointing’. Hopper said of Johnson: ‘He wasn’t that bad.’

The cast

The cast are Don Johnson as Harry Madox, Virginia Madsen as Dolly Harshaw, Jennifer Connelly as Gloria Harper, Debra Cole as Irene Davey, Jerry Hardin as George Harshaw, William Sadler as Frank Sutton, Charles Martin Smith as Lon Gulick, Barry Corbin as the Sheriff, Leon Rippy as Deputy Tate, Jack Nance as Julian Ward, Virgil Frye as Deputy Buck, John Hawker, Debra Cole and George Haynes.

Miles Davis died a year after the film was released, on 28 September 1991, aged 65.