When Kris Kristofferson refused the lead in Two Lane Blacktop, he did a smart thing: he stayed out of a bad movie. Of course that movie was popular and would have given Kristofferson exposure; then again it didn’t do much for James Taylor’s cinematic career, or Dennis Wilson’s, either. How come Kris knew better than to take part? “I didn’t know shit about cars,” he said.

He also had other options. One was a script called “The Dealer” - more familiar ground, he admitted. UCLA film student Bill Nolan, the writer, based the story on his own experience and those of a fellow student, a marijuana dealer. Columbia Pictures liked it, bought it, said Nolan could direct it, called it Cisco Pike, and according to Paul Hemphill in the New York Times, negotiated Kris Kristofferson’s contract at Janis Joplin’s wake.