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Wild in the Streets (1968) More at IMDbPro »

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16 out of 18 people found the following comment useful :-
Groovy Flashback...LSD not Required, 2 February 2005

Author: mwbubelah (mwbubelah@comcast.net) from California

Since I was only in fifth grade at the time of this film's release in 1968, I did not have the unmitigated joy of seeing this on the big screen. In fact, I had only heard rumors of the film's existence until I caught it tonight on one of the Starz channels. (Thank the movie gods for them!) And despite the dated but still delicious grooviness of the then-teen flick, there are shades of relevance today.

The seemingly ridiculous premise: an unbelievably handsome 22-year-old millionaire singing idol (Christopher Jones)--who can make his own LSD!--helps a congressman (Hal Halbrook) become senator on the platform of lowering the voting age to 15, through sheer charisma gathers thousands of youths to rally in both L.A. and D.C., eventually wins the office of U.S. President as a Republican (!) and then forces anyone over 30 into a "paradise camp" to be forever happy on LSD so that they are incapable of causing any more trouble.

To many teens at the time (and even now, I suppose), this idea was not all that ridiculous. The "establishment" was greatly concerned over the growing influence of the babyboomers, who made up over half of the population at that time, and the young people knew it. This film's message of hope for peace and love by removing "old school" approaches to politics, while also offering a great song (which actually hit the charts), attractive actors in up-to-the-minute costumes and a higher-than-usual quality of filming, appealed to the rebellious nature of youth and their demands for a cool movie that they could relate to but that would simultaneously freak out their parents. It made a LOT of money for its day and genre.

The film opens with the rebel-protagonist quickly growing up with overbearing mom Shelley Winters, who chews up scenery like nobody's business. She has hilarious bits throughout the film, perhaps most notably after her acceptance of the "new order" as she extols the merits of LSD therapy! James Dean look-alike Jones intoxicates us with his gorgeous looks and charm, whether singing with his band in clubs or convincing us to go along with his outlandish hope for 14-year-olds to get the vote, since his own businessman/guitarist is 15!

Other highlights of the cast include Holbrook's full-on (dare we say it, mature?) dramatic acting, which contrasts greatly with the laid-back, free-spirit antics of the other young stars of the film, especially Richard Pryor, who assists in spiking the Washington D.C. water supply with LSD! Ed Begley has a couple memorable scenes as a stereotypically crabby and uncooperative senator who eventually finds drug-induced bliss at the over-30 camp, and Army Archie and Dick Clark (!) have cameos. Post-election ugliness and the ending scene with a future child star add ridiculous but poignant twists.

Today, many will see the film as over-the-top and rather campy, a weird period piece from the era of activism but also of often really bad movies. However, those old enough to have been around then will remember not just the drugs and far-out clothes but the counter-culture rumblings of the late 60s. True, this is not high art and certainly not cerebral. But far from being a throw-away film, "Wild In the Streets" remains a funny examination of a time when the demands for social change brought about extremes in actions. The posters on the message boards for this site who are searching for copies of this time capsule gem attest to its lasting appeal.

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9 out of 10 people found the following comment useful :-
The Sixties weren't ALL peace and love, baby, 25 September 2002

Author: Rod Morgan from DC

Which came first, Robert Thom's Esquire novella or his screenplay? Doesn't matter - the premise of "the youth vote" (as if it were monolithic, a consistent mistake during the Sixties) working to overthrow the establishment and creating a fully functional dystopia was a winner from the first word. Immaculately filmed despite the shoestring budget and remarkably well-acted by an amazing cast, the New York Times referred to it as the only film that year to "get it" in terms of the impact of youth culture. Academy award nomination for editing, largely from clipping what appears to be Monterey Pop footage and overlaying our presidential candidate, Max Frost. A delight then, a delight now. Nothing can change the shape of things to come.

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8 out of 9 people found the following comment useful :-
This Film is A Time Warp Back to the 1960's., 10 March 2006

Author: Edward Lozzi (epl@lozzipr.com) from United States

This film is a time warp of Los Angeles and the Sunset Strip in the 1960's. At first sigthing on the FLIX Channel I thought the actor was James Dean. Uncanny resemblance.

Richard Pryor as the drummer in a rock band getting high on LSD with topless white chicks must of been mind blowing for teenagers then. I missed this film totally in 1968. My parents probably made sure of it.

To see Daily Variety columnist Army Archerd, and the greatest lawyer in the nation at that time, Melvin Belli, playing themselves in a film with a whacked out Shelly Winters was just amazing.

The real night time Sunset Strip cruising footage of 1968 was really "far-out man".

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4 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
Saw it on the Big Screen, just saw it again., 12 September 2006

Author: TR-28 from Washington State

When this came out in 1968 I was 17. It made a huge impression on me then. What a wild and strange movie. I was not really ready for this movie but I liked it just the same. When Max said 14 or fight, I believed him. Of course at 17 I couldn't vote but I was facing 18 and at that time the Vietnam draft. Scary times indeed. Just the other night it was on TMC and I recorded it. I don't think I've seen it anywhere since. It was fun to watch it again, Shelly Winters looked really young, Ed Begley was perfect as the stoned out old Senator and Christopher Jones, going from rock star to politician to President and then to "old guy" played the part to a tee. The only thing about this movie I didn't care for was that it type casted Jones and he really didn't do much after this movie.

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5 out of 6 people found the following comment useful :-
Really radically far-out!!!!, 9 September 1999

Author: Ms. V from Sacramento, CA

Very much in and of its time. But outrageously good nonetheless. I truly enjoyed the acting by everybody involved--particularly Christopher Jones, Shelley Winters, Diane Varsi, Ed Begley, Sr., Hal Holbrook AND Richard Pryor.

Also a significant key to the film was the music of the legendary songwriting duo of Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil, featuring what was, in my estimation, very unsung (excuse the pun) gems which rank right up with ALL their

classics. Just as the recent political satire, "Bulworth", spoke to its times (which are still very much current, by the way), this movie does exactly the same thing.

The clear-cut divisions of generationalism are clearly conspicuous in this film. This movie captured the spirited groove of the late '60s when youth was roaring loudly and taking a stand against the establishment.

For anyone looking for a outrageous take of some of the events of the time, coupled with a hard, aching, laugh-out-loud reaction, this is as great a place as any to go.

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8 out of 13 people found the following comment useful :-
unintentionally funny and moronic social satire, 12 June 2005

Author: planktonrules from Bradenton, Florida

When this movie came out in 1968, it made a bit of a stir. However, almost forty years later, it just looks incredibly dated and stupid BUT unintentionally funny as well! So for comedic value, you may want to give it a watch.

Max Frost is a very narcissistic rock star with a MASSIVE following among the youth. So popular, in fact, that he is able to mobilize the kids of America to go on strike until the voting age is lowered and they get a say in government (yeah, man--right on!). Unfortunately, his plan works too well and all the squares in Washington are sent packing and the good old US of A is now run by Frost and his hippie friends, man! So naturally, they use this power to send all the squares (aka, adults) to concentration camps and the kids run amok! Things are not that groovy, though, as the youngest members of society are left to fend for themselves and, within them, dissatisfaction begins to build and then the movie ends.

This is all meant to be some sort of allegory designed to warn us about "youth run wild". Instead of a serious message, though, it just seems overblown, ponderous and dopey,...as well as funny from time to time.

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2 out of 2 people found the following comment useful :-
youthful politics, 12 May 2005

Author: mgrindberg from Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico

A film with the juvenile concept of the young people taking over the country takes the idea to some amusing conclusions. The aging members of the U. S. Senate are trying to convene session while stoned on LSD, and the center of the film, Max Frost, who becomes a rock star and President, finally sees his chance to get even with his domineering mother played by Shelley Winters. While it doesn't do much in its stereotyped portrayal of the 60's counter-culture, going a mile wide of any attempt at nuance or depth, it has a lot of energy and creativity. Directed by Barry Shear, who in the early 70's made ACROSS 110TH STREET.

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2 out of 2 people found the following comment useful :-
Good, but a little too cruel, 3 October 2001

Author: Wayne Malin (wwaayynnee51@hotmail.com) from United States

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

**SPOILERS AHEAD**

Fantasy about a 24 year old multimillionaire Max (Christopher Jones) getting the voting age lowered to 14, becoming president and putting away anyone over the age of 30 in concentration camps and giving them daily doses of LSD. Believe it or not, this was taken seriously by some critics when it came out! C'mon!!! The plot is ridiculous!

I like it on a comedy level, but the movie has some very cruel moments. A little boy is hit and killed by a car (with long views of his bloody body); there's constant drug abuse treated as cute; older people are forced into taking drugs; a man hangs himself and the concentration camp plot is really repulsive. Also, almost all the characters are unlikable--especially the teenagers. That's kind of strange considering this is geared to a teen audience (who did like it).

I find it fun. The plot moves quickly, the songs are surprisingly good and there's some imaginative use of split screen. As for the acting--Shelley Winters is extremely annoying as Maxs' mother. She's not funny--just shrill. Diane Varsi is constantly drugged out as one of Max's girlfriends but she's very funny--her speech in front of Congress is hilarious. And Christopher Jones--he's very handsome and can sing really good, but has zero charisma and is a lousy actor. He comes across as a spoiled brat--I wanted to take him over my knee and spank him! Also he should not do shirtless scenes when his body is that out of shape.

Still, I enjoy it. As Leonard Maltin said, it's enjoyable on a non-think level. Recommended.

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3 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
Satire or Prophecy? WHO CAN TELL???, 11 January 2006

Author: Putzberger from Chicago IL

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

The plot of this movie is absurd, Disney-on-acid: a rock star (who sounds a lot more like a 1965 Mitch Ryder wannabe than a 1968 Cream wannabe, i.e. this film was dated from the start) connives his way to the presidency. And certain elements of the flick are just as goofy as the plot: the early scenes of Max Frost's childhood, including Shelley Winters interrupting two necking preteens by screaming "DIRTY DIRTY BOY AND A DIRTY DIRTY GIRL!!" certainly seem satirical in intent, and I don't think we're supposed it take in seriously when Max Frost belts (Ryder-style again instead of adopting the fey, faux-British accent more popular in '68): "come on and vote for Sally LeRoy! She's old enough for the Congress, boy!!" But if you watch closely, there's some nasty stuff here: massacres, suicide and forced internment, none of it presented with a light touch. So are we supposed to identify with rebel Christopher Jones (jinkies, why did he disappear so quickly after this masterpiece?), or learn the bitter lessons of appeasement from the harsh fates of poor Shelley Winters (her last scene really is horrifying) and Hal Holbrook (a Kennedyesque [!] Senator betrayed by his more liberal allies [!!] - was this movie written before or after Bobby was shot?)? I think the movie is trying to have it both ways -- pandering to the youth market by supposedly extolling revolution while pandering to the "straights" by scaring the bejesus out of them with a bunch of ruthless, power-hungry hippies. Like a lot of trash, this movie makes for better sociology than art. But it's entertaining in an idiotic way (or maybe it's idiotic in an entertaining way) and there are tons of guilty pleasures here: beautiful Diane Varsi, captured halfway down her slide from "Peyton Place" stardom to oblivion; Richard Pryor, captured halfway up his climb from Bill Cosby-style polite token to foul-mouthed, confrontational genius; Congress on acid; and "Fourteen or Fight," the only protest song in history that sounds like it was inspired by the Mitch Miller show. Not a serious film, but somehow an important one.

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1 out of 1 people found the following comment useful :-
One wild, psychedelic ride, 16 February 2001
Author: thomandybish from Weaverville, NC

This film is a fascinating time capsule of late sixties fashions, music, and mindsets, as essential to an understanding to the culture of the times as BLOW-UP and BEDAZZLED. Like the decade itself, the film is funny, political, satiric, irreverent, colorful and groovy. No really. The movie involves Max Flatow, an angry teen who blows up his parent's car and runs away from his push-over father and clinging mother to become a rock star and multi-millionaire. Now flanked by a group of hangers-on/band members that include a washed-up child star-turned-druggie(Diane Varsi), a one-handed horn player(Larry Bishop), a gay business manager(Kevin Coughlin), a fourteen-year old Japanese typewriter heiress, and black militant drummer(Richard Pryor!), Max Frost, as he is now known, endorses a self-serving young senatorial candidate(Hal Holbrook, in a role that now undoubtably makes him cringe)hoping to court young voters. But Max has his own agenda, using the newly-elected senator to have Varsi elected to Congress and propose legislation that the voting age be lowered to 14!Max laces the Washington water supply with LSD, then he and his cronies enlist teenagers to escort the stoned Congressmen to the voting booths. With the voting age lowered, Max gets himself elected President and outlaws anyone over 30, sentencing them to concentration camps where they're kept perpetually stoned on LSD.

The whole premise belies the generational tensions that laid just below the surface of everyday life in the late sixties. What looks like far-fetched camp now was very much a concern to the older people who felt overwhelmed by the predominant youth culture of the time. Still, it is a fun romp. The musical sequences are eye-popping precursors to MTV, with psychedelic light displays and cutting edge(for 1968)graphics, and the camera angles and editing are top-drawer(the film was nominated for an Oscar for editing). Yet the film does have a good deal of camp, primarily in Shelley Winters, out of control as Max's overbearing mother. Winters was well into the insane/conniving/perverted mother stage of her career(starting with LOLITA and ending with WHO SLEW AUNTIE ROO)and she hits her stride here: she not only chomps the scenery but gobbles it down and goes for seconds! Everyone has a favorite scene: Winters commandeering the wheel of Max's Rolls and rolling the car, killing a small boy in the process; Winters in a long blonde wig and hippie get-up, extolling the virtures of LSD therapy; Winters(about five minutes after the last scene)in a pill box hat, suit, and finger waves haughtily telling a reporter about her recent appointment as U.S. Ambassador to England(?!); and my personal fave, with Winters, disheveled and whacked out on LSD, wearing a hospital gown and scaling a chain-link fence as she screams, "FEATHERS! I MUST HAVE FEATHERS!!" Whatthehell??

The movie was on video at one point, but may be out of print. AIP, that teen fare sausage factory, put this one out, and it supposedly got a bigger budget that their average flicks. It also made quite a bit of money. A true cult classic, and, did you know, the theme song, "Shapes Of Things To Come" was released as a single credited to Max Frost and the Troopers? It charted at #22 in 1968!

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