The Love-Ins (1967)

A college professor resigns in protest to the dismissal of student underground newspaper workers and later joins their "hippie movement" and becomes their "Messiah."

Director:

Arthur Dreifuss

Writers:

Hal Collins, Arthur Dreifuss

Stars:

Richard Todd, James MacArthur, Susan Oliver

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Richard Todd	...	Dr. Jonathan Barnett
James MacArthur	...	Larry Osborne
Susan Oliver	...	Patricia Cross
Mark Goddard	...	Elliott
Carol Booth	...	Harriet Henning
Marc Cavell	...	Mario
Janee Michelle	...	Lamelle
Ronnie Eckstine	...	Bobby
Michael Evans	...	Rev. Spencer
Hortense Petra	...	Mrs. Sacaccio
Jimmy Lloyd	...	Mr. Henning
Mario Roccuzzo	...	Hippie on LSD
Joe Pyne	...	Himself
Donnie Brooks	...	Specialty Act
The Chocolate Watchband	...	Themselves (as The Chocolate Watchband)

Storyline

It's the 60s and every "love child" is in search of a guru to follow and lead them to enlightenment! A group of young hippies follows a much older man and soon he turns himself into their "guru" leading them astray and having his way with the young women in his "flock".

---

Taglines:

'THE LOVE-INS' IS FOR HIP EXPLOITATION!

---

Genres:

Drama

---

Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

26 July 1967 (USA)

Also Known As:

Loucos Sonhos Dourados

Filming Locations:

San Francisco, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Four-Leaf Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

91 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Pathécolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Quotes

Dr. Jonathan Barnett: LSD opens up new vistas and experiences to those who take it. And I believe that every healthy person should try it!

User Reviews

A blip on the counterculture screen

"The Hippies and Diggers Are Here!!" screamed the poster ads for "The Love-Ins" and indeed they were in this psychedelic explosion from 1967. Strangely enough, this exploitation patchouli exercise in completely phony hipness was released by Columbia Pictures and not American International. Obvious backlot sets stand in for San Francisco while a thinly veiled version of the Timothy Leary story plays itself out. Richard Todd takes the guru role, championed by utterly nonsensical non-hippies James "book em Dano" MacArthur and Susan Oliver.

For all it's screaming psychedelic imagery, this looks about as cheap as it gets and comes across like a TV sitcom. Hilarious counterculture tidbits float in the atmosphere, like the business with bananas and lettuce: "We're gonna smoke the peels and drink the green gravy!!" Uh huh. That'll get you really high, or sick, whichever comes first. Guru Todd forms a cult through MacArthur and Oliver's underground paper, falls prey to fame and drug dealer Mark Goddard before he got Lost in Space. Susan Oliver has white dynel hair, wears lots of peace symbols, and the most non-biogradable plastic Mod hat in movie history, She also gets slipped LSD and trips out, thinking she's Alice in Wonderland. The dirty underbelly of hippie life is exposed, the sham guru is disposed of and everyone else who hasn't been put in a mental institution for taking bad trips or in jail for murder continue to toot flutes in the park and paint "LOVE" on anything that doesn't move.

Aren't you glad you didn't live in the 60s? Five stars for being hilarious and excruciating at the same time. I was left wondering if Le Trippe was still in business because I lost my love beads at the love-in.