Psych-Out (1968)

A deaf runaway arrives in San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury hippie district looking for her missing brother.

Director:

Richard Rush

Writers:

E. Hunter Willett (screenplay), Betty Ulius (screenplay),

Stars:

Susan Strasberg, Dean Stockwell, Jack Nicholson

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Susan Strasberg	...	Jenny Davis
Dean Stockwell	...	Dave
Jack Nicholson	...	Stoney
Bruce Dern	...	Steve Davis
Adam Roarke	...	Ben
Max Julien	...	Elwood
Henry Jaglom	...	Warren
Linda Gaye Scott	...	Lynn (as Linda G. Scott)
Mireille Machu	...	Pandora (as I.J. Jefferson)
Tommy Flanders	...	Wesley
Ken Scott	...	Preacher
Garry Marshall	...	Plainclothesman (as Gary Marshall)
Geoffrey Stevens	...	Greg
Susan Bushman	...	Little Girl
John 'Bud' Cardos	...	Thug (as John Cardos)

Storyline

Jenny, a deaf runaway who has just arrived in San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury district to find her long-lost brother, a mysterious bearded sculptor known around town as The Seeker. She falls in with a psychedelic band, Mumblin' Jim, whose members include Stoney, Ben, and Elwood. They hide her from the fuzz in their crash pad, a Victorian house crowded with love beads and necking couples. Mumblin' Jim's truth-seeking friend Dave considers the band's pursuit of success "playing games," but he agrees to help Jennie anyway.

---

Plot Keywords:

deaf | runaway | hippie | psychedelic | criminal | 

---

Taglines:

Taste a Moment of Madness...Listen to the Sound of Purple

---

Genres:

Drama | Music | Thriller

---

Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

6 March 1968 (USA)

Also Known As:

Love on Haight

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$200,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Dick Clark Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

101 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Pathécolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The movie was meant to perform the same function in relation to The Trip. Jack Nicholson had written a script that director Richard Rush thought was too "experimental" for mainstream cinema, so the concept of a 'youth" film based in San Francisco and dealing with flower power and drugs was taken over by other writers and Nicholson did not eventually receive a screen credit for his work, although he took what was essentially the male lead in the picture. But Nicholson wrote the part of Stoney for himself as part of the package.

---

Goofs

During the Strawberry Alarm Clock's "Rainy Day Mushroom Pillow" song, the lead guitarist's guitar changes halfway through the song.

---

Quotes

Stoney: C'mon, man! Warren's freakin' out at the gallery!

---

Connections

Edited into Love & Haight (2003)

---

Soundtracks

"The Pretty Song From Psych-Out"
The Strawberry Alarm Clock
Performed by The Strawberry Alarm Clock

User Reviews

The Seeds cameo was too short

Most everything people have already said about this movie is how I think about it, too. However, I would like to say for the Seeds fans out there that might try to see the film so they can see the Seeds footage that it's way too brief. I love the Seeds and I wanted desperately to see some closeups of the guys in action. Maybe see some good dancing by Sky or even get a good group shot. I was pretty disappointed to see Sky rocking out to some bad synchronizing on part of the audio engineers. It makes him look like he has no sense of rhythm! And you only get to see him for half seconds at a time. And Daryl Hooper (organist) isn't even shown when the band plays! It spends more time showing Jan Savage's fingers playing guitar than it spends on the any other Seeds shot. Quite a disappointment, especially since there is hardly any footage of this amazing band anywhere. Aside from that, the Strawberry Alarm Clock get great coverage, which is nice.

The plot of the movie is really entertaining as well. But I wonder, why didn't Jenny talk like a deaf person? I guess it's because you're led to believe she really isn't deaf.

Either way, it's a good movie with some good tripping scenes and cool clothes and lines: "Why are you dancing alone?" "I'm not, I'm dancing with everybody!" yikes! that's heavy! haha