Wild in the Streets (1968)

Director:

Barry Shear

Writers:

Robert Thom (screenplay)
Robert Thom (story)

Release Date:

29 May 1968 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Horror | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

If you're thirty, you're through!

Plot:

Max Flatow is a precocious, social miscreant who has a way with home-made explosives. When he tires of these...

Plot Keywords:

LSD | Political | Teen | Mother Son Relationship | Generation Gap

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Shelley Winters	...	Mrs. Daphne Flatow
Christopher Jones	...	Max Jacob 'Frost' Flatow Jr.
Diane Varsi	...	Sally LeRoy
Hal Holbrook	...	Sen. Johnny Fergus
Millie Perkins	...	Mary Fergus
Richard Pryor	...	Stanley X
Bert Freed	...	Max Jacob Flatow Sr.
Kevin Coughlin	...	Billy Cage
Larry Bishop	...	The Hook, Abraham
Michael Margotta	...	Jimmy Fergus
Ed Begley	...	Sen. Allbright
Salli Sachse	...	Hippie mother
Kellie Flanagan	...	Young Mary Fergus
Don Wyndham	...	Joseph Fergus
May Ishihara	...	Fuji Elly

MPAA:

Rated R for drug content. (2003 re-rating)

Runtime:

94 min | West Germany:91 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-12 (cut) (1970) (re-rating) | Finland:K-16 (cut) (1969) (original rating) | Sweden:15 | USA:Approved | USA:GP (re-rating) (1971) | USA:R (re-rating) (1968) | USA:R (re-rating) (2003) | West Germany:16

Company:

American International Pictures (AIP)

Trivia:

American International Pictures originally offered the role of Max Frost to noted folk singer-songwriter Phil Ochs, who was known at the time to want to branch out into film work. However, after reading the screenplay, Ochs rejected it, stating the story presented the youth counterculture of the 1960s in a badly distorted light.

Quotes:

Stanley X: [cupping his hand toward Allbright's ear, as they discuss lowering the voting age] They let th' OLD FOLKS in th' OLD FOLKS HOME vote!

Movie Connections:

Featured in Brady Bunch Home Movies (1995) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Shelley In Camp

The Sixties weren't ALL peace and love, baby

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.