Hair (1979)

Director:

Milos Forman

Writers:

Gerome Ragni (musical book) and
James Rado (musical book) ...

Release Date:

12 July 1979 (West Germany)

Genre:

Musical | Comedy | Drama

Tagline:

Let the sun shine in! [USA theatrical]

Plot:

Claude leaves the family ranch in Oklahoma for New York where he is rapidly indoctrinated into the youth subculture and subsequently drafted.

Plot Keywords:

New York City | Vietnam War | Friendship | Jail | Military Cemetery

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Golden Globes. Another 2 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

John Savage	...	Claude Hooper Bukowski
Treat Williams	...	George Berger
Beverly D'Angelo	...	Sheila Franklin
Annie Golden	...	Jeannie Ryan
Dorsey Wright	...	Lafayette aka Hud
Don Dacus	...	Woof
Cheryl Barnes	...	Hud's Fiancee
Richard Bright	...	Fenton
Nicholas Ray	...	The General
Charlotte Rae	...	Lady in Pink
Miles Chapin	...	Steve Franklin
Fern Tailer	...	Sheila's Mother
Charles Denny	...	Sheila's Father
Herman Meckler	...	Sheila's Uncle
Agness Breen	...	Sheila's Aunt

Runtime:

121 min

Country:

USA | West Germany

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) | Dolby (35 mm prints)

Certification:

Singapore:NC-16 | Brazil:16 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Chile:14 | Finland:K-12 | Norway:12 | Sweden:7 | UK:15 | USA:PG | West Germany:6 | Netherlands:AL

Filming Locations:

Bandshell, Central Park, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

CIP Filmproduktion GmbH

Trivia:

The words in the closing number, entitled 'The Flesh Failures', contain lines from 'William Shakespeare''s Romeo and Juliet. The words come from Romeo's death scene before drinking the poison. Phrases such as 'Eyes, Look your Last, Arms take your last embrace' and 'The lips, oh you the doors, of breath, sealed with a righteous kiss' are all from Romeo's final monologue.

Goofs:

Miscellaneous: While everyone (male) is dancing in jail, extra goes to jump at fence/bars and misses terribly.

Quotes:

'Aquarius' soloist: [In song] When the moon is in the seventh house and Jupiter aligns with Mars, then peace will guide the planet and love will steer the stars. This is the dawning of the age of Aquarius.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Saturday Night Live: Buck Henry/Bette Midler (#4.20)" (1979)

Soundtrack:

Hashish

"You know I'm hung up on you."

Yes, HAIR came out in the late 70's. But please don't call it a "disco-era" musical; there isn't a single thing in it that would suggest any detraction from its 1968 period. Judge it on its own merit; too often, a movie is compared to its stage roots and is inevitably crucified. As it is, the film plays out like one long, fantasy trip (whether that trip is substance-enhanced or not is your call)- starting with the "Aquarius" sequence and continuing on to the marvelous set pieces for "Manchester England," "Ain't Got No," "I Got Life," and best of all, the "Electric Blues"/"Hare Krishna" fantasy which shows lovers John Savage and Beverly D'Angelo literally flying through their own wedding ceremony. (BTW, the woman singing "Aquarius" in the film's opening is not Melba Moore, but Ren Woods- a wonderful singer-actress seen a lot on TV in the 70's, and star of the Los Angeles production of "The Wiz.") The opening Twyla Tharp corps-de-ballet shot right on the Central Park grounds- with Woods' solo in a dizzying 360 camera pan- is an awesome start to a rock-infested musical. Ms. Moore (who performed in the original Broadway HAIR) appears later in the film singing "3-5-0-0" with Ronnie Dyson in the war protest scene shot in Washington, DC. And there are moments- like the "Walking In Space" basic training sequence or the simple close-up on Cheryl Barnes's torch solo "Easy To Be Hard-" which are just plain astonishing.