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.

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Plot Keywords:

hare krishna | runaway | deaf | psychedelic | hippie | 

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Taglines:

These are the PLEASURE LOVERS! They'll ask for a dime with hungry eyes... but they'll give you love-- for NOTHING!

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

6 March 1968 (USA)

Also Known As:

Revolt of the Flower People

Filming Locations:

1466 Haight Street, San Francisco, 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

Director Richard Rush's original version ran 101 minutes, but this was cut to 82 minutes by Dick Clark for unknown reasons. The film was not restored to its original running time until a 2015 DVD release.

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Goofs

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

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Quotes

Ben: I guess he was still a little high, Stoney.
Stoney: You okay, Elwood?
Elwood: Whew! Man, beautiful! Really beautiful! You should've seen it. I was - I was this frog - and a princess kissed me. And all hell broke loose!

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Alternate Versions

The UK cinema version was unreleased until 1972 and then cut by the BBFC to heavily edit the yard fight between the workmen and the hippies. All later video and DVD releases were fully uncut.

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Connections

Referenced in Birth of the Living Dead (2013)

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Soundtracks

Ashbury Wednesday
Rusty Young, Malcolm Mitchell, Joe E Neddo, George Grantham
recorded by The Boenzee Cryque

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