Wild in the Streets (1968)

A young man gains significant political influence as the leader of a counterculture rock band with his rallying cry of voting rights for teenagers.

Director:

Barry Shear

Writer:

Robert Thom

Stars:

Christopher Jones, Shelley Winters, Diane Varsi

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 1 win & 2 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Shelley Winters	...	Daphne Flatow
Christopher Jones	...	Max Frost
Diane Varsi	...	Sally LeRoy
Hal Holbrook	...	Senator Johnny Fergus
Millie Perkins	...	Mary Fergus
Richard Pryor	...	Stanley X
Bert Freed	...	Max Jacob Flatow, Sr.
Kevin Coughlin	...	Billy Cage
Larry Bishop	...	The Hook
May Ishihara	...	Fuji Elly
Salli Sachse	...	Hippie Mother
Kellie Flanagan	...	Mary Fergus
Don Wyndham	...	Joseph Fergus
Michael Margotta	...	Jimmy Fergus
Ed Begley	...	Senator Amos Allbright

Storyline

Wealthy twenty-two year old Max Frost - born Max Jacob Flatow, Jr. - is a rock music superstar, he a rock music franchise unto himself. He has cut ties with his parents, especially due to the control wielded by his overbearing mother, Daphne Flatow, that control against which he rebelled and is still rebelling in the form of having an entourage solely of young people, who he believes knows better than people even a few years older than them. Age-wise, the senior member of his entourage is his acid-dropping girlfriend, former child star Sally LeRoy, age twenty-four, the junior member being fifteen year old Yale law graduate Billy Cage, his business advisor and his band's guitarist. Max decides to endorse thirty-seven year old Congressman Johnny Fergus, running on the Democratic ticket for a California senate seat, as one of Johnny's platform policies is to lower the voting age to eighteen. Johnny happily accepts that endorsement because of Max's power over young people, whose votes ...

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Plot Keywords:

right hand man | hook handed trumpeter | trumpeter | attorney | drummer | 

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Taglines:

This is the story of Max Frost, 24 years old...President of the United States...who created the world in his own image. To him, 30 is over the hill. 52% of the nation is under 25...and they've got the power. That's how he became President...it's perhaps the most unusual motion picture you will ever see!

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Music

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for drug content

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film takes place from 1958 to 1969.

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Goofs

When Jimmy Fergus meets his Senator father, he states "and when that special water comes in...". The decision to put LSD in the water supply is made in the scene following during Max's War Council so Jimmy's scene with his father was edited out of sync.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Mrs. Daphne Flatow: I don't want to have a baby. I never wanted a baby. My mother said, I'm gonna die if I have a baby.
Max Jacob Flatow, Sr.: Come on, please, come to bed.
Mrs. Daphne Flatow: No!
Max Jacob Flatow, Sr.: I won't do anything! I promise you. I won't do a thing.
Mrs. Daphne Flatow: If it's a boy, I'll die. I'll just die.

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Connections

Referenced in Jobriath A.D. (2012)

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Soundtracks

Listen To the Music
Written by Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil
Performed by The Second Time

User Reviews

is it wrong to read this (if only in retrospect) as a jaded satire on youth culture and politics?

I was curious to read some reviews of Wild in the Streets from when it was released (i.e. Ebert's) to get an idea of what the movie was thought of at the time. There was a good line that nails what is probably at the core of the film, which is "the fascist potential of pop music," but it can be taken a step further to what the fascistic potential is of anyone who appeals to a section of the culture that can be galvanized. The movie wasn't well received- it was, granted, an AIP picture dumped on the masses as a hippie exploitation flick along the likes of Psych-Out- but now in looking back I wonder if the writer, Robert Thom (also responsible for the cult classic Death Race 2000) and director Barry Shear (mostly a TV director) were much ahead of their own audience. It skewers the old and politicians, yes, but it also skewers pop music and LSD and hedonism and even communism to a certain extent. It's a fun, absurdist nightmare 'trip' on what would happen if the "kids" took over, which leads eventually to the question: what happens when they're too old.

Four sentence summary: Christopher Jones plays Max Frost, a pop star who had one of those shaky childhoods that led to a lot of acid and blowing up his parent's car. His band, a bunch of Monkeeys rip-offs (yes, that's right), are filled with a bunch of who's whos, like a 15 year old super-genius account and a black anthropologist played by Richard Pryor. At a political rally for a "youth" senator (Hal Holbrook) who wants the voting age lowered to 18, he comes up off the bat with a rallying song, "14 or fight" to lower the voting age to 14! And then everything soon spirals into a youth-controlled congress and presidency (think Mr. Smith Goes to Washington with over-ecstatic flower children), with all the "old" pulled into camps where they're doped on acid and given frocks to wear.

Trippy, man, trippy. Contrary to what some have said, and perhaps I read more into it than was necessary or warranted, Wild in the Streets takes a hold of its principal subjects as something that is meant to be mocked mercilessly. While nowhere near the brilliance of Network, it does have the same kind of super jaded view of humanity below the surface. Everything becomes so exaggerated that the only conceivable way to take it is as a satire; if it is meant as a "serious" look at politics and the youth culture then only a few moments stand out (actually the "Shape of Things" song is ironically powerful in the context of where it comes which is right after a few students are shot at a rally - a foreshadowing to Kent State?), but on its terms of it being a nutty but oddly lucid spoof on the political scene then it works really well.

If for nothing else the cast is a hoot: Shelley Winters hams it up as the star's mother who in one scene literally crashes through security gates to get to her son who really doesn't want anything to do with her, especially after she basically kills a kid with a car! Also big props to Hal Holbrook who takes the quasi William Holdon in Network role (the one "serious" guy amid the chaos) and Ed Begley as a crusty old politico who quickly gets run out to the old-folk farm singing in circles. Along with Pryor look out for Larry Bishop and Millie Perkins. It's not high art, but Wild in the Streets has some scenes that are excruciatingly funny (I was dying during the 25 year old "chick" speaking to congress about lowering all ages to run for office to 14), and there's even some good pointers made about the state of the nation. It's exploi-satire, baby!

Details

Official Sites:

MGM

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

29 May 1968 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Day it Happened, Baby

Filming Locations:

Beverly Hills, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$1,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

American International Pictures (AIP)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

97 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Ryder Sound Services)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1