Harrad Summer (1974)

Stanley, Harry, Sheila and Beth, four students from the 'free sex' Harrad College, spend the summer together to meet their families.

Director:

Steven Hilliard Stern

Writers:

Robert H. Rimmer (characters from novel), Mort Thaw (adaptation)

Stars:

Robert Reiser, Laurie Walters, Richard Doran

Cast

Credited cast:
Robert Reiser	...	Stanley Kolasukas
Laurie Walters	...	Sheila Grove
Richard Doran	...	Harry Schacht
Victoria Thompson	...	Beth Hillyer
Emmaline Henry	...	Margaret Tonhausen
Bill Dana	...	Jack Schacht
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Marty Allen	...	Bert Franklin
James Beach	...	Brad
Marjorie Bennett
Chuckie Bradley	...	Groupie
Walter Brooke	...	Sam Grove
Angela Clarke	...	Mrs. Kolasukas
Sherry E. DeBoer	...	Dee (as Sherry Miles)
Jane Lambert	...	Florence
Jodean Lawrence	...	Paula Schacht (as Jodean Russo)

Storyline

Stanley, Harry, Sheila and Beth have just finished their first year at Harrad College and have a special bond together. Harrad College isn't an ordinary school. The school conducts an experiment where students from different sex are put together in one room. Sexual freedom is encouraged. Now the summer break has arrived, the four have decided to spend the holidays together. They will visit an old friend of Beth and after that spend two weeks at the families of Stanley, Harry and Sheila. They have to fight against bias however. Not everyone is fond of Harrad College and some see it as only an easy way for the students to fulfill their feelings of lust. Will the relationships and beliefs of the four students hold up under the constant pressure?

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Plot Keywords:

college | swimming pool | summer vacation | shower | fancy restaurant | 

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Taglines:

*Encouraging liberated relations between coed students.

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

August 1974 (USA)

Also Known As:

Love All Summer

Filming Locations:

Glendale, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Cinema Arts Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

103 min 86 min (DVD) 101 min (video)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Fred Willard, who plays one of the improv comics in "The Harrad Experiment," also shows up here. In the second movie, he plays the Mayor's son in Sheila's hometown, who asks her to go to Europe for Thanksgiving.

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Connections

Follows The Harrad Experiment (1973)

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Soundtracks

Let The Love Begin
Words by Kelly Gordon
Music by Patrick Williams (as Pat Williams)
Performed by Gene Redding
courtesy of Haven Records

User Reviews

Lame sequel to "The Harrad Experiment"--not really worth the time

This lame sequel to "The Harrad Experiment" does at least one thing that its predecessor never managed to do--it makes the original look comparatively entertaining. This movie, also called "The Harrad Summer", concerns the exploits of the two main couples from the first film, who decide to spend the summer after their first year at Harrad together, alternately staying at each others houses. Their Harrad free love ethos upsets at least two of their families who either didn't know they were attending this very progressive college or didn't have any say in the matter. One guy has an uptight father who wants him to transfer to UCLA and is unhappy with his new friends' penchant for skinny-dipping and nude yoga. There is also some conflict between the main couple "Stanley" and "Sheila" due to "Stanley's" insecurities regarding the wealth of "Sheila's" family. The class conflict only comes to a head though when "Sheila's" father catches them in bed together (not actually having sex, mind you, just in bed together).

This movie really has the same problem as the first one: although it is supposedly scandalous, it is actually pretty tame compared to a lot of the things REAL college students of that era were doing (there's not a reefer in sight, for instance). Having a roommate of the opposite gender even almost seems quaint in its adherence to basic monogamy (which took quite a beating during the 60's and 70's "Sexual Revolution"). Pre-marital sex and casual nudity was just not that shocking to anyone even halfway hip back then.

The sequel also loses its three most recognizable stars--Don Johnson, Bruno Kirby, and Tippi Hedren--and the their replacements are pretty annoying (especially the two guys). The actresses who played the two female halves in the original--Laurie Walters and Victoria Thompson--both return. The best thing I can say about their performances though is that they take their clothes off a lot. There are a few scene-stealing cameos, most notably by the very appealing Patrice Rohmer playing a young lovely who the nerdier guy inexplicably picks up at a carnival. (She delivers the immortal line, "You want me to take my clothes off? Most guys like it when I take my clothes off"). Rohmer made an impression in few exploitation films in the 70's like this or "Revenge of the Cheerleaders" before dying tragically young of a drug overdose.

I'm really grasping at straws here, however. Mostly this film is just not the worth the time. The original is somewhat better, but I would recommend instead "Pretty Maids All in a Row", a much hipper and sexier film from this same time period.