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Academy Award Nomination:
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SF Weekly Film Outtake (Quicktime 5.0 mov file)
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"Wild In The Streets" is the best cult film ever made. It follows the meteoric rise of a rock star who becomes U.S. President and revolutionary leader (Max Frost is played by Christopher Jones). Max initially becomes involved in politics in a crusade to lower the voting age in California to age 14 (in 1967 it was age 21). After helping to elect Johnny Fergus to the U.S. Senate, he uses his popularity to get former child movie star and band member Sally Leroy, played by Diane Varsi ("Peyton Place"), elected to the U.S. House. In the wake of her election, state after state lowers its voting age. Following her victory and dramatic speech before the House Of Representatives, voting rights protesters are shot dead in Washington D.C. Max then enters the race for U.S. President. The rough and dirty campaign culminates in Max and his inner circle drugging the water supply of Washington D.C. in order to impair the mental facilities of the U.S. Congress. Congress lowers the voting age and Max is elected in a landslide. At President Frost's first address before Congress, Johnny Fergus' assassination attempt is foiled and consequently President Frost is granted unprecedented power and authority. He declares 30 to be a mandatory retirement age after which individuals will be given LSD. As a reign of terror sweeps the nation, neo-Fascist paramilitary youth gangs create internment camps. At the very end, the film makes a subtle comment about the dangers of age discrimination when Max realizes that children under 14 regard his generation as the enemy.
Diane Varsi as revolutionary Congresswoman Sally Leroy
Voting rights demonstrators descend on Washington D.C.
When "Wild In The Streets" was made, the prospect of a youth revolution seemed less remote. It wasn't merely the enormous difference in the age demographics of the U.S. population that has changed since 1967-1968; other factors were at work in the mid-1960's. One distinction between then and now is the context within which social change was occurring. By 1968, both formal and informal control that institutions had exercised over individuals' lives was on the wane. This was evident as large numbers of young men refused to sign up for the draft, people grew their hair longer and adopted pop clothing styles, co-habitated prior to marriage, and smoked marijuana at public concerts. It seemed as though people, the majority of whom were under 30 years of age, were unafraid to rebel in order to exercise their liberties. In addition, the previous five years (1963 through 1968) had seen the Civil Rights movement, through the use of protest tactics, basically defeat forced segregation. This was an amazing turn of events, which lent mild credibility to the premise of the film. By 1968, the War in Vietnam had lasted longer than World War II. Despite the high stakes of the Cold War, over one-third of Americans became fed up with the U.S. government's "no win" strategy in Southeast Asia. As attitudes toward the war shifted, youth protests against the draft and to a lesser extent, against U.S. involvement, swept through college campuses across the nation.
Wild In The Streets promotional poster
At the peak of "Wild In The Streets" phenomenal popularity, actor Chris Jones received more fan mail each week than Leonardo DiCaprio did during the height of the release of "Titanic". - The E! True Hollywood Story
The Shape Of Things To Come performed on national TV live Christopher Jones would never have become an artist if for one remarkably lucky moment during the filming of "Wild In The Streets". Christopher Jones, later to be no stranger to near death experiences, perhaps unknowingly dodged a tragedy that was to eventually claim the life of Vic Morrow. Jones nearly has his hands severed by the rotor blade of a helicopter while standing on a raised platform with actor Hal Holbrooke (Johnny Fergus). After an emergency meeting with Fergus which results in agreement on lowering the voting age, Max Frost and Johnny Fergus are transported by helicopter to the scene of a massive city-stopping protest for the purpose of announcing the agreement and to encourage the protesters to disperse. The chopper was specifically designed for passengers to step down to the skid level, but Holbrooke and Jones must step onto a raised platform to be seen by the crowd. Chris raises and then outstretches his hands to give a victory wave to the crowd. When viewing the film you will notice how Jones raises his hands higher than Hal Holbrooke does. Holbrooke instantly pulls Chris' hands away from the now dangerously close spinning rotor blade. It's all there for you to see the next time you rent "Wild In The Streets".
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THE ALL STAR CAST:
Christopher Jones
Hal Holbrooke
Barry Williams
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Various Wild In The Streets Links:
BuyIndies Cinetropic Cultural Anomaly Wild In The Streets Doll Soup Contains inaccuracies regarding characters and plot The Drew Collector Page Eonline Films and TV Filmbug Internet Movie Database Internet Store Iwon.com Mods and Rockers Movies Online Reel.com SF Weekly RottenTomatoes.com StompTokyo USA Today Wild In the Streets Photo Page
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Shape Of Things To Come Links/Files:
Amazon Purchase Even More Nuggets Classics from the Psychedelic Sixties (volume 3) Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil Bomp Digest Borderline Books Hurl Windows Media File Intermega Intervu.net Icast File Lyrics Rhino Mov File (Quicktime) Rhino RealPlayer File SF Weekly Mov File (Quicktime) Summer.com Tab Spider
Internet Radio:
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Sample of "Nothing Can Change The Shape Of Things To Come"
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