Classic 70s Movies (Born to Win/ Katherine/ The Harrad Experiment)
Sex, Drugs and Revolution
The 70s weren't just about smiley face buttons, polyester pantsuits, and Jonathan Livingston Seagull; this powerful trio gives a glimpse at the dark underbelly of "The Me Decade." It was an era of independent directors who captured a grittier vision of life. From street junkies and militant politics, to shocking new boundaries in the sexual revolution, these films form a telling snapshot of that point in time.
Born To Win
Robert De Niro, in one of his earliest roles, is terrific in this brutal look at the drug world. George Segal stars as J.J., an urban loser and smart mouthed junkie who spends his days looking for just one more fix. Karen Black also co-stars as his equally hopeless girlfriend.
Katherine
Shades of Patty Hearst! Sissy Spacek is a wealthy debutant drawn into the radical politics of the era- with deadly results. Joining ever more extreme groups, she ends up convinced that destruction is the only path to social progress. Henry Winkler and Art Carney also star.
The Harrad Experiment
Co-ed dorms may be commonplace now - but when this movie came out, the idea could still raise eyebrows. Harrad College is an experimental university where students are assigned roommates of the opposite sex - and must change partners every 30 days. Don Johnson, Tippi Hedren and James Whitmore star in this cult classic about the sexual revolution.
Member Reviews
Born-to-lose Katherine test-subject of Horrid experiment - Neil1
It's always a challenge finding watchable American films from the 1970s. What could be cheesier than the cinematography and the sound tracks from the period? Katherine saves the day though (in a manner of speaking) and I'm giving it four stars; two for Born To Win (which I didn't quite finish) for the laugh-out-loud scene featuring George Segal in a lady's nightie; and just one for The Harrad Experiment, the first 20 minutes or so of which was like a bad T.V. reality show (20 minutes being about all I could stand).3 Movie Review - jjlook
This is a lot of bang for your buck, in that there are 3 movies on here. The prints are terrible and the Special Features laughable (oooh, trivia in 70s bubble/flared jeans font), but there is a small but compelling reason to check this out.
Let's start with reasons not to:
The Harrad Experiment. This movie, about a free-love college experiment where boy-girl couples are matched as both roommates and sexual partners by a guru professor/scientist/leader is incredibly unsexy. There is nudity galore, the camera gazes lovingly on a young Don Johnson taking off his clothes in seemingly every other scene, but most is of the painful co-ed yoga class variety. Really. Also, a very young Bruno Kirby is in it, and also subjected to the naked yoga. The dialogue and plot are rambling, the continuity perplexing (Don's shiny bob keeps shortening and, well, long-ening) and the politics confused. It is supposedly a cult favourite but I imagine that title was bestowed by people on drugs or at nudist colonies or who love Don Johson. Even I must grudgingly admit that he was pretty foxy then.
Born to Win has more merit. George Segal stars (in an alternately dopey and brilliant turn of casting) as a junkie hustler in this disjointed, gritty feature. The credits include a baby-faced Robert DeNiro as a cop, but he gets only minutes of screen time. You'll be spending most of your watching time with Segal cracking gently wise or hurting for a fix (in a persona oddly close to the one he would later adopt in tv's laughable but unfunny "Just Shoot Me"), with his rich, straight girlfriend Karen Black who inexplicably is drawn to him, and with Hector Elizondo's evil crimelord "the Geek."
There is real reason to watch this one, though: New York. A 70s New York, dirty, and with surprising corners and signs and crowds on the street. What I am assuming were budgetary concerns compelled the filmmakers to shoot most of this one outside or in public spaces like lobbies of buildi
Member Reviews
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Born-to-lose Katherine test-subject of Horrid experiment - Neil1
It's always a challenge finding watchable American films from the 1970s. What could be cheesier than the cinematography and the sound tracks from the period? Katherine saves the day though (in a manner of speaking) and I'm giving it four stars; two for Born ...3 Movie Review - jjlook
This is a lot of bang for your buck, in that there are 3 movies on here. The prints are terrible and the Special Features laughable (oooh, trivia in 70s bubble/flared jeans font), but there is a small but compelling reason to check this out.
Let's start ...