Graduate student Harry Bailey was once one of the most visible undergraduate activists on campus, but now that he’s back studying for his master’s, he’s trying to fly right. Trouble is, the campus is exploding with various student movements, and Harry’s girlfriend, Jan, is caught up in most of them. As Harry gets closer to finishing his degree, he finds his iconoclastic attitude increasingly aligned with the students rather than the faculty.
Director: Richard Rush.
Stars: Elliott Gould, Candice Bergen, Candice Bergen, Jeff Corey, Max Julien, Cecil Kellaway, Jon Lormer, Cecil Kellaway, William Bramley, Jeannie Berlin, John Rubinstein, Richard Anders, Brenda Sykes, Jenny Sullivan, Gregory Sierra, Billie Bird, Harrison Ford, Elizabeth Lane, Hilarie Thompson, Irene Tedrow.
Excellent, I was sorry I missed this last July as a New Bev Midnight feature, so glad to catch up here.
Getting Straight is one of the better studio films that covered and was part of near revolution that happened globally around 1968. Most acutely felt in the US, France. Other films that have center on student activism include; Strawberry Statement, RPM, La Chinoise, and more harder to find films like The Activist and Ice. Maybe I should throw in Peter Watkins Punishment Park. Something was in the air indeed.
I like Getting Straight’s plot were Elliot Gould’s character is wrestling with palatable conflict between the establishment and the movement. While also wrestling with poverty, sexual relations the generation gap. It took a couple viewings to really appreciate it. The cast is pretty good–Harrison Ford as an art teacher. Issue 57 of Shock Cinema has an interview with Robert Lyons where he reveals how much of his character got cut from the film.
The cinematography is interesting. The camera will shift focus on a lot of scenes sometimes to switch from speakers during dialog scenes instead of doing cutaways. Maybe they do it too much but it give it an experimental edge.
The police riot at the end of the movie fluctuates between being hooky Hollywood to being blood chilling real. Ive been in some—and–you will too–soon
Brilliant discovery! Tank you so much!
I noticed it just played on TCM.