MARIO GAUCI
This was more or less the KINSEY (2004) of its day, though clearly quaint in comparison; still, it is a measure of the times that the film caused a mild stir back then whereas KINSEY virtually made no ripples when it emerged! Anyway, HARRAD is mildly interesting (if perhaps too low-key to stay in the memory for long) in delineating the forward-thinking/experimentation that occurred in sexual relationships at the end of the 1960s. Incidentally, I rented the film as part of a small tribute to its recently-deceased star James Whitmore: of course, the middle-aged actor does not get in on the action (even if it is never particularly explicit); Tippi Hedren, then, appears as his still-attractive spouse/collaborator who even catches the eye of the campus hunk (Don Johnson, interestingly the long-time partner of Hedren's real-life daughter Melanie Griffith!). The rest of the cast is filled with fresh faces (including future comedian Bruno Kirby[!]
but especially notable is lovely and initially shy heroine Laurie Walters who, in her turn, is pursued by leering Robert Middleton at a nearby café). Unsurprisingly, partners get swapped (whether intended or not) which invariably cause heartbreaks, but there is also some cheap humor at the expense of a bespectacled and plump student. While director Post was more at home in action-oriented fare, he handles the delicate subject matter with directness and reasonable perception; besides, the film looks good, sports a typical 1970s pop score (one of the songs being performed by Johnson himself) and, for what it is worth, was even followed a year later by a sequel, HARRAD SUMMER.
nature_okie
I had seen the release version without "regional editing for content," at the Naro Expanded Cinema in Norfolk VA.It was an amazing, poignant, multi-faceted tale about inhibitions, and boundaries.There was A LOT of casual frontal nudity, male and female.Seeing this movie on DVD recently, AND I WISH I KNEW THE BRAND NAME TO TELL YOU WHICH TO AVOID, It was a hacked third rate print that had the sound cut-out on moderate swear words; and virtually ALL frontal nudity.It angered me that when the film first traveled around the country, some power mongers, wanted to dictate what others should not view, after getting a good show themselves, of course.This particular print was battle-scarred, but still had enough TRUTH sneak through the overzealous censors, who were too stupid to notice that while they cut out the nudity and profanity, the subtle dynamics of the various relationships SCREAMED for freedom. BOTH for the Characters AND the Viewers.In respect to the plot, about students attending a co-ed school wherein the genders were integrated in the same dorm rooms, and physical relationships encouraged to be activated; the movie IF remade today would press forward with RACIAL STEREOTYPING and SEXUAL ORIENTATION as well.I Fear, however, It would be, at the loss of the beautiful, lingering frontal nudity of 1970's American Art Cinema.This beautiful little film, more especially if you can get a pure print, is a MUST-ADD to your movie appreciation club's program.
Doug
I just purchased the DVD of this movie and I wasn't very pleased. In fact the DVD was so bad that I can't really give the movie a fair rating or review. First, the print was awful..very washed out scratchy. Second, and worst of all, the film was obviously cut. It looked as if they used a "TV" version of the film. Every possible "bad" word was cut from the film any scenes that might offend, that is any and all nudity. And for a film such as this one that's really crime since the nudity is one of the main points of the film. The company that released this DVD (I think it was Platinum or something like that) deserves to go out of business. And if should be a crime to release any film on DVD that's been cut and that hasn't been remastered from the best possible source. A total waste of money.
David Edward Martin
My friends and I read the HARRAD EXPERIMENT by Robert Rimmer as nervous teenagers in the early 70s. The book was a manifesto for sexual awareness and responsibility, a call for a rational development of sexual activity on a cultural basis. Of course at the time, we were just looking for the hot parts....Anyway, the movie makers were given the thankless task of transforming the book and apparently cound not decide whether to make it a polemic or a soap opera. Worse, the plot they chose betrays the format of the book, where the narrative was shared equally buy two men and two women. The film concentrates on Johnson's character, maligning him and transforming the film into his character's unwilling education in sexual responsibility.Bruno Kirby doing full frontal nudity? Brrrrr..........
AD
