The Love-Ins 1967 Written by Hal Collins and Arthur Dreifuss, directed by Arthur Dreifuss. The film was produced by Sam Katzman for Columbia Pictures. Sam had his own film unit there and was well known for making cheap pictures that made a profit.
A college professor becomes a cult leader in Haight-Ashbury. Richard Todd is the professor, Mark Goddard is the grifter, James MacArthur and Susan Oliver are the college students who run a hippy newspaper. James and Susan get tossed out of college for their views. The professor speaks out for the hippy newspaper and freedom of speech. He becomes the hippy's hero when he quits his job in protest. The professor falls victim of his vast ego and Mark moves in as manager so he can make a buck from the hippies. Things go pretty poorly for everyone. I did enjoy Susan's Alice In Wonderland themed LSD trip.
I never embraced the hippy lifestyle, preferring to work and have a nice place to live. And books, and toys, and music, all that jazz. I did stand on the corner of Haight-Ashbury in the mid 70s. I think I have a picture on a slide. I should scan it someday. I'm always interested in cultural movements and what happened. The better ones yield some change in lifestyle habits, good or bad.
Producer Sam Katzman was well known for taking a topic people were talking about and quickly spinning up a film that used that topic to base it's story on. He worked in all genres, he was there to make product, he had a successful career. The Love-Ins captures some of what was going on in the hippy scene despite the heavy handed and rather laughable script. Here's a nice copy to see on YouTube.
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