Three in the Attic

I was fascinated by the concept of this movie when it came out. I remember the poster and the trailer. But I didn't get to see it then because I was too young. (Somehow I did see "Barbarella" and "In Cold Blood." My parents must have been slipping.) Finally I have seen "Three In The Attic" and my expectations were no longer high. It was somewhat enjoyable and probably wouldn't have gotten made if "The Graduate" hadn't been a hit. (The finale even somewhat mirrors the earlier film.) Its ideas about gender conflicts, race, class, sex and death are interesting, but it's ultimately an exploitation movie with a Hollywood ending, cheaply made by American International who made a lot of fun trash.

The film (which stars Christopher Jones - in a nude scene showing his backside - square-jawed John Beck, Judy Pace, and top-billed Yvette Mimieux) takes place on a Vermont college campus and there are also brief shots of hippy-dippy 1960s Provincetown. There's not much to see in terms of Vermont scenery.

Just watched a true rarity that I'd been wanting to see for some time: "Three in the Attic," from 1968. In this one, Christopher Jones, star of that same year's "Wild in the Streets," stars as Paxton Quigley, the self-styled "first casualty of the Sexual Revolution"; a good-looking lothario at a Vermont college, whose claim to fame is that he has bedded no less than 50 women before his sophomore year. He soon becomes very involved with three more: a beautiful blonde WASPy type (Yvette Mimieux); a pretty, black soul sister (Judy Pace); and a Jewish hippie (Maggie Thrett, who most viewers will remember best as Ruth from the classic "Star Trek" episode "Mudd's Women"). Trouble arises when the three gals realize that Paxton has been sleeping with all of them, and in revenge, bring the young stud up to the titular attic, hold him prisoner, and drain all his manly energies from him by feeding him nothing but meat and having nonstop sex with him. Ultimately, poor Quigley is on the point of death from being so depleted, in this pretty funny sex comedy. The film has loads of clever dialogue, is well directed by Richard Wilson, offers up many catchy tunes (by Chad and Jeremy), and in all is a lot better than I had been expecting; not as good as but on a par with "The Graduate," "Goodbye, Columbus" and other films of the era dealing with sexual liberation. My favorite line in the film comes from that hippie chick: "Do you think it's possible for a woman to be both Jewish and psychedelic at the same time?" Love it!

It would seem to be a real shame most of those involved, from writer

Stephen Yada to Christopher Jones, never really got to do much else.

Because this uneven, smart, well acted satire is way ahead of it's time;

and still surprises. The title gimmick, which was used to advertise the movie, is really one

of the weaker sections of the film, which looks at the battle of the

sexes in a way that really does mirror it's time, while treating it's

characters with humor and affection. If you can get a copy, it's well

worth going out of your way to see. Only the mediocre pop score does not

hold up well.

This is one of the great movies of all time.... on par with = The Graduate = .... It had a major influence on teenage girls who saw it in the '60's.

We constantly joked about the guys we had locked up in our own attics! Of course, it was the other way around... Each girl had 7 or 8 guys locked in her attic, and the fact that a couple of us actually had bedrooms in the attic made the joke even funnier.

I don't know why I have not seen this film since it came out in 1968, but I really wish someone would bring it back.

Even to this day, my friends and I joke about our attics, in the same way that we joked about the Ford that was mentioned in The Graduate (of course, that reference didn't last quite as long as the "attic".)

It is a shame that older small movies (low budget, small box office, "B" movies) rarely climb out of the "attic" and back into availability as VHS or DVD selections.

This was a classic "teen flick" cheaply produced to maximize profit, but it was a bit of a surprise hit. It even produced a sequel.

The music by Chad Stuart show his startling creativity and promise of a career that never materialized.

I only wish it were readily available.