Comment séduire un play-boy

James Dean lookalike Christopher Jones ('Wild In The Streets') plays college boy stud Paxton Quigley who finds his life is turned around when he meets the beautiful and intelligent Tobey Clinton ('The Time Machine's Yvette Mimeux). Paxton is so smitten with her he gives monogamy a try for the first time, and everything looks fantastic. But he finds himself irresistibly drawn to vivacious newcomer Eulice (Judy Pace) and begins an affair with her. Soon after he does the same with hippie chick Jan (Maggie Thrett), and juggles all three girls, egged on by his best buddy Jake (John Beck). However, Tobey discovers the truth and convinces the other two girls to help her imprison Paxton in the attic of their dorm. The three girls then proceed to punish him by screwing him to death! 'Three In The Attic' was probably quite risque when it was released in the late 1960s, and while it was most likely just intended as a "naughty" exploitation movie, it actually holds up very well as an interesting drama about men, women and sex. Christopher Jones is just great throughout, and watching it you can't help but be a bit saddened thinking how this talented and charismatic actor's career came to a standstill after he appeared in 'Ryan's Daughter' only two years after 'Three In The Attic'. This is a very interesting and entertaining movie if you can manage to see it.

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.

I had to give this a high rating. I ran the 16mm theater while stationed at Cape Romanzof Alaska. We were in the bottom of a volcano on the Bering Sea. My previous duty assignment was at North Truro AFS on Cape Cod. The scenes showing Provincetown, MA. made me feel so great! Not quite like being home again, but it sure was nice to see.

American International was a hot studio in the 1960s and it was NOT because it was producing quality films! Beach movies, LSD and hippie movies were quite popular with the small studio and they were very successful. Shot with rather small budgets, their films kept raking in the bucks during this era because their content appealed to younger, hipper viewers. Artistic masterpieces? Hardly....but they did have their own odd sort of appeal.

In many ways, "Three in the Attic" is exactly the sort of movie I expected from American International. It is jam-packed with sexual innuendo and is the sort of film that would have been banned only a decade earlier. But, despite this, it's not exactly a typical exploitation or trashy film. The acting and script are a bit of a surprise as they really did NOT suck!

This film is about Paxton Quigley (Christopher Jones) and why he was given this odd name is beyond me. When the film begins, you learn that he's being held prisoner in an attic and then the film jumps back so you can learn how and why he's in this situation. It seems that he and a young lady were in love....but Paxton couldn't resist temptation. When two other women practically throw themselves at him, he gives in to the sexual revolution and juggles all three women...having a LOT of sex and good times. However, eventually the three discover his dalliances and decide to teach him a less...to practically screw him to death in this attic prison!

Despite the salaciousness of the plot and the steamy story, the film actually has some interesting things to say about this sexual revolution. I am not saying it's exactly a deep film...but it is weird and worth seeing...especially when you look at it as an interesting snapshot of an unusual time. As for the ending, it really didn't make much sense...but it still was quite interesting!