The Harrad Experiment

1973
R
1h 37m

IMDb RATING

4.6/10

YOUR RATING

Don Johnson and Laurie Walters in The Harrad Experiment (1973)

At Harrad College, where controversial coed living situations are established, the students are forced to confront their sexuality in ways that society previously shunned. Part of the experiment is to pair incompatible members of the opposite sex as roommates in order to make them shun the traditional concept of monogamy. The film's primary two "couples" are the sex-crazed Stanley and ultra-timid Sheila, and insecure Harry and liberated Beth. In charge of the "experiment" are Prof. Philip and his wife, Margaret, who seem to enjoy the tension they instigate, as well as the graphic sexual episodes that unfold.

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At the Ivy League Harrad College, Professor Phillip Tenhausen and his wife Margaret incorporate a course on sexual relations into its curriculum. Based on Robert Rimmer's novel.At the Ivy League Harrad College, Professor Phillip Tenhausen and his wife Margaret incorporate a course on sexual relations into its curriculum. Based on Robert Rimmer's novel.At the Ivy League Harrad College, Professor Phillip Tenhausen and his wife Margaret incorporate a course on sexual relations into its curriculum. Based on Robert Rimmer's novel.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

4.6/10

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

User reviews25

Featured review

5/10

College of Sexual Knowledge

It took 11 years for Robert Rimmer's novel written in 1962 to get to the big screen. In that time America had undergone a cultural sea change in its values. So a novel written in the beatnik years is updated to the middle 70s where it certainly would have been less shocking than the experimental college of Harrad headed by James Whitmore and Tippi Hedren had been brought to the screen in 1962 when the omnipresent Code was still in place.

This college promotes coed rooming and in this carefully selected group of students Don Johnson and Laurie Walters are paired as are Bruno Kirby and Victoria Thompson. It's the story of these four students that is the basis of the plot.

I won't go into it, but it is Johnson who challenges the mores of society far more than Whitmore and Hedren ever expected.

The movie made quite an impact when it came out, but by today's standards seems like really tame stuff. It's also quite a display of 70s fashions as well for kids and adults. Viewers will still find it enjoyable.

bkoganbing
Oct 3, 2015
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Trivia
Melanie Griffith, who had a small uncredited role, met Don Johnson on the set of this film when it began filming in February 1972. The then 14-year-old Griffith and the 22-year-old Johnson began dating and later got married in January 1976, when Griffith was 18-years-old. The marriage only lasted six months, though they got remarried in 1989. Their second marriage lasted seven years.

Goofs
Wilson comes in after jogging and his green shirt is obviously sweaty on the back. He surprises Barbara and Stanley in the room and punches Stanley in the face. Stanley goes into the bathroom and when Wilson follows, there is obviously no sweat marks.

Alternate versions
All public domain VHS/DVD releases contain an edited-for-TV print that runs 88 minutes. The Brentwood Home Video DVD has the nudity left intact, but still runs under 90 minutes. The uncut version is only available on the 1980s Wizard Video VHS.