THE BULLETIN • MAY 6 - 12, 2021
TV • PAGE 27
BY JAY BOBBIN
‘Shampoo’ still holds its style well
The better part of five decades later, it may seem like a child of its time, but “Shampoo” reflects that time
very well.
The 1975 comedy-drama – which Turner Classic Movies shows Thursday, May 13 – strives to put forth
social and political commentary while telling the story of George (Warren Beatty), a popular Beverly Hills
stylist and avid womanizer who uses his motorcycle to make house calls, often for clients who want more from
him than just a showstopping hairdo.
George’s current love Jill (Goldie Hawn, who had worked with Beatty previously in “$”) is somewhat
oblivious to the extra services he provides to others, but more clued in is his still-attracted ex Jackie (Julie
Christie, also an earlier Beatty co-star in “McCabe and Mrs. Miller”). She’s now the mistress of tycoon Lester
(a great, Oscar-nominated Jack Warden), who also is unaware of everything that George’s “business” entails.
Complicating this carousel of relationships even more is Lester’s wife Felicia (Oscar winner Lee Grant), a
demanding client of George’s, and her vixenish daughter Lorna (Carrie Fisher, two years before she started her
iconic role as a princess in a certain galaxy far, far away).
These characters dance in and out of one another’s spheres until all roads converge at a party on the night
of the 1968 presidential election, and director Hal Ashby and co-writer (with “Chinatown’s” Robert Towne)
Beatty have a fine time orchestrating emotional mayhem amid strobe lights and loud music. Tony Bill,
who later would gain note behind the cameras as a
filmmaker (“The Sting,” “My Bodyguard’), also gets
caught up in the shenanigans as Jill’s escort for the
evening.
“Shampoo” does have something of a linear
storyline, but it’s enjoyed best as a slice of life ...
though you probably wouldn’t want it to be your life.
George even admits his flaws as a human being as he
tries to revive his relationship with Jackie, then comes
clean to Lester about his modus operandi while he’s
under duress. Beatty has the “boy who never grew up”
image to make it work, more or less mirroring how he
largely was seen in the public eye at the time.
The “Shampoo” soundtrack smarty includes pop
hits of the story’s period, notably The Beach Boys’
“Wouldn’t It Be Nice,” but it also leaves room for
largely instrumental and reflective music by Paul
Simon. Its presence is indicative of how smartly Ashby
and Beatty (who also was the picture’s producer)
Julie Christie and
constructed the very adult “Shampoo,” which still
Warren Beatty
makes the cut quite nicely.
Solution on page 18