The Harrad Experiment


The Harrad Experiment is a 1973 coming-of-age film about a fictional school called Harrad College where the students learn about sexuality and experiment with each other. Based on the 1966 novel of the same name by Robert Rimmer, this film deals with the concept of free love during the height of the sexual revolution which took place in the United States during the late 1960s and early 1970s.
The movie stars James Whitmore and Tippi Hedren as the married couple who run the school, and includes a young Don Johnson as one of the students who tries to go beyond the rules. It was directed by Ted Post.
A sequel, Harrad Summer, was released in 1974.

Cast

;Additional cast
The film was released on DVD on May 22, 2001 by Marengo Films.

Reception

Time Out said that while Post had employed long, "voyeuristic" takes and the theme music was poor, the film had more appeal than his other work and deserved its success.

Cultural references

In The Wonder Years fourth-season episode "Growing Up", Kevin's hippie older sister is seen reading a copy of The Harrad Experiment while driving to a company picnic with her family.
In the Seinfeld episode "The Label Maker", George Costanza describes his girlfriend's having a male roommate as a "bizarre Harrad Experiment".