Warren and Julie Forever

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Warren & Julie: Interactive

Cast & Crew:

Directed by Hal Ashby

Written by Warren Beatty and Robert Towne

CAST(in credits order)

Warren Beatty...George Roundy

Julie Christie...Jackie Shawn

Goldie Hawn...Jill

Lee Grant...Felicia Karpf

Jack Warden...Lester Karpf

Tony Bill...Johnny Pope

George Furth...Mr. Pettis

Jay Robinson...Norman

Carrie Fisher...Lorna

Shampoo(1975)

For those who consider "Bulworth" to be a savage and unprecedented politcal send-up, it's worth revisiting Warren Beatty's first, and best, attempt at outrageous social criticism. Mercilessly exposing the essential vacuity of both the sexual revolution and conservative alarmism over cultural permissiveness, Shampoo remains the best movie ever made about Nixon's America, and one of the best about the tragic and disappointing conclusion to the 1960s. Set on the eve of the 1968 presidential election that elevated Nixon to the Oval Office, Beatty's uproarious satire follows a hairdressing lothario (played by Mr. You're So Vain himself) in and out of the beds of several women, including the wife of a wealthy businessman, his mistress, and his young daughter (Carrie Fisher in her first screen role). Juxtaposing tropes from Restoration comedy with Southern California dialogue and a healthy, hilarious dash of running commentary from election returns, Beatty's ruthless awareness cuts through the film like a scalpel. The performances are uniformly excellent and surprisingly ego-free; though Jack Warden's portrayal of Lester, the twice-cuckolded businessman, stands out as a model of sensitive, nuanced parodic acting. Released in 1975 during the messy cleanup at the conclusion of the Watergate era, Shampoo neatly bookends the Nixon presidency, and concludes with the frightening finality of an iron door slamming on a cell. (Synopsis courtesy of Amazon.com)