Three in the Attic

R

1968

1 hr. 30 min.

Comedy

Drama

LGBTQ+

List

Reviews

18%

Fewer than 50 Ratings

Audience Score

A campus swinger (Christopher Jones) keeps three girlfriends in the dark; they catch on and try to exhaust him.

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s r

Pretty weak plot despite good direction.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

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Audience Member

"Mod" and mild, by today's standards.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

02/27/23

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Audience Member

This is exactly the sort of thing they don't make anymore mostly cause studios don't have any guts. I mean American Pie. Lol you raped a pie but whatever happens minimal amounts of sex. This movie has lots sex and no raped pies. It's also stupid. It still sorta watchable in a broad cartoonish way. Except, it's got the sexual politics of a viking and believes that only women need to be faithful, which is crap. Girls, if a boy watches this and laughs a little that's ok. If he thinks it's smart or American Pie is funny or he's more than 7 years older than you, drop him and runaway like he has a box of broken condoms that he wants to test.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

01/20/23

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eric b

I had been curious about "Three in the Attic" for awhile, but it wasn't worth the wait. The story follows a dreamboat couple who meets in a freewheeling college environment. Cult hero Christopher Jones ("Wild in the Streets") stars as the memorably named Paxton Quigley, and Yvette Mimieux is the blonde goddess Tobey. They shack up together, but Paxton's eye soon strays to artistic, black Eulice (Judy Pace). Muses Paxton: "The question is whether a bigoted Negress and a bigoted WASP can find happiness together in the middle of Vermont." Paxton has enough trouble hiding Eulice from Tobey, but then he also meets Jewish flower-child Jane (Maggie Thrett). Uh oh. Influenced by his fraternity buddies' peer pressure, Paxton tries to juggle these three beauties, systematically dividing his nights and making ample use of the "I had to study late in the library" excuse. But Tobey eventually gets wise and joins forces with Eulice and Jane. They hatch a wicked plot to confine Paxton to an attic and literally sex him to death. The logic of this scenario is dubious, but we're asked to believe he decides to protest with a hunger strike rather than simply get up and leave. After awhile, he becomes so weak that escape is no longer feasible. But he has been reported missing, so campus authorities are on his trail. "Three in the Attic" doesn't have enough late-'60s color to be kitschy fun -- the only telltale elements are some gimmicky jump cuts and a few psych-pop tunes by Chad Stuart (of Chad & Jeremy fame). The film is also surprisingly unsexy beyond one scene with a bikini'ed Mimieux cavorting on the beach. The dialogue is not as lame as one might expect, however, and the school dean (Nan Martin) and Tobey's father (Richard Derr) are portrayed as informed adults rather than dowdy fools. Also notable are the unusual closing credits, in which a kvetchy, middle-aged pair talks over the score as if reacting to the movie. Man: "Say, honey, when's the last time we were in the attic, huh? You know what I mean?" Woman: "Forget it, Harry. There's not even standing room up there." Miraculously, this mediocre film spawned a sequel titled "Up in the Cellar" (or sometimes, "Three in the Cellar").

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

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Richard Wilson

Director

Yvette Mimieux

Tobey Clinton

Christopher Jones

Paxton Quigley

Judy Pace

Eulice

Maggie Thrett

Jan

Nan Martin

Dean Nazarin

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Renata Adler

New York Times

Mr. Jones and Miss Mimieux have a certain starlet diligence and charm - he, with Brando mannerisms in the use of his mouth; she, crying a lot, without the sense of ambition gone seedy that young actresses often acquire.

May 9, 2005

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Roger Ebert

Chicago Sun-Times

Three in the Attic is a frustrating movie because it could have been so good and occasionally is so good and yet it finally loses its nerve and collapses into a routine gutless exploitation picture.

Rated: 2/4

Oct 23, 2004

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Nell Minow

Movie Mom

Rated: 2/5

Apr 16, 2003

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Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com

Rated: 3/5

Aug 19, 2005

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Synopsis

A campus swinger (Christopher Jones) keeps three girlfriends in the dark; they catch on and try to exhaust him.

Director: Richard Wilson
Production Co: American International Pictures (AIP)
Rating: R
Genre: Comedy, Drama, LGBTQ+
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 3, 2020

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