I used to have a copy of this, recorded off Cable TV, but never found time to sit down and watch it; eventually, I upgraded to this DVD-sourced edition (complete with accompanying full-length Audio Commentary, but which I had to forego on this occasion!). A renowned Oscar-winner for theatre and film producer John Houseman's belated star-making Supporting Actor turn (though not his debut, since he had played a bit part in John Frankenheimer's superb political thriller SEVEN DAYS IN MAY {1964}), the movie was also justly tied up via the poster tag-line with other successful "youth" movies of the period, namely THE GRADUATE (1967), GOODBYE COLUMBUS (1969), SUMMER OF '42 and THE LAST PICTURE SHOW (both 1971) – with the last of which it also shares leading man Timothy Bottoms. With respect to the latter, the late Roger Ebert opined that his natural performance here exposed the mannerisms of actors like Dustin Hoffman and Jon Voight...yet, after an impressive initial run of pictures, Bottoms' career took a nose-dive in the 1980s and never recovered!
The title is very apt, since it deals with the grueling academic life of first-year students at Harvard law school (the whole ambiance being impeccably caught via the Oscar-nominated sound recording); still, even if they have several subjects related to the matter, we only ever see them attending the "Contracts" classes presided over by severe Professor Houseman (whose intrinsic coldness leads him to not recognizing pupils outside the auditorium!) – however, it may well be that, when the novel was turned into a TV series (which ran from 1978 to 1986, and for which Houseman reprised his signature role), the faculty was better represented! Since the myriad aspiring lawyers are divided into study groups, we obviously follow the one which protagonist Bottoms (whose locking horns with Houseman extends to after-school activity, since he starts romancing the old man's divorcée' daughter – played by TV's future "Bionic Woman" Lindsay Wagner!) forms part of: these include one coming from generations of lawyers, a bully, a married man who has a photographic memory but no understanding of the topic (who, having failed his first test, attempts to commit suicide on his birthday!), etc.
The film, then, is good-looking (lensed by the respected Gordon Willis), well-acted (though Houseman is not required to do much other than pontificate and patronize, there is no denying the power of his presence and delivery here!) and, while necessarily heavy, clearly intelligent (the Oscar-nominated adaptation was by director Bridges, whose brief career in the latter capacity only saw one other notable title i.e. THE CHINA SYNDROME {1979}). It also, as I said earlier, embraced the socio-political concerns of the era – so that Bottoms is both a longhair and a rebel, who not only infiltrates the segregated part of the library so as to unearth the Professor's own notebook from way back, takes up residence in a hotel room away from sycophantic colleagues and aggravating staff by making an unholy mess of it and, at the very end, even throws away the all-important exam results without bothering to look at his grades!
The title is very apt, since it deals with the grueling academic life of first-year students at Harvard law school (the whole ambiance being impeccably caught via the Oscar-nominated sound recording); still, even if they have several subjects related to the matter, we only ever see them attending the "Contracts" classes presided over by severe Professor Houseman (whose intrinsic coldness leads him to not recognizing pupils outside the auditorium!) – however, it may well be that, when the novel was turned into a TV series (which ran from 1978 to 1986, and for which Houseman reprised his signature role), the faculty was better represented! Since the myriad aspiring lawyers are divided into study groups, we obviously follow the one which protagonist Bottoms (whose locking horns with Houseman extends to after-school activity, since he starts romancing the old man's divorcée' daughter – played by TV's future "Bionic Woman" Lindsay Wagner!) forms part of: these include one coming from generations of lawyers, a bully, a married man who has a photographic memory but no understanding of the topic (who, having failed his first test, attempts to commit suicide on his birthday!), etc.
The film, then, is good-looking (lensed by the respected Gordon Willis), well-acted (though Houseman is not required to do much other than pontificate and patronize, there is no denying the power of his presence and delivery here!) and, while necessarily heavy, clearly intelligent (the Oscar-nominated adaptation was by director Bridges, whose brief career in the latter capacity only saw one other notable title i.e. THE CHINA SYNDROME {1979}). It also, as I said earlier, embraced the socio-political concerns of the era – so that Bottoms is both a longhair and a rebel, who not only infiltrates the segregated part of the library so as to unearth the Professor's own notebook from way back, takes up residence in a hotel room away from sycophantic colleagues and aggravating staff by making an unholy mess of it and, at the very end, even throws away the all-important exam results without bothering to look at his grades!