Warren Beatty Gets Ladies In a Lather in the ’60s Sexcapade “Shampoo”

It’s 1968, on the eve of a presidential election that ultimately will install Richard Nixon in the White House. George Roundy (Warren Beatty) is a successful Beverly Hills hairdresser, a profession which allows him to bed many a beauty, including his girlfriend Jill (Goldie Hawn), but he’s stuck under the thumb of his salon’s owner. Desperate to advance his career, he turns to his lover Felicia (Lee Grant, in the role that won her an Oscar) and her husband Lester, who assumes George is gay and asks him to escort his mistress Jackie (Julie Christie) to a Republican Election Night soiree — not realizing that George and Jackie formerly had a torrid romance. They all end up at a wild party fueled by alcohol, sex and drugs that threatens to unmask all their secret relationships. Though the film found release just as the Watergate investigation concluded (adding a deeper layer of irony), the wild farce is more focused on social and sexual politics than governmental ones. This very special Criterion Edition will feature a restored version of the movie, a vintage TV appearance by actor/producer/co-writer Beatty, and new conversations about the film between critics Mark Harris (Vulture) and Frank Rich (New York Magazine). criterion.com