People Next Door, The (1970) – Nostalgia Central

Arthur and Gerrie Mason (Eli Wallach and Julie Harris) live reasonably respectable, comfortable middle-class lives in a New York suburb with their teenage children, Maxie (Deborah Winters) and Artie (Stephen McHattie).

All hell breaks loose when her parents discover 16-year-old Maxie is ‘freaking out’ on LSD in her closet.

Their 17-year-old aspiring rock-star son, Artie, takes the blame for leading his younger sister astray (although he is innocent) and gets thrown out of the house.

Gerrie runs next door to seek advice from high school principal David Hoffman (Hal Holbrook), whose wife, Tina (a pre-Phyllis Cloris Leachman), is an alcoholic, and whose straight-laced son Sandy (Don Scardino) has his own problems (it turns out that he’s the one supplying Maxie with the LSD).

Hoffman advises love and understanding on the part of the parents – which goes out the window when Maxie confesses she has been tripping for quite a while, is also sexually active with her hippie boyfriend and is on the Pill.

Things keep getting worse, and Maxie is found by her father high on cocaine and in bed with a biker.

From there, it’s straight to family therapy where, among other things, it’s revealed that Dad is having an affair with his lusty secretary (a pre-Golden Girls Rue McClanahan) and Gerrie knew it all the time.

After another useless (and unintentionally hilarious) therapy session, the Masons decide to throw a party (?) which comes to an abrupt halt when one of the hired musicians is discovered puffing pot.

Maxie then gets hold of more LSD, does a nude dance on her lawn, tongue-kisses her dad, and trips herself into a seedy mental hospital.

The sight of her near-catatonic daughter in this horrible place drives Gerrie Mason right to bed – where she remains until the film’s climax.

Supposedly, the story is trying to prove something about the generation gap. Unfortunately, it degenerates too quickly to be entertaining.

Arthur Mason
Eli Wallach
Gerrie Mason
Julie Harris
Maxie Mason
Deborah Winters
Artie Mason
Stephen McHattie
David Hoffman 
Hal Holbrook
Tina Hoffman 
Cloris Leachman
Sandy Hoffman 
Don Scardino
Dr Salazar
Nehemiah Persoff
Dr Margolin
Mike Kellin
Dr Lauren
Anthony Call
Della
Rue McClanahan
Jack
Bruce Scott
Wally
Matthew Cowles
Elliot
Sandy Alexander
Night Nurse
Janet Sarno
Club Owner
Paul Ganapoler
Discotheque Waitress
Marilyn Chris
Discotheque Boss
Ben Yaffee
Price Whitehead
Joseph Leon
Therapist
John Batiste
TV Voice
Graham Kerr
The Bead Game
Robert Gass
Jim Hodder
Lassie Sachs
John Sheldon
Kenny Westland-Haag