Chappaqua (film)

Chappaqua is a 1967 American drama film, written and directed by Conrad Rooks. The film is based on Rooks' experiences with drug addiction and includes cameo appearances by William S. Burroughs, Swami Satchidananda, Allen Ginsberg, Moondog, Ornette Coleman, The Fugs, and Ravi Shankar. Rooks had commissioned Coleman to compose music for the film, but his score, which has become known as the Chappaqua Suite was not used. Ravi Shankar then composed a score.

Contents

• Chappaqua trailer
• Plot
• Cast
• References

The picture has become a cult film.

Plot

The film briefly depicts Chappaqua, New York, a hamlet in Westchester County, in a few minutes of wintry panoramas. In the film, the hamlet is an overt symbol of drug-free suburban childhood innocence. It also serves as one of the film's many nods to Native American culture. The word "chappaqua" derives from the Wappinger (a nation of the Algonquian peoples) word for "laurel swamp."

Cast

Jean-Louis Barrault as Dr. Benoit

Conrad Rooks as Russel Harwick

William S. Burroughs as Opium Jones

Allen Ginsberg as Messie

Ravi Shankar as Dieu du Soleil

Paula Pritchett as Water Woman

Ornette Coleman as Peyote Eater

Swami Satchidananda as The Guru

Moondog as The Prophet

Ed Sanders, Tuli Kupferberg, Ken Weaver and three others as The Fugs

Rita Renoir

Hervé Villechaize

Penny Brown as the nurse