Wild in the Streets

We’ll never forget our last glimpse of Christopher Jones. After the release of “Wild in the Streets” the James Dean lookalike became wildly popular. The rebellious teen movie connected with the mods and hippies of the late 60’s. He was a legend until, as they say, he “succumbed to the drug culture of Sunset Strip.” We had a shop on Sunset in the early 70’s and customers frequently reported seeing a dazed Jones lurking around the neighborhood in dirty clothes reportedly sleeping on porches or stairwells. One day we saw him drugged up in filthy jeans, barefoot, with a bottle of baby oil in his back pocket. We feared he’d have a short life. Imagine our surprise when his death at age 72 was reported this weekend. At least he managed to pull himself out of that episode and have a life. Hopefully, it was a good one. (Above, a German poster of “Wild in the Streets”)