Joe (1970)

Director John G. Avildsen's violent and gritty portrayal of the clash between the counterculture and establishment of 1970s New York became an instant cult classic. Dennis Patrick stars as Bill Compton, a New York advertising executive whose hippie daughter, Melissa (Susan Sarandon in her film debut), is sent to rehab after she's found overdosing in an East Village drugstore. Melissa's unrepentant junkie boyfriend, Frank (Patrick McDermott), wallows in drugs and squalor until Bill visits him and flies into a violent rage that ends in murder. This act of violence wins him the admiration of Joe (Peter Boyle), a flag-waving bigoted blue-collar worker, as the two strike up an unlikely friendship in a local bar. Joe's knowledge of Bill's heinous crime becomes a subtle form of emotional blackmail as the two men spend time together in a bizarre class struggle between their two disparate worlds. When Melissa runs away, the two friends, joined in their fear and hatred of the counterculture, begin a search for her in the bohemian haunts of New York's East Village. Their search turns into an ironic night of liberation as the two men carouse with a group of young hippies. However, as the evening comes to a close the two men are consumed by their hatred and guilt. A final conflict with the hippies ends in a deeply disturbing and violent climax. This stylized and stark view of hate crimes and the 1970s counterculture remains shocking and relevant to this day.