I felt underwhelmed by Errol Morris‘s CHAOS: The Manson Murders (Netflix, now streaming). It’s minor Morris — a skeptical-minded, 96-minute documentary that fiddles around with Tom O’Neill and Dan Piepenbring‘s “CHAOS: Charles Manson, the CIA, and the Secret History of the Sixties“.

The book is a nonfiction speculation about how the Manson horrors may (emphasis on the “m” word) have been subtly triggered or egged on or possibly even orchestrated by “Jolly” West, an apparently sinister figure with ties to the CIA and the MKUltra project in particular.

The film is basically about the white-haired O’Neill (no, not the squishy Oscar prognosticator Tom O’Neil) trying to sell Morris on his theories and suspicions about West, and Morris asking many, many questions and gradually coming to believe that the West-Manson legend isn’t all that credible.

I feel the same way.

The Manson malice happened in part because of a surreal, over-the-waterfall psychology that took hold among alienated middle-class youths who had sampled psychedelia and took the proverbial cosmic plunge, and especially among a few impressionable ditzoids who populated the Manson family in ‘68, ‘69 and, for a few, well beyond.

Charlie Manson was a crafty, headstrong, drillbit sociopath and a half-decent singer-guitarist who wanted to be a rich and famous rock star, but couldn’t quite pull it off. Manson knew deep down that all of his spiritual guru sermons and posturings were more or less a bullshit side activity.

It’s fascinating to consider some of the particulars about Manson’s interactions with Dennis Wilson and Terry Melcher, and how one night Manson even jammed with Neil Young.

West died just over 26 years ago at age 74, and there’s no first-hand interviews with the guy so the doc kinda feels propelled by a fair amount of hot air.

Wiki summary: “An American psychiatrist, Jolly is known mainly for his work/involvement with the MKUltra project, a CIA mind control project in the 1960s.

“In 1954, at the age of 29 and with no previous post-residency fellowship or tenure-track appointment, Jolly became a full professor and chair of psychiatry at the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine. From 1969 to 1989, he served as chair of psychiatry at the University of California, Los Angeles School of Medicine and the UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute.

“West’s work on brainwashing techniques allowed him to exonerate U.S. servicemen under suspicion of treason for making false confessions during the Korean War era. This brought him to the attention of the CIA. He pioneered research into the use and abuse of LSD.

“West was also active in studying the creation and management of cults and anti-death penalty activism. Along with friend Charlton Heston, he supported the Civil Rights movement, frequently participating in sit-ins and rallies. He was a trustee of the American Psychiatric Association and served as a consultant to a variety of governmental organizations, including the United States Air Force, the Peace Corps and the United States Information Agency.”

Charlton Heston? Does Morris’s doc mention Heston and the 1963 March on Washington…anything in that realm? Not to my recollection. Then again I dozed off for a couple of minutes.