Indian Sitar Plays Wrong Tune for Film Star

Motion picture star Christopher Jones found that film-making on location can be a realistic affair when he emerged from a scene being shot for American International's "Three in the Attic" with a two inch gash in his forehead.

The wound resulted when he was hit over the head with an Indian sitar by an over-zealous University of North Carolina coed appearing as an extra.

Jones stars in "Three in the Attic" with Yvette Mimieux. The scene being filmed called for Jones to be attached by 25 coeds after he is caught seeking entrance to Miss Mimieux's campus dormitory to plead his love.

The film is being shot at various Chapel Hill sites on and near the campus of the University of North Carolina. A number of college students have been used as extras in some scenes.

"Hollywood extras are trained to make action look real without actually making more contact than necessary for the purpose of the scene," explained producer-director Richard Wilson.

Apparently one of the coeds got carried away, grabbed a sitar used as a prop on the set and struck Jones during the scene.

"The script called for a melee. That one of the young ladies could get so involved in the shot is a compliment to Chris and the film," continued director Wilson.

A sitar is an Indian musical instrument somewhat similar to a medieval mandolin in construction.

The wound was treated by a private physician. Hospitalization was not required.

Jones is well-known as the star of the television series "The Legend of Jesse James."

"I didn't mind them using real coeds but they didn't have to use a real sitar," the actor commented after the scene was filmed."

" At least it could have been a baby sitar," Jones quipped.