Fanny Hill: Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure (1964)
"Fanny Hill" (original title)

Young, pretty and innocent Fanny Hill has lost her parents and must find her way in life amidst the perils of turbulent 18th century London. She is fortunate enough to find rapidly a place ... See full summary »

Director:

Russ Meyer

Writers:

John Cleland (novel), Robert Hill

Stars:

Letícia Román, Miriam Hopkins, Ulli Lommel

Cast

Credited cast:
Letícia Román	...	Fanny Hill
Miriam Hopkins	...	Mrs. Maude Brown
Ulli Lommel	...	Charles
Chris Howland	...	Mr. Norbert
Helmut Weiss	...	Mr. Dinklespieler
Alexander D'Arcy	...	Admiral
Karin Evans	...	Martha
Christiane Schmidtmer	...	Fiona
Hilde Sessak	...	Mrs. Snow
Walter Giller	...	Hemingway
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Veronica Ericson	...	Emily
Billy Frick	...	Percival
Cara Garnett	...	Phoebe
Heidi Hansen	...	Fenella
Rena Horten	...	Prostitute (as Renate Hutte)

Storyline

Young, pretty and innocent Fanny Hill has lost her parents and must find her way in life amidst the perils of turbulent 18th century London. She is fortunate enough to find rapidly a place as chambermaid of the effusive Mrs. Brown. Mrs. Brown lives in a large house teeming with female "relatives" in négligée and with very relaxed manners. She also insists that Fanny meets alone various gentlemen who show an ardent interest in Fanny.

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Plot Keywords:

sex | female nudity | based on novel

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Taglines:

They said it could not be filmed!

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Genres:

Comedy

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Details

Country:

USA West Germany

Language:

German English

Release Date:

10 March 1965 (USA)

Also Known As:

Fanny Hill: Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure

Filming Locations:

CCC-Studios, Berlin, Germany

Company Credits

Production Co:

Central Cinema Company Film (CCC), Famous Players, Favorite Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

104 min 85 min (cut)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

Version of Paprika (1991)

User Reviews

Turn an erotic novel into a cheap farce and the result's not pretty

This is probably the most expurgated version of Fanny Hill you'll ever see. The only way to get an R rating in 1964 for a movie with a sexual subject seems to be to turn it into a leering, puerile comedy. The problem is that it doesn't work as a comedy, or as erotica, or even as historic fiction.

The plot revolves around Fanny's belief that she has been taken in by a kind lady to work in a hat shop, instead of in an expensive brothel. Fanny manages to avoid the clients she's been set up with for the entire movie without ever finding out the truth. The plot never evolves beyond this obvious story. There's also no attention paid to accuracy: the setting for the movie lurches around between 1750 and 1890, and the dialogue ranges even further.

Of all the actors in the movie, only Leticia Roman and Miriam Hopkins show any life. The others are stick figures, feigning animation with affected voices and arched eyebrows. Not that Roman and Hopkins aren't guilty of overacting: they just occasionally show there might be more there.

This movie may be worth preserving along with "Bob and Carol and Ted and Alice" for anthropological studies on 1960's Hollywood attitudes towards sex, but it's not worth watching for entertainment. Read the book.