Age of Consent (1969)

User Rating:

6.5/10   

Director:

Michael Powell

Writers:

Norman Lindsay (novel)
Peter Yeldham (screenplay)

Release Date:

14 May 1969 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Comedy | Drama | Romance

Tagline:

Filmed on Australia's Great Barrier Reef!

Plot:

An elderly artist thinks he has become too stale and is past his prime. His friend (and agent) persuades...

Plot Keywords:

Artist | Female Frontal Nudity | Nudity | Beach | Painter

Cast

James Mason	...	Bradley Morahan
Helen Mirren	...	Cora Ryan
Jack MacGowran	...	Nat Kelly
Neva Carr-Glynn	...	Ma Ryan (as Neva Carr-Glyn)
Andonia Katsaros	...	Isabel Marley
Michael Boddy	...	Hendricks
Harold Hopkins	...	Ted Farrell
Slim DeGrey	...	Cooley (as Slim De Grey)
Max Meldrum	...	TV Interviewer
Frank Thring	...	Godfrey, the Art Dealer
Clarissa Kaye-Mason	...	Meg (as Clarissa Kaye)
Judith McGrath	...	Grace (as Judy McGrath)
Lenore Caton	...	Edna
Diane Strachan	...	Susie
Roberta Grant	...	Ivy

Runtime:

103 min | USA:98 min

Country:

Australia

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

West Germany:16 | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Ajax Filmcentre, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Company:

Nautilus Productions

Trivia:

Based on the life of Norman Lindsay, later the subject of Sirens (1993)

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Making of 'Age of Consent' (2009) (V)

Soundtrack:

98.6

A sweet and likable middle-age fantasy

Age of Consent, from the novel of the same name by Norman Lindsay, is essentially a middle-aged man's fantasy -- but a sweet and likable one.

James Mason plays Bradley Morahan, a successful New York painter who has become tired of turning out the same old commercial tripe. He longs for home (Queensland, Australia) and the chance to experience life first hand, again. He rents a shack on a small island off the Great Barrier Reef and moves in with his dog Godfrey, stocking it with food, drink and oil paints.

The island is a tropical paradise, inhabited by fruit bats and several other characters content to have left the world behind. The granddaughter of one of the residents is a young girl named Cora, played by Helen Mirren. She supports her alcoholic grandmother by selling crayfish and oysters to the store on the mainland and dreams of getting away and becoming a hairdresser. Morahan is charmed by her and agrees to help her see her dream come true by paying her to model for him. She proves to be just the inspiration he needed and he begins to paint -- and live -- with renewed energy.

The film is easy-paced, amusing, and despite a few upsets along the way, leads to a fantasy conclusion. If you want to spend a pleasant couple of hours getting away from it all, I recommend seeing this film.

Directed by Michael Powell, it is now available on the Films of Michael Powell DVD along with A Matter of Life and Death (Stairway to Heaven), starring David Niven.