Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
Miriam Hopkins | ... | Mrs. Maude Brown | |
Alexander D'Arcy | ... | Admiral (as Alex D'Arcy) | |
Walter Giller | ... | Hemingway | |
Chris Howland | ... | Mr. Norbert | |
Ulli Lommel | ... | Charles | |
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Helmut Weiss | ... | Mr. Dinklespieler |
Letícia Román | ... | Fanny Hill | |
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Cara Garnett | ... | Phoebe |
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Marshall Reynor | ... | Johnny |
Syra Marty | ... | Hortense (as Syra) | |
Karin Evans | ... | Martha | |
Christiane Schmidtmer | ... | Fiona | |
Hilde Sessak | ... | Mrs. Snow | |
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Albert Zugsmith | ... | Grand Duke |
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Billy Frick | ... | Percival |
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. Written by Eduardo Casais <eduardo.casais@nokia.com>
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.