The Amorous Adventures of Moll Flanders (1965)

A bawdy story of how a poor damsel surrenders her virtue again and again to get to the top of society.

Director:

Terence Young

Writers:

Denis Cannan, Daniel Defoe (novel)

Stars:

Kim Novak, Richard Johnson, Claire Ufland

Nominated for 1 BAFTA Film Award.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Kim Novak	...	Moll Flanders
Claire Ufland	...	Young Moll
Richard Johnson	...	Jemmy
Angela Lansbury	...	Lady Blystone
Leo McKern	...	Squint
Vittorio De Sica	...	The Count
George Sanders	...	The Banker
Lilli Palmer	...	Dutchy
Peter Butterworth	...	Grunt
Noel Howlett	...	Bishop
Dandy Nichols	...	Orphanage Superintendant
Cecil Parker	...	The Mayor
Barbara Couper	...	The Mayor's wife
Daniel Massey	...	Elder Brother
Derren Nesbitt	...	Younger Brother

Storyline

Based on Daniel Defoe's 1722 novel of the famed English adventuress Moll Flanders (Kim Novak). Moll is first engaged as a maid by an eighteenth-century English family chiefly composed of sex-starved males. She marries the imbecilic second son, who prefers booze to copulation. Too embarrassed to speak the truth of him, she demurely tells friends, "Modesty forbids me to reveal the secrets of the marriage bed." She then meets a rich banker (George Sanders), becomes maid-companion to a Count (Vittorio De Sica) and his Lady, and finally weds the banker, but leaves him on their first night together. She then joins a group of thieves, falls in love with James "Jemmy" Seagrave (Richard Johnson), and becomes their number one asset before she is sent to prison. After she is released, she finds Jemmy, and, in the end, everyone is on an America-bound boat except the banker, who fortuitously dies of a heart attack before he has had an opportunity to alter his will.

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Plot Keywords:

widow | servant | rags to riches | 18th century | banker | 

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Taglines:

The rollicking story of a ribald century that really should have been ashamed of itself!

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Genres:

Comedy | Romance

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Did You Know?

Trivia

The historical consultant was Vyvyan Holland, son of Oscar Wilde.

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Goofs

The tavern where Moll causes a brawl appears to have a version of Manet's painting 'Olympia' on the wall, over a hundred years before he painted it.

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Connections

Referenced in Terence Young: Bond Vivant (2000)

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Soundtracks

Hallelujah
Performed by Don Powell

User Reviews

Tom Jones without the sting

Does the title leave us in any doubt? This is a film in which every man in Georgian England wants to get into bed with Kim Novak. Well - I can understand that.

As a matter of fact very few of the men succeed. Although Novak looks as gorgeous as ever, if you're expecting to see anything, uh, hot, you'll be disappointed. And you'll have every right to be. A film with so little else going for it really ought to make the most of its centrepiece.

All the same she's sufficiently charming to make the film sort of enjoyable to watch most of the time. Moll is not so innocent as she pretends but more innocent than she thinks - she's hard not to like (and, of course, lust after). Some of the other characters are surprisingly well played. Angela Lansbury and Vittorio di Sica are rather touching as the loving but worldly couple with a tenuous toehold on the aristocracy, and Leo McKern does the rogue's sidekick schtick better than anyone else.

The problem is the script. There's not enough wit or spirit to make a comedy, and it's not played seriously enough to make us care about Moll's plight - it doesn't seem important where or with whom she ends up. There's not even, to be honest, enough story to fill two hours.

Still, you may just get some pleasure out of this movie, if you're in a tolerant mood. The question is thus: is Kim Novak enough to put you in a tolerant mood? For me, the answer is yes.

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

10 September 1965 (West Germany)

Also Known As:

The Amorous Adventures of Moll Flanders

Filming Locations:

Chilham Castle, Chilham, Kent, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Winchester Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

126 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1