Age of Consent (1969)

An elderly artist thinks he has become too stale and is past his prime. His friend (and agent) persuades him to go to an off-shore island to try once more. On the island he rediscovers his ... See full summary »

Director:

Michael Powell

Writers:

Peter Yeldham (screenplay), Norman Lindsay (novel)

Stars:

James Mason, Helen Mirren, Jack MacGowran

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
James Mason	...	Bradley Morahan
Helen Mirren	...	Cora
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
Hudson Faucett	...	New Yorker (as Hudson Faussett)
Peggy Cass	...	His Wife
Eric Reiman	...	An Art Lover
Frank Thring	...	Godfrey
Tommy Hanlon Jr.	...	Levi-Strauss (as Tommy Hanlon Jnr.)
Dora Hing	...	Receptionist

Storyline

An elderly artist thinks he has become too stale and is past his prime. His friend (and agent) persuades him to go to an off-shore island to try once more. On the island he rediscovers his muse in the form of a young girl.

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Plot Keywords:

painting | island | artist | dream girl | alcoholism | 

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Taglines:

Filmed on Australia's Great Barrier Reef!

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Genres:

Biography | Comedy | Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

Australia

Language:

English

Release Date:

14 May 1969 (USA)

Also Known As:

Corazones en fuga

Filming Locations:

Ajax Filmcentre, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Company Credits

Production Co:

Nautilus Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

103 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor) (uncredited)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

James Mason met his future wife Clarissa Kaye-Mason when they appeared together in Age of Consent. Clarissa Kaye played the part of Mason's ex-girlfriend in Australia. Their scene together was filmed in bed, and Clarissa, who was recovering from pneumonia, had a temperature of 103 degrees F. After the filming, Mason began corresponding with Kaye, and the two were married in 1971, and remained so until Mason's death in 1984

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Goofs

In the scene where Helen Mirren is sitting nude in front of a mirror applying makeup, when her grandmother appears and strikes her on the back, they get into a scuffle. As the scene shifts, we can see that the formerly naked Mirren is now wearing a pair of white panties.

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Crazy Credits

Lonsdale ... Godfrey the dog

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Alternate Versions

Although initially passed intact with an 'X' the distributors decided to opt for an 'A' certificate for UK cinemas and the film was cut accordingly. The nudity during the opening bedroom scene was removed, as was some suggestive dialogue and shots of the nude Cora posing for Bradley. Video releases were raised to a 15 but featured the same cut print though the 2008 Sony DVD finally saw the film restored and uncut.

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Connections

Featured in Not Quite Hollywood: The Wild, Untold Story of Ozploitation! (2008)

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Soundtracks

Daydream Believer
(uncredited)
Written by John Stewart
Performed by The Monkees
(from Ted Farrel's transistor radio)

User Reviews

He only wanted her for her body

He only wanted her for her body--to paint, of course....

I just saw this film and found it absolutely delightful. As others have noted, Helen Mirren is a wonder as a young girl working out the relationship between her body's strength and its beauty, and how each can help her get what she wants. There is one moment, when she takes control of a motorboat after having dumped a would-be lover overboard, when I saw the future Jane Tennison. James Mason is also marvelous as the obsessive painter. The natural setting, on the Great Barrier Reef, is liberating and beautiful but the heart of the movie is the little cabin which goes from a dump to a layered, painted work of art. This man's passion to make things, to create color and line on every available surface, seems to fill the movie's surface too. Near the end, when Cora enters the cabin and we see her surrounded by his paintings of her, the relationship between art and life seems to be a very happy one. It's too bad Michael Powell didn't get to make more films in the 1960s and early 70s. I think that if I could have seen this film at the time it was made (when I was a girl in my late teens, for whom nudity was not an option) it would have meant a lot to me.