Prudencia, Prudencia

This movie is a lot of fun and is about the best movie about sex that didnt show any sex. All the acting is superb and you will definitely laugh.This movie slightly predated the "real" sexual revolution and those of you that like your sex comedies a little more "bare" may be a bit disappointed for its lack of nudity, but not for its wit and humor!

In case you have any doubt as to the meaning of the title, I'll put you out of your misery: Prudence and the Pill is about the birth control pill. It's a hilarious British comedy starring David Niven and Deborah Kerr that proves you can get pregnant even if you think you're too old, and even if you think you're on the pill.

In the 60s, it wasn't as commonplace for women to be on the birth control pill as it is today-or was it? As David Niven's maid's boyfriend hides birth control pills in her vitamin bottle-so as to not insult her by suggesting she prevent a pregnancy-the maid switches her vitamins, which are really birth control pills, with Deborah Kerr's birth control pills, which are really just vitamins. Why are they vitamins? Because David and Deborah have a marriage in name only; they each have extramarital affairs, and in order to get a divorce and marry his mistress, David wants to prove his wife's infidelity. He switches her pills with vitamins-what's a better proof of infidelity than a pregnancy?

The plot is fast-paced and a little complicated, but if I didn't get confused, you won't either. The humor is very British, but I found it absolutely hilarious. If you like British comedies, you'll absolutely love this one. It's a sex comedy with references rather than raunchiness, so it's classy and funny and sexy all at the same time-just like David Niven! I love him anyway, so I was a little predisposed to like this movie, and it shows off his comedic talents wonderfully. Also, I know Deborah Kerr was more famous for her meaty dramatic roles, I actually like her better when she's being funny! Give this one a try and see which side of her you prefer.

The main idea behind "Prudence and the Pill" is one that doesn't make sense to me. While birth control pills might have looked VERY different in the UK in the 1960s, all the ones I've seen look absolutely nothing like aspirins or vitamins--which are much, much larger. So how could people be replacing another person's birth control pills with aspirins without anyone realizing it?

This 1960s sex comedy stars Deborah Kerr and David Niven...both of which made quite a few sophisticated sex comedies in the 1950s and 60s (such as the horrible CASINO ROYALE, BEDTIME STORY and THE GRASS IS GREENER). In this film, Mr. and Mrs. Hardcastle have an open marriage and both have their lovers. In addition, Mrs. Hardcastle's niece (Judy Geeson) is sleeping with her boyfriend. However, someone is messing with these ladies' birth control pills and soon complications ensue.

Like most of the sex comedies of the era, this film talks a lot about sex (or, more rightly, INSINUATING a lot about sex) without really showing or saying much at all. Racy stuff for the time...very tame stuff when seen today. So, while it portrays folks who have affairs and premarital sex, it's done with 60s sensibilities--being both extremely broad-minded AND old fashioned at the same time.

So is this any good and is it worth seeing? Well, at least for me, no especially. I might have enjoyed it had it just been more interesting, made more sense or made me laugh. Plus, and I guess this makes me sound very prudish, but I thought the Hardcastles were a pathetic couple...and I really didn't care one bit about what happened with them. What was a kooky sex romp back in the day now just seems dated and sub-par despite the big-name stars in it.

This silly romp is quite entertaining and even adorable. Its a lot of fun.

I am not the type of person who takes marriage and infidelity lightly. My attitude us be single or be married. Well this IS a farce and it does show how the complications that arise from sneaking around make it hardly worth the trouble.

In movie after movie men & women regularly mate with each other without anyone ever fussing over contraception. This time however there's so much discussion of it you'd assume that the script by Hugh Mills was based on a play rather than on a novel (that he'd originally published in 1965). It certainly lends a new meaning to the description "oral sex" since all they ever appear to do is just talk about it; until the women suddenly all give birth en masse like the women of the village of Midwich.

The reality for women of taking contraceptive pills on a daily basis was seemingly a complete mystery to Mills, since he depicts them as indistinguishable from aspirins and dispensed by chemists in glass jars rather than individually in pop-out blister packs.

Despite it's rather desperate aim to be contemporary and "with it", the backdrop of extravagent wealth and its upper class characters simply heighten the generally pre-war feel of the thing.