The Amorous Adventures of Moll Flanders

This movie has to be one that shows off Kim Novak at her most luscious. It's too bad there wasn't enough showcasing! It's also too bad that this movie was made as a COMEDY unlike the newer PBS version. The only consolation, once again, is the luscious Kim Novak.

Watchable, faintly amusing adaptation of Daniel Defoe's novel "Moll Flanders", chronicling the sexual misadventures of an orphan-turned-servant girl in the 18th century who marries her employer's foolish son and quickly becomes a widow. Working as a maid to a titled lady, she is determined to find a wealthy husband, but instead finds herself attracted to a suave highway robber. Director Terence Young and a solid assemblage of talents can't quite breathe life into this British-made comedy, much of it seeming like a distaff "Tom Jones". There are lively moments along the way, although Kim Novak just squeaks by as Moll (a good sport rather than a star performer, she's upstaged by the randy supporting cast). The production is meant to be plush and the screenplay is meant to be bawdy, yet both are disappointing. Novak and Richard Johnson were briefly married in real life. ** from ****

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.

An attractive film with mild humor.

The US distributor made 59 cuts to it, to shorten the time. I haven't seen any information on how long the US release was.

There is now an Italian DVD release in 2.35 format. It is based on the shortened US edition, and adds missing footage from the 4:3 TV master, mainly in the last half.

But in the 1990s another scene was dropped from both the VHS and TV masters. At about 45 minutes there had been a scene where she appears wrapped in a bedsheet. This is not restored in the DVD.

There may be a problem in the UK having a good master. It may need to be remastered from the uncut negative.

A desperate attempt to cash in on the wholly unexpected success of 'Tom Jones' that attempts to do for Defoe what the earlier film had done for Fielding, with a fashionably prolix title, a starry cast in fancy dress (including Hugh Griffith from the original), a noisy and overemphatic score by John Addison to keep reminding us how hilarious this all is, flashy direction from Terence Young between Bond movies - what could possibly go wrong?

...and Kim Novak in the title role.