Les aventures amoureuses de Moll Flanders

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.

It can be interesting to look at films from years ago and see how one's views have changed. I saw this when it came out in 1965, and again when it was revived a few years later. I quite enjoyed it then, although the critics were not impressed, however it must be fifty years since I last saw it, so when I saw that Talking Pictures TV were showing it, I set my TV to record it so that I could watch it at my leisure. Looked at today, my impression is that it has not aged at all well. There seems to be a lot of energy expended to little effect. At times, it resembles a Carry-on movie, and it hardly helps that Kim Novak seems to be miscast. However credit is due to Leo McKern playing Richard Johnson's sidekick, who adds some much needed fun to the proceedings. It has a good supporting cast, but I can't help but feel that with this cast, it really should have been a lot better.

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 ****

The best things about TAAOMF were the settings and the stream of well- known and not so well-known names and faces from British cinema, some in very small roles. Richard Wattis looked quite handsome in his period wig, but Derren Nesbit appeared a bit ridiculous in his period hairstyle - though, to be fair, his character was a foolish fop.

At 32 Kim Novak was a little too old to portray a Moll whom I took to be in her late teens but she did well enough. The great George Sanders provided some weight to the proceedings.

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.