90 reviews
Tom Jones (Albert Finney) is a 18th century orphan who is adopted by an aristocrat but he lives his own life in mirth and freedom . The philander English lad has good heart and affinity for troubles and an eye for the ladies , confronting amorous and bawdy adventures . His true love is Sophie (Susannah York) , the daughter of a higher-class rich owner (Hugh Griffith).
The picture is a lavish rendition of a classic novel written by Henry Fielding with lots of entertainment and fun . It is plenty of satire , irony , comedy , tongue-in-cheek and amusement . Nice acting by Albert Finney ; however , he felt the lead role wasn't serious enough, and agreed to star only if he got a producing credit ; he later traded the credit for profit participation . Very good support cast gives splendid acting . Feature film debut for David Warner , Julian Glover and Lynn Redgrave . Lively and jolly soundtrack by John Addison , author of numerous classic scores of the English Free Cinema . The film was very well directed by Tony Richardson who in 1977 made an attempt to return with similar character -Joseph Andrews- but the freshness , inspiration and magic had gone . It is followed by a sequel -The bawdy adventures of Tom Jones- an exploitive extension directed by Cliff Owen with Arthur Lowe , Joan Collins and Trevor Howard . Tom Jones picture was undoubtedly the biggest year . The film obtained Academy Awards in 1963 to best film for United Artists , Director -Tony Richardson- , adapted screenplay -John Osborne- and original music -John Addison- and was nominated : Albert Finney , Hugh Griffith , Diane Cilento , Joyce Redman and Edith Evans by their robustly agreeable characterization . Well worth watching.
The picture is a lavish rendition of a classic novel written by Henry Fielding with lots of entertainment and fun . It is plenty of satire , irony , comedy , tongue-in-cheek and amusement . Nice acting by Albert Finney ; however , he felt the lead role wasn't serious enough, and agreed to star only if he got a producing credit ; he later traded the credit for profit participation . Very good support cast gives splendid acting . Feature film debut for David Warner , Julian Glover and Lynn Redgrave . Lively and jolly soundtrack by John Addison , author of numerous classic scores of the English Free Cinema . The film was very well directed by Tony Richardson who in 1977 made an attempt to return with similar character -Joseph Andrews- but the freshness , inspiration and magic had gone . It is followed by a sequel -The bawdy adventures of Tom Jones- an exploitive extension directed by Cliff Owen with Arthur Lowe , Joan Collins and Trevor Howard . Tom Jones picture was undoubtedly the biggest year . The film obtained Academy Awards in 1963 to best film for United Artists , Director -Tony Richardson- , adapted screenplay -John Osborne- and original music -John Addison- and was nominated : Albert Finney , Hugh Griffith , Diane Cilento , Joyce Redman and Edith Evans by their robustly agreeable characterization . Well worth watching.
I understand why this movie is called a classic. The camera work is dazzling and fresh, sweeping away all the stodginess of a period picture. The cast is attractive, cheerful, and plainly having the time of their lives. The direction makes it easy to laugh along and get caught up in the sheer sexual charisma of Tom Jones' personality.
But personally, as an English major who really treasured the book, I find that this movie is not all it's cracked up to be. It plays up all of Tom's worst qualities -- his lustfulness, the impulsive and almost infantile side of his personality -- and plays down all of his loyalty, courage, and higher feelings. This movie was "influential" for the rest of the Sixties, and in all the wrong ways.
Tom was the first "anti-hero" in Sixties film, a guy who is good looking and sexy but not especially brave or clever or even kind. Note again that this was NOT Fielding's intent. In the novel, he says explicitly that Tom "is as much a Hercules as an Adonis" meaning that he is a real hero, who fights for right, not just a lover boy. But this movie plays Tom's fist fight scenes strictly for laughs, as if to say courage and manhood are "out" and getting by on sheer charm is "in." Not to carry it too far, but you can draw a straight line from this vision of Tom Jones to the increasingly repulsive "anti-heroes" who followed later in the decade. They range from the ultra-violent Alex in A CLOCKWORK ORANGE to the cowardly Indian warrior in LITTLE BIG MAN to the criminal Michael in THE GODFATHER.
What's missing from the film -- but not the book -- is any sense that Tom really loves Sophia, or that he learns from his adventures and becomes more worthy, more manly, at the end. The book takes the idea of choice and responsibility seriously, the movie just laughs it off. Not surprisingly, Tom's love affair with Lady Bellaston comes off differently as well. Casting the exquisite and sultry Joan Greenwood as Lady Bellaston was delightful, but wrong. In the book she is a fat, dumpy old hag who buys Tom and tries to corrupt him. In the movie she is a stunning older swinger who indulges him just for the fun of it. Sure it's sexy to watch -- really sexy. But what does it prove? Nothing. Tom doesn't resist temptation, he isn't punished, and he doesn't grow. It's the infantile approach that was to become all to popular during the "idealistic" sixties.
But personally, as an English major who really treasured the book, I find that this movie is not all it's cracked up to be. It plays up all of Tom's worst qualities -- his lustfulness, the impulsive and almost infantile side of his personality -- and plays down all of his loyalty, courage, and higher feelings. This movie was "influential" for the rest of the Sixties, and in all the wrong ways.
Tom was the first "anti-hero" in Sixties film, a guy who is good looking and sexy but not especially brave or clever or even kind. Note again that this was NOT Fielding's intent. In the novel, he says explicitly that Tom "is as much a Hercules as an Adonis" meaning that he is a real hero, who fights for right, not just a lover boy. But this movie plays Tom's fist fight scenes strictly for laughs, as if to say courage and manhood are "out" and getting by on sheer charm is "in." Not to carry it too far, but you can draw a straight line from this vision of Tom Jones to the increasingly repulsive "anti-heroes" who followed later in the decade. They range from the ultra-violent Alex in A CLOCKWORK ORANGE to the cowardly Indian warrior in LITTLE BIG MAN to the criminal Michael in THE GODFATHER.
What's missing from the film -- but not the book -- is any sense that Tom really loves Sophia, or that he learns from his adventures and becomes more worthy, more manly, at the end. The book takes the idea of choice and responsibility seriously, the movie just laughs it off. Not surprisingly, Tom's love affair with Lady Bellaston comes off differently as well. Casting the exquisite and sultry Joan Greenwood as Lady Bellaston was delightful, but wrong. In the book she is a fat, dumpy old hag who buys Tom and tries to corrupt him. In the movie she is a stunning older swinger who indulges him just for the fun of it. Sure it's sexy to watch -- really sexy. But what does it prove? Nothing. Tom doesn't resist temptation, he isn't punished, and he doesn't grow. It's the infantile approach that was to become all to popular during the "idealistic" sixties.
- Dan1863Sickles
- Feb 23, 2006
- Permalink
The movie that finished them all. Tom Jones is significant to me, personally, as it was the last film I needed to see to have seen all the Academy Award Best Picture winners. In 2009 I became incredibly interested in movies for their artistic merit and vowed to see all of the Best Picture winners as awarded by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. Tom Jones did not disappoint as a finale. Tony Richardson's 1963 feature, based on a book by Henry Fielding starring Albert Finney was a fun journey into the life of an 18th-century man born to unwed parents and taken in by a man of privilege. An exploration into the disposition one is born with, vs. the environment surrounding them as they mature, Tom Jones was nothing if not entertaining.
Tom Jones (Albert Finney) is a young, attractive man in 18th-century England of wealth and privilege. Tom is wild and carefree, chasing all the women he can and having illicit relationships with many. Despite his many faults, Tom is kind-hearted, and a fierce defender of what is right and what he believes in. Blifil (David Warner), Tom's "cousin" exudes regality, is cold and lacking personality, and incredibly vengeful. The two often trade barbs, as their personalities clash. Despite his wild ways with women, Tom eventually falls in love with Sophie Western (Susannah York), daughter of Squire Western (Hugh Griffith) a nobleman. Despite their mutual love for each other, no one wishes to see Tom, the bastard child abandoned as a baby and taken in by Squire Allworthy (George Devine) marry nobility. Sophie is promised to Blifil, and the two attempt to go on and forget their love of each other. This task proves impossible, as they continue their secret trysts, vowing to be with each other, one way or another.
The first half of Tom Jones was a spectacular romp through many classic cinema nods and the fantastic character development of the main players involved. Tom Jones is incredibly well-written thanks to John Osborne's screenplay and the source material Henry Fielding's novel. I love that the film started out as a silent film with title cards. It is such fun when films pay tribute to classic cinema. The narration throughout the film was another one of these fun nods to classic cinema, as well, and a nice touch. The coloration and film stock was a great tribute to classic films as well, grainy and yellow-tinged reminding viewers of the early days of film. The costuming and the sets were both extraordinary, and I was shocked that Tom Jones, a film that won 4 Oscar's, was not awarded for its sets nor period clothing. The film, along with John Addison was rightly awarded for its wonderful score. Each piece of music selected was perfect towards plot development and really put the audience in the 18th century. Of all the aspects that worked in Tom Jones, there were some that did not. The most glaring question after watching this feature is, how did Albert Finney ever become an actor? Judging by this performance alone (Which I am not doing, that's unfair) he seems completely listless and wholeheartedly disinterested in his character. I've read that Finney was displeased with some creative aspects of his character, and that definitely shows. I am glad I've seen many other works of Finney's because if I hadn't, this film definitely would have soured me. The pacing also struggles greatly in the second and third acts. The first hour was great fun and enjoyable, keeping audiences entertained. Once that first hour is done, however, the film becomes lifeless and dull. Only in the last 8 minutes does it pick up again before abruptly ending. After starting off so strong, it was disappointing to see it fall so flat.
One of the most fun parts of Tom Jones was that I saw so much of another favorite film, Start the Revolution Without Me, starring Gene Wilder in it. Tom Jones came first, so I can only assume that the director of the latter, Bud Yorkin was immensely influenced by the film that came 6 years before his. It was also great fun to see a well- done period piece, as those types of films seem so easy to make poorly. It is easy to see why Tom Jones, halfway a very good film, won Best Picture in an otherwise underwhelming year. I see why it doesn't stand out too much among those crowned, but I am pleased to have completed my journey through all the Best Picture winners, and Tom Jones will always hold a special place in my heart for helping me complete such a movie lover's goal.
Tom Jones (Albert Finney) is a young, attractive man in 18th-century England of wealth and privilege. Tom is wild and carefree, chasing all the women he can and having illicit relationships with many. Despite his many faults, Tom is kind-hearted, and a fierce defender of what is right and what he believes in. Blifil (David Warner), Tom's "cousin" exudes regality, is cold and lacking personality, and incredibly vengeful. The two often trade barbs, as their personalities clash. Despite his wild ways with women, Tom eventually falls in love with Sophie Western (Susannah York), daughter of Squire Western (Hugh Griffith) a nobleman. Despite their mutual love for each other, no one wishes to see Tom, the bastard child abandoned as a baby and taken in by Squire Allworthy (George Devine) marry nobility. Sophie is promised to Blifil, and the two attempt to go on and forget their love of each other. This task proves impossible, as they continue their secret trysts, vowing to be with each other, one way or another.
The first half of Tom Jones was a spectacular romp through many classic cinema nods and the fantastic character development of the main players involved. Tom Jones is incredibly well-written thanks to John Osborne's screenplay and the source material Henry Fielding's novel. I love that the film started out as a silent film with title cards. It is such fun when films pay tribute to classic cinema. The narration throughout the film was another one of these fun nods to classic cinema, as well, and a nice touch. The coloration and film stock was a great tribute to classic films as well, grainy and yellow-tinged reminding viewers of the early days of film. The costuming and the sets were both extraordinary, and I was shocked that Tom Jones, a film that won 4 Oscar's, was not awarded for its sets nor period clothing. The film, along with John Addison was rightly awarded for its wonderful score. Each piece of music selected was perfect towards plot development and really put the audience in the 18th century. Of all the aspects that worked in Tom Jones, there were some that did not. The most glaring question after watching this feature is, how did Albert Finney ever become an actor? Judging by this performance alone (Which I am not doing, that's unfair) he seems completely listless and wholeheartedly disinterested in his character. I've read that Finney was displeased with some creative aspects of his character, and that definitely shows. I am glad I've seen many other works of Finney's because if I hadn't, this film definitely would have soured me. The pacing also struggles greatly in the second and third acts. The first hour was great fun and enjoyable, keeping audiences entertained. Once that first hour is done, however, the film becomes lifeless and dull. Only in the last 8 minutes does it pick up again before abruptly ending. After starting off so strong, it was disappointing to see it fall so flat.
One of the most fun parts of Tom Jones was that I saw so much of another favorite film, Start the Revolution Without Me, starring Gene Wilder in it. Tom Jones came first, so I can only assume that the director of the latter, Bud Yorkin was immensely influenced by the film that came 6 years before his. It was also great fun to see a well- done period piece, as those types of films seem so easy to make poorly. It is easy to see why Tom Jones, halfway a very good film, won Best Picture in an otherwise underwhelming year. I see why it doesn't stand out too much among those crowned, but I am pleased to have completed my journey through all the Best Picture winners, and Tom Jones will always hold a special place in my heart for helping me complete such a movie lover's goal.
- oOoBarracuda
- Aug 18, 2016
- Permalink
In 1963 two of the most important productions in the history of movie making were released. The first was: "Cleopatra" with Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor, a cast as long as the Manhattan telephone directory and a budget bigger than the combined egos of the stars. "Cleopatra" was a total disaster. It has no redeeming quality that I know of. It is therefore important for embodying in one film, nearly everything that you can do wrong in making a movie. It is a movie that you must see if you are ever to understand what a truly good film really is. The second was: "Tom Jones" with Albert Finney and Susannah York, shot with rented equipment and costumes on the streets of London with a supporting cast of brilliant British ensemble players and extras who stood-in just to get in a film. Tom Jones is simply one of the best motion pictures of all time, for my money, The Best from Literature.
John Osborne who wrote the screen play produced a marvelous vehicle, but the genius of "Tom Jones" is Tony Richardson. He moves the actors and the story about the screen with a bawdy grace and earthy gentility that paints action and raucous laughter and beauty across one another with an even hand. It is a glimpse of antiquity so close and real that we can nearly touch it, and it makes us want to. (Though to be perfectly honest, I'm not sure we'd care for the smell of it.)
"Tom Jones" is a low budget, low tech, high quality film that must win the award for the "Most with the Least." The photography is beautiful, not because it used a dozen half million dollar cameras, it is beautiful because it is good photography. The acting wins out, and casts of thousands would only serve to clutter the stage. See this film whenever, wherever and as often as you possibly can.
John Osborne who wrote the screen play produced a marvelous vehicle, but the genius of "Tom Jones" is Tony Richardson. He moves the actors and the story about the screen with a bawdy grace and earthy gentility that paints action and raucous laughter and beauty across one another with an even hand. It is a glimpse of antiquity so close and real that we can nearly touch it, and it makes us want to. (Though to be perfectly honest, I'm not sure we'd care for the smell of it.)
"Tom Jones" is a low budget, low tech, high quality film that must win the award for the "Most with the Least." The photography is beautiful, not because it used a dozen half million dollar cameras, it is beautiful because it is good photography. The acting wins out, and casts of thousands would only serve to clutter the stage. See this film whenever, wherever and as often as you possibly can.
British New Wave practitioner Tony Richardson's rumbustious Oscar BEST PICTURE champ has been degraded to something of a damp squib half an century later since its triumph is deemed as "unworthy" by general opinion, in IMDB it holds a 6.7/10, quite a nadir for a redoubtable title-holder.
But if a viewer gives it a try with this scrumptiously restored Blu-Ray edition (retrofitted with Dolby Stereo), the consensus is, at the very least, a resplendent period treat enveloped with ample, lilting, euphonious selections to please one's ears and a carefree comedy-of-errors as much beholden to a unique faux-naïf whiff of British nobility as to its often vacuous, non-sensical happenings, which are transmuted from Henry Fielding's 18th century source novel THE HISTORY OF TOM JONES, A FOUNDLING.
Our young hero Tom Jones (Finney), whose parentage is the film's best kept secret, is a foundling adopted by Squire Allworthy (Devine), in due time he wins the heart of the young lady Sophie Western (York) with his chivalry, but also has no qualms about copping off with a luscious Molly Seagrim (Cilento), the daughter of a local peasant, and even gallantly defends her names on the back of his black horse, an atypical knight-in-the-shining-armor, the truth is, Tom is a magnetized draw toward the opposite site, which the film flogs to death through the mouths of his many a female admirer, but as fresh-faced as he is, Finney's dreamboat quotient is not potent enough, his appearance often betrays a tinge of sophistication which will mature tangibly with time, ergo, it becomes slightly vexing in this nominal "female gaze" outlook that tapers into frivolity, once Tom sets his foot on his own to explore the world.
On the one hand, it looks bizarre now, that the film holds an unmatched record by securing three Oscar nominations in BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS category (with no win though), granted that the film does present a menagerie of vivacious, delicious and colorful personages: a transmogrified Cilento is a brazen sight to behold; Dame Edith Evans is right on the nose as Sophie's spinster aunt, a moralistic do-gooder cannot be bothered even by a pistol-wielding footpad; Joyce Redman makes splashes with her infamous duet with Finney in their food partaking flirtation as Mrs. Waters, and is spared with an incestuous scandal in the final reveal, apart from those aforementioned three Oscar-nominated ladies, a Golden Globe-nominated Joan Greenwood doesn't cede her reign to anyone else as the amoral Lady Bellaston, but in the event, every character, including the bibulous luvvie Hugh Griffith as Sophie's fatuous father, David Warner's vicious turn in his screen debut and a scene-stealing David Tomlinson as Lord Fellamar who is blatantly ready to ravish his object of desire, even the two leads Tom and Sophie, is wanting of a magic potion which would lend them some substance other than a caricature or a skin-deep nonentity.
On the other hand, Richardson maxes out his aptitude to marshal this picture into a resounding spectacle other than the usual suspect of a knockabout ruckus, from its beguiling silent skit opening to the sweeping grandness of a deer hunting hoopla, and to the riveting sword fights, to say nothing of its opulent decorations and garments, one must hand it to him for his audacity and faculty in burnishing this episodic shaggy-dog story as integral as it could be, notwithstanding the shark-jumping ending is visibly rushed, and that final illegitimate-status-to-noble-extraction volte-face is such a conformable device rightfully harking back to the novel's antediluvian provenance.
But if a viewer gives it a try with this scrumptiously restored Blu-Ray edition (retrofitted with Dolby Stereo), the consensus is, at the very least, a resplendent period treat enveloped with ample, lilting, euphonious selections to please one's ears and a carefree comedy-of-errors as much beholden to a unique faux-naïf whiff of British nobility as to its often vacuous, non-sensical happenings, which are transmuted from Henry Fielding's 18th century source novel THE HISTORY OF TOM JONES, A FOUNDLING.
Our young hero Tom Jones (Finney), whose parentage is the film's best kept secret, is a foundling adopted by Squire Allworthy (Devine), in due time he wins the heart of the young lady Sophie Western (York) with his chivalry, but also has no qualms about copping off with a luscious Molly Seagrim (Cilento), the daughter of a local peasant, and even gallantly defends her names on the back of his black horse, an atypical knight-in-the-shining-armor, the truth is, Tom is a magnetized draw toward the opposite site, which the film flogs to death through the mouths of his many a female admirer, but as fresh-faced as he is, Finney's dreamboat quotient is not potent enough, his appearance often betrays a tinge of sophistication which will mature tangibly with time, ergo, it becomes slightly vexing in this nominal "female gaze" outlook that tapers into frivolity, once Tom sets his foot on his own to explore the world.
On the one hand, it looks bizarre now, that the film holds an unmatched record by securing three Oscar nominations in BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS category (with no win though), granted that the film does present a menagerie of vivacious, delicious and colorful personages: a transmogrified Cilento is a brazen sight to behold; Dame Edith Evans is right on the nose as Sophie's spinster aunt, a moralistic do-gooder cannot be bothered even by a pistol-wielding footpad; Joyce Redman makes splashes with her infamous duet with Finney in their food partaking flirtation as Mrs. Waters, and is spared with an incestuous scandal in the final reveal, apart from those aforementioned three Oscar-nominated ladies, a Golden Globe-nominated Joan Greenwood doesn't cede her reign to anyone else as the amoral Lady Bellaston, but in the event, every character, including the bibulous luvvie Hugh Griffith as Sophie's fatuous father, David Warner's vicious turn in his screen debut and a scene-stealing David Tomlinson as Lord Fellamar who is blatantly ready to ravish his object of desire, even the two leads Tom and Sophie, is wanting of a magic potion which would lend them some substance other than a caricature or a skin-deep nonentity.
On the other hand, Richardson maxes out his aptitude to marshal this picture into a resounding spectacle other than the usual suspect of a knockabout ruckus, from its beguiling silent skit opening to the sweeping grandness of a deer hunting hoopla, and to the riveting sword fights, to say nothing of its opulent decorations and garments, one must hand it to him for his audacity and faculty in burnishing this episodic shaggy-dog story as integral as it could be, notwithstanding the shark-jumping ending is visibly rushed, and that final illegitimate-status-to-noble-extraction volte-face is such a conformable device rightfully harking back to the novel's antediluvian provenance.
- lasttimeisaw
- Apr 11, 2018
- Permalink
I get the sense that Tony Richardson's adaptation of Henry Fielding's novel was botched during production. The editing is simply too chaotic, and I don't think it was intentional. There's way too much ADR and stitching together of scenes through what feels like random bits of B-roll footage to create montage for this to have been intentional. It's easily the most chaotic Best Picture winner from a purely cinematic craft point of view, a marked departure from the precisions of assembly that were films like Lawrence of Arabia, The Apartment, Ben-Hur, and West Side Story. That I find the film so entertaining ends up feeling kind of remarkable, and a lot of that has to do with the light and airy approach to the material as well as the amusing central performance from Albert Finney.
Squire Allworthy (George Devine) returns from London to his country estate to find a baby in his bed. Along with his sister Bridget (Rachel Kempson), they confront the boy's mother and father, casting both out from the house as Allworthy declares that he will raise the boy whom he names Tom Jones as his own son. Years pass, Tom becomes a man (Finney), and he's an attractive man who gains the attention of women wherever he goes. Being weak willed, he sets on a series of actions that, as the witty narrator (Micheál Mac Liammóir) says, will destine him for the gallows. The first object of his affections is the daughter of one of Allworthy's servants, Molly (Diane Cilento) who wants to use Tom to try and become a maid in the house. She also happens to get pregnant. Oops. This all happens while Tom is trying to court a woman above his station, Sophie Western (Susannah York), the daughter of Allworthy's neighbor Squire Western (Hugh Griffith). The scandal causes a rift between them, undone when Tom finds another man in Molly's room, the actual father of her child.
In opposition to Tom's position in life is Allworthy's nephew, Bilfil (David Warner), the son of the departed Bridget who carries with him a secret letter that her solicitor was supposed to give to Allworthy. It's antagonism born from Tom's bastard status and lower class, as well as jealousy from the fact that Sophie loves Tom rather than Bilfil, a match that Sophie's aunt, Miss Western (Edith Evans), arranges. The conflict creates a rift between Tom and Squire Allworthy, leading Tom to leave the estate and try and make his own way in the world.
He enters a series of misadventures, all of which involve women, as he makes his way from the company of some British soldiers on their way to Scotland to fight the Jacobites, mostly an officer who insults Sophie Western leading to a fight that incapacitates Tom. There's a woman Tom saves on the road, Mrs. Waters (Joyce Redman), leading to the famous scene of grotesqueries as they leer over each other as they eat several courses of food in an inn. It's famous for the grotesque nature of it, but it fits in well with the light and comic air of everything around it.
From the opening done in silent film style without dialogue and with intertitles to Finney's innocent take on this young man who has women of all walks of life throwing themselves at him except the woman he actually wants to rather silly performance by Griffith (purportedly drunk all throughout filming), Tom Jones is consistently amusing. I've seen the film twice, and I chuckle consistently through the whole thing. I don't go more than a couple of minutes before I get another small guffaw out of the action, the wit of the narrator, or the sometimes befuddled state that Finney feels as he goes from one little comic episode to the next, often as the butt of the joke.
The comic sensibilities move into farce in the later parts of the film as we get some mistaken identities, mostly around Mrs. Waters when it's discovered that she is actually Jenny Jones, the girl who was told to say she was Tom Jones' mother, a fiction we've all assumed wasn't the case since the start of the movie and gets cleared up explicitly pretty quickly (she's not, though Mrs. Waters does get a fun fourth wall breaking moment). In fact, there are a couple of fourth-wall breaking moments that make the film feel surprisingly modern.
Is it a great film? I wouldn't say so. The chaotic editing seems to be papering over a lot of issues from the production. There's a moment late where Tom is dancing with Lady Bellaston (Joan Greenwood), and we see her speak, but we cut to some random B-roll footage while Tom responds. It makes the film actually difficult to actually look at. The treatment of the story is more of a joke, like Richardson couldn't take the novel seriously, so he just spends the film trying to find easy humor. The easy humor is amusing, but it doesn't offer a whole lot else to grasp onto. When Tom is at the gallows late in the film, there's little tension around that situation because the movie itself doesn't take it very seriously. I mean...it's amusing and pretty consistently amusing, but that's kind of it.
Helped in no small part by the fact that Albert Finney was a charming young man and the women around him were generally attractive and witty. The contrast of the pristinely made films that won most of the Best Picture awards over the previous couple of decade against the very rough and tumble filmmaking of Tom Jones is also interesting in its own.
On its own, though, Tom Jones is lightly amusing from beginning to end. It's not a great film and it always feels like it's going to just fall apart into nonsense. I can sort of imagine how the Academy would come to award it based on the competition that year, especially against something as leaden as How the West Was Won. I mean, it had awarded far worse.
Squire Allworthy (George Devine) returns from London to his country estate to find a baby in his bed. Along with his sister Bridget (Rachel Kempson), they confront the boy's mother and father, casting both out from the house as Allworthy declares that he will raise the boy whom he names Tom Jones as his own son. Years pass, Tom becomes a man (Finney), and he's an attractive man who gains the attention of women wherever he goes. Being weak willed, he sets on a series of actions that, as the witty narrator (Micheál Mac Liammóir) says, will destine him for the gallows. The first object of his affections is the daughter of one of Allworthy's servants, Molly (Diane Cilento) who wants to use Tom to try and become a maid in the house. She also happens to get pregnant. Oops. This all happens while Tom is trying to court a woman above his station, Sophie Western (Susannah York), the daughter of Allworthy's neighbor Squire Western (Hugh Griffith). The scandal causes a rift between them, undone when Tom finds another man in Molly's room, the actual father of her child.
In opposition to Tom's position in life is Allworthy's nephew, Bilfil (David Warner), the son of the departed Bridget who carries with him a secret letter that her solicitor was supposed to give to Allworthy. It's antagonism born from Tom's bastard status and lower class, as well as jealousy from the fact that Sophie loves Tom rather than Bilfil, a match that Sophie's aunt, Miss Western (Edith Evans), arranges. The conflict creates a rift between Tom and Squire Allworthy, leading Tom to leave the estate and try and make his own way in the world.
He enters a series of misadventures, all of which involve women, as he makes his way from the company of some British soldiers on their way to Scotland to fight the Jacobites, mostly an officer who insults Sophie Western leading to a fight that incapacitates Tom. There's a woman Tom saves on the road, Mrs. Waters (Joyce Redman), leading to the famous scene of grotesqueries as they leer over each other as they eat several courses of food in an inn. It's famous for the grotesque nature of it, but it fits in well with the light and comic air of everything around it.
From the opening done in silent film style without dialogue and with intertitles to Finney's innocent take on this young man who has women of all walks of life throwing themselves at him except the woman he actually wants to rather silly performance by Griffith (purportedly drunk all throughout filming), Tom Jones is consistently amusing. I've seen the film twice, and I chuckle consistently through the whole thing. I don't go more than a couple of minutes before I get another small guffaw out of the action, the wit of the narrator, or the sometimes befuddled state that Finney feels as he goes from one little comic episode to the next, often as the butt of the joke.
The comic sensibilities move into farce in the later parts of the film as we get some mistaken identities, mostly around Mrs. Waters when it's discovered that she is actually Jenny Jones, the girl who was told to say she was Tom Jones' mother, a fiction we've all assumed wasn't the case since the start of the movie and gets cleared up explicitly pretty quickly (she's not, though Mrs. Waters does get a fun fourth wall breaking moment). In fact, there are a couple of fourth-wall breaking moments that make the film feel surprisingly modern.
Is it a great film? I wouldn't say so. The chaotic editing seems to be papering over a lot of issues from the production. There's a moment late where Tom is dancing with Lady Bellaston (Joan Greenwood), and we see her speak, but we cut to some random B-roll footage while Tom responds. It makes the film actually difficult to actually look at. The treatment of the story is more of a joke, like Richardson couldn't take the novel seriously, so he just spends the film trying to find easy humor. The easy humor is amusing, but it doesn't offer a whole lot else to grasp onto. When Tom is at the gallows late in the film, there's little tension around that situation because the movie itself doesn't take it very seriously. I mean...it's amusing and pretty consistently amusing, but that's kind of it.
Helped in no small part by the fact that Albert Finney was a charming young man and the women around him were generally attractive and witty. The contrast of the pristinely made films that won most of the Best Picture awards over the previous couple of decade against the very rough and tumble filmmaking of Tom Jones is also interesting in its own.
On its own, though, Tom Jones is lightly amusing from beginning to end. It's not a great film and it always feels like it's going to just fall apart into nonsense. I can sort of imagine how the Academy would come to award it based on the competition that year, especially against something as leaden as How the West Was Won. I mean, it had awarded far worse.
- davidmvining
- Jun 15, 2023
- Permalink
Tom Jones is a film that has not dated well with references to bygone silent films and English country life lost on myself; the photography and editing seems to be from another era as well. I found it difficult to see what the point of the film.
The vague story after the book by Henry Fielding follows Tom and his adventures across England making a life for himself after being run out of house by his uncle landlord. Theis film reminded me a little of Barry Lyndon, with it's rogue character crossing English countrysides encountering shifty characters and overcoming dilemmas along the way. Add to that the sumptuous natural photography and it should be a winner.
The direction is very clunky and unfocused - many close-up shots and the much celebrated countryside scenes were hazily shot and dizzying in nature - the director could not keep the camera still few even a few moments. The plot devices and turning points seemed fabricated and just unbelievable especially when former characters were introduced at key moments in the story just to solve the problem. The speaking -to-the-audience technique and cut transitions that are meant to hide further action to the audience was just pretentious. There are many extraneous scenes that do not enhance the plot and therefore the pacing suffers, especially for a film 2hrs in length
The acting fitted the style of an olde English 18C tale or if it was supposed to be in the fashion of those BBC miniseries and that era. However it could have been so much better. Most of the characters could only do one expression whether it was angry, sullen, bashful or clueless. And Tom Jones himself just spent the film running around like a spoiled immature brat.
I will admit the one feature of the film I (mildly) enjoyed was the music - adapted from the style of early silent films; a mixture of music around Tom Jones time and 17C English composers. It was pacey and moved the action on the screen along.
I can't believe that this won so many major awards that year for being a tired, preposterous, farce of a comedy. It didn't work in the slightest way for me. The script should have been much more clever and wittier but in the end was very mediocre. The film's climax was overblown and the dilemmas experienced by all characters in the film were just overlooked to achieve a happy ending to the film given the final scene of he picture. For a film lauded as best picture by many critics of the time, I fail to see any elements of film-making that make it truly great - in fact they were poor and vague. In the end it came off as nothing more than a tired trivial comedy.
The vague story after the book by Henry Fielding follows Tom and his adventures across England making a life for himself after being run out of house by his uncle landlord. Theis film reminded me a little of Barry Lyndon, with it's rogue character crossing English countrysides encountering shifty characters and overcoming dilemmas along the way. Add to that the sumptuous natural photography and it should be a winner.
The direction is very clunky and unfocused - many close-up shots and the much celebrated countryside scenes were hazily shot and dizzying in nature - the director could not keep the camera still few even a few moments. The plot devices and turning points seemed fabricated and just unbelievable especially when former characters were introduced at key moments in the story just to solve the problem. The speaking -to-the-audience technique and cut transitions that are meant to hide further action to the audience was just pretentious. There are many extraneous scenes that do not enhance the plot and therefore the pacing suffers, especially for a film 2hrs in length
The acting fitted the style of an olde English 18C tale or if it was supposed to be in the fashion of those BBC miniseries and that era. However it could have been so much better. Most of the characters could only do one expression whether it was angry, sullen, bashful or clueless. And Tom Jones himself just spent the film running around like a spoiled immature brat.
I will admit the one feature of the film I (mildly) enjoyed was the music - adapted from the style of early silent films; a mixture of music around Tom Jones time and 17C English composers. It was pacey and moved the action on the screen along.
I can't believe that this won so many major awards that year for being a tired, preposterous, farce of a comedy. It didn't work in the slightest way for me. The script should have been much more clever and wittier but in the end was very mediocre. The film's climax was overblown and the dilemmas experienced by all characters in the film were just overlooked to achieve a happy ending to the film given the final scene of he picture. For a film lauded as best picture by many critics of the time, I fail to see any elements of film-making that make it truly great - in fact they were poor and vague. In the end it came off as nothing more than a tired trivial comedy.
This was a great film in its time, and is still a great one today. Well-directed, well-acted, well-shot, great soundtrack, and based on a splendid literary vehicle.
It's frustrating to see so much uninformed voting and so many uninformed remarks on this otherwise wonderful site; I guess its inevitable since anyone can post anything. But I would like to point out that Tom Jones did not sleep with his mother as erroneously alleged, and that Albert Finney, 26 or 27 years old at the time of shooting this film, clearly did not look too old for his part.
I haven't read the book(s), but from the film it's obvious that Dickens was much indebted to Fielding, using his amazing invention as a convoluted plot model (and perhaps a character-naming model) for many of his works.
Go rent this film after seeing Finney in the currently playing Big Fish -- it's great to see him do so well in such very different films made in different millenia, nearly a full professional lifetime apart.
It's frustrating to see so much uninformed voting and so many uninformed remarks on this otherwise wonderful site; I guess its inevitable since anyone can post anything. But I would like to point out that Tom Jones did not sleep with his mother as erroneously alleged, and that Albert Finney, 26 or 27 years old at the time of shooting this film, clearly did not look too old for his part.
I haven't read the book(s), but from the film it's obvious that Dickens was much indebted to Fielding, using his amazing invention as a convoluted plot model (and perhaps a character-naming model) for many of his works.
Go rent this film after seeing Finney in the currently playing Big Fish -- it's great to see him do so well in such very different films made in different millenia, nearly a full professional lifetime apart.
It's a madcap movie. It's loud and brash. It makes no apologises. It's silly and very fast paced. Albert Finley looks like he is enjoying himself and is very likeable as the rogue. The sound is very cheeky and I really enjoyed. The scenes change very quickly, a lot does happen which does frustrate as parts seem a little rushed as the story moves on.
People were excited about Tom Jones in 1963. I read in an archived paper that it was considered the next Citizen Kane. Somehow someway that translated to 4 Oscars, including Best Picture, where it's now considered the weakest winner outside of Crash since the 50s. Probably even weaker than Driving Miss Daisy. It's a bizarre blend of period costume drama and screwball comedy, and neither parts work. It's really all over the place, and I'll admit to not being able to follow the story besides the broad strokes. There's little to find engaging. It's so unbelievably rough around the edges, so horribly shot and overlaboured in the editing. No, those scenes don't need speeding up. That doesn't make it funny. That makes it cheap. Maybe it was an innovator at the time, but it innovated the worst ideas. Albert Finney does have charm, but the film savours none of it. The acting from the ensemble spare a few is solid, but the filmmaking is too weak for them to steal the show. I'll give it credit that the score is Oscar- worthy and is the only thing that efficiently sets the tone. Poor show on Richardson and the Academy's behalf.
5/10
5/10
- Sergeant_Tibbs
- Apr 19, 2015
- Permalink
"Tom Jones" is a movie adaptation of the classic Eighteenth century novel masterpiece of Henry Fielding made up by the greatest contemporary British playwriter John Osborne and directed by one of the main film directors of English Free Cinema, Tony Richardson. This film came at end of this golden period of the English Cinema in the sixties and it is the highest moment of this cinema. "Tom Jones" shows in the person of Tom Jones (the masterly Albert Finney) the point of view of the angry young man looking to the stupidity and the hypocrisies of the Eighteenth century society, which resembles our times. It is not at all just a funny film, even if some scenes are extremely funny and are some classics in the history of cinema, famous like the one in which Tom eating a rich supper with his woman is really looking like eating her with the eyes. "Tom Jones" is the adventurous hystory of a modern hero, who finally conquers his true love, after any kind of trouble. This is an highly cinematographic film, e.g. the movement of the camera gives itself the idea of happiness in the scenes of love in the country of Tom and Sophie (the beautiful and greatest Susannah York), the drama of the situation in which Tom risk to be hanged or the funniness in the bawdy scenes in the inn. In the beginning the film even outlines the beginning of the complex story using even the style of the silent cinema...Tom Jones/Albert Finney even also speaks directly to the public of the film reaching with his greatest originality an extreme level of funniness and pleasantness. The photography of the film resembles with its colours and views the landscapes of English painting of the Eighteenth century, like in Hogarth's pictures. The fox hunting scene is pictorially beautiful. The actors are all the best of the English theatre of that period and playing at their best, where theatre is so important and lively in England. Concluding, a film that gives the sense of the joy of living through the movie media at the highest level, it's a must to see even only this film, a masterpiece of the forgotten but greatest English film director, Tony Richardson. As Giancarlo Grazzini, the greatest Italian cinematographic critic of that time, wrote, it was the best film presented at the Film Festival of Venice, worthy of winning also the Golden Lion there and not just the Oscars!
The movie takes place in England in the 18th century, and involves the many adventures (mostly sexual) of a young, handsome Tom Jones. This movie has many terrific moments--exciting sword fights, some great lines, GREAT music score and a very accurate portrayal of 18th century England. Unfortunately, it also has many dull moments (to move the plot forward), unpleasant moments (18th century was NOT pretty) and a very quick ending. Still, it's worth seeing. Director Tony Richardson is obviously enjoying himself and it comes through. Also, the cast is great. Nobody is bad! Especially good are Albert Finney as Tom, Susannah York as his love Sophie and Joyce Redman as Mrs. Waters. Special acclaim must be given to Edith Evans as Miss Weston--she's absolutely uproarious! Also nice to see David Warner before he was known. If you're in a silly frame of mind you'll probably love this movie. If you're not, you'll probably LIKE it.
It must have been a sorry year for movies if this horrible movie won "Best Picture". Cleopatra was not the greatest epic ever made but it is a heck of a lot better then this boring movie. I honestly tried to enjoy this movie but it was just soooo boring (and they try to pass this off as a comedy). I can see women enjoying his movie because of the romance factor and maybe in 1963 that was what was popular. I can not blame the love affair with this movie on drugs because the "flower generation" were still a few years in the future (maybe movies like this one sped up the quest for drugs). Honestly, I am baffled as to the allure of this movie. I just do not get it.
- lococactus
- Jul 27, 2006
- Permalink
Tome Jones came out of the wonderful 60's when all the stuffy conventions of British theater, film and music were turned upside down. I first saw this film while stationed in Wiltshire in the Royal Air Force, and having grown up in the industrial West Riding of Yorkshire, my eyes had only recently been opened to the staggering beauty of the English countryside.
Tom Jones represented that unspoiled English countryside to me. I could smell the hay, the wildflowers and the livestock. Never mind that unless you were rich it was serf labor, I saw England through a wonderful fantasy of a film. The action never stopped. This movie was just hilarious from beginning to end. No glossing over the crude realities of country life - this was a period when the poor folk shared their hovels with the chickens and other small animals, when sex was raw, albeit punished on Sundays, and when the local gentry had their way with the wenches.
Rarely has there been such a belly laugh of a movie. Laugh until the tears roll down your face.
Tom Jones represented that unspoiled English countryside to me. I could smell the hay, the wildflowers and the livestock. Never mind that unless you were rich it was serf labor, I saw England through a wonderful fantasy of a film. The action never stopped. This movie was just hilarious from beginning to end. No glossing over the crude realities of country life - this was a period when the poor folk shared their hovels with the chickens and other small animals, when sex was raw, albeit punished on Sundays, and when the local gentry had their way with the wenches.
Rarely has there been such a belly laugh of a movie. Laugh until the tears roll down your face.
I have a feeling that, in 20 years or so, people will look back on the 2002 Oscars and be mystified by the amount of hoopla surrounding "Chicago." Looking at it now that the hype has died down, it proves itself to be a very very entertaining film but not much more; what someone 20 years from now won't be witness to is the context in which the film was initially released, and the degree to which the cultural climate at the time was was perfectly poised to foster a public mania for this particular story and this particular way of telling it.
I wonder if much the same thing happened with "Tom Jones." I saw this probably ten or so years ago and thought it was light-hearted and breezy, but I couldn't for the life of me understand how it could have been universally liked enough to win the Best Picture Oscar in 1963. I guess it does have a kind of groovy style about it that was in line with the direction of pop culture during that time period -- it certainly makes two of its Best Picture contenders from that year, "Cleopatra" and "How the West Was Won" (the only two I've seen), look like hopeless dinosaurs staggering from the remains of an out-of-touch Hollywood. But still....
Grade: B
I wonder if much the same thing happened with "Tom Jones." I saw this probably ten or so years ago and thought it was light-hearted and breezy, but I couldn't for the life of me understand how it could have been universally liked enough to win the Best Picture Oscar in 1963. I guess it does have a kind of groovy style about it that was in line with the direction of pop culture during that time period -- it certainly makes two of its Best Picture contenders from that year, "Cleopatra" and "How the West Was Won" (the only two I've seen), look like hopeless dinosaurs staggering from the remains of an out-of-touch Hollywood. But still....
Grade: B
- evanston_dad
- Nov 14, 2006
- Permalink
Enjoyable but sometimes difficult to watch. I liked the farce and anti-farce elements, but this movie's best moments are the broad, drawn-out action sequences. The hunting scene alone is worth watching the entire movie.
The romance aspect of the story isn't particularly well done, and neither is the essential plot. This movie is goofy sometimes, in both a good and bad way. For me, it breaks down where it tries to follow the story.
The entire movie seems to be about experimenting with the Victorian English period piece as a genre (and poking fun at it) - sometimes it succeeds and sometimes it fails. It's good fun though, and worth watching.
The romance aspect of the story isn't particularly well done, and neither is the essential plot. This movie is goofy sometimes, in both a good and bad way. For me, it breaks down where it tries to follow the story.
The entire movie seems to be about experimenting with the Victorian English period piece as a genre (and poking fun at it) - sometimes it succeeds and sometimes it fails. It's good fun though, and worth watching.
A fine example of farce, with several very funny scenes (especially the famous dining scene) and some excellent camera work (especially a fox hunting scene in the first half hour of the film). The acting is excellent, with Hugh Griffith's marvelous portrayal of loutish bumpkin Squire Western a real treat. However, I find it hard to believe this film won the best picture Oscar. Was this really the best film that 1963 had to offer? It must have been a mediocre year.
TOM JONES may not be the worst movie to take home the Academy Award for Best Motion Picture, but it certainly is in the running for being the most ineptly directed. Tiresomely clumsy and terminally long-winded, this so-called rollicking comedy barely merits a legitimate smile, let alone any laugh-out-loud moments of glee. Under Tony Richardson's amateurish direction, the film suffers from having little sense of comic timing, a lack of the astute use of editing or camera placement or even the slightest hint that the famed director had ever been behind a camera before.
It is easy to see what Richardson was going for; he wanted to cut the historical epic as a genre down to size. The austere, pretentious, pompous Hollywood-style history lessons that were once a staple -- and a symbol of what in Hollywood passed for class -- were often humorless and self-aware of just how "important" they were. With actors giving solemn, coldly pious performances, the characters they played were placed on pedestals as being morally and intellectually superior to the commoners who served them -- and who sat in the audience watching. TOM JONES' purpose -- if indeed it has a purpose -- is to show that the nobility was no better than the peasant class -- other than maybe having lived in a slightly better quality of squalor.
So be it -- but by the same token, big deal! The tendency of the movies to alternately worship and mock the rich and powerful has always been a given. There isn't much here that hadn't already been made fun of before (and better) in the period parodies made by Danny Kaye or Bob Hope. Or for that matter, the Three Stooges. The best you can give TOM JONES credit for is being a forerunner of the snob-and-slob comedies of later generations; move the story to contemporary Beverly Hills and cast some refugee from "Saturday Night Live" in the Jones part and you'll have a modern day CADDYSHACK. I mean is Hugh Griffith's over-the-top vulgar nobleman really much different from the below-the-belt nouveau riche vulgarians that made up Rodney Dangerfield's film career?
The simple-minded attack on the upper class is nothing new or different, but that wouldn't matter if the film itself were, well, funny. It's story is the standard picaresque adventures of a young rogue's life among his social betters -- jazzed up with all the cheap sexual innuendoes, mistaken identities and misunderstandings that farce requires. For the most part, the film seems to be a desperate attempt to blend the gritty realism of the various European "new waves" with the orchestrated anarchy of the Marx Bros. -- while not succeeding at doing justice to either. It is like a rough cut made up of poorly chosen outtakes; instead of a work of slick, carefully crafted chaos, it is comprised of one poorly staged scene after another, a soundtrack of disconnected voices and a droning narration that always seems to be describing missing material. Impressed with Richardson's use of silent movie gimmicks (title cards, speeded up action, iris fade outs, etc.), the film critics of the time lavished the film with praise for being new and fresh -- by using tricks that even then were old and cliché!
The cast of distinguished British stage notables tend to mug for the camera as if they were in a Jerry Lewis movie. Even Albert Finney in the title role fails to give any real performance, his character is jerked from scene to scene by circumstance rather than by dramatic motivation. Indeed, lovingly photographed as though he were in a spread for a fashion magazine, Finney has never looked so unrelentingly handsome and dashing -- and, yet, been so vacuously lacking in personality. Amoral and callow, there is little reason to care for Jones' fate other than the fact that he is so gosh-darn pretty.
Even granting that 1963 was a remarkably weak year for movies, TOM JONES' winning of the Oscar (among several other prestigious awards) is a puzzlement. These things rarely go to comedies, unless it is perceived that they somehow represent something groundbreaking (like ANNIE HALL or AMERlCAN BEAUTY). Yet, even if TOM JONES was seen as some sort of bold departure from the norm, it didn't stop the Academy from soon going back to form and giving their top prize to such stiff, shallow and self-important historical epics as A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS, CHARIOTS OF FIRE, GANDHI, THE LAST EMPEROR, THE ENGLlSH PATIENT, BRAVEHEART and GLADIATOR -- all of which carry at least some glimmer of high-tone British superiority. So I suppose that even the thinnest patina of British class somehow, in their eyes, raised this low-brow mess to the level of high-brow social commentary. Or worse, art.
It is easy to see what Richardson was going for; he wanted to cut the historical epic as a genre down to size. The austere, pretentious, pompous Hollywood-style history lessons that were once a staple -- and a symbol of what in Hollywood passed for class -- were often humorless and self-aware of just how "important" they were. With actors giving solemn, coldly pious performances, the characters they played were placed on pedestals as being morally and intellectually superior to the commoners who served them -- and who sat in the audience watching. TOM JONES' purpose -- if indeed it has a purpose -- is to show that the nobility was no better than the peasant class -- other than maybe having lived in a slightly better quality of squalor.
So be it -- but by the same token, big deal! The tendency of the movies to alternately worship and mock the rich and powerful has always been a given. There isn't much here that hadn't already been made fun of before (and better) in the period parodies made by Danny Kaye or Bob Hope. Or for that matter, the Three Stooges. The best you can give TOM JONES credit for is being a forerunner of the snob-and-slob comedies of later generations; move the story to contemporary Beverly Hills and cast some refugee from "Saturday Night Live" in the Jones part and you'll have a modern day CADDYSHACK. I mean is Hugh Griffith's over-the-top vulgar nobleman really much different from the below-the-belt nouveau riche vulgarians that made up Rodney Dangerfield's film career?
The simple-minded attack on the upper class is nothing new or different, but that wouldn't matter if the film itself were, well, funny. It's story is the standard picaresque adventures of a young rogue's life among his social betters -- jazzed up with all the cheap sexual innuendoes, mistaken identities and misunderstandings that farce requires. For the most part, the film seems to be a desperate attempt to blend the gritty realism of the various European "new waves" with the orchestrated anarchy of the Marx Bros. -- while not succeeding at doing justice to either. It is like a rough cut made up of poorly chosen outtakes; instead of a work of slick, carefully crafted chaos, it is comprised of one poorly staged scene after another, a soundtrack of disconnected voices and a droning narration that always seems to be describing missing material. Impressed with Richardson's use of silent movie gimmicks (title cards, speeded up action, iris fade outs, etc.), the film critics of the time lavished the film with praise for being new and fresh -- by using tricks that even then were old and cliché!
The cast of distinguished British stage notables tend to mug for the camera as if they were in a Jerry Lewis movie. Even Albert Finney in the title role fails to give any real performance, his character is jerked from scene to scene by circumstance rather than by dramatic motivation. Indeed, lovingly photographed as though he were in a spread for a fashion magazine, Finney has never looked so unrelentingly handsome and dashing -- and, yet, been so vacuously lacking in personality. Amoral and callow, there is little reason to care for Jones' fate other than the fact that he is so gosh-darn pretty.
Even granting that 1963 was a remarkably weak year for movies, TOM JONES' winning of the Oscar (among several other prestigious awards) is a puzzlement. These things rarely go to comedies, unless it is perceived that they somehow represent something groundbreaking (like ANNIE HALL or AMERlCAN BEAUTY). Yet, even if TOM JONES was seen as some sort of bold departure from the norm, it didn't stop the Academy from soon going back to form and giving their top prize to such stiff, shallow and self-important historical epics as A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS, CHARIOTS OF FIRE, GANDHI, THE LAST EMPEROR, THE ENGLlSH PATIENT, BRAVEHEART and GLADIATOR -- all of which carry at least some glimmer of high-tone British superiority. So I suppose that even the thinnest patina of British class somehow, in their eyes, raised this low-brow mess to the level of high-brow social commentary. Or worse, art.
While my mother claims this is a "guy movie," I'm not a guy and find it one of the funniest, most charming movies ever made. The narration, music and just plain spunky tone of this movie makes it a unique piece -- you really DO have to see it to understand what it's all about! I highly recommend this movie -- as well as the book, which was published in 1749 but is just as funny today and highly readable, not "quaint" at all!
It's 18th century England. Squire Allworthy returns to his estate after months away in London. He finds a baby in his bed. It is declared to be from his servant Jenny Jones. He decides to send her away and raise the baby with his sister Bridget as part of the family. The baby grows up to be the charming Tom Jones (Albert Finney). He and Sophie Western (Susannah York) falls in love but her family rejects him. They prefer she marries Bridget's son Blifil (David Warner). Squire Allworthy provides some inheritance for Tom to seek his own fortune. Due to misfortunes and family intrigue, Tom struggles in the world. Sophie runs away from Blifil to search for Tom.
This is a adaptation of an 18th century novel. It takes the material with some interesting modern aspects. It is bodied. It is inherently a comedy although it's not out loud funny. It has some quirks. It's more of a drama. Finney makes this compelling. It's a critic and academy favorite.
This is a adaptation of an 18th century novel. It takes the material with some interesting modern aspects. It is bodied. It is inherently a comedy although it's not out loud funny. It has some quirks. It's more of a drama. Finney makes this compelling. It's a critic and academy favorite.
- SnoopyStyle
- Feb 28, 2017
- Permalink
For 37 years I have heard the name Tom Jones. The title comes up a lot, in review books, commentaries...and I have finally watched the movie and boy was I disappointed.
I almost felt like I was watching a College final thesis movie. What's bad? Hard to understand dialogue, been there done that plot, horrible cinematography and hype.
Redeeming qualities: Albert Finny looks his best. He has never been more handsome in a role. Susannah York, also beautiful. Great costumes and some authentic realistic scenes.
Overall I could not wait for the movie to end. Watch it on TV but don't purchase this one unless it's on a used VHS rack for .99!
I almost felt like I was watching a College final thesis movie. What's bad? Hard to understand dialogue, been there done that plot, horrible cinematography and hype.
Redeeming qualities: Albert Finny looks his best. He has never been more handsome in a role. Susannah York, also beautiful. Great costumes and some authentic realistic scenes.
Overall I could not wait for the movie to end. Watch it on TV but don't purchase this one unless it's on a used VHS rack for .99!
- Joanalamode
- Apr 8, 2006
- Permalink
Just two hundred years after Henry Fielding's novel appeared, the theatre-actor-turned-cinema-director Sir Tony Richardson rounded up a few Shakespearean-trained prodigees, got John Addison to compose hectic clavichord accompaniment a little in the style of Handel operas and set all this against lush photography to produce one of the most hilarious films of the last five hundred years. Fielding's novel which is a most definite recommendation rather cynically but good-humouredly exposed mid-eighteenth century British hypocrisy at its best and the landed gentry's obsession for fox-hunting at its worst. Richardson directed all this a bit like an elderly Sir Thomas Beecham ('the important thing is we all start and stop together; nobody notices what happens in between') raising his baton in front of the London Symphony Orchestra: the result in both cases is astounding. Richardson conducts his piece at a tremendous pace, Addison's clavichord tripping along gaily so as to keep up the illusion, and visual sequences such as a young trouserless Albert Finney escaping out of a window, shinning down a tree and running off into the nocturnal depths of a beech forest, all combine to keep you breathlessly awaiting the next scene. Susannah York is just delicious, with that innocent facial beauty that raises heartbeats, especially in the latter parts; and Angela Baddely as Mrs. Wilkins and Diane Cilento as Molly play some great scenes. And some of the great scenes are worth telling...... Tom and Mrs. Wilkins enjoy a good roast with fruit, eating lusciously and lascivously, eating each other up with their sparkling eyes: this scene is hugely delightful. The other great scene is the fox-hunt: this alone puts the whole film into a special category: brilliant film-making, almost comparable to the famous chariot race in Ben Hur........ I loved this film 37 years ago, and recently had the luck to see it again: having doubled my years, I was just as enthralled and enraptured as the first time. A splendid piece of art.
- khatcher-2
- Dec 26, 2000
- Permalink
- jboothmillard
- Apr 29, 2009
- Permalink
I've attempted to watch this "Oscar winner" a number of times and have not gotten through the entire movie. This is a mess! Dialogue undecipherable, no plot, little in the way of characterization. It is a series of pointless scenes leading to nothing. I will say that it foreshadows a great deal of pointless,mindless, noisy, messy drug addled swinging 60's films that followed it. I refer to "Casino Royale", the last part of "What's New Pussycat" and "Rowan and Martins Laugh-in." I suppose at the time it seemed revolutionary and rebellious. But like many a sixties extravagance, it now appears to be nothing but self-indulgent senseless garbage. Oh, and why was Molly hanging out in the woods?