Main Cast: Charles Aznavour, Marlon Brando, Richard Burton, John Huston
Release Year: 1968
Country: FR/IT
Run Time: 123 minutes
Plot
In this big-budget adaptation of Terry Southern's satiric sex farce (the sort of project that could get an immediate green light in the late 1960's and at practically no other time before or since), Ewa Aulin is Candy, a sweet young woman who doesn't seem entirely aware of the powerful sexual desire she brings out in men. While her father (John Astin) and mother (Elsa Martinelli) try to keep Candy in line, the task proves to be all but impossible, as she's seduced by a remarkable variety of men in her journeys, including a booze-addled poet (Richard Burton), a mystical guru who lives on a truck (Marlon Brando), a gardener from Mexico (Ringo Starr), a fanatical military man who refuses to leave his plane (Walter Matthau), a pair of uncomfortably high-strung doctors (John Huston and James Coburn) and even her own uncle (Astin, again). The Byrds and Steppenwolf contributed songs to the soundtrack; the screenplay was written by Buck Henry. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Walter Matthau - Gen. Smight; Ringo Starr - Emmanuel; Ewa Aulin - Candy; John Astin - Daddy, Uncle Jack; Elsa Martinelli - Livia; "Sugar Ray" Robinson - Zero; Lea Padovani - Silvia; Florinda Bolkan - Lolita; Marilù Tolo - Conchita; Nicoletta Machiavelli - Marquita; Joey Forman - Cop; Fabian Dean - Sergeant; Enrico Maria Salerno - Jonathan J. John; Peter Dane; Enzo Fiermonte; Umberto Orsini - Hood; Anita Pallenberg - Nurse Bullock; Micaela Pignatelli; Steppenwolf; James Coburn - Dr. Krankheit
Credit
Dean Tavoularis - Art Director, Don Luiro - Choreography, Mia Fonssagrives - Costume Designer, Enrico Sabbatini - Costume Designer, Vicky Tiel - Costume Designer, Francesco Cinieri - First Assistant Director, Christian Marquand - Director, Giancarlo Cappelli - Editor, Frank Santillo - Editor, Selig J. Seligman - Executive Producer, Dave Grusin - Composer (Music Score), Enrico Grusin - Composer (Music Score), Giuseppe Rotunno - Cinematographer, Robert Haggiag - Producer, Christian Marquand - Producer, Douglas Trumbull - Special Effects, Augie Lohman - Special Effects, Basil Fenton-Smith - Sound/Sound Designer, Buck Henry - Screenwriter, Terry Southern - Book Author, Mason Hoffenberg - Book Author
The opening sequence shows Candy (Ewa Aulin) descending to Earth from outer space. In the next scene, she is in school, where her father (John Astin) is also her teacher. She attends a poetry recital by eccentric poet MacPhisto (Richard Burton), who offers her a ride home in his limousine. At her home, MacPhisto gets increasingly drunk and continues to recite poems, inspiring Candy and the Mexican gardener Emanuel (Ringo Starr) to have sex. After this scandal, the family decides to send her off to a private school, and she embarks on a psychedelic journey during which she meets a number of strange people, including a sex starved military general (Walter Matthau), a doctor who performs public operations (James Coburn), a hunchback (Charles Aznavour) and a fake Indian guru (Marlon Brando).
Relation to Candide
The story bears a marked similarity to Voltaire's Candide, including its naïve protagonist (switched from male to female), its penchant for exploring human sexuality, the protagonist's far-reaching travels, and her attempt to find some basic Good in humanity among all its charlatans and hypocrites. Whereas Candide is generally taken advantage of for a variety of reasons/uses, however, Candy herself is almost always sought after for her sexual appeal. This comes closer to the portrayal of Cunégonde, the heroine of Voltaire's novel.
