Main Cast: Albert Finney, Susannah York, Hugh Griffith, Edith Evans, Joan Greenwood
Release Year: 1963
Country: UK
Run Time: 129 minutes
Plot
Tony Richardson's adaptation of Henry Fielding's classic novel was one of the most critically acclaimed and popular comedies of its time, winning four Academy Awards, including Best Picture. The film follows Tom Jones (Albert Finney), a country boy who becomes one of the wildest playboys in 18th century England, developing a ravenous taste for women, food, and rowdy adventures. Over the course of the film, Jones tries to amass his own fortune and win the heart of Sophie (Susannah York). Not only does John Osborne's Oscar-winning screenplay stay true to the tone of the novel, but the cast -- including Lynn Redgrave in her first screen role -- tears into the story with spirited abandon, making the movie a wildly entertaining and witty experience. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide
Review
A bawdy, exuberant adaptation of Henry Fielding's classic 18th century novel, Tom Jones bears the enviable contradiction of being a timeless period piece. Boasting both a uniformly excellent cast and a screenplay by John Osborne that remains one of the cinema's most successful literary hatchet jobs, the film ushered in a new era for British cinema. Its unabashed commercialism (which had to be financed by United Artists after its subject matter was deemed too outré by British financiers) was key to the subsequent influx of American dollars into the British film industry, and it signaled the effective end of the darker, more politicized English Free Cinema movement. The film was a landmark for a number of other reasons, first and foremost director Tony Richardson's presentation of the subject matter. Presaging MTV-style film direction by at least three decades, Richardson directed his film with impressive speed, employing rapid cuts, a frequent breaking-down of the fourth wall, and a pace breathless enough to make audiences forget that they were watching what had been a 1,000-page novel. Notable, too, was the fact that a story set two centuries ago could ring so true with a contemporary audience. The depiction of Tom's libidinous past was marked by the sort of carefree, liberated attitude that would soon become one of the defining attributes of the film's era. Moreover, it featured one of the most memorable demonstrations of the link between food and sex ever committed to celluloid, giving new meaning to the term "human appetite." With so many lasting qualities -- to say nothing of a star-making performance by a young and dashing Albert Finney -- it is little surprise that Tom Jones has stood the test of time as one of the 20th century's most enjoyable cinematic achievements. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide
Diane Cilento - Molly Seagram; George Devine - Squire Allworthy; David Tomlinson - Lord Fellamar; Rosalind Atkinson - Mrs. Millar; Wilfred Lawson - Black George; Rosalind Knight - Mrs. Fitzpatrick; Jack MacGowran - Partridge; Freda Jackson - Mrs. Seagrim; David Warner - Blifil; Joyce Redman - Mrs. Waters/Jenny Jones; James Cairncross - Parson Supple; Rachel Kempson - Bridget Allworthy; Peter Bull - Thwackum; Angela Baddeley - Mrs. Wilkins; George A. Cooper - Fitzpatrick; Michael Brennan - the Jailor at Newgate; Avis Bunnage - Inn Keeper; Mark Dignam - Lieutenant; Julian Glover - Northerton; Michael MacLiammoir - Narrator; Redmond Phillips - Lawyer Dowling; Lynn Redgrave - Susan; Patsy Rowlands - Honour; Jack Stewart - MacLachlan; John Moffatt - Square
Credit
Ted Marshall - Art Director, Michael Holden - Associate Producer, Oscar Lewenstein - Associate Producer, John McCorry - Costume Designer, Gerry O'Hara - First Assistant Director, Tony Richardson - Director, Antony Gibbs - Editor, Robert Lambert - Editor, John Addison - Composer (Music Score), John Addison - Musical Direction/Supervision, Alex Garfath - Makeup, Desmond Davis - Camera Operator, Ralph W. Brinton - Production Designer, Walter Lassally - Cinematographer, Roy Millichip - Production Manager, Tony Richardson - Producer, Josie MacAvin - Set Designer, Peter Handford - Sound/Sound Designer, John Osborne - Screenwriter, Henry Fielding - Book Author
The story begins with a silent-movie sequence during which the good Squire Allworthy returns home after a lengthy stay in London and discovers a baby in his bed. Thinking that his barber, Mr. Partridge, and one of his servants, Jenny Jones, have "birthed" the infant out of lust, the squire banishes them and chooses to raise little Tom Jones as if he were his own son.
Tom (Albert Finney) grows up to be a lively young man whose good looks and kind heart make him very popular with the opposite sex. However, he truly loves only one woman, the gentle Sophie Western (Susannah York), who returns his passion. Sadly, Tom is stigmatized as a bastard and cannot wed a young lady of her high station. Sophie, too, must hide her feelings while her aunt (Edith Evans) and her father, Squire Western (Hugh Griffith) try to coerce her to marry a more suitable man - a man whom she hates.
This young man is Blifil (David Warner, in his film debut), the son of the Squire's widowed sister Bridget (Rachel Kempson). Although he is of legitimate birth, he is an ill-natured fellow with plenty of hypocritical 'virtue' but none of Tom's warmth, honesty, or high spirits. When Bridget dies unexpectedly, Blifil intercepts a letter which his mother intended for her brother's eyes only. What this letter contains is not revealed until the end of the movie; however, after his mother's funeral, Blifil and his two tutors, Mr. Thwackum and Mr. Square, join forces to convince the squire that Tom is a villain. Allworthy (George Devine) gives Tom a small cash legacy and sorrowfully sends him out into the world to seek his fortune.
In his road-traveling odyssey, Tom is knocked unconscious while defending the good name of his beloved Sophie and robbed of his legacy. He also flees from a jealous Irishman who falsely accuses him of having an affair with his wife, engages in deadly swordfights, meets his alleged father and his alleged mother, saves a certain Mrs. Waters from an evil Redcoat Officer, and later beds the same Mrs. Waters. In a celebrated scene, Tom and Mrs. Waters sit opposite each other in the dining room of the Upton Inn, wordlessly consuming an enormous meal while gazing lustfully at each other.
Meanwhile, Sophie runs away from home soon after Tom's banishment to escape the attentions of the loathed Blifil. After narrowly missing each other at the Upton Inn, Tom and Sophie arrive separately in London. There, Tom attracts the attention of Lady Bellaston (Joan Greenwood), a promiscuous noblewoman over 40 years of age. She is rich, beautiful, and completely amoral. Eventually, Tom ends up at Tyburn Gaol, facing a boisterous hanging crowd after two blackguardly agents of Blifil frame him for robbery and attempted murder. Squire Allworthy learns the contents of the mysterious letter: Tom is not Jenny Jones's child, but Bridget's illegitimate son and Allworthy's nephew. Furthermore, since Blifil knew this, concealed it, and tried to destroy his half-brother, he is now in disgrace and disinherited. Allworthy uses this knowledge to get Tom a pardon, but Tom has already been conveyed to the gallows; his hanging is begun, but is interrupted by Squire Western, who cuts him down and takes him to Sophie. Tom now has permission to court Sophie, and all ends well with Tom embracing Sophie with Squire Western's blessing.
Production
Bridgwater's Castle Street was used as a location in several scenes.
Releases
The film was reissued in 1989; for this release, Richardson trimmed the film by seven minutes.[1] The original full-length version is now once again available on DVD.
Tom Jones is the only film in the history of the Academy in which three actresses were nominated for Best Supporting Actress Oscar.[3] All three nominations were unsuccessful, however, as the Academy Award in this category went to Margaret Rutherford for her role in The V.I.P.s.
Othello (1955) •It Should Happen to a Dog (1955) •"BBC Sunday Night Theatre" (1955) •"ITV Play of the Week" (1956) •"The Sunday-Night Play" (1960) •A Death in Canaan (1978) •The Penalty Phase (1986) •Beryl Markham: A Shadow on the Sun (1988) •Women and Men: Stories of Seduction (1990) (with Frederic Raphael and Ken Russell) •The Phantom of the Opera (1990)
