Here's a film that's a rollicking good time. Tom Jones (1963) was winner of the Oscar for Best Picture and has delighted audiences for more than four decades.

Historical Background: Tom Jones (1963) brought together three stalwarts of the "Angry Young Men" cinema, Albert Finney, John Osborne, and Tony Richardson, for a rather surprising venture – a comedy set some two-hundred years earlier than the usual Kitchen Sink subject matter. Albert Finney was best known in 1963 as the star of Karl Reisz's Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (1960). John Osborne, a playwright, screenwriter, and actor, born in 1939, was probably best known at the time for writing the play that served as the source for Tony Richardson's Look Back in Anger (1958), one of the first films of the movement. (Osborne later appeared as an actor in the 1971 film Get Carter.) Richardson was one of the foremost voices of the movement, along with Lindsay Anderson, Karel Reisz, and John Schlesinger. Richardson was coming off two successful endeavors in A Taste of Honey (1961) and The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (1962).

It is for Tom Jones (1963), however, that Richardson will be most remembered. The film won four Oscars, in 1963, for Best Film (against such competition as Hud and America America), Best Director, Best Screenplay, and Best Score. It also won the BAFTA for Best Film, the New York Film Critics Best Film selection, the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival, grossed $40 million at the box office, and even managed to put Henry Fielding's two-hundred year old novel onto the top-ten best-seller list twice – when the film was released in 1963 and again when it was re-released in 1989! Relatively few comedies have won the Best Picture Oscar. Tom Jones can also be credited with ushering in a new golden age of British comedies (after the dreary days of social problem films), including such gems as Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964) and A Hard Day's Night (1964).

The Story: In approximately 1720 in Somerset, England, Squire Allworthy (George Devine) suddenly discovers a shocking parcel in his bed – a newborn infant boy, obviously born out of wedlock. The Squire believes he knows who is responsible for this scandal and summons his servant, Jenny Jones. She, however, will not divulge the identity of the father and is sent packing. Mr. Patridge (Jack MacGowran), the barber, is summoned and accused of being the father and is also discharged from the Squire's service. The Squire then nobly declares to his sister, Bridget (Rachel Kempson), "I will bring him up as though he were my own son." The Squire names the bastard child "Tom Jones" – "of whom the opinion of all was that he was born to be hanged!" Shortly after Tom's birth, Bridget marries a Captain Blifil and gives birth to a son just a bit younger than Tom.

The years quickly pass and Tom Jones (Albert Finney) grows into a young man. To the great disappointment of his tutors, Mr. Thwackum (Peter Bull) and Mr. Mr. Square (John Moffatt), Tom never takes very well to either manners or religion. Instead, Tom exhibits a distinct weakness for women and the striking good looks and charm to support the habit. The young Blifil (David Warner), on the other hand grows up to be pious, mannered, and effete.

Tom Jones is no snob. He enjoys nothing more than poaching on the neighboring estate of Squire Western (Hugh Griffith), in the company of the simple peasant, Black George (Wilfrid Lawson). Even more to Tom's liking is rolling in the woods with Black George's daughter, Molly Seagrim (Diane Cilento). She's a bawdy and buxom lass and randy for Tom. When Molly gets pregnant, she's attacked outside the church by a pious lot of the town's womenfolk and Tom has to ride to her rescue. Consequently, the townspeople suppose that Tom must be the father. Tom pays a visit to Molly and discovers that the baby's father is actually Mr. Square, with whom Molly has also been keeping company. Tom may be of the opinion that any girl is better than none, but Molly apparently subscribes to the idea that no one man is as good as two!

Tom is relieved and turns his attention to Sophie Western (Susannah York), daughter of Squire Western. Tom declares her more beautiful than ever after she returns from two years abroad. Squire Western enjoys nothing so much as a hunt and is happy when Tom joins in. One morning, Western leads a large hunting party of hounds and horsemen in pursuit of a humble doe. It's a bloody and cruel sort of affair. Sophie's horse bolts at the sight of the slaughtered deer and it is Tom who leaps on his steed and overtakes Sophie's frenzied runaway. Tom is a bit injured in the process and is taken to the Western's estate to recuperate. Sophie is filled with that special rapture that girls feel for a handsome and gallant rescuer.

Meanwhile, at the Allworthy estate, a terrible accident occurs. Squire Allworthy and his sister are both thrown from a speeding carriage when a wheel dislodges. Bridget is killed and the Squire seems close to death as well. The Squire recovers, however, much to Tom's delight. Lawyer Dowling (Redmond Phillips) delivers a last letter entrusted to him by Bridget to Blifil instead of the recipient intended by Bridget, Squire Allworthy, in order to gain Blifil's services in getting Dowling a job as the Squire's steward.

Tom spends his carefree days flirting with Sophie at the Western's estate. Squire Western has taken a shine to Tom – as a hunting companion – but certainly will not allow his daughter to marry a bastard. Moreover, Western's spinster sister, Miss Western (Edith Evans), also has marital plans for Sophie. She urges her brother to arrange a match between Sophie and Blifil. Although Blifel and his uncle, Squire Allworthy, are amenable to such a union, Sophie is violently opposed to marrying the stuffy Blifel, whom she despises. When Squire and Miss Western learn that Tom Jones is the object of Sophie's desire, they are incensed and adamant that she marry Blifel instead. Blifel and the spiteful tutors, Square and Thwackum, conspire to entrap Tom Jones, arranging to catch him cavorting once again with Molly, while he's drunk. The trio of conspirators convince Squire Allworthy that Tom must be sent away. The Squire gives Tom a £500 note and sends him on his way. Sophie, who has been confined to a tower by her father, escapes in the night, heading off with just her maid, Honor (Patsy Rowlands), for a companion. Tom and Sophie are thus both on the road to London, though neither has any inkling of the other's whereabouts.

Tom meets up with a platoon of redcoats – warring protestants, headed to Scotland for battle. Tom marches with them to an Inn, where they stop to dine. There, Tom gets into an altercation with the feisty Lt. Northerton (Julian Glover), when Northerton insults Sophie, after Tom offers a toast to his beloved. Northerton hurls a beer mug at Tom and knocks him out cold. Northerton is arrested but by the time Tom comes to, Northerton has escaped with the help of a Mrs. Waters (Joyce Redman). The regiment is also gone, having left abruptly in pursuit of Northerton, without paying the bill. Tom offers to pay but discovers that his £500 note has been stolen. He is run out of the village.

Meanwhile, Sophie and her maid, on the road, meet up with Sophie's cousin, Harriet Fitzpatrick (Rosalind Knight), who is running away from her quick-tempered Irish husband. She's headed to London and offers Sophie a share of her carriage. They'll have a place to stay in London, as well, with a friend on Castle St.

Tom comes across the dastardly Northerton, preparing to rape poor Mrs. Waters. Tom goes to her rescue and has to confront Northerton's sword with nothing better than a stick. After a pitched battle, Jones succeeds in driving Northerton away. Tom then accompanies Mrs. Waters to the Upton Inn, gallantly loaning her his jacket to cover her tattered clothing. Mrs. Waters and Tom dine together, lustily staring into each other's eyes as they sensuously pick at their food. By the time they're finished eating, they're so worked up for one another that they head off to their room. The hot-headed Mr. Fitzpatrick (George A. Cooper) arrives and charges into the room where Tom and Mrs. Waters are in bed. Fitzpatrick attacks Tom, assuming that the woman he's with is Mrs. Fitzpatrick. The innkeeper, MacLachlan (Jack Stewart), has to intervene. Outside, Sophie and Mrs. Fitzpatrick arrive and hear the commotion. They quickly flee, with Sophie dropping her muff in the confusion. Tom, fleeing in just his briefs from Mr. Fitzpatrick, finds Sophie's muff, but also encounters Squire Western, who is pursuing his daughter. In a Keystone Cop kind of chaos, Tom jumps from a window, crashing through a balcony, and makes his getaway. Meanwhile, Mr. Fitzpatrick settles in for the night with Mrs. Waters. Tom can only complain, "It's hard when a woman leaves a man nothing but a memory and a muff."

On the road, Tom encounters a rather ineffectual highwayman. After easily disarming the man, Tom learns that the would-be robber is Partridge, the man once supposed to be Tom's father. He's fallen on hard times since being dismissed by Squire Allworthy, some twenty years earlier. He's not actually Tom's father, however. Tom takes him on as a servant. When they reach London, Tom learns that Sophie is living with Mrs. Fitzpatrick, but he's not allowed to see her. Lady Bellaston (Joan Greenwood), an aristocratic friend of Mrs. Fitzpatrick, admires Tom's looks and sets out to seduce him, inviting him first to a masked ball at the Vauxhall Gardens:

Vauxhall Gardens,
Where people come to see and be seen,
In heeps they run,
Some to undo and some to be undone.

Tom's not really all that difficult to seduce. He's of the opinion, "If you take my heart by surprise, the rest of my body has the right to follow." Lady Bellaston spends lavishly on Tom, introducing him into London society and decking him out like a fine gentleman. In his new duds, Tom inadvertently encounters Sophie, one day, at Lady Bellaston's home. Poor Sophie is struggling to fend off the overly ardent interest of the slimy Lord Fellamar (David Tomlinson). When Lady Bellaston walks in on Sophie and Tom, all the trio can do is engage in an awkward bit of mutual deception. Later, Lady Bellaston actually encourages the odious Fellamar to rape Sophie, going so far as to arrange for Sophie to be home alone. Sophie's father arrives and saves her from Fellamar. Meanwhile, Tom, desperate to rid himself of Lady Bellaston, decides that the best way to do so is to write to her, proposing marriage. Lady Bellaston is duly horrified but turns the letter over to Miss Western, so she can use it to spoil Tom's chances with Sophie.

Tom pays a visit to Mrs. Fitzpatrick, hoping that she'll help him find Sophie. Instead, Mrs. Fitzpatrick tries to seduce Tom, suggesting that Sophie "must be the most contemptible of women to ignore merit such as yours." Tom leaves in exasperation, but outside encounters that hot-blooded Mr. Fitzpatrick again. Fitzpatrick forces a fight and during the ensuing swordplay, Tom injures the man. Two witnesses, paid by Blifil, testify against Tom and he is condemned to the gallows. Squire Allworthy learns of Tom's plight and sends his Steward, Dowling, to fetch Mrs. Waters, so she can nurse Fitzpatrick back to health and entice him into testifying on Tom's behalf. Partridge, who is also trying to save Tom, searches for Fitzpatrick and is shocked to encounter Mrs. Waters with him. Mrs. Waters, in turns out, is the woman that Patridge knew years ago as "Jenny Jones," the supposed mother of Tom. For just a moment, it appears that Tom may have inadvertently had sex with his own mother! Mrs. Waters (a.k.a. Jenny Jones) pays a visit to Squire Allworthy and reveals the contents of the letter left by Bridget for him, but which was stolen by Blifil. What did the letter say? Can Tom be saved from the gallows? Will Sophie and Tom find happiness? Check out the film for all those answers and a whole lot more.

Themes: Tom Jones represents the rascal in all of us – or at least all of us men. He lives impulsively and carelessly. He'll romp with any gal and he's handsome enough that there's always plenty from whom to pick. Sure, it's a bawdy tale, but I have to smile at the solemn, pious reviewers who declare, for example, that the film is "little more than an excuse to revel in the licentiousness of the burgeoning free-love atmosphere of the 1960s" or that Tom is a "horny fool," "jumping from bed to bed" and sleeping "his way across the British countryside." One of those same reviewers supposes that Tom is a candidate for "probable future promiscuity." I don't know how many sexual "conquests" Tom made in the novel, but in the film, it is just three (Molly Seagrim, Mrs. Waters, and Lady Bellaston), all of who had as much or more to do with seducing Tom as vice versa. The median number of lifetime sexual partners for American men, age 15-44, in the United States, according to a recent study, is six! It's four for American women. If every modern American who has had three or more lovers prior to marriage were assumed to be a poor prospect for marriage, there'd be very few marriages in this country. That same reviewer also erroneously states that Tom slept with at least one of Sophie's cousins (Lady Bellaston was a friend of a cousin but unrelated) and "may have also slept with Mrs. Fitzpatrick" (but it is clear in the movie that Tom abruptly left when Mrs. Fitzpatrick tried to seduce him). That reviewer also states that Tom slept with a woman (Mrs. Waters) who "was believed to be his mother." She wasn't, in fact, his mother nor did Tom have any idea that she had once been thought to be so when he slept with her. Tom may be randy, but on the evidence of the case, he's only about half as randy as the median American male and three-quarters as much as the median American woman! In any case, the boudoir is only half of what this film is about. The rest is a biting satirical look at eighteenth century English hypocrisies.

Production Values: Condensing Fielding's massive, sprawling 1749 novel into a two hour comedy was no mean feat! Osborne, however much one might discredit his career as a whole, succeeded admirably in this instance, even winning an Oscar for his effort. Certainly the film modifies the nature of the novel, focusing on the bawdy and comedic aspects, reducing character development, and rendering the class commentary in more acerbic terms (the three principles involved in the film were, after all, still "Angry Young Men"). Such matters will alarm only a few purists. A large segment of the public has always embraced this film for the tongue-in-cheek, playful, lustful extravaganza of earthy gentility it was meant to be. It's a smartly cheeky film bursting with energy and delight.

The famous sensual dinner scene involving Finney and Redman, in which they rip apart morsels of food and stuff them into their faces, introduced an idea that has seen later expression in such films as Babette's Feast (1987), Like Water For Chocolate (1992), and Eat Drink Man Woman (1994).

Osborne provided a delightful script, but it was Richardson who made the film into a raucous good time. The film was shot entirely on location, in Somerset and then London. The sets are awesome, looking every bit like genuine 18th-century venues, from the estates, inns, and meadows, to the grimy back streets of London. The DVD transfers currently available leave a lot to be desired, however. A film of this quality deserves a Criterion-quality restoration. There are too many scenes in the MGM DVD rendition in which the brightness and contrast are too low. Fiddling with your television picture settings may help to reduce the problem.

Richardson uses an impressive array of techniques, in this film, to keep the mood frantic and loose. There are speeded up chase scenes reminiscent of the Keystone Cops (and later imitated by Benny Hill). Richardson also builds in some silent-era titles and musical backgrounds, as well as some stop-motion frames with voiceover narration provided by Shakespearean stage actor Michael MacLiammoir. There're lots of eccentric wipes and fades between scenes. One of the most enjoyable aspects of the film is a string of asides to the audience, repeatedly breaking the fourth-wall in a most creative and amusing way. The soundtrack is interesting as well, including some clavichord music composed by John Addison. There's a highly effective stretch of silence during the erotic dining segment.

One of the highlight scenes is the stag hunt, ably mocking the ugly brutality and bloodlust inherent in such events. A rider bloodies the flanks of his horse with his spurs, riders fall from their mounts, dogs corner the hapless doe and rip it to shreds, and the dead deer is held aloft with its tongue hanging out.

The casting is top-notch. Finney was nominated for an Oscar as Best Actor and Hugh Griffith as Best Supporting Actor. Three of the ladies were nominated for Best Supporting Actress: Diane Cilento, Edith Evans, and Joyce Redman. Except for Finney, however, it's really pretty much an ensemble piece, with none of the other performers getting a lot of screen time. Joan Greenwood and Susannah York were every bit as deserving as the three actresses who were nominated. There's not a bad performance in the entire film. Tom Jones was probably Finney's career role. The buoyant Susannah York appeared in A Man for All Seasons (1966), the bawdy Diane Cilento in The Wicker Man (1973), the lusty Joyce Redman in One of Our Aircraft is Missing (1941), the vicious Joan Greenwood in Whisky Galore! (1949), Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949), The Man in a White Suit (1951), and The Importance of Being Earnest (1952), and the feisty Edith Evans in Look Back in Anger (1959). Hugh Griffith is superlative as Squire Western. He previously appeared in such films as Ben-Hur (1959) and Exodus (1960). I thought David Warner highly effective as the slimy Mr. Blifel. He has appeared elsewhere in such films as Providence (1977), The Company of Wolves (1984), and Titanic (1997). Lynn Redgrave made her first ever appearance in this film in a minor role.

Bottom-Line: When one of the actresses looks into the camera and winks, it pretty much sums up what this delicious film is all about. It's a rollicking good time, with zooms and wipes, great character actors, beautiful buxom women, fast paced romps and chases, a raucous hunting scene, plot twists and turns, erotic dining, farce, and satire. The only drawback worth mentioning for this film is that the currently available DVD transfers are not great and you'll probably need to adjust the picture settings of your television to brighten the film. I suggest setting brightness and contrast to near-maximum settings. The only extra on the MGM DVD is a theatrical trailer. There are optional French or Spanish subtitles.

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older