Tom Jones (1963)

Tom Jones, winner of the award for Best Picture of 1963, begins with the discovery of an illegitimate child in one of the beds of a country estate. The supposed mother and father, both servants, are kicked out of the house, and the country squire "adopts" the baby and raises it as his own. The baby, if you haven't already figured out, is Tom Jones himself, the hero of the Henry Fielding novel that bears the same name. After the baby grows up and becomes Albert Finney, the movie becomes a series of sexual encounters between Jones and various women, save for the one woman he truly loves, the beautiful Sophie Western (played by Susannah York). It's supposed to be a representation of the bawdiness of the early 18th century as depicted in the Fielding book, and the filmmakers have done a good job of keeping the tone lighthearted and fun throughout the movie.

At the time of its production, Tom Jones would likely have been quite a standout film. It was made during the waning days of the Production Code, after all, so the topics of promiscuity and illegitimacy and adultery would have been "hot stuff" to handle. However, given the sexual liberation in the decade that followed, much of the film's "outrageous" scenes no longer shock, and most of them no longer seem all that funny or even amusing. We never see any direct nudity, after all, just Finney's bare legs and chest at times and the naked back of a couple of the women, but that's it. This is hardly scandalous material nowadays, even if it is played for laughs here, particularly in the "mistaken identity" incident at the Upton Inn.

Finney is quite charming in the title role, but as cute as he might have been in 1963, it is difficult to imagine every woman in England being immediately smitten with him upon first sight. Hardly a female in the country seems able to resist him, and frankly, I just don't get it. Perhaps it truly was Tom's reputation for being a womanizer that made him such an object of interest to the various females, but in truth, other than a rather extended "relationship" with a poor girl named Molly Seagrim, he devotes much of his energy to his beloved Sophie.

The women of the film are actually more interesting to watch. Diane Cilento brings a particular atavistic charm to the role of Molly. Even when we discover that Tom has not been her only lover, you can still understand why he finds her attractive. York is charming as Sophie, and her attempts to resist all suitors but Tom provide some of the funniest moments of the film. Her aunt is played by that force of nature, Dame Edith Evans. I always thought Evans had a flair for comedic roles, and she proves that true in this case. My favorite performance in the film, though, is given by Joan Greenwood as Lady Bellaston. Greenwood, who was so good as a golddigger in Kind Hearts & Coronets with Alec Guinness, here plays a lady who toys with other people's lives for her own amusement. Underneath that placid surface of hers, you can see just how much she relishes the prospect of ruining someone else's happiness.

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the "style" of this movie. Every imaginable kind of wipe and dissolve is used to full effect and to gain attention. There are even wipes that are shaped like pinwheels or fans or spirals or clocks. The characters, at times, directly address the audience, calling attention to the artificiality of the movie itself, and at other times, just a knowing look or wink to the audience lets us "know" that the characters are in on the joke as well. Even the voice-over narration plays a part in calling attention to the fact that you are watching a movie; the narrator repeatedly says that the film must cut away from scenes that might go "too far" in depicting sexual activity on the screen. Again, I suspect that this would have been innovative stuff back in 1963 when the film first appeared, but it's been imitated so many times since then that it fails to have much impact on a modern audience's response.

I did enjoy watching Tom Jones. Don't misunderstand. It is a fun movie, but it seems like such a trifle to have been awarded the Oscar for Best Picture. Looking at the other nominees--America, America (haven't seen it yet), Cleopatra (are you kidding?), How the West Was Won (a hoot and a favorite of mine, but hardly Best Picture material either), and Lilies of the Field (a bit small in scope for the Academy's taste back then)--perhaps Tom Jones was the one that just seemed new and different. That we've grown past its innovations is perhaps a (small) testament to its influence.