Tom Jones (film)


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For other uses, see Tom Jones (disambiguation).
Tom Jones

Original film poster
Directed by Tony Richardson
Produced by Tony Richardson
Michael Holden

Oscar Lewenstein
Michael Balcon
Written by Henry Fielding (novel)
John Osborne
Starring Albert Finney
Susannah York
Hugh Griffith
Edith Evans
Music by John Addison
Cinematography Walter Lassally
Editing by Antony Gibbs
Distributed by Lopert Pictures Corporation (US)
United Artists Corporation (UK)
Release date(s) October 6, 1963 (NYC premiere)
Running time 128 min.
Country  United Kingdom
Language English
IMDb • Allmovie

Tom Jones is a 1963 British comedy film. It is an adaptation of Henry Fielding's classic novel The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling (1749), starring Albert Finney as the titular hero. It was one of the most critically acclaimed and popular comedies of its time,[1] winning four Academy Awards. The film was directed by Tony Richardson and the screenplay was adapted by playwright John Osborne. The film is notable for its unusual comic style: the opening sequence is performed in the style of a silent movie, and characters sometimes break the fourth wall by looking directly into the camera and addressing the audience.

Contents

Synopsis

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 Western rescues him in the nick of time and conveys him to Squire Allworthy, where the audience finally 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. Tom now has permission to court Sophie, and all ends well.


Production

Bridgwater's Castle Street was used as a location in several scenes.

Releases

Tagline: The whole world loves Tom Jones! Time magazine devoted a cover and three pages to the film.

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.

Awards and nominations

Academy Awards

Wins

Nominations

Tom Jones is the only film in the history of the Academy in which three actresses were nominated for Best Supporting Actress Oscar.[2] 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.

BAFTA Awards

Wins

Nominations

  • Best British Actor (Albert Finney)
  • Best British Actor (Hugh Griffith)
  • Best British Actress (Edith Evans)

Golden Globe Awards

Wins

  • Best English-Language Foreign Film
  • Best Motion Picture - Comedy
  • Most Promising Newcomer - Male (Albert Finney) (tied with Stathis Giallelis for America, America (1963) and Robert Walker Jr. for The Ceremony (1963).

Nominations

  • Best Motion Picture Actor - Musical/Comedy (Albert Finney)
  • Best Motion Picture Director (Tony Richardson)
  • Best Supporting Actor (Hugh Griffith)
  • Best Supporting Actress (Joan Greenwood)

Other awards

New York Film Critics Circle Awards

Venice Film Festival

  • Volpi Cup: Best Actor (Albert Finney)
  • Golden Lion: Tony Richardson (nom)

Writers' Guild of Great Britain

  • Best British Comedy Screenplay (John Osborne)

Grammy Awards

  • Best Original Score from a Motion Picture (John Addison)
  • Best horse stunts and fencing sequence by stuntman & stunt director (Ray Austin)

Cast

  • Rosalind Atkinson - Mrs. Millar
  • James Cairncross - Parson Supple
  • Redmond Phillips - Lawyer Dowling


Footnotes

  1. ^ a b Tom Jones - Trailer - Cast - Showtimes - New York Times
  2. ^ Tom Jones Movie Reviews, Pictures - Rotten Tomatoes

External links

Awards and achievements
Preceded by
Lawrence of Arabia		 Academy Award for Best Picture
1963		 Succeeded by
My Fair Lady
Preceded by
Lawrence of Arabia		 BAFTA Award for Best Film from any Source
1963		 Succeeded by
Dr Strangelove
Preceded by
Lawrence of Arabia		 BAFTA Award for Best British Film
1963		 Succeeded by
Dr Strangelove
v • d • e
The films of Tony Richardson
1950s
1960s
The Entertainer • Sanctuary • A Taste of Honey • The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner • Tom Jones • The Loved One • Mademoiselle • The Sailor from Gibraltar • The Charge of the Light Brigade • Laughter in the Dark • Hamlet
1970s
Nijinsky: Unfinshed Project • Ned Kelly • A Delicate Balance • Dead Cert • Joseph Andrews
1980s
1990s
Productions
"Tales from Soho" (1956) • Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (1960)
Television
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)
v • d • e
Academy Award for Best Picture

West Side Story (1961) · Lawrence of Arabia (1962) · Tom Jones (1963) · My Fair Lady (1964) · The Sound of Music (1965) · A Man for All Seasons (1966) · In the Heat of the Night (1967) · Oliver! (1968) · Midnight Cowboy (1969) · Patton (1970) · The French Connection (1971) · The Godfather (1972) · The Sting (1973) · The Godfather Part II (1974) · One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) · Rocky (1976) · Annie Hall (1977) · The Deer Hunter (1978) · Kramer vs. Kramer (1979) · Ordinary People (1980)

Complete List · (1928–1940) · (1941–1960) · (1961–1980) · (1981–2000) · (2001–present)






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