Joseph Andrews

Joseph Andrews (1977) is a British comedy based on "The History of the Adventures of Joseph Andrews, and his Friend Mr. Abraham Adams" by Henry Fielding, author of Tom Jones. His novel is in the public domain, available free online for those that are interested. This film is similar to the film adaptation of Tom Jones in tone, so your enjoyment of that film is a good predictor of whether you will like this one.

Joseph is a lowly servant who works his way up the staff ranks until he becomes the footman for Lady Booby, played brilliantly by Ann-Margret. When Lord Booby dies, Lady Booby decides to seduce the young, handsome Andrews, and Lady Booby's maid, played by Beryl Reid, also wants Andrew's body, but he will have none of it, because the love of his life is a lowly kitchen girl, played by Natalie Ogle.

Joseph is befriended by Parson Adams, who is his frequent companion in all the misadventures fate bestows upon him. Our two young lovers are subjected to lechery, witchcraft, highwaymen, and various plots by Lady Booby, who has a few skeletons in her own closet. It seems nobody was born to the station they thought they were.

It is a well made period sex farce in the same tradition as Tom Jones, has some nudity, includes a Golden Globe nominated performance by Ann-Margret, and an excellent character performance by Beryl Reid.

NUDITY REPORT

Ann-Margret shows see-through breasts in a wet bathing costume, and lots of cleavage. Ogle in her first credited performance, shows breasts in three different scenes.

DVD info from Amazon

widescreen anamorphic

Scoop's comment: Tony Richardson was considered a superstar director when he made oh-so-serious social dramas like Look Back in Anger, A Taste of Honey, The Entertainer, and The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner. It seemed that Tony was the official choice of all the leading British playwrights (especially John Osborne) to adapt their stage work. When Richardson switched to entertainment pictures, he fell out of favor, but I like the films in the second half of Tony's career much better than the IMDb voters do. There is simply no reason for this to be scored as low as 4.9 out of 10. It looks great, is a good adaptation, and is entertaining. It should be in the 6s somewhere.

The Critics Vote ...

no major reviews online

The People Vote ...

IMDB summary. IMDb voters score it 4.9/10

The meaning of the IMDb score: 7.5 usually indicates a level of excellence equivalent to about three and a half stars from the critics. 6.0 usually indicates lukewarm watchability, comparable to approximately two and a half stars from the critics. The fives are generally not worthwhile unless they are really your kind of material, equivalent to about a two star rating from the critics, or a C- from our system. Films rated below five are generally awful even if you like that kind of film - this score is roughly equivalent to one and a half stars from the critics or a D on our scale. (Possibly even less, depending on just how far below five the rating is.

My own guideline: A means the movie is so good it will appeal to you even if you hate the genre. B means the movie is not good enough to win you over if you hate the genre, but is good enough to do so if you have an open mind about this type of film. C means it will only appeal to genre addicts, and has no crossover appeal. (C+ means it has no crossover appeal, but will be considered excellent by genre fans, while C- indicates that it we found it to be a poor movie although genre addicts find it watchable). D means you'll hate it even if you like the genre. E means that you'll hate it even if you love the genre. F means that the film is not only unappealing across-the-board, but technically inept as well. Any film rated C- or better is recommended for fans of that type of film. Any film rated B- or better is recommended for just about anyone. We don't score films below C- that often, because we like movies and we think that most of them have at least a solid niche audience. Now that you know that, you should have serious reservations about any movie below C-.

Based on this description, this is a C+. If you like this genre, you will love this one.