Muskox53 This could have been a great movie--taking, as it does, a delightfully farcical approach to Defoe's novel. Moll is an innocent and relatively virtuous young woman, who finds herself in sexual jeopardy again and again--as she bounces from one depraved environment to another. Lots of self-conscious references to Tom Jones, which had been an unqualified success just a few years before. Sadly, where Tom Jones was anchored by Albert Finney, an actor of impeccable skill and astonishing range, Kim Novak is simply not up to the task. She is wholly out of her depth here; her only ability is looking pretty and being a good sport about being placed in various kinds of dishevelment. Still, despite her inability to project any complexities of character (a good woman struggling to maintain some kind of honour, and whose greatest temptation is to marry money rather than the con-man she really cares for), the movie's not bad. Lansbury, Sanders, DeSica, Palmer, Parker, Griffith, and (especially) Leo McKern are wonderful--so good the movie is still at B or B+ level, despite the relative emptiness at the top. BTW It's not surprising that Johnson and Novak didn't stay married for long. He was so far superior to her in acting ability, there must have been a slew of professional tension there...

TxMike My summary line is from one scene when Moll was newly in a house, not knowing where the bedroom was, and the suitor says, "Then let us reconnoiter." You don't see that word used often anymore.I am a Kim Novak fan, have been since I was a teenager. Until recently I didn't even know she was in a 'Moll Flanders' movie. I was able to watch this one on Netflix streaming.Truthfully I think this is overall a dreadful movie, a British farce that is overly silly and tedious to watch most of the time. For me, the only redeeming values are Kim Novak, in her early 30s here and 5 to 10 years after her most famous roles but still lovely, and native Brit Angela Lansbury, nearing 40 and lovely, many years before 'Murder She Wrote'.I don't know the original Moll Flanders story, but I did see the 1996 movie with Robin Wright as Flanders. That one differs quite a lot from this one, but in each Flanders ends up on a ship to the New World after getting out of prison.The basic story is followed in both, as a young child Moll Flanders ends up in an orphanage and, growing up to be a strong young woman wants to make something of herself. She ends up working as she can to survive in a difficult time, 18th century England.

williwaw Kim Novak was at the height of her career fame and after filming Strangers When We Meet, The Notorious Landlady, Boys Night Out, Of Human Bondage, Kiss Me Stupid, Kim Novak starred and I mean starred in the film version of Defoe's class "Amorous Adventures of Moll Flanders. Kim Novak -in red hair in this movie- is sensational, sexy, a great star turn in this movie filmed entirely in England. It was supposed to be a riff on "Tom Jones" but instead became a fine film on its own right. Terence Young -whom I read Kim Novak enjoyed working with- is a fine director and paced this comedy well with great support from a cast of pro's Angela Lansbury, Vittorio De Sica, Daniel Massey and a man Kim would marry Richard Johnson. (The marriage was a quick one and now Kim Novak has been happily married for nearly 40 years to Dr. Robert Molloy). Novak remains friends with Richard Johnson.Back to Terence Young, Ms. Novak who had a unfair reputation of being difficult to work with proved far from the truth as Directors such as Alfred Hitcock, Billy Wilder, Otto Preminger, Joshua Logan, George Sidney, Delbert Mann all had high praise for the sleek Kim Novak's acting ability. One of Novak's great directors Richard Quine fell deeply in love with the star and his films especially 'Strangers When We Meet' reflect the deep love Quine had for the star.Kim Novak- A real Movie Star!- made her most famous film Hitchcok's Vertigo with James Stewart at Paramount on loan out from Columbia and also this is a Paramount film. Two of Kim Novak's finest performances were in Paramount movies! Kim Novak to me is one of the more under-appreciated stars in Hollywood. With a body of work that includes Picnic, Man With The Golden Arm, Vertigo, Bell Book and Candle, Strangers When We Meet, Kiss Me Stupid, Of Human Bondage, Moll Flanders, and later on her wicked star turn in The Mirror Crack'd Novak worked with the greatest of Hollywood stars: Elizabeth Taylor, James Stewart, Rita Hayworth, Fred Astaire, Roz Russell, William Holden, Judy Holiday, Jack Lemmon, Jane Wyman, Rock Hudson, Frank Sinatra, Peter Finch, and all had positive things to say about working with this fine actress.I recommend this delightful film.Williwaw

Spleen Does the title leave us in any doubt? This is a film in which every man in Georgian England wants to get into bed with Kim Novak. Well - I can understand that.As a matter of fact very few of the men succeed. Although Novak looks as gorgeous as ever, if you're expecting to see anything, uh, hot, you'll be disappointed. And you'll have every right to be. A film with so little else going for it really ought to make the most of its centrepiece.All the same she's sufficiently charming to make the film sort of enjoyable to watch most of the time. Moll is not so innocent as she pretends but more innocent than she thinks - she's hard not to like (and, of course, lust after). Some of the other characters are surprisingly well played. Angela Lansbury and Vittorio di Sica are rather touching as the loving but worldly couple with a tenuous toehold on the aristocracy, and Leo McKern does the rogue's sidekick schtick better than anyone else.The problem is the script. There's not enough wit or spirit to make a comedy, and it's not played seriously enough to make us care about Moll's plight - it doesn't seem important where or with whom she ends up. There's not even, to be honest, enough story to fill two hours.Still, you may just get some pleasure out of this movie, if you're in a tolerant mood. The question is thus: is Kim Novak enough to put you in a tolerant mood? For me, the answer is yes.