Joseph Andrews (film)
| Joseph Andrews | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Tony Richardson |
| Written by |
Allan Scott Chris Bryant (Screenplay) Henry Fielding (Novel) |
| Starring |
Ann-Margret Peter Firth Michael Hordern Beryl Reid Jim Dale |
| Music by | John Addison |
| Cinematography | David Watkin |
| Edited by | Thom Noble |
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Production
company |
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| Distributed by | United Artists (UK) |
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Release date
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April 1977 |
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Running time
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104 min. |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
Joseph Andrews is a 1977 British period comedy film directed by Tony Richardson. It is based on the novel Joseph Andrews by Henry Fielding.
With its rollicking comic plot, period costume and setting, ribald adventures and a dashing young hero, the film was an obvious attempt to follow in the line of such films as Tom Jones, which was also directed by Tony Richardson.
Ann-Margret was nominated for a Golden Globe Award in 1978 for her performance in the film.
Vincent Canby of the New York Times explains the pretext of Henry Fielding's novel Joseph Andrews: The book "originated as Fielding's answer to what he saw as the hypocritical pieties of {British novelist} Samuel Richardson's Pamela. In Pamela, which was published in 1740, Richardson told the inspiring tale of Pamela Andrews, a serving girl who tenaciously held onto her virginity until her employer, the rich Mr. Booby, came across with a marriage license. Several years later, Mr. Fielding turned this story wildly upside down in a novel about Pamela's brother, Joseph, a serving boy who is as innocent as his sister but not nearly as calculating, who must fight off all sorts of lewd advances and whose triumph is one of true virtue rather than greed."
Lady Booby alias "Belle", the lively wife of the fat landed squire Sir Thomas Booby, has a lusty eye on the attractive, intelligent villager Joseph Andrews, a Latin pupil and protégé of parson Adams, and makes him their footman. Joseph's heart belongs to a country girl, foundling Fanny Goodwill, but his masters take him on a trip to fashionable Bath, where spoiled society comes mainly to see and be seen. Sir Thomas really seeks relief for his sick foot, but drowns in the famous Roman baths. The all-but-grieving lady attempts to seduce Joseph, but, on finding that his Christian virtue and true love are as immune to her passes as to those of the many ladies who fancy her footman, she fires him. On his way back home on foot, Joseph falls prey to highwaymen who rob him of everything, even the clothes on his back. He is found and nursed by an innkeeper's maid; lusts are stirred at the inn, once more challenging his honour, until he is found by the good parson. Meanwhile, the lady consents to her cousin marrying below his station, on learning that his fiancée is Joseph's sister, Pamela. The parson prevents an attempted rape by a squire, and barely escapes a wicked gentleman's totally unjust justice after being accused of it - he comes to learn of a significant child theft by gypsies. Meanwhile, the parson, Joseph and Fanny again fall prey to the squire's utter debauchery...
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Wikipedia