Candy (1968)

Candy, based on the naughty, notorious erotic satire by Terry Southern, whose wicked pen contributed to Dr. Strangelove and Easy Rider (among other '60s classics), and adapted for the screen by the sly Buck Henry (The Graduate and Catch 22), is a bizarre second-hand reconfiguration of Candide for the permissive '60s. Swedish teen beauty queen Ewa Aulin is Candy, all breathy, wide-eyed innocence as a curvy blond kewpie doll--think Lolita, Barbarella, and Baby Spice all rolled into one--whose naiveté lands her in the sack with one dirty old man after another on a sexual odyssey. Guest cads include Ringo Starr as an embarrassingly unconvincing Mexican gardener; James Coburn preening as a surgeon who puts the "theater" into his operating theater; Walter Matthau as a snarling, insane general; and French crooner Charles Aznavour as a humpbacked spider man. Richard Burton stands out as a soused, sex-mad poet with an ever-present wind machine dramatically blowing his hair, and Marlon Brando's phony guru with a seductive line of mystic patter is downright hysterical.

Despite luscious cinematography by longtime Fellini collaborator Guiseppe Rotunno and gorgeous opening and closing sequences of space flight by Douglas Trumbull, this clumsy misfire has all the cutting satire of a Monkees episode and only half the style. Director Christian Marquand lets the film ramble interminably while his cast mercilessly mugs their way through ill-conceived roles (except Aulin, who remains a passive, almost alien presence in the center of the chaos). The result is a sloppy all-star sex farce with blunt, misdirected attempts at social topicality buried in teasing peekaboo pinup photography and sexual romps, pleasing enough eye candy but hardly the erotic, satirical, transgressive portrait the picture promises. --Sean Axmaker Amazon.com

A 60's Cult Classic

The title character of this wacky, uneven comedy, Candy Christian, has a beguiling innocence and nubile figure that entices every man she meets. Her manner with them is inquisitive and soft.
The men are prominent and include Doctor Krankheit, a famous neuro-surgeon (James Coburn) and the Indian guru Grindle (Marlon Brando). They urgently want a piece of Candy, but their feelings for her are ambivalent because their desire is confounded by their professional etiquette or dignity, like a skin they wear as a matter of career survival, but which is incongruent with making love to such a free spirit. As a result, they are strict and controlling, as if to banish doubt. Coburn is good; Brando is a far cry from his Terry Malloy and Stanley Kowalski roles and is the funniest person in the movie.
Film critics generally derided the movie when it appeared in 1968. Some of their criticisms were correct; instances of sloppy casting and mediocre acting; but the critics may also dislike movies that satirize middle-aged professionals confronted with something risque. Truffaut's "The Soft Skin" and Rohmer's "La Collectioneuse" deal with similar predicaments, albeit not as flamboyantly or unevenly.
Recreational drug use may have contributed to "Candy's" uneveness, but the soundtrack by Dave Grusin and the Byrds is memorable, as is the countercultural, psychedelic aura of this cult classic.
Check it out but don't tell the wife!
August 16, 2008

This movie is dam awesome

This film will be too dated and confusing for most, but if you are into the sixties you should understand it. Fans of the avant-garde should dig it as well. We follow a hot Nordic woman on a voyage of sexual discovery. Or so the blurb says, in reality it's pretty much just a drug influenced 60s post-modern avant-garde nihilistic... well whatever -- lets just say it rocks. Not too heavy on the nudity as you would expect, but it delivers. The music is great and the best thing about this movie is you never know what will happen next. It's actually not that dirty of a movie, especially by today's standards. This movie has an all-star cast. And speaking of stars, our pal Ringo Starr makes an appearance. If your into this sort of thing you're love it, but if your the kind of person that has trouble keeping up with the plots of today's' films, do yourself a favor and pass it by and rent "The Italian job" again. June 12, 2006

"Give us the little chicken!"

This film is certainly like no other movie you've seen. You can tell from watching it that it could never have been made before or after the years between 1967 and 1970. It brings to mind "Casino Royale" and "Barbarella", but "Candy" is better.

This is a psychedelic "Candide" story. Our heroine, Candy, travels around the world and encounters a number of men, all weirder than the last. The supporting cast is excellent. Walter Matthau plays a sex starved general, Richard Burton a pretentious, self obsessed, alcoholised poet. Ringo Starr plays the Mexican gardener and Marlon Brando makes a hilarious performance as an Indian guru.

The film is two hours long and the story is thin, but it kept my interest up. It is filled with humour that is sometimes too dry for its own good, but whether you laugh with the movie or at the movie, it's still lots of fun. This is a one-of-a-kind movie that's not for everybody's taste, but it's definately worth checking out. June 8, 2006

Saw this at the Drive-In years ago

I read the book and this wasn't as funny. Richard Burton took this role because he was drunk most of time. I don't about the rest of the cast, but I assume they were too. Ewa must have flown back to Sweden to do swedish porn or where ever she came from because I never saw her in anymore movies here. The book was hysterical, and with all the talent involved it really should have been a much better movie. Too bad. May 10, 2006

Rare role for Brando

I give five stars to this hilarious movie because of two reasons:
the beauty of Ewa Aulin and the role of Marlon Brando as the guru, really something rare and another demonstration of the versatility of the greatest American actor. July 29, 2004

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