Movie Review: Candy

I thought I'd start off my movie review blogging with a film I recently aquired from 1968, appropriately titled Candy. I have my father to thank for leading me to this movie. (hmmm. I was born in '71, is the character of Candy Christian who I was named after? LOL, hope not!)
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Here is the synopsis as it appears on Deep Discount DVD:
Christian Marquand's CANDY follows the adventures of a gorgeous, naive young woman (Ewa Aulin) who sets off into the world on a journey of sexual discovery. Along her personal yellow brick road, she encounters a wacked-out poet (Richard Burton), an enigmatic Mexican gardener (Ringo Starr), an evil general (Walter Matthau), a lascivious guru (Marlon Brando), and a wily surgeon (James Coburn), all of whom want their own personal taste of Candy. Can she fend them off in time to save her own soul? With a script by Buck Henry (THE GRADUATE) based on the novel by Terry Southern (DR. STRANGELOVE), CANDY is a wacky send-up of Voltaire's CANDIDE and one of the zaniest sexcapades ever captured on film. Marquand's erotic comedy also features a rock-fueled 1960s soundtrack that includes the Byrds and Steppenwolf.

This movie apparently vanished for a long time, according to my father. One could not find it on VHS or DVD or even Laserdisc. It was like it never existed. But, someone must have finally got the rites to release it on DVD. Of course, in the '70's, you could get the porn version of this story starring the one and only John Holmes. But, now, both versions are readily available. Interestingly, it was after Marlon Brando's death that this movie seems to have resurfaced. It was almost as though this little flick was kept in a tight vault somewhere and then it was let out again. There are lots of reasons one might want to try and cover up any involvement with this project, but the huge cast list and reputable writer make Candy a part of filmmaking history.

So, what was wrong with this movie? Well, a lot. I would describe it not as some kind of "free-love sexual spiritual exploration," but rather a "rape fest of a mentally handicapped person." Candy was made out to be so incredibly dumb that one would think that she was definitely born without part of a brain. And, she was so passive sexually that she may as well have been a blow up doll. She says "no, please stop." or "what's going on?" but doesn't really do anything to fend off the sexual advances. If you can get past the idea of repeated, passive rape and a little incest thrown in, Candy is actually quite funny and fun to watch. There are some hilarious one-liners, and Brando is gut-splittingly funny as the guru. The best way to watch this movie would be if you're pretty much drunk, or high (if you do that sort of thing, just say no to drugs! LOL) I think that everyone in this movie must have been either drunk or high while making it. But, it looks like they must have had fun on the set at least. (I'm wondering what ever happened to the lead actress Ewa Aulin?) This was Ringo's first film outside of The Beatles films. (He's pretty awful as the mexican gardener by the way, but funny nonetheless, if you can get past the rape) So, what I'd say about this movie in summary is that it is so bad that it's worth watching for any film historian. You end up wondering how in the heck all of these famous stars got together. And, if your at least tipsy, there are laughs to be had.

Now, in IMDB, it looks as though they are making another movie named Candy, but it doesn't seem to be related to the 1968 version. What we know is that in the movies, if you have a character named Candy, she is going to be pretty much open to having sex. I think the name Candy has certainly dropped in baby name popularity since the 1970s. Hmmm. I wonder why? ;-)