Joseph Andrews

There’s the typical assortment of buxom wenches, foppish dandies, gluttonous squires, shrewish wives and so on in Tony Richardson’s treatment of Henry Fielding’s bawdy comic novel about 18^th century high and low society but little else.

Richardson had had great success with his adaptation of Fielding’s 'Tom Jones' in 1963 but Joseph Andrews despite looking good is little more than a string of low-brow gags devoid of any substance.  Ann Margret, buried under pancake makeup is wasted as Lady Booby, a member of the aristocracy who fancies her young footman, Joseph (Peter Firth), who in turn fancies wholesome country lass Fanny Goodwill (Natalie Ogle) in what is barely (so to speak) distinguishable from the nudge-nudge, wink-wink style of the Carry On films. There was a market for this kind of expensive vulgarity in the 1960s and 1970s, dignified as it were by the historical trappings but without any real satirical content or performances of interest, today it is woefully dated stuff that few will have patience with.

 

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