Candy

I was always titillated by the sight of young Ewa Aulin, but never witnessed this 'epic', supposedly 'so terrible, it's great'. The only movie I have ever seen that is so terrible that it is accidentally 'great' is 'Plan 9 From Outer Space'. Terrible is usually terrible. 'Candy' is a terrible waste of real talent, much like Preminger's stinker of the same year, 'Skidoo'. The only thing that got me through the film is the fantastic body of the young Ms. Aulin. She is very easy on the eyes. However, the sight of such talents as Richard Burton, James Coburn, Marlon Brando, Walter Matthau and John Astin making complete fools of themselves with a terribly unfunny script by Buck Henry is not a pleasant thing to behold, and it is hardly 'great'.. Not too surprising that the talented director John Huston found himself a part in this mess, as he managed to do 'Myra Breckinridge' (a REAL loser) around the same period. Buck Henry is to be credited with writing one of the best screenplays of the year ('The Graduate') and also one of the worst, this stinker called 'Candy'. He has a small bit in the movie, and is slightly humorous as a mental patient! (Typecasting?) I didn't observe an awful lot of nudity. Ms. Aulin's breasts are briefly seen. Ringo Starr, so promising in 'A Hard Day's Night', can chock another notch on his 'bad movie' belt. As a rule, rock stars just don't translate to matinée idols. Plus, this treacle, excuse me, I mean 'film' goes on for two hours! At least Otto Preminger kept his stinker 'Skidoo' at a ninety-minute length. I suspect the book 'Candy' is unfunny, too. I have never read 'The Graduate', but it's probably a much better read than 'Candy'. As we romanticize 'the sixties', it's important to remember...there was a lot of garbage being produced way back when, too! Despite the lovely Ewa, I found this pretty rough to get through and will not do it again. Real garbage.

This piece is obviously a rape fantasy attacking women. Rape violent is through-out this film. Exploitation and sex trafficking of under girls is the core of the plot. Drug use, religious hatred , racial hatred with the use of rape of a minor are all common threads in this film. Pornography is the most common element of this filth. How can this exploitation of women and statutory rape be legal?

I saw this film over the weekend on Showtime for the first time since I saw it in 1969. My memories of the film were sketchy and after it was over, I logged on here to find serious discussion of it so I could interpret some of the symbolism in the movie. What I found instead was inadequate discussion of what was good about the movie. Admittedly, it was over the top in a way that was typical of "alternative" movies in the late 60s, but there were some very interesting points that most people seem to overlook. Also open for dismissal seems to be the final sequence in the film where Candy walks through a field and passes each person she encountered during the movie. At the beginning of this sequence, she is wearing a pristine white sheet as a toga, but by the end of the stroll her sheet is covered in an ornate flower design. Almost throwaway bits during the stroll include Walter Matthau's army general as Don Quixote, the "Fountain of Youth" injections being given by James Coburn and John Astin's two characters being revealed as two aspects of the same. This movie seems quite capable of generating some serious discussion other than the obvious attack on its excesses and the vapid acting of the lead actress.

This is a hysterical low-budget film with performances by big name actors the likes of which you will never see again. There will never be another like it unless the 60's return- not likely. No doubt the film languished in obscurity on account of embarrassing performances, e.g., a drunken Richard Burton licking booze off the floor of a glass bottom limo. Now there is an image! Luckily, it has once again seen the light of day. Sure, there are flaws, but there are some classic scenes, e.g., James Coburn's performance as a surgeon! Even the ludicrous casting of Ringo Starr as a mexican is worth watching; we are perverse enough to stare at car wrecks aren't we? Nothing is sacred- everything is mocked: the medical profession, the military, higher education, family values, eastern philosophy, film making, etc. Light up and have some fun for goodness sakes!