Candy (1968 film)

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Candy
original film poster
Directed by	Christian Marquand
Produced by	Robert Haggiag Selig J. Seligman Peter Zoref
Written by	Terry Southern Mason Hoffenberg Buck Henry
Starring	Ewa Aulin John Astin Charles Aznavour Marlon Brando Richard Burton James Coburn John Huston Ringo Starr
Cinematography	Giuseppe Rotunno
Release date(s)	1968
Running time	124 minutes
Language	English
IMDb profile

This article is on the 1968 film. For the 2006 film, see Candy (2006 film)

Candy is a 1968 film directed by Christian Marquand. Based on the 1958 novel by Terry Southern, it starred Ringo Starr, Ewa Aulin, Charles Aznavour, Marlon Brando, Richard Burton, James Coburn, John Huston, Walter Matthau, and Sugar Ray Robinson. Anita Pallenberg and Florinda Bolkan also appear in small parts.

[edit] Plot

The opening sequence shows Candy (Ewa Aulin) descending to Earth from outer space. In the next scene, she is in school, where her father (John Astin) is also her teacher. She attends a poetry recital by eccentric poet MacPhisto (Richard Burton), who offers her a ride home in his limousine. At her home, MacPhisto gets increasingly drunk and continues to recite poems, inspiring Candy and the Mexican gardener Emanuel (Ringo Starr) to have sex. After this scandal, the family decides to send her off to a private school, and she embarks on a psychedelic journey during which she meets a number of strange people, including a sex starved military general (Walter Matthau), a doctor who performs public operations (James Coburn), a hunchback (Charles Aznavour) and a fake Indian guru (Marlon Brando).

The story bears a marked similarity to Voltaire's Candide, including its naïve protagonist (switched from male to female), its penchant for exploring human sexuality, the protagonist's far-reaching travels, and her attempt to find some basic Good in humanity among all its charlatans and hypocrites. Whereas Candide is generally taken advantage of for a variety of reasons/uses, however, Candy herself is almost always sought after for her sexual appeal. This comes closer to the portrayal of Cunégonde, the heroine of Voltaire's novel.