Tom Jones (1963 Tony Richardson)

Exuberant film written by John Osborne from Henry Fielding's novel isn't a million miles away from Barry Lyndon. Richardson's crack team of Addison, Lassally and Gibbs reunited (from Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner) produces splendid moments such as a breathtaking hunt, a wonderfully cinematic sequence where Albert Finney and Susannah York (both great) fall in love, and all manner of trick optical effects, freeze frame, speeded up footage, helicopter filming, characters addressing the audience and some of Tony's lovely multiple exposures.

I read in Alexander Walker's book 'Hollywood England that Lassally used lighter, modern cameras and adjusted the look by applying very fine lace over the lens! It was a massive global hit (£40 million from £360,000 budget) and urged United Artists and all the other studios to invest in the UK.

With: Hugh Griffith, David Warner, George Devine and Rachel Kempson (Tom's adopters), Angela Baddeley, Joyce Redman (Mrs. 'Jones' - whose knowing look to camera is one of the film's laugh-out-loud jokes), Jack MacGowran, Diane Cilento (Molly), Peter Bull, Edith Evans, Joan Greenwood, Rosalind Knight and David Tomlinson.