''Felicity'' is a 1979

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal A ...

sexploitation A sexploitation film (or sex-exploitation film) is a class of independently produced, low-budget feature film that is generally associated with the 1960s and early 1970s, and that serves largely as a vehicle for the exhibition of non-explicit s ...

film starring

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

actress Glory Annen and written and directed by John D. Lamond.

Plot

Felicity Robinson ( Glory Annen) is a teen who studies at a remote Roman

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. As they have existed for many centuries, and now exten ...

and who seeks indulgence in the popular erotic novels '' Story of O'' and ''

Emmanuelle Emmanuelle is the lead character in a series of French erotic films based on the main character in the novel '' Emmanuelle'' (1959), created by Emmanuelle Arsan. Character history Emmanuelle appeared as the pen name of Marayat Rollet-Andri ...

'', and in a lesbian love affair with her friend Jenny (Jody Hanson). Her father arranges her holiday trip to

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

where she will stay with a wealthy couple, Christine (Marilyn Rodgers) and Stephen (Gordon Charles). Christine organises a party to introduce Felicity to a friend of theirs, Andrew (

David Bradshaw David Bradshaw (born September 28, 1944) is an American artist based in Cecilia, Louisiana, and East Charleston, Vermont. He is a painter, sculptor, and printmaker. Biography Born in New York City, David Bradshaw was raised in Washington, D ...

). After the party at the couple's mansion, Andrew takes Felicity for a ride in his car during which he pulls over and deflowers her. Christine also introduces her to libertine Me Ling ( Joni Flynn). Me Ling initiates Felicity to new pleasures. However, Felicity eventually falls in love with Miles (

Chris Milne Chris is a short form of various names including Christopher, Christian, Christina, Christine, and Christos. Chris is also used as a name in its own right, however it is not as common. People with the given name * Chris Abani (born 1966), N ...

) who saves her from a bunch of Chinese thugs.

Cast

* Glory Annen as Felicity Robinson *

as Miles * Joni Flynn as Me Ling * Jody Hanson as Jenny * Marilyn Rodgers as Christine * Gordon Charles as Stephen *

John Michael Howson John-Michael Howson (born 8 August 1936) is an Australian writer, reporter, entertainer and Melbourne radio commentator. His involvement in the Australian entertainment scene as a writer, producer and performer spans more than 50 years. Early ...

as Adrian, Lingerie Salesman * David Bradshaw as Andrew * Christine Calcutt as Nun * John D. Lamond as Peeping Tom Gardener / Man In Cinema

Production

Lamond wanted to make a film in the vein of those directed by

Just Jaeckin Just Jaeckin (8 August 1940 – 6 September 2022) was a French film director, photographer, and sculptor. Early life Jaeckin was born in Vichy, Allier, French State during the Second World War, but left with his mother and father for Englan ...

such as ''

'':

The French have always been able to make their films NOT be pornographic, they’d be erotic. They were classy – the most they could ever say was 'softcore'. And the way they did it, they made pretty images that looked like a Singapore Airlines TV commercial, they had nice fashion, good photography and nice music. And that way it dresses it up and makes it all chocolate boxy... I thought okay, the way to do that on a film budget is to go somewhere exotic. Make sure the people are pretty and they don’t have pimples. Don’t be sordid in any way, have pretty music and exotic locations, nice lighting and nice fashion. So even though it was a tiny film, we came up to Hong Kong and we got all the clothes tailor made for them, so that they fitted properly.

Lamond was also influenced by ''

The World of Suzie Wong ''The World of Suzie Wong'' is a 1957 novel by British writer Richard Mason. The main characters are Robert Lomax, a young British artist living in Hong Kong, and Suzie Wong, the title character, a Chinese woman who works as a prostitute. ...

'' (1960), which prompted him to set it in Hong Kong. He intended to make it immediately after '' Australia After Dark'' but ended up making '' The ABC of Love and Sex: Australia Style'' first. Lamond claims that at one stage George Miller was going to direct but he wanted to take the film in a different direction. Lamond secured investment from Roadshow Pictures, then tried to obtain funding from the government film bodies. They refused, although the AFC offered to loan him $40,000, but Lamond did not want to be beholden to them. He formed a

unit trust A unit trust is a form of collective investment constituted under a trust deed. A unit trust pools investors' money into a single fund, which is managed by a fund manager. Unit trusts offer access to a wide range of investments, and depending on ...

and sold a hundred units at $1,250 each which people could buy in any number, and the movie was made entirely with private funds.Scott Murray, "John Lamond", ''Cinema Papers'' Oct/Nov 1978 p97-98 Glory Annen was a Canadian actress living in London who was cast in the lead role. The film was shot in 1977. The

Internet Movie Database IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

cites the opening scenes as having been shot at

Montsalvat Montsalvat is an artists' colony in Eltham, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Established by Justus Jorgensen in 1934, the colony is set among gardens on five hectares (12 acres) of land, and is home to dozens of buildings, including ...

Eltham Eltham ( ) is a district of southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. It is east-southeast of Charing Cross, and is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. The three wards of Elt ...

, while the train station scene was at

Healesville Healesville is a town in Victoria, Australia, 52 km north-east from Melbourne's central business district, located within the Shire of Yarra Ranges local government area. Healesville recorded a population of 7,589 in the 2021 census. He ...

. Other scenes were filmed in Hong Kong and in a studio at

Nunawading Nunawading is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, 18 km (11 miles) east of Melbourne's Melbourne central business district, Central Business District, located within the City of Whitehorse, Whitehorse Local g ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

; when a typhoon was approaching Hong Kong Lamond moved the unit to

Lord Howe Island Lord Howe Island (; formerly Lord Howe's Island) is an irregularly crescent-shaped volcanic remnant in the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand, part of the Australian state of New South Wales. It lies directly east of mainland P ...

instead for a number of days.Interview with John Lamond, ''Mondo Stumpo'', early 2002
accessed 14 October 2012 Lamond says it was shot in the same "

Singapore Airlines Singapore Airlines (abbreviation: SIA) is the flag carrier airline of the Republic of Singapore with its Airline hub, hub located at Singapore Changi Airport. The airline is notable for highlighting the Singapore Girl as its central figure in ...

style" as ''

'', "No. 3 fog filters and so on. It gives the film a nice, respectable look. In one scene the characters go to a movie where '' The ABC of Love and Sex: Australia Style'' is being shown. Lamond describes this as a "pure Roger Corman-style economic necessity."

Box office

''Felicity'' grossed $532,000 at the box office in Australia, perhaps $5,000,000 in 2020 dollars. According to Lamond it also sold widely around the world.

Cancelled sequel

Lamond intended to make a sequel, ''Felicity in the Garden of Pleasures''. It was budgeted at $230,000 and the

South Australian Film Corporation South Australian Film Corporation (SAFC) is a South Australian Government statutory corporation established in 1972 to engage in film production and promote the film industry, located in Adelaide, South Australia. The Adelaide Studios are managed ...

decided to invest A$100,000. The corporation's director, John Morris, told the board "the film would be funny, commercial and R-rated". However the decision was much criticised and the SAFC withdrew their investment. No sequel was made.Vincent O'Donnell, "Strewth! How Aussie does Australian cinema need to be", ''The Conversation'' 30 March 2012
accessed 21 February 2015

Edits

* In the UK, the

British Board of Film Classification The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC, previously the British Board of Film Censors) is a non-governmental organisation founded by the British film industry in 1912 and responsible for the national classification and censorship of f ...

(BBFC) has classified three versions of the film: in 1979, the film was released for cinema with an "X" certificate, precursor of the "18" certificate, after unspecified cuts had been made; in 1991, it was passed uncut for video with an "18" certificate; in 2008, ''Severin Films'' released an uncensored

Director's cut A director's cut is an edited version of a film (or video game, television episode, music video, or commercial) that is supposed to represent the director's own approved edit in contrast to the theatrical release. "Cut" explicitly refers to the ...

of the film on DVD. It was passed uncut with an "18" certificate. * Prior to the

Video Recordings Act 1984 The Video Recordings Act 1984 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that was passed in 1984. It states that commercial video recordings offered for sale or for hire within the UK must carry a classification that has been agreed upon ...

, the film was available uncertified on VHS video cassette. * In 2004, ''Obsession Entertainment'' of North America issued a DVD in the NTSC format. The running time is quoted as 91 minutes. The star, Glory Annen, is not credited on the DVD cover. The UPC is 0-19485-05333-3. * (Date Unknown) ''Fejui Media Corporation'' of Taiwan issued a DVD in the NTSC format. The running time is quoted as 90 minutes. The UPC is 4-716354-372439.

References

External links

BBFC website
*
''Felicity''
at Oz Movies *
Felicity at the National Film and Sound Archive

Severin Films
{{John D. Lamond 1979 films 1979 LGBT-related films 1970s English-language films 1970s erotic drama films Australian coming-of-age drama films Australian erotic drama films Female bisexuality in film Lesbian-related films Sexploitation films Films set in the 1970s Films set in Hong Kong Films shot in Hong Kong