''Moll Flanders'' is a 1996 American period drama film starring

Robin Wright Robin Gayle Wright (born April 8, 1966) is an American actress. She has won a Golden Globe Award and a Satellite Award, and has received eleven Emmy Award nominations for her work in television. Wright first gained attention for her role in t ...

and

Morgan Freeman Morgan Freeman (born June 1, 1937) is an American actor, director, and narrator. He is known for his distinctive deep voice and various roles in a wide variety of film genres. Throughout his career spanning over five decades, he has received ...

, loosely based on the 1722 novel of the same name by

Daniel Defoe Daniel Defoe (; born Daniel Foe; – 24 April 1731) was an English writer, trader, journalist, pamphleteer and spy. He is most famous for his novel ''Robinson Crusoe'', published in 1719, which is claimed to be second only to the Bible in its ...

. The film, which vastly differs from the original novel, was written and directed by

Pen Densham Pen Densham (born 14 October 1947) is a British-Canadian film and television producer, writer, and director, known for writing and producing films such as '' Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves''Kasindorf, Jeanie. "Million Dollar Babies: How a Bunch of ...

. The original music score was composed by

Mark Mancina Mark Mancina is an American film composer. A veteran of Hans Zimmer's Media Ventures, Mancina has scored over sixty films and television series including ''Speed (1994 film), Speed'', ''Bad Boys (1995 film), Bad Boys'', ''Twister (1996 film), Twi ...

Plot summary

In the late 17th century, a black gentleman, Hibble, takes custody of a girl, Flora, who is being physically mistreated by abusive nuns at a London orphanage. The two set off on a journey to the American colonies where Flora will be raised by her guardian, Mrs Allworthy. As they set out, Hibble begins to read to Flora the memoirs of her mother, Moll Flanders. In a flashback, Moll Flanders' story unfolds. After bearing her in a prison cell, Moll's own mother was hanged for theft. Moll grows up in a church orphanage. When a priest sexually assaults her, she stabs him with a knitting needle and is in turn whipped. Moll escapes despite being arrested and is eventually taken in by Mrs Allworthy, the ruthless proprietor of an upscale London

brothel A brothel, bordello, ranch, or whorehouse is a place where people engage in sexual activity with prostitutes. However, for legal or cultural reasons, establishments often describe themselves as massage parlors, bars, strip clubs, body rub par ...

. Life as a prostitute takes a toll on Moll and, although she befriends Hibble, she is mistreated by her madame, Mrs Allworthy. Eventually, a kind but eccentric anatomy artist named Jonathan begins paying her to model for him. He starts to earn Moll's trust by taking her in after she is brutally beaten by an angry religious group. Moll gradually falls in love with Jonathan and becomes pregnant. For a while, despite his wealthy parents disowning him, their life seems happy. Then Jonathan grows gravely ill and dies. Devastated by the loss, Moll later gives birth to a baby girl. She encounters Allworthy and her stalwart servant Hibble once more, when Allworthy kidnaps Moll and takes her aboard a ship bound for

Virginia Colony The Colony of Virginia, chartered in 1606 and settled in 1607, was the first enduring English colonial empire, English colony in North America, following failed attempts at settlement on Newfoundland (island), Newfoundland by Sir Humphrey GilbertG ...

, forcing her to abandon her daughter in London. On the voyage, a storm forces the ship into a frenzy. Seizing the opportunity, Moll fights against Allworthy for control. The fight ends when both women are swept away by the raging current. Hibble looks on, horrified. After finishing his story, Hibble proclaims that Moll was lost at sea. Disillusioned, Flora blames Hibble for not saving her mother and nearly runs away before Moll shows up, alive and well, having survived the storm and taken Allworthy's identity and associated fortune. Moll reconciles with her daughter.

Cast

as Moll Flanders *

as Hibble *

Stockard Channing Stockard Channing (born Susan Antonia Williams Stockard; February 13, 1944) is an American actress. She is known for playing Betty Rizzo in the film '' Grease'' (1978) and First Lady Abbey Bartlet in the NBC television series ''The West Wing'' ( ...

as Mrs Allworthy * John Lynch as Jonathan (the Artist) *

Brenda Fricker Brenda Fricker (born 17 February 1945) is an Irish actress, whose career has spanned six decades on stage and screen. She has appeared in more than 30 films and television roles. In 1990, she became the first Irish actress to win an Academy Awar ...

as Mrs Mazzawatti *

Geraldine James Geraldine James, OBE (born 6 July 1950) is an English film and television actress. Biography Early life and family James was born in Maidenhead, Berkshire, to a cardiologist father and an alcoholic mother, who had been a nurse. She failed her ...

as Edna * Aisling Corcoran as Flora *

Jeremy Brett Peter Jeremy William Huggins (3 November 1933 – 12 September 1995), known professionally as Jeremy Brett, was an English actor. He played fictional detective Sherlock Holmes in four Sherlock Holmes (1984 TV series), Granada TV series from 1984 ...

as Artist's Father * Britta Smith as Artist's Mother *

Cathy Murphy Parents :father Patrick Murphy from kilmichael, Co. Cork, Ireland. Catherine McKevitt Murphy (born 7 August 1967) is a British actress. She is known for her television roles as Tilly Watkins in the BBC drama ''The House of Eliott'' (1991–1994 ...

as Polly * Emma McIvor as Mary *

Maria Doyle Kennedy Maria Josephine Doyle Kennedy (born 25 September 1964) is an Irish singer and actress. With a singing and acting career that has spanned more than 30 years, she has established herself as one of Ireland's most prolific artists and entertainers. ...

as Alice

Production

Densham was inspired to make the film after listening to an NPR radio piece about letters from 18th-century women who had abandoned their children. The film was shot in Ireland. Freeman and Wright worked for modest salaries, liking the script. This was the final role for

who, having died in September 1995, appears uncredited in the posthumously released film. The film was released in 1996, but still uses a 1995 copyright notice in the closing credits.

Critical reception

Based on 24 reviews collected by

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, ''Moll Flanders'' currently has a 46% approval rating from critics. A problem many critics had was with the movie largely throwing out the original Defoe story and structuring it like ''

Forrest Gump ''Forrest Gump'' is a 1994 American comedy-drama film directed by Robert Zemeckis and written by Eric Roth. It is based on the 1986 novel of the same name by Winston Groom and stars Tom Hanks, Robin Wright, Gary Sinise, Mykelti Williamson and ...

'' (in which Wright was prominently featured). While the original book was about a woman's struggle to survive a male-dominated era (the early 17th century) and her turning to illegal actions to make it through stealing and prostitution, among other means, the movie dealt with Moll's working on herself and improving her life.

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...

gave the movie three stars and said of the film "it's an original; Densham took only the name, the period, and a few notions from Defoe, and has made up the rest." ''Variety'' wrote that Wright's performance, 'should send (Wright) to the upper echelon of actresses with the talent, charisma and unflagging watchability to carry a movie.' ''Entertainment Weekly'' gave the film a C grade.

Awards

The

International Press Academy The International Press Academy (IPA) is an American association of professional entertainment journalists, representing both domestic and foreign markets in print, television, radio, cable and new media outlets. Its members have annually been gi ...

nominated ''Moll Flanders'' for four awards:

for Best Actress in a Drama, John Lynch for Supporting Actor in a drama,

for Best Supporting Actress in a Drama, and for

Consolata Boyle Consolata Boyle is an Irish costume designer based in Dublin. She is a frequent collaborator of English director Stephen Frears and has been nominated three times for the Academy Award for Best Costume Design for her work on three of his films ...

's Costume Design.

References

External links

* * * {{Pen Densham 1996 films 1996 romantic drama films American romantic drama films Films about identity theft Films based on British novels Films based on romance novels Films based on historical novels Romantic period films Romantic epic films Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films Films scored by Mark Mancina Films set in the 17th century Films set in London 1990s historical drama films American historical drama films Spelling Films films 1990s historical romance films American historical romance films Films directed by Pen Densham 1990s English-language films 1990s American films