Age of Consent (1969)
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48% of users liked it
(374 ratings)
James Mason is Bradley Morahan, an Australian artist far away from home and trying to prod his muse in the bowels of New York City. Disgusted with life in the big city, Bradley decides to return to his roots and heads back home to Australia. Once there, he decides to become a Gauguin primitive and… More James Mason is Bradley Morahan, an Australian artist far away from home and trying to prod his muse in the bowels of New York City. Disgusted with life in the big city, Bradley decides to return to his roots and heads back home to Australia. Once there, he decides to become a Gauguin primitive and sets up shop on a deserted island on the Great Barrier Reef. To his disappointment, however, he discovers the island is populated by a drunken old harridan (Neva Carr-Glyn) and her attractive granddaughter Cora (Helen Mirren). One look at Cora, and Bradley excitedly begins to mix his pigments, offering Cora a job as his model. Soon enough, Cora goes native and poses for Bradley in the raw. Love is, of course, in the air. But just as things seem to being going fine in every way, Bradley's old friend Nat (Jack MacGowran) appears on the island out of the blue and proceeds to rob Bradley blind. Barely recovered from the theft, Bradley must also deal with an irate grandma, who discovers that Cora has been posing nude for Bradley and has been keeping her earnings hidden from granny. Bradley's island paradise is shattered and he finds he has to deal with an old woman threatening to turn him in to the authorities for having a minor pose naked before him and his easel. The character of Morahan was based on real-life Bohemian artist Norman Lindsay, who later became the subject of John Duigan's Sirens (1994). ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi
- Directed By
- Michael Powell
- Written By
- Peter Yeldham
- Genres
- Drama, Classics, Comedy
- In Theaters
- May 14, 1969 Wide
- Studio
- Columbia Pictures
Critic Reviews
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Felix Gonzalez Jr., DVD Review
Age of Consent is never as provocative or engrossing as it should be, but there is enough of interest (especially Mirren) to make it worth a look.
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Jeffrey M. Anderson, Combustible Celluloid
Though it lacks the vivid touch from his earlier days, it has a surprisingly comfortable, relaxed feel, still vigorous but also at peace.
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Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews
A bitter comedy that has something meaningful to say about the creative nature of the artist.
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Cast
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James Mason
as Bradley Morahan
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Helen Mirren
as Cora
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Jack MacGowran
as Nat Kelly
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Neva Carr-Glyn
as Ma Ryan
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Antonia Katsaros
as Isabel Marley
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Michael Boddy
as Hendricks
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Harold Hopkins
as Ted Farrell
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Slim de Grey
as Cooley
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Max Meldrum
as Television Interviewer
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Hudson Fausset
as New Yorker
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Eric Reiman
as An Art Lover
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Frank Thring
as Godfrey
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Dora Hing
as Receptionist
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Clarissa Kaye
as Meg
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Judy McGrath
as Grace
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Diane Strachan
as Susie
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Roberta Grant
as Ivy
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Geoff Cartwright
as Newsboy
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Peggy Cass
as New Yorker's Wife