Film

Candy

Name: Candy
Genre: Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy
Released: 1968
Cast: Ewa Aulin, Charles Aznavour, Marlon Brando, Richard Burton, James Coburn

Other titles called Candy: the 2022 series (Hulu).

Comedy
Light-hearted

Terry Southern's 1968 adaptation of his own novel: a picaresque comedy about an innocent young woman colliding with a succession of strange, predatory men. It's a swinging-sixties sex romp that swings wildly between absurdist satire and genuine oddness, held together by Ewa Aulin's bemused presence and a cast of titans clearly having a laugh. For those curious about late-sixties chaos, or who wonder what happens when everyone famous shows up to the same film.

TMDb rating

2.6

If you liked this

The Graduate1967

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But It's almost unbearably earnest about its confusion. The satirical edge is softer and the tone more melancholic than you might expect from the setup.

Barbarella1968

Jane Fonda in a pastiche of sci-fi absurdism, all camp and costume and tongue-in-cheek sexuality. Released the same year, aimed at the same audience, but commits entirely to the fantasy.

But The comedy is calculated and the satire thin. If you want weirdness without message, this lands closer to frivolous.

The Magic Christian1969

Another Terry Southern script about a wealthy eccentric tormenting everyone around him with elaborate pranks. Peter Sellers presides over chaos, and the film embraces absurdity without apology.

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Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Candy

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

if....1968

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Lindsay Anderson's surrealist film about a British boarding school and revolution, shot in black-and-white and colour. It's anarchic, symbolic, genuinely unsettling—another 1968 film about institutions and rebellion.

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Catch-221970

Mike Nichols adapts Heller's novel about institutional insanity, with Alan Arkin as a bombardier drowning in bureaucratic madness. Dark, satirical, genuinely funny about systems designed to destroy you.

But The ensemble cast means no one character anchors you. It's deliberately disorienting, which is the point but also exhausting.

Monte Carlo or Bust!1969

A comedy romp across Europe with a huge cast doing comic turns—similar episodic structure, similar era, similar spirit of chaos and celebrity cameos.

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Alex in Wonderland1970

Donald Sutherland adrift in Los Angeles, encountering bizarre situations and famous people. Mazursky's film is about creative paralysis and the absurdity of the entertainment world.

But It's self-absorbed and occasionally pretentious. The film is aware of its own style in a way that can feel smug.

The Producers1968

Mel Brooks's debut: two con men making a deliberately terrible musical. It's anarchic, absurd, and absolutely committed to the joke. Pure comedic energy.

But The humour is very broad and very specific to 1967. If you don't find the premise hilarious, it will feel thin.

Performance.1970

Mick Jagger as a decadent rock star, James Fox as a gangster—a film about identity, sexuality and transgression that's genuinely disorienting and dark.

But It's cryptic and pretentious. The narrative resists clarity and some will find that infuriating rather than intriguing.

Captain Nemo and the Underwater City1969

Jules Verne adaptation with Robert Ryan, James Mason, and Jules Dassin directing. It's colourful sci-fi adventure with that same late-sixties optimism and strangeness.

But It's earnest where Candy is cynical. The tone is sincere and the plot straightforward—less satirical chaos, more adventure.

Captain Nemo and the Underwater City poster

The Night of the Iguana1964

Both feature Richard Burton seduced and manipulated by the world around him; both are comedies about sexual pursuit and moral decay; both cast famous actors as eccentric outsiders.

John Huston (who plays a role in Candy) directed this Tennessee Williams adaptation: Richard Burton as a defrocked minister pursued by aggressive women in Mexico. It's darkly funny about desire and failure.

But It's a stage play filmed without much visual invention. The comedy is more wry than farcical; the film takes its misery seriously.