Age of Consent *** (1969, James Mason, Helen Mirren, Jack MacGowran) – Classic Movie Review 8352

The 24-year-old Helen Mirren gets to star with James Mason and be directed by Michael Powell. The 1969 Australian romantic comedy drama Age of Consent is a straggler from the dog days of the glittering career of director Michael Powell. Time has been kind to it and it is much better than it was given credit for at the time, though that might have been based on prejudice as some people had still not yet forgiven him for making the infamous 1960 chiller Peeping Tom.

James Mason does well as Bradley Morahan, an ageing artist who flees to an off-shore island on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef to start working again, and seduces his spunky young model, dream girl Cora (Helen Mirren). Jack MacGowran also stars as Nat Kelly.

The easygoing mood, likeable performances and idyllic scenery combine to help to make for a very pleasant picture. Like the 1993 Sirens, it is inspired by the life of Norman Lindsay, though Peter Yeldham’s screenplay is based on a novel by Norman Lindsay.

It was Powell’s last film, apart from the 1972 children’s outing The Boy Who Turned Yellow.

It runs 103 minutes and 98 minutes in the cut version.

Also in the cast are Neva Carr-Glynn, Frank Thring, Antonia Katsaros, Michael Boddy, Harold Hopkins, Slim DeGrey, Max Moldrum, Dora Hing, Clarissa Kaye, Judith McGrath, Geoff Cartwright, Prince Nial, Roberta Grant, Diane Strachan and Lenore Caton.

Clarissa Kaye, who plays Brisbane bird Meg, met James Mason when they appeared in Age of Consent (1969) and they also appeared in Ned Kelly (1970), Frankenstein: The True Story (1973), Salem’s Lot (1979) and Dr Fischer of Geneva (1984). They were married from 13 August 1971 to his death on 27 July 1984.

© Derek Winnert 2019 Classic Movie Review 8352

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