Rating: 
Summary: DVD version not as advertised
Review: My comments are not aimed at the merits of this fine film but at the recent DVD release by Anchor Bay. The cover boasts that the version it contains is "uncut & uncensored"; however, that claim is false. Inexplicably missing is the entire "nightgown" scene with Bridget Fonda, which should appear just after the orgy. I'm pretty sure that this scene appears in every other version of the movie. I'm almost certain it was in the R-rated general release, I know it is in the "uncut" VHS tape, and part of it even appears in the broadcast televsion version. In fact, watching the censored TV cut of that segment on BBC America a month or so ago is what inspired me to order the DVD in the first place. Now I just feel ripped off. This is not the first time I've purchased DVDs that were missing key scenes, but this instance was particularly galling.
Rating: 
Summary: THE BITTERSWEET COMPLEXITIES OF THE HUMAN HEART
Review: Scandal's theme is both universal (the peccadilloes of men waking up in wrong beds) and political (covert tensions between governments hinged on a political scandal) but it provokes a startling human dimension while maintaining an even keel in a note of sympathy for its characters, and indignance for the hypocricy of the toffs among which they had to thrive.
The plot is based on an actual turn of events, harking back to a notorious scandal of misconduct in the ranks of the British government a few decades ago. Our linchpin is Stephen Ward, a bon vivant whose sole aim in life was to drift in the right circles by finding young girls to groom and convert, and then introducing them to the reflected glow of his aristocratic chums.
If his innocuously misguided orchestrations for rolling in "high society" were unsavory, the film minces no words that parties on either side of the bargain never really complained until they had their faces slapped on the front pages of news dailies. All of this comes to a tumbling end when one of the girls, Ms. Keeler, is exposed because of an unfortunate two-timing between a British Cabinet official and a Russian agent. There is a suggestion of romantic tension between this character and Ward, which is quite interesting.
It was my first time to see the actress who plays Keeler but she struck a fabulous balance in the paradox of her character: radiantly innocent on one hand, but amorous with an abandon on the other, believing there to be little difference between sleeping with powerful men and a stranger whom she called boyfriend.
Therein lies the beauty of this film. Behind its (inevitably) smoldering sauciness, it is surprisingly wise about the complexity of the human heart. The saddest moment in the movie comes in the final courtroom scene, when Keeler is called as a witness and ruthlessly hammered by the prosecutor's questions, until Ward flails his arms from the defendant's box and cries "That is not fair!" Which quite aptly sums up the wail of this riveting film.
Rating: 
Summary: "I could do wonders with you--could shock the world."
Review: The film, "Scandal" is based on the true story of the Profumo affair. John Profumo was the Secretary of State for War in the early 60s when he met teenaged Christine Keeler through a London osteopath, Dr Stephen Ward. Profumo and Keeler had an affair, and the ensuing scandal, which erupted a few years later, caused Profumo (after many strenous denials) to eventually resign. The Profumo affair was a notorious event in the 60s and remains a blight on the history of British politics. The film "Scandal" is the story of the affair between Profumo and Keeler, but the focus is on the relationship between Dr Ward and Christine Keeler. Christine Keeler (played by Joanne Whalley) was only 16 years old when she met Ward (John Hurt). She was working in a burlesque show in London. Ward--who is clearly a hedonist--is immediately struck by Christine and says she "moves like a racehorse." Ward, a bachelor, seeks out Christine and begins to cultivate their relationship. While visiting a cottage on Lord Astor's Clivedon estate (pronounced 'clifton'), Christine meets Profumo--and also an man who was allegedly a Russian spy. The film's focus on the relationship between Ward and Keeler was sheer artistic brilliance on the part of the director, Michael Caton-Jones. It would have been all too easy and sensationalistic to emphasize the Profumo-Keeler connection--with all the necessary sleazy connotations, but instead Caton-Jones chose to focus on the mystery of Ward and Keeler. A beautiful, poignant film is produced as a result. There are a few orgy scenes in the film, but they are relatively tame. These events took place in the 60s, and the story does concern individuals who were engaged in some rather unsavoury, sexually unacceptable behaviour, but the film certainly doesn't titillate or linger on the fouler aspects of the subject. Joanne Whalley as Christine Keeler does an amazing job. She looks incredibly like Keeler, and if you don't know what Keeler looked like in the 60s, do a search on the internet, and you'll see what I mean. The photograph of Whalley on cover of the DVD box is an exact replica of a photograph of Keeler. Whalley plays Christine Keeler with just the right combination of the contrasting characteristics of toughness, fragility, confusion, and confidence. John Hurt as the intelligent and fascinating Stephen Ward remains a cipher. John Hurt is a marvellous actor, and he plays his role here with worldliness, good humour, and a certain naked hope of belonging to the upper classes--in whatever capacity is necessary. Ian McKellen--another great actor, plays Profumo with the perfect amount of ridigity and stuffiness, and he is very believable as the politician who is at first very proud of himself for bedding Christine, but then denies the evidence against himself until he can no longer do so. Bridget Fonda plays Mandy Rice-Davies, the resilient, rather naughty friend of both Keeler and Ward. Her somewhat brazen enjoyment of the court proceedings is in direct contrast to Christine's horror at the witch hunt against Ward. This film dissects several aspects of human nature and social behaviour--greed, ambition, class, lust, power, wealth, ego, and reputation. I love this film. I am fascinated by the relationship between Keeler and Ward as it defies all definitions and was based on factors that cannot easily be deciphered--displacedhuman.
Rating:
Summary: Sexy and Riveting
Review: The instrumental "Apache" is playing as Christine Keeler (Joanne Whalley-Kilmer) and Mandy Rice-Davies (Bridget Fonda) are dressing for a night at a *knocking shop*. The montage is pure early-Sixties erotica as these contrasting beauties are fastening their merry widows and applying their frosted lipstick, with the rolling rhythm of the music propelling the delectable visuals. Slipping into their party dresses, with a final command of, "Wet your lips," the girls are stunning, and all eyes are on them.
Cut to: rustling satin sheets and the ecstatic cooing and moaning of two women making very vocal love. The "ooohhhing" and "aaahhhing" is intense and limbs are flailing as the camera travels over the bed, settling on the faces of Christine and Mandy. A final unified sigh of orgasmic lust and the girls dissolve into uncontrollable laughter as their passion is revealed as a charade, and the camera pans to their catch of the evening, a very aroused matinee idol, who, unable to contain himself, blows a battle cry and swan-dives into bed with them. Steamy and hysterical, it is drop-dead stylish filmmaking, and only one dazzling segment of a brilliant film that is political at heart -- but drop-dead gorgeous as well
Rating:
Summary: Entertaining, But Misses The Boat
Review: The Profumo Scandal had the impact of an earthquake on the UK's corridors of power some 40 years ago. The movie's focus, therefore, should have been on what happened in the offices lining those corridors. But Harold Macmillan, the Prime Minister at the time, doesn't even make an appearance! Think of the drama that could have been evoked by late-night, desperate scenes of the powerful struggling to contain a scandal that threatened to topple the government, that did weaken it irreparably, and that destroyed the career of John Profumo, a man who could ultimately have become Prime Minister. The viewer is even cheated out of the inevitable dramatics of Stephen Ward's trial -- we're only shown snippets. And Christine Keeler's trial for perjury isn't shown at all. In addition, the film doesn't offer an explanation or even a theory for Profumo's imbecilic behavior -- to risk and then lose everything he was and could have been for a bit of fluff! Why? Simply because of his testosterone level? Not an insignificant factor, I grant you, but he wasn't a brute -- he was a very intelligent, sophisticated, and accomplished man. Ian McKellen's considerable talent is pretty much wasted in his depiction of Profumo as just another middle-aged rutting male.The same is essentially true of John Hurt. He's a superb actor, to be sure, but I don't think he figured out Stephen Ward's particular kink. He was doubtless a pimp of some sort, but I suspect he was motivated by no shortage of sexual perversions (including voyeurism) that are never really addressed. Joanne Whalley and Bridget Fonda (though both obviously too old for their roles) do a good job portraying Christine Keeler and Mandy Rice-Davies, respectively. I suspect, however, that they imbue them with a little more complexity than they warrant. Keeler and Rice-Davies were nothing more than dime-a-dozen party girls. And the former, at least, comes across like a complete dunderhead in her writings. Bottom line: Less focus on the salacious (which is handled with a coy wink and nudge) and more on the historic, thank you very much. Still, I liked this movie, and I don't hesitate to give it fours stars -- if not for what it is, then at least for what it could and should have been.
Rating:
Summary: Scandal
Review: THis movie picks you up off your couch and takes to a place you have never been to before! I think it is a shame they are not publishing it anymore. My copy is so worn out I needed to replace it! It takes you to a forbidden place most people don't talk about but have always been curious. John Hurt, Joanne Walley Kilmer and Bridgette Fonda were spectacular!
Rating:
Summary: Well-crafted piece of film and yet tragic at the same time
Review: Without covering much the same territory that others have in their reviews, I can only say that "Scandal" is an excellent example of how politics, power, weakness and self-interest can corrupt, destroy and even end lives. The death of Dr. Stephen Ward in 1963 was tragic in that the powers that be, namely the police, Profumo and the Conservatives, Christine Keeler, the media, and ultimately the legal system in Britian made sure that he would take the blame for the actions of others that he played a part in, but by no means was fully responsible for. Ward never had a chance to defend himself from the beginning hence his decision to committ suicide and whose funeral no one attended. It portrays a side to British society IMO that I think many would prefer to forget and where the class system served to protect those on its higher ladders at the expense of those not as fortunate. Since when is a British lord, cabinet minister or any member of the aristocracy above reproach? "Scandal" shows us just how unfair life really is. BTW, the theme song for "Scandal" performed by Dusty Springfield was called "Nothing Has Been Proven" and is available on her "Reputation and Rarities" CD available through Amazon.com
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