Trailer
Plot summary
Squire Allworthy finds an infant in his bed and, believing the child is the son of his maid Jenny Jones and his barber Partridge, banishes the pair and raises the boy as Tom Jones. Tom grows into a lively, kind-hearted young man who is popular with women but loves only Sophie, the daughter of his neighbor Squire Western. Sophie returns his feelings, yet her father and her aunt intend her for the pious, cold Master Blifil, son of Allworthy's sister Bridget. When Bridget dies, Blifil and the tutors who schooled both young men persuade the squire that Tom is a villain, and Allworthy sends Tom away from the estate with a cash legacy to make his own way in the world.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Tom Jones (1963)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Tom Jones is the only film in Academy Award history to have three actresses nominated for Best Supporting Actress in the same year, though none of the three won; Margaret Rutherford took the award that year for a different film, The V.I.P.s.
- The film's five acting nominations without a single win tied a record set by Peyton Place in 1957, and it remains the last film to match that record.
- Producer Ilya Lopert accepted the Best Picture Oscar on the producers' behalf, and after Lopert died, his estate passed the statuette on to star Albert Finney.
- The film's original backer, Bryanston Films, went bankrupt while still deciding whether to shoot in color, forcing United Artists to step in and finance the production as a color film.
- Director Tony Richardson gave the comedy an unusual silent-film-style opening with intertitles, and had characters break the fourth wall, including a scene where Tom Jones notices the camera and covers the lens with his hat.
- Made on a $1 million budget, Tom Jones earned over $17 million in North American theater rentals alone, and star Albert Finney's contract entitled him to 10 percent of the film's earnings.
