Eliza Fraser

Back in the early 1980s cable stations like Showtime and HBO would show English and Australian films that never played over here. None of them had a rating attached but frequently contained nudity and sex. This is one of them. I started watching it casually but got caught up in it. It takes place in 1836 Australia and involves Eliza Fraser (Susannah York). She gets involved with an attractive escaped convict (John Waters) and an Englishman who sleeps around with any woman he can find (John Castle). Unfortunately she's watched over by her old obnoxious husband (Trevor Howard). The plot goes veering wildly all over the place involving, sex, savages, shipwrecks...you name it

It plays like a female version of "Tom Jones". It's well-acted and there's some topless female nudity AND male nudity (back only). It's all pretty tame by today's standards (although the nudity might still give it an R rating here). It's far too long but I was never bored and found it entertaining. York especially is a delight in the title role. Good luck find it--it seems to have disappeared. I hadto watch it on a VHS from Amazon! Worth seeing--I give it a 7.