Groovy! Roddy McDowell took the ancient fairy tale of TAM LIN -- a young knight captured by an evil witch, then saved by a fair damsel -- and turned it into a very demure slice of psychedelic romance. The daring camera angles and bizarre soundtrack make the movie work most of the time, but now and then the weird factor just turns funny.
Ava Gardner, well over forty, plays the "immortal" Mrs. Cazaret. She's still an attractive lady, sort of, but not enough to be "hypnotic" and "irresistable." Between her and the young man she's entrancing, there is not a trace of attraction or chemistry. The scenes between the young man and his fair young maid are a bit better, but still lacking a certain natural sexual punch.
The problem is, there are about a dozen gorgeous extras lounging around in most of the scenes, including a couple of famous faces. Watch for a luscious young Sinead Cusack and an even sexier young Joanna Lumley, both decked out in scrumptious Carnaby Street finery and looking ever so fresh and primly desirable. The movie would have worked much, much better if these two had had a larger part. Mrs. Cazaret should have used them to keep her young man satisfied. It's so easy to visualize him rising from her bed, seeing how tired and blowzy she looks in the morning light, and heading for the door -- only to be headed off by Sinead Cusack and Joanna Lumley. The two of them ask him to do something quite innocent and sweet -- like have some breakfast, or go for a walk in the garden. But as they ask, they also rub against him, licking his neck and purring into his ear, and before long he's forgotten all about escaping from Mrs. Cazaret!
